The dictionary defines fate as “the supposed power that predetermines events.” Fate works its wonders in a world beyond our own to decide what happens to us down here. In Greek mythology, there are three goddesses who choose our destiny for us. In DC Comics, we have been given a hero who can manipulate such metaphysical forces. The name is Dr. Fate.

 

Even before Vs. System, my own personal destiny included a run-in with Dr. Fate. The year was 2001. Christy Martin, one of my art students, showed up at school one morning with a grocery bag full of assorted comics. She had bought the whole lot for one dollar on the bus, and she donated them to the class for reference material. There were nearly forty different books. Twelve of them contained Dr. Fate.

The stories we read were from 1991. The Dr. Fate mythos at the time was focused on the newly found power of Inza Nelson to embody the hero, rather than her husband Kent. Inza had some serious issues with her destiny.

We need to go back even further to understand what Inza was going through. Even though her incarnation as Dr. Fate happened during the early 1990s, the character itself is much older. In 1940, DC Comics introduced the myth of Dr. Fate into the consciousness of humanity. It has fascinated us ever since.

The mythos of Dr. Fate deals in metaphysics. It explains the things that we cannot prove, but never stop wondering about. What happens to our “self” after our body dies? What other planes of existence affect us? Are the vistas of our imagination real on some level? Is there such a thing as functional magic, and how can we control it? Are there greater forces at work here?

Like all great stories, Dr. Fate puts those things into perspective so we could get a better grip. When we got our hands on that bag of comic books, we quickly found out that Inza Nelson knew this better than most. In “Dr. Fate #30,” she found herself in a netherworld between life and death after she followed a dying friend into the beyond. In other words, we got to travel into the afterlife. Dr. Fate tried to bring someone back.

These states of being can never truly be captured. No words or pictures could ever honestly claim to be an accurate photograph from beyond death. Artists that we are, that does not stop us from trying. It is one of the best parts of being human. Inza voiced our quest rather perfectly on page 19 while flying through a psychedelic space scene with lime green streamers and a glowing orange skull: “In these metaphysical realms there is no reality . . . my mind is supplying conventional images for forces I could never comprehend.”

The conventional imagery that we supply ourselves to understand the unknowable often includes the dichotomy of Order and Chaos. Many myths create a cosmology that can comfort us in the face of things we cannot ever prove. The origin of our planet and the forces that guide us are often explained in comic books. Dr. Fate is one of those.

The story goes like this. A small blue world named Earth was an early victory for Chaos, so the Lords of Order sent someone to become Earth’s guardian. Since the Lords of Order could manipulate their forces throughout all time, they chose the most glorious era of human magic and injected their emissary into the body of an Ancient Egyptian sorcerer. He was known as Nabu.

The metaphysical forces that Nabu used to form Dr. Fate were held inside powerful magical artifacts. As his human host began to age and wither, the earthbound Lord of Order decided to hermetically seal himself within a pyramid so he could survive into the future. Eons passed. Then Kent Nelson, the son of an archeologist digging in Egypt, accidentally uncovered Nabu’s legacy. Young Kent became the first Dr. Fate.

Nabu mystically took control of the boy, erased his memory, and aged him twenty years. Kent was trained in the arts of magic and he got really good at it. He first major heroic exploit involved rescuing the beautiful Inza Cramer from an evil wizard named Wotan. Inza and Kent fell truly, madly, deeply in love and were married immediately.

The otherworldly joy of the blissful bond between two lovers is another one of those unexplainable mysteries. It might be the most powerful magic of all. Nabu knew this. The mystical fusion of man and woman into a single force can create the full power of Dr. Fate. There was only one problem. If Kent and Inza dissolved their individual beings into the magical ecstasy of perfect union, Nabu would lose control over his student. He needed to devise a plan.

The Helm of Nabu was created so that the Lord of Order could have a kind of remote control over Kent as Dr. Fate. This way, the couple could be stopped short of achieving their full power and independence. Kent Nelson resisted the sorcerer’s leash at first, choosing to wear a “half-helm” for years so he could still make some decisions on his own. Eventually, Nabu took complete control again with the full mask. After a while, Inza grew weary of the game. She became so disillusioned with their situation that she committed suicide. Kent’s power had been fading anyway, so Nabu removed the magic and allowed him to grow old and die immediately.

The souls of Kent and Inza Nelson were placed into the Amulet of Nabu. The sorcerer transformed himself into a replica of Kent’s body and approached a new host for his magic. Eric Strauss was to become Dr. Fate, but he could not do the trick on his own the way Kent could. This time, Nabu allowed the full fusion effect as Eric and Linda Strauss merged to become the full Dr. Fate. They soon fell in battle, however, and their spirits possessed the bodies of Eugene and Wendy DiBella. Nabu decided to incarnate as the couple’s unborn child, possibly for some much needed rest and relaxation.

At that point, an interesting plot twist occurred in Dr. Fate’s Tower. Inza and Kent Nelson were released from the Amulet of Nabu and took the form of two young lovers again. This time, Nabu could not control them and they achieved the mystical fusion. For some strange reason, only Inza could direct the power of Dr. Fate, and she set off to make the world a better place. She quickly learned about the deep dangers of superpowers and the tyranny of goodwill.

That is the point where my art class came in. It was a valuable lesson. Inza resurrected her friend from death by gunshot, only to pay dire consequences. The friend cursed Dr. Fate for returning her to a life of pain. An innocent person on the other side of town died in order to balance the life force of humanity. Inza was making a mess with her powers and it was about to get worse.

Inza felt so giving and loving toward her fellow man that she abused her powers as Dr. Fate. But not in a bad way, or at least so it seemed. She changed people’s tires and got them a new shirt if they dropped ice cream on the old one. Soon she supplied them with wish fulfillment spheres that could help even when she was not around. People began to depend on her for things they should have been doing for themselves. Soon she became a righteous dictator, insisting that everyone act as good as they possibly could. She gained quite a few critics along the way.

Eventually, Kent talked some sense into her, and they saved the world once again by channeling the love and energy of all living beings. It was a beautiful thing.

Until the clock struck Zero Hour, that is. Dr. Fate was savagely defeated by a monstrous villain named Extant. The souls of the Nelsons once again bedded down in the Amulet of Nabu, and along with the Helm and the Cloak, they were scattered to separate sides of the planet.

Today, these powerful Fate Artifacts have found their way onto cardboard and are frolicking on kitchen tables the world over. Thanks to Vs. System, you can chose which character gets to wear them. And, as a special bonus, whatever red card your Fate Has Spoken will be able to ready itself to swing again at your command. That is really strong stuff.

The Fate Artifacts are strong enough to be included in the testing gauntlet of every player with aspirations of a money finish at Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006. They pump, they protect, and they give any character the identity of Dr. Fate.

Erick Reyes, the legend from Edgeworld, used the Fate Artifacts to secure an unlikely Day 2 berth at Pro Circuit San Francisco. Patrick Yapjoco built the deck, and his favorite test monkey tweaked it properly for flavor. It looked like this:

Monkeying Around with Fate

Erick Reyes

4 Ape X, Xina

4 Black Panther, King of Wakanda

1 Dr. Fate, Hector Hall

2 Franklin Richards, Trapped in Time

1 Iron Fist, Danny Rand

1 Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle, High-Tech Hero

2 John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man

4 Mikado and Mosha, Angels of Destruction

1 Moon Knight, Marc Spector

1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster

2 Punisher, Jury

2 Sarge Steel, Knight

1 Shape, Malleable Mutant

4 Tom Thumb, Thomas Thompson

1 Zatanna, Zatanna Zatara

Plot Twists

4 Enemy of My Enemy

4 Fate Has Spoken

3 Wild Ride

Locations

4 Dr. Fate’s Tower

Equipment

3 Amulet of Nabu

2 Cloak of Nabu

4 Helm of Nabu

4 Light Armor

1 Mindtap Mechanism

This deck immediately exposes the power of the Fate Artifacts. They take a monkey deck and turn it into an equipment factory. Dr. Fate’s Tower can fetch any one of his Artifacts and then transfer it to a bigger character each turn. The most revolutionary trend that this deck heralds can be seen in its lack of plot twists. Aside from the character search effects, the only blue trick in the deck is heard loud and clear as soon as Fate Has Spoken.

Character readying is an ability that has always been kept under tight wraps by the designers of Vs. System. Severe limitations to cards as far back as Press the Attack and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters ensure that double swings do not dominate the competitive environment. Since Fate Has Spoken allows one of the most easily met criteria for this ability, it must be the only plot twist played by its owner that turn. This drawback can be overcome in many ways by focusing on Fate Artifacts and natural character abilities. The upcoming DC Modern Age looks like it will see plenty of red cards dressed up as Dr. Fate.

I don’t think this will upset Nabu. Throughout the entire history of the Dr. Fate mythos, our imaginary Lord of Order has relished in the possession of a continuing string of fresh human bodies to perform his metaphysical manipulation. Thanks to Vs. System, he has plenty of willing new meat puppets . . . even if they are only on cardboard. Choose yours today and embrace your destiny.

As part of his inescapable fate, Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes. If it is meant to be, write him a note and send it to rianfike@hattch.com.