October, 2004. It was published on August 25, 2004.
Synopsis for "The Origin of Doctor Fate"
This story is reprinted from More Fun Comics #67.
- 1920: As a young child, Kent Nelson was exploring Mesopotamia with his father. Sven Nelson was an archaeologist who believed that the Pyramids were not created by Egyptians, but by beings from another planet. Nelson had found an old temple in the desert, and while he was in the Chamber of History reading inscriptions, young Kent wandered off alone. The boy found a fully colored statue, extremely tall, of Nabu the Wise, who telepathically signaled him to operate a nearby lever. This brought Nabu back to life, but also released poisonous gas that flooded the outer temple and killed Kent's father.
- To repay him for his loss, Nabu promised to teach the young child the secrets of the universe. He said that through learning molecular control of his body, he had grown to almost half a million years old, and was born on the planet Cilia, as it passed Earth in orbit. Nabu raised Kent into young manhood, and taught him skills such as levitation and telekinesis. Nelson grew to love Nabu as he had loved his own father. Nabu hoped one day to return to Cilia. Kent Nelson's training went on for an unknown length of time, and at the end of it he was an adult, and Nabu told the newly-named Doctor Fate that his mission was to do good and fight against evil, then Nabu passed on his amulet, cloak and helmet.
- While returning to America, Kent met a woman named Inza Cramer in Alexandria who would become his traveling companion.
In the present day Kent Nelson and Inza Cramer are attending a dinner party in New York City, where they meet a man who believes he is being haunted. The man is a believer in reincarnation and had made a pact with several friends to help them return to life in case of their death, but finds that their spirits are now trying to claim his soul. Kent returns to his tower in Salem, and comes back as Doctor Fate. Driving the ghosts back easily, he realizes he must stop them at their source by visiting the underworld of Charn.
Inza insists on accompanying Fate through the Charnal Regions and into a world of shadows. Seated on a great stone throne is the gigantic Negal, wielding an immense thorned club in one hand and a horned skull in the other. Fate confronts him and orders him to never again invade the Earth; Negal mocks; Fate gestures; the skull in Negal's hand vanishes. Fate repeats his terms and Negal accepts them. The worlds of the dead and living will remain unmixed.
Appearing in "The Origin of Doctor Fate"
Featured Characters:
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) (First appearance chronologically) (Origin) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Inza Cramer (Flashback and main story)
- Nabu the Wise (First appearance) (Flashback only)
Antagonists:
- Negal, Ruler of Charn (First appearance)
- his manlike shadows
Other Characters:
- Sven Nelson (First appearance; dies) (Flashback only)
Locations:
- 1941
- New York City
- Charn, a netherworld
- 1920
- Egypt
- Alexandria (Mentioned only)
- Mesopotamia
- Valley of Ur
- Cilia, a planet (Mentioned only)
- Egypt
Items:
Synopsis for "The Enchantress of Terror Castle"
This story is reprinted from Strange Adventures #187.
Artist June Moone and her boyfriend Alan Dale attend a party at the mysterious Terror Castle. When an ancient gong is sounded by one of the guests, mayhem ensues. June stumbles into a secret chamber where she encounters a mystical being. The being tells her that she has a greater destiny. It tells her to speak the words "the Enchantress" which transforms June into the mystical-powered Enchantress.
The Enchantress returns to the party which has become a chaotic scramble. An evil presence haunting the castle threatens guests, striking at them through a tapestry. The Enchantress restores order, unblocking the doors, and getting the guests to safety. While the castle crumbles into dust, she returns to her June Moone identity and rejoins Alan.
Appearing in "The Enchantress of Terror Castle"
Featured Characters:
- Enchantress (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Unnamed evil presence (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Charlie (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Terror Castle
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "I Was the Man with Animal Powers"
This story is reprinted from Strange Adventures #180.
Buddy Baker, a meek mild-mannered mouse of a man, gains superhuman abilities when his body is exposed to the radiation from a crashed alien spacecraft. He is in the countryside on a hunting trip with his friend Roger Denning, when he finds himself attacked by all manner of strange beasts. A circus train has derailed, and the animals have escaped. Beset by tigers and gorillas and elephants, Buddy finds himself able to harness the powers of each creature and use them against each other. He agrees to help the local professionals track down and recapture the animals. Amidst the chaos, the alien life form who came to Earth attacks a nearby town. Buddy takes it as his responsibility to stop the monster at all costs, and finds that it has powers rivaling his own. In the middle of the fight, his animal enhancements begin to fade, and he is forced to flee. Regrouping, he tries a new approach. Buddy gets a mouse, and brings it to the extraterrestrial, enforcing timid and meek characteristics onto it. Now that it's afraid of him, he backs it off of a cliff and it plunges to its death. Buddy is proclaimed a hero in all of the local papers for his daring triumph. Back at home, he is trying to work up the courage to ask his girlfriend Ellen to marry him. Mustering up as much bravery as he can, he proposes... she accepts, and he promptly faints into her arms.
Appearing in "I Was the Man with Animal Powers"
Featured Characters:
- Buddy Baker (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Roger Denning (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Alien Monster
Other Characters:
- Ellen Frazier (First appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Amazing Congorilla"
This story is reprinted from Action Comics #248.
Congo Bill is summoned by a native of a village he is approaching and told that the village chieftan and medicine man, Kawolo, who is also a dear friend of Bill's, has fallen down a cliff and lies precariously on a ledge. Bill repels down to Kawolo and extracts him from the ledge and returns him to his village. Kawolo senses he is not long for this life and gives his friend, Congo Bill, a magic ring that will allow Bill, upon rubbing the ring, to change identities with the tribes god, the Golden Gorilla. He is told that during the transformation, his mind will reside in the gorilla, allowing him to use the god's strength for an hour, and the mind of the gorilla will reside in the body of Bill. A week after Kawolo's burial, Bill is exploring a cave system when a cave-in traps him. Bill decides to try the ring, though he doesn't expect it to actually work, and just as Kawolo said, Bill switches identities with the Golden Gorilla. On his way to clear the mouth of the cave, he sees an actress, part of a movie set filming a jungle scene, being stalked by a leopard. He chases the leopard away, but the director wants to capture him for use in his movie. During his tussle with the movie crew, the Golden Gorilla falls and hits his head and is knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a mobile cage. He causes the cage to roll down a hill and gets the door open, fleeing his captors. He steals the crew's airplane, but has the plane's engine shot by the crew. He then parachutes out and makes his way to the cave, where his body is still trapped, and frees himself. The movie crew comes running up just after Bill has regained his human form and he tells them that the gorilla had run off.
Appearing in "The Amazing Congorilla"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Kawolo
- Movie Set Director, Cast and Crew
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Single-Prop Airplane
Synopsis for "Call Him Satan—Call Him Saint!"
This story is reprinted from All-Star Western (Volume 2) #3.
El Diablo rescues a prospector panning for gold dust named Pop Woods from some gunmen who tells him that the group was working for another named The Hanged Man, a criminal who survived being hanged and made a widow out of his daughter and an orphan out of his grandson. Diablo remembers how he survived an encounter with death thirty-three days prior when he was known only as Lazarus Lane, a bank clerk who was struck by lightning and brought back from the brink of death by a mystic shaman named Wise Owl. Later, Diablo rescues Pop's daughter and takes down the Hanged Man and his entire gang before returning to Wise Owl, where he returns to his slumber as Lazarus Lane until EL Diablo is needed again.
Appearing in "Call Him Satan—Call Him Saint!"
Featured Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Origin of the Bizarro World"
This story is reprinted from World's Finest #181.
When an experimental duplicator ray was used on Superman, an imperfect duplicate known as Bizarro was created. A Bizarro duplicate of Lois Lane was also created to keep Bizarro company. The couple left Earth and founded Bizarro World, a planet populated by duplicates of themselves created with an imitator machine. The Bizarro planet was changed into a cube shape, and the Bizarros adopted a code to do the opposite of all Earthly things.
Appearing in "The Origin of the Bizarro World"
Featured Characters:
Other Characters:
- Superman (Flashback only)
- Bizarro Lois Lane (Flashback only)
- Bizarro, Jr.
- Bizarro Jimmy Olsen
- Bizarro Perry White
- Bizarro Lana Lang
- Bizarro Lex Luthor
- Bizarro Krypto
- Bizarro Lucy Lane
- Bizarro Kltpzyxm
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "The Spectre"
This story is reprinted from More Fun Comics #52.
Detective Jim Corrigan apprehends members of Gat Bensons gang on the same night of his engagement announcement. His fiancée Clarice Winstons desperately waits for Corrigan to show up at her family estate but he does not make it. Corrigan successfully subdues the criminals but lands in the hospital due to his wounds. Clarice tracks Corrigan down and meets him at the hospital where he is released. The couple then leaves but they are captured and taken hostage but Benson’s men. Corrigan is then stuffed into a Barrel that is filled with cement . He is then dumped into the river. The barrel plumets to the bottom and Corrigans soul rises out of its body. He hears a mysterious voice from above informing him that his mission on earth is unfinished. He is informed that he will be sent back with supernatural powers to battle crime. Corrigan then finds himself sitting at the bottom of the river but he does not drown and moves about very easily. He rises above the water and uses his supernatural powers to rescue his fiancée Clarice. Bullets pass through him and criminals drop dead as soon as they touch him. One of the criminals then shoots Clarice but Corrigan is able to heal her with his newfound powers. The police are summoned and the surviving thugs are apprehended. Corrigan then drives his fiancée home and informs her that their engagement is off with no explanation as to why. As he drops off Clarice, Corrigan comes to the sudden realization that he is not even breathing when he notices that he does not even leave an moisture as he sits next to the car window. Corrigan goes home and fashions a costume to fight crime as he comes up with the name of Spectre as his new identity.
Appearing in "The Spectre"
Featured Characters:
- The Spectre (Jim Corrigan) (First appearance) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Clarice Winston (First appearance)
- The Voice (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Gat Benson (First appearance)
- Louie (First appearance)
- Ricky (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Wayne Grant (First appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Spectre Strikes"
This story is reprinted from More Fun Comics #53.
Detective Jim Corrigan apprehends members of Gat Bensons gang on the same night of his engagement announcement. His fiancée Clarice Winston desperately waits for Corrigan to show up at her family estate but he does not make it. Corrigan successfully subdues the criminals but lands in the hospital due to his wounds. Clarice tracks Corrigan down and meets him at the hospital where he is released. The couple then leaves but they are captured and taken hostage but Benson’s men. Corrigan is then stuffed into a Barrel that is filled with cement . He is then dumped into the river. The barrel plummets to the bottom and Corrigan's soul rises out of its body. He hears a mysterious voice from above informing him that his mission on earth is unfinished. He is informed that he will be sent back with supernatural powers to battle crime. Corrigan then finds himself sitting at the bottom of the river but he does not drown and moves about very easily. He rises above the water and uses his supernatural powers to rescue his fiancée Clarice. Bullets pass through him and criminals drop dead as soon as they touch him. One of the criminals then shoots Clarice but Corrigan is able to heal her with his newfound powers. The police are summoned and the surviving thugs are apprehended. Corrigan then drives his fiancée home and informs her that their engagement is off with no explanation as to why. As he drops off Clarice, Corrigan comes to the sudden realization that he is not even breathing when he notices that he does not even leave an moisture as he sits next to the car window. Corrigan goes home and fashions a costume to fight crime as he comes up with the name of Spectre as his new identity.
Appearing in "The Spectre Strikes"
Featured Characters:
- The Spectre (Jim Corrigan) (First appearance as The Spectre) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Gat Benson (dies, is resurrected)
- Ricky (dies, is resurrected)
- Louie (dies, is resurrected)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Notes
- "The Origin of Doctor Fate" is incorrectly listed in the table of contents as coming from More Fun Comics #55.
- This entire issue was reprinted in DC Universe: Secret Origins.
See Also