Immortal Doctor Fate (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1985.
Synopsis for "American Gothic"
This story is reprinted from The Flash #310.
At the Tower of Fate, Kent Nelson observes the Orb of Nabu and sees visions of global catastrophe. Inza wants him to remain at home, but he knows that he must answer these emergencies as Doctor Fate. Fate flies tracks the mystic signatures to a cornfield in Iowa. There, he finds a strange red jewel embedded inside of an ear of corn. A farmer approaches and levels a shotgun at Fate, demanding that he leaves the property. Fate attempts to immobilize the farmer so that he can return to his analysis, but there is more to this man than meets the eye. The being sheds his appearance as a common farmer, and opens up a mystic portal, which draws Doctor Fate inside.
Meanwhile, Vern Copeland, the director at the Boston Museum of Natural History attempts to contact Kent Nelson concerning a twenty-year old excavation known as the Nimrud dig. Unable to find Kent, he instead arranges to have dinner with Inza Nelson.
Appearing in "American Gothic"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Judy (First appearance)
- Vern Copeland
Locations:
- Iowa
- Massachusetts
- Boston
- Boston Museum of Natural History
- Salem
- Tower of Fate
- Boston
- New York (In a vision)
- Mongolia (In a vision)
- China (In a vision)
Items:
Synopsis for "Rogue Gods"
This story is reprinted from The Flash #311.
Doctor Fate finds himself still trapped in the "nihil-verse"; a place where nothing and everything co-exist while also cease to exist. He was sent there by a mysterious aggressor while he was investigating a strange source of power. Using his powers, Fate casts a spell that brings him to a corporeal plane of the strange dimension, but he finds that this is no relief, as now he has to fight the powerful Lord of Chaos known as Vandaemeon.
In the meantime, Inza Nelson is having dinner with Vern Copeland, the director of the Boston Museum, who is interested in Inza, both academically and on a personal level. However, Inza notices Copeland's intentions and mantains the conversations strictly on the professional area.
Fate is unable to fight Vandaemeon as the deity is just as powerful, or even more than himself. Drawing mystical energies from the Lords of Order, Fate manages to incapacitate Vandaemeon for a short moment, although he actually believes that he has defeated the demon. Using his remaining energy, Fate creates a connection to the Tower of Fate in order to return home, but he is shocked to learn that Inza is not inside. Fate comes to the right conclusion that Inza might start "losing her head" as a result of leaving the Tower, which prevented her aging process and kept her sanity intact.
True to his deductions, Inza has gone with Vern Copeland to the Museum in order to arrange their speeches, but as the desperate man tries to make a move on her, Inza falls victim to desire and they embrace in a passionate kiss. Unfortunately for Fate, this is not the worst development, because during his pause, Vandaemeon has recovered and is ready to continue fighting as if nothing has happened.
Appearing in "Rogue Gods"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Inza Nelson
- Vern Copeland
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Boston
- Boston Museum of Natural History
- Tower of Fate
- "Nihil-Verse"
Synopsis for "Blood on the Sun"
This story is reprinted from The Flash #312.
Doctor Fate has fallen to the grip of the Lord of Chaos called Vandaemeon, who seeks to crush Fate. The mage knows that his only chance to escape the "Nihil-Verse" is to reach Kent Nelson's consort, Inza and travel through dimensions using her consciousness as a conduit. Unfortunately for Fate, Inza is not at the Tower of Fate and he is unable to locate her, dooming him to remain trapped.
At that moment, Inza is at the Museum, kissing Vernon Copeland, who has made clear his intentions towards her. Although Inza allowed this to happen, she realizes the error she has committed and tries to distance herself from the man. It is this action that allows Fate to locate Inza's consciousness, but he also notices the strange situation as her mind is confused and filled with guilt. Fate assumes that Inza is having an affair and he knows such developments would be detrimental for his human host. However, he cannot dwell on such thoughts and he creates the mystic connection with Inza's mind that will allow him to return to Earth and escape a certain death in the Nihil-verse at the hands of Vandaemeon, who is left burning after Fate casts a powerful spell on him.
Copeland notices that Inza has decided against their affair, but he tries to convince her otherwise. However, Inza is currently paralyzed as a result of Fate's mystical connection and when Copeland tries to approach her, he is pushed away with great force and is knocked unconscious as Doctor Fate materializes in the room, breaking the spell. Fate explains Inza that Kent needs to recover and instinctively, she removes the Helmet of Fate, allowing Kent to regain control of his mind and body.
Back at the Tower of Fate, Inza keeps reproaching Kent the fact that he doesn't share any information about his activities as Doctor Fate, but Kent tries to explain that most of the things he truly doesn't remember. Inza is still not convinced and she remarks that the issue is that he does not trust her at all. This virtue signaling from Inza makes Kent lose his temper as he remembers the images of Inza's mind in turmoil and heavy guilt while she was alongside another man. When Kent brings this up, Inza slaps him across the face, before she breaks down and beholds her weaknesses and faults.
Kent walks out of the room and goes to his private chamber, where he rests for a while, remembering the events that have lead him to the current situation. In his slumber, he recalls the farmer from Iowa, the gem he was following and his encounter with Vandaemeon. When he awakes, Kent finds a farewell note from Inza, who has left to clear her troubled mind. This final event cleared some doubts in Kent's mind and after taking a closer look at the Orb of Nabu and wearing the Helmet of Fate; all of the events start to make sense in Fate's mind, as he deduces that everything has been calculated by someone else and all of them have been manipulated.
When Fate goes outside of the Tower, he finds that the red gem he was chasing is now the size of the sun, covering Earth's sky completely. Fate realizes that the gem is the source of energy of Vandaemeon and that their confrontation allowed it to reach such tremendous size. Although Fate tries to fight the Lord of Chaos, his efforts are futile, as Vandaemeon has now control over the Spells of Order after their confrontation. Fate wonders who is responsible for the whole scheme and the farmer decides to reveal himself. Destroying his farmer disguise, Ynar, Lord of Order and former partner of Fate, makes himself visible, much to Fate's shock.
Appearing in "Blood on the Sun"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Inza Cramer
- Vernon Copeland
Antagonists:
- Vandaemeon
- Ynar
Locations:
- Boston
- Museum of Natural History
- Tower of Fate
- "Nihil-Verse"
Items:
Synopsis for "Crimson Testament"
This story is reprinted from The Flash #313.
The renegade Lord of Order, Ynar, stands above Doctor Fate and reveals that he has abandoned the ranks of Order to make an alliance with Vandaemon, a renegade Lord of Chaos, just like him. The two of them determined that the eternal struggle between good and evil is pointless and both have decided to take all the power for their own purposes.
After this confession, Fate realizes that he was manipulated into giving the renegade Lords mystic energies that will allow them to destroy everything in their path. Fate falls into despair as he is absolutely helpless against the combined powers of Order and Chaos. It is then that Inza returns after leaving the Tower of Fate following her argument with Kent Nelson. Fate notices that Inza is not affected as the rest of the world is by the consuming mystical energies of the Lords and he deduces that the protective shield placed on her has given her powers beyond those expected.
Fate proceeds to merge Inza within his multiversal consciousness in which Kent Nelson resides everytime the Helmet of Fate is worn. The merger of both humans inside of him, make Fate a more powerful being, with enough mystical power to defeat both Ynar and Vandaemon. Using the mystical energies of the Lords of Order as well as the ones from the combined entity that are the humans Kent and Inza Nelson, Doctor Fate vanquishes the renegade Lords away and Earth is saved from a certain doom.
When things have returned to normal, Doctor Fate removes the Helmet, separating Inza and Kent and bringing them back to Earth. At that moment, Vern Copeland recovers at the Boston Museum, with little memory of the recent events with Inza, thanks to Fate's spell. When Kent and Inza finally awake, Inza shares her utter shock of what Kent has to endure everytime he is transformed into Doctor Fate. Kent is glad that Inza understands his plight, but they also realize that their trust issues are still there and need to be worked upon. However, Kent tells Inza not to worry too much about them at the moment, as they will work it out eventually. When a doubtful Inza asks why is he so sure, Kent simply replies by telling her "trust me".
Appearing in "Crimson Testament"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Ynar
- Vandaemon
Other Characters:
- Vernon Copeland
Locations:
Items:
Notes
- Issue reprints the original cover to World's Finest Comics #208 by Neal Adams.
- Issue reprints the original cover to More Fun Comics #61 by Howard Sherman.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Doctor Fate Recommended Reading
- The Book of Fate (Volume 1)
- Countdown to Mystery (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 2)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 3)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 4)
- Fate (Volume 1)
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #306– #313
- Helmet of Fate (Volume 1)
- Immortal Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 1)
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1)