Reviewer: John Babos
Story Title: The Curse (Part 2 of 5)
Written by: Christopher Golden
Penciled by: Don Kramer
Inked by: Prentis Rollins
Colored by: John Kalisz
Separated by: Heroic Age
Lettered by: Kurt Hathaway
Assoc. Editor: Steve Wacker
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC
Building on his regular appearances and reintroduction in the pages of JSA, a spotlight in the concurrent JSA: All-Stars mini-series, Dr. Fate has busted loose in his own 5-issue mini-series written by the legendary Christopher Golden and penciled by newcomer Don Kramer (more on him later). Issue #2 of this mini flows from the events of the first issue and fleshes out Dr. Fate / Hector Hall’s home town of Salem, Massachusetts – why is it that all magic related heroes or heroines MUST to be from, be located in, or visit Salem? I know the infamous “Salem Witch Trials” of old happened there, but.. come on. To be fair, this is a Geoff Johns’ contrivance from the pages of JSA, but I digress…
While learning more about Hector’s Salem neighbors — who fit the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer “Scooby Gang” mold, which it itself was an homage to the vintage Scooby-Doo cartoon sleuths — we also learn that Dr. Fate’s Tower is virtually sentient. As Hector is entertaining his neighbors with a good strong brew (tea – had to make it sound more mystical than it was), a vision by one of his guests – the clairvoyant – has him racing off to battle some very Aliens-like villains. As he departs, Dr. Fate warns his Scooby Gang: “Do not attempt to use magic within these walls, or to explore this place. The Tower will not allow it.
Readers also learn a bit more about The Curse who appears to be writer Christopher Golden’s attempt to give Dr. Fate a arch-villain – the whole “flip side of the same coin” hero/villain relationship. I’m not sold on this villain yet. The Curse’s human host is an unappealing lout, and his own costume of purple and reds is only saved by cool head gear. Its still too early to pass judgment, but we’ll see how he develops over this mini-series.
Writer Christopher Golden does a good job on the human elements of the story, but I still have not been awed by his use of mysticism and his choice of villains over the last 2 issue – again, its still early – we’ll see how the story evolves over the next 3 issues.
Penciller Ron Kramer has caught DC’s eye and has also debuted last week as the new JSA penciller with JSA #52. I like his pencils, but I think his collaboration on JSA will improve over the next few months as he and that book’s inker, Keith Champagne, try to get in sync with one another and play off each others strengths.
If you want to learn more about DC’s “new” Dr. Fate, pick this book up. If you like truly mystical books, I recommend a DC Vertigo-line book. This book is too mainstream to be able to fully embrace its mystical roots.
