Why Super-Heroes Should Always Carry Their Car Keys!!

Reminder: during long periods in the Golden Age, Doctor Fate wasn't much of a magician. His mystic amulet let him fly, and made him invulnerable, but otherwise, he just used fisticuffs and quips to put down crooks.

He did have one vulnerability:

Well, he got out of that one, but now the bad guys know his weakness. So...

The bad guys just leave him to die without watching (hey, it wasn't a cliche yet in 1942!).

Pockets? You're fighting crime and you're carrying your car keys...and coins?!?

Well, whatever works:

Yeah, but what about your keys, man?!?! Your keys!!! How will you drive now?!?!?

From More Fun Comics #78 (1942)

Doctor Fate--Chess Master!!

During much of the Golden Age, Doctor Fate was about as magical as my butt.

Sure, he could go through walls, and was mostly "invulnerable" because his "body is composed of pure energy."

But there was almost no magic, no Nabu, no Lords Of Order or protecting Earth from mystic threats.

Nope, Fate was pretty much just Spider-Man-- beating up hoods while quipping:

Seriously, that was pretty much all Fate did!

So when he meets the evil chess master...

...well, it doesn't go quite like you'd think a master of magic trapped in a life-size chess game would go.

Michael Krugor is an unbeaten chess champion...but he's also a thief and murderer.

So when he learns that Fate is on his trail, well, it's a chance to fulfill that super-villain dream!

And when Kent Nelson shows up...

Some master of the mystic arts!!

When Fate awakens...

Fate and the party guests get to play one side, and Krugor's hoods play the other...

But this is not normal chess...

It's beat the living crap out of the other chess pieces!!

Take that, Kasparov!!

You're going down, Bobby Fischer!

Poor Krugor can't figure out why this is different than a regular game of chess--even though he made the rules! This guy is no Arcade, that's for sure!

Check this, Capablanca!

Taste my fists, Alekhine!

Time for the final gambit!

What the what?

And Lasker goes down!!

So let's wrap this up:

Thus endeth Doctor Fates quippy, trippy, fisticuffy, and most decidedly unmagical chess battle.

Initial panels from More Fun Comics  #75 (1942). Chess battle from More Fun Comics #76 (1942)

Evil Fortune Tellers Vs. Mystic Macroeconomics (And Fists)!!

An evil Nazi fortune teller--known only as Mr. Fortune!!--has been making ridiculous predictions, and then having his minions make them come true. Why?

So when the time comes for his big public predicta-rama...

YOW!!

Fortunately, Mr. Fortune is about to meet Doctor Fate, the Mystic Master of Macroeconomics!!

Fortune gets away, and contacts Germany with his crystal ball...

Oh, so that's what those are for!!

Doctor Fate rousts the whole gang--without casting a single spell!! Rip off!!

And Fortune confesses...

Foreign interference using fake news intended to weaken our government? Only in comic books, man...

From All-Star Comics #16 (1943)

April Madness, 1st Semifinal--SHOCKER!!

It's time for the first semifinal of The Seven Justice Soldiers Of The Victory League Society!!

Can...

...defeat...

It should be trickier for team Superman this time around, as they have to face a true major league magic user!

And indeed, that's how it starts off, as Kal-El takes one of Dr. Fate's bolts of eldritch energy right to the face, and goes down!! Big trouble for the #1 seed!!

Ralph Dibny's nose starts smelling a mystery, which means he's helpless when he gets a snoutful of sleep gas from Sandman!!

Metamorpho turns into a super-dense mesh, temporarily trapping the Atom. So this battle may come down to Dr. Fate vs. Sandman!

But wait!! Sandman unleashes a punch so powerful, he actually dents Fate's helmet!! What the?!?! Team Superman wins--but how?!?

LOOK!! Sandman is taking off his gas mask--and he's really Superman!! INCREDIBLE!! It was the classic Silver Age tactic of switching identities before the fight, so Wesley Dodds would take the brunt of Doctor Fate's attack, leaving Superman free to take the sorcerer by surprise!!

What a classic!! Tune in later this morning for the second semifinal!!

April Madness Round II--A Mild Upset!

Welcome to Round 2 of The Seven Justice Soldiers of The Victory League Society, our meaningless exercise is random fighting!!

This bout features...

(That's Earth-2 Wonder Woman...)

vs.

(That's Earth-1 Atom, just to be clear).

This would be a pretty tight bout, as you'd expect from the 4th and 5th seeds. And in a bit of a surprise, I see Dr. Fate's group eking out a victory.

Dr. Fate could likely nullify Diana's mystic strength, at least temporarily, allowing Atom to use her lasso to bind Dr. Mid-Nite as he shrinks small enough to slip between the particles of darkness of his blackout bomb (Hey, I can use DC Science, too!!). Meanwhile, Hawkman's ancient weaponry wouldn't do too much against a body that can wrap around any impact. By that point he'd be the last man standing, and no way could he stand against all three of them.

So our winner is...

Think I'm wrong? Get your own blog!!

Dr. Fate's team will face Superman's later this week. Tune in tomorrow four our other first round bouts!!

When Does This Doctor Get His Own Movie?!?

Because some mornings...

...you just need to see a Walt Simonson-drawn Dr. Fate beat the crap out of a big-ass mummy!

BONUS: Joe Kubert cover!!

You're welcome.

From 1st Issue Special #9 (1975)