The marriage of magic and super heroes has never quite worked for me. Even when I read Golden Age comics featuring the likes of Marvo the Magician, something about seeing a beturbaned wand-wielder uttering mystical phrases alongside someone in tights and a cape seemed off somehow.
Having said that, I think the two best examples of magical super heroes from the major publishers are DC's Dr. Fate and Marvel's Dr. Strange. On the one hand you have one of the most awesome helmets ever seen in comics, and on the other you have a killer Seventies mustache and the biggest cape this side of Thor. Fate embodies Order, while Strange is left to protect the Earth however he can, messy though it might get.
It all got me wondering what would happen in a clash between these two mystic titans, so I turn it over to you:
well as I recall – the Fate powers reside in the helmet of Naboo and although Strange has his eye of Agumoto, he’s not exactly useless without it.
Also while Fate is limited by the Lords of order – Strange has been able to tap into dark magics.
So I’ll go for the Seventies sorcerer, over the Golden-ager
I only know a little about Fate, but what I do know is that the power is all int he Helmet – but it is pretty powerful. On the Other hand, Dr. Strange is the most powerful Sorcerer on the planet (In Marvel). I do know that Doc Strange has sucker punched Galactus at least once, stopping him in his tracks.
So I guess, Make Mine Marvel 🙂
Good call. Even now that he’s no longer the Sorcerer Supreme, he’s still far from useless. He knows plenty of spells and has incredible working knowledge of nearly all things magic.
Strange. I don’t know what Fate’s moral standing is in dc, but he seems kinda like equinox. Kill a Bad Guy, Kill a good guy, as long as there are even numbers. And because everyone knows if you kill a person in comics you are a villian, fate would off himself, or do nothing. Example: 4 heroes 1 nuetral(fate) 5 villians. 1dead, 4H,4V
Fate gets taken out early in nearly every DC crisis/crossover I’ve ever seen. Strange wins.
Dr. Strange is more visible OUTSIDE of the books, therefore the casual fan would know him better.
Got to go with him.
I think this depends on the incarnation of Dr. Fate. If we’re dealing with Kent Nelson than we have either a win in Fate’s favor or a draw. Nelson has immortalilty and invulnerability whilst wearing the helmet, but retains his invulnerability if the helmet is removed. So either Strange would be worn out be Dr. Fate and all that entails, or Kent Nelson would just stand there in front of Strange unable to be harmed.
Interesting. When I brought up this match up back during the Justice League vs. Avengers discussion, the general consensus of the community, at least in the comments, seemed to be Fate was stronger. Now, having said that, I don’t know enough about him to say, but I recall when I researched it at the time that the abilities of both characters seemed to swing wildly between pathetic and godlike depending on who was writing at any given moment. I’m going to regretfully have to decline to answer in that the characters are too inconsistently written for there to be one right answer.
With all due respect to KEric, I fail to follow your logic. How does the fictional character’s real-world conspicuousness affect one of these hypothetical fights? Or is this a joke I just didn’t get?
I’m calling a draw on this one, contingent that it is Kent Nelson as Doctor Fate. Nelson really was the only Doctor Fate that even bothered to study magic without the use of the Helmet of Fate, and was one of the DC Universe’s authorities on magic, so he’d really be the only one that would provide a decent fight against Doctor Strange, the foremost authority of magic in the Marvel Universe, whether he’s the Sorcerer Supreme or not.
If it’s not Nelson, then Strange takes this one.
I have to agree with the above comments about Fate, it will come down to story needs, and just which mortal is using the Helm of Nabu.
Growing up, I liked the look of DrF, but did like the cape and Eye of Agamotto as well.
For me, they both dress well lol.
Wow I think I’m stumped on this one! I think I will go with strange because he usually thinks more outside the box when it comes to fighting. Also being an MD may give him some unseen advantages, but all and all you really got me on this one Jeff. My prodiction is they will probably battle to a stalemate! And I like magic based superheroes only as a supporting role as protection while dealing with mystical enemies like deamons and other sorcerors. If you are fighting Galactus you “rabbit out of a hat” guy seems out of place.
Amalgam Comic’s “Dr. Strangefate” wins!!! Seriously, Dr.Strange is pretty much the deus ex machina of the Marvel Universe. But Dr. Fate is, well, NOT the guy with the answers for the DCU. I vote for Steve.
I said Fate, mainly because from what I know of him, he basically has the vaguely defined magic power which is really, “My power is whatever is necessary at the moment to nix this latest plot hole.” While I don’t know a lot about either one, I feel like Strange isn’t as all powerful as Fate, so I say Fate wins.
If you’re talking Kent Nelson #1, then it’s a clear win for Doctor Fate. If you’re talking Kent Nelson #2 (gotta LOVE DC Revisionism, don’t you?), or any of the ‘in between weilders’, yeah, Strange would just wind up adding another trinket to his collection…
Remember, when Kent used to be a part of the JSA (WAY back when) without using the helmet, he wasn’t just invulnerable… He had Flight and Super-strength, basically a Minor League Superman! So, that’s kind of tough to deal with! {The current Kent Nelson, no relation, is still something of a newb, and that was BEFORE “the New 52″… I’m not even sure there IS a Doctor Fate in the New Universe!} 🙁
I was looking up Dr. Fate on wiki and found this image…
http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n629/Mashlagoo/DrFate.jpg
Is it just me… or is that the exact same cape you made for HeroMachine Jeff?
http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n629/Mashlagoo/Cape.jpg
Side by side…
http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n629/Mashlagoo/DrFatevsCape.jpg
Is this a problem?
Since it’s just a cape, no, it’s not a problem.
Hello all. What a coincidence. Just the other, day when i saw this helm, I couldn’t help to think about Dr.Fate and i made this. I think that this is a problem, isn´t that?
[Link deleted by Jeff. — Yes, this is absolutely a problem. The HeroMachine software is not to be used to create images of copyrighted characters.]
My vote to Dr.Fate!