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Doctor Fate #9

Imagine yourself as a med student, a couple days before classes start, living in Brooklyn as a diluvian storm is hitting Manhattan. Now if that flood was caused by the ancient Egyptian God Anubis who has taken the earthly form as a jackal and another Egyptian goddess Bastet gives you the helmet of Fate, you would be exactly like Khaled, the Egyptian-American main character in the wonderful reimagining of the Doctor Fate.

I’m not going lie, I picked up this book because of the cover of issue #2 and the art doesn’t disappoint. Sonny Liew works on both interiors and the covers of these issues and is credited along with writer Paul Levitz as “storyteller.” Levitz and Liew work magnificently together and have created a wonderfully fun take on this tangential DC Comics character. Fate in this series ditches his 1980s helmet cape and costume for a helmet and hoodie combination that really modernizes the look and both of these storytellers are intimately familiar with New York which often acts as a second main character in the visual storytelling.

This series bears a large resemblance to Ms. Marvel: they both have young Islamic lead characters, both take place in the New York metro area, both main characters are serendipitously awarded powers in a right place right time scenario and then have to cope with their newfound gifts in a comedically bumbling fashion. If that’s what you like, then this series is for you. It’s a great, light comedic read that takes a semi-marginal DC hero and modernizes him for the 21st century.