A long time ago, I explained to you loyal readers about Amalgam Comics. Once one of the weirdest marketing schemes of the 1990's, Amalgam spawned many forgettable characters. But there was one man-formed from three-that rose above this shifty deal and became an interesting hero and villain. This week's Z-Lister is Doctor Strangefate.
First appearing in 1996's "DC/Marvel #10" and created by Ron Marz and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Doctor Strangefate was one of many characters created as part of Amalgam Comics. For a quick explanation, DC Comics and Marvel Comics had a crossover in the 90's that ended with a short-lived combination of their universes featuring Super-Soldier (Superman plus Captain America), Darkclaw (Wolverine plus Batman), Lobo The Duck (Lobo plus Howard The Duck), and many others. Doctor Strangefate is fairly different, being the combination of Professor X, Doctor Fate, and Doctor Strange. For a long explanation, search up "Instigation & Amalgamation".
Charles Xavier was born a meta-mutant with the power of telepathy. After injuring his hands in a car accident he sought help in the Himalayas where he met Nabu The Ancient One. Xavier trained under Nabu until his newly taught magical abilities and his telepathic powers made him far more powerful than Nabu. As such, Nabu gave him The Helmet of Fate and Xavier became The Lord of Order known as Doctor Strangefate. It became Doc's job to protect his universe and he did so by staying in his mansion and using magic to orchestrate events that would benefit his world. However, his research into his own world led him to discover his world was only a mixture of two others and that a character named Access was the key to splitting them apart. Since the division of the two worlds would mean the end of his own, Doc began searching for Access to prevent that from happening. Access-by the way-was a character invented solely for Marvel/DC and was to be a character who could jump between both universes and fix any potential crossovers. Sadly, Marvel and DC couldn't get along well enough for that idea to be fully capitalized on. Doctor Strangefate gathered Skulk (Solomon Grundy plus The Hulk), Jade Nova (Nova plus Green Lantern), and White Witch (Zatanna plus Scarlet Witch) to capture Access. Only The White Witch is able to catch Access and bring him to Strangefate. However, Access had no control over the fate of both universes.
Though Marvel and DC divided and The Amalgam Universe was destroyed, Doctor Strangefate remained hidden in Doctor Strange's mind via telepathy. When The Justice League were transported into the Marvel Universe and met up with The X-Men, Strangefate reemerged and took control of Strange's body. He summoned The JL and The X-Men to his mansion and used his powers to fuse them together into his "Amalgam Soldiers". Superman fused with Bishop, Batman fused with Jubilee (HA-HA-HA!), The Flash fused with Cannonball, Aquaman fused with Iceman, The Martian Manhunter fused with Phoenix, Green Lantern fused with Cyclops, and Wonder Woman fused with Storm. Strangefate's plan was to use his magic and his soldiers to turn The Marvel Universe into The Amalgam Universe. However, Access returned and brought the soul of Doctor Strange into the mansion to battle Doctor Strangefate. After he is defeated, Strangefate begs just to go home. So, Doctor Fate recreates The Amalgam Universe in a realm cut-off from Marvel and DC and Access becomes the guardian of that world.
Out of all of the Amalgam characters, I find Doctor Strangefate to be the most interesting. Being a combination of three incredibly powerful characters he is a God in his own right, but seeing him return a failure of a protector, so desperate to get his home back he hijacks Doctor Strange's body is incredible. He also seems more of a manipulator rather than a malevolent god which is an interesting direction for such a powerful character. Part of me hopes he remains the last of his universe and returns to be a reminder of another era in comic book history.
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Charles Xavier was born a meta-mutant with the power of telepathy. After injuring his hands in a car accident he sought help in the Himalayas where he met Nabu The Ancient One. Xavier trained under Nabu until his newly taught magical abilities and his telepathic powers made him far more powerful than Nabu. As such, Nabu gave him The Helmet of Fate and Xavier became The Lord of Order known as Doctor Strangefate. It became Doc's job to protect his universe and he did so by staying in his mansion and using magic to orchestrate events that would benefit his world. However, his research into his own world led him to discover his world was only a mixture of two others and that a character named Access was the key to splitting them apart. Since the division of the two worlds would mean the end of his own, Doc began searching for Access to prevent that from happening. Access-by the way-was a character invented solely for Marvel/DC and was to be a character who could jump between both universes and fix any potential crossovers. Sadly, Marvel and DC couldn't get along well enough for that idea to be fully capitalized on. Doctor Strangefate gathered Skulk (Solomon Grundy plus The Hulk), Jade Nova (Nova plus Green Lantern), and White Witch (Zatanna plus Scarlet Witch) to capture Access. Only The White Witch is able to catch Access and bring him to Strangefate. However, Access had no control over the fate of both universes.
Though Marvel and DC divided and The Amalgam Universe was destroyed, Doctor Strangefate remained hidden in Doctor Strange's mind via telepathy. When The Justice League were transported into the Marvel Universe and met up with The X-Men, Strangefate reemerged and took control of Strange's body. He summoned The JL and The X-Men to his mansion and used his powers to fuse them together into his "Amalgam Soldiers". Superman fused with Bishop, Batman fused with Jubilee (HA-HA-HA!), The Flash fused with Cannonball, Aquaman fused with Iceman, The Martian Manhunter fused with Phoenix, Green Lantern fused with Cyclops, and Wonder Woman fused with Storm. Strangefate's plan was to use his magic and his soldiers to turn The Marvel Universe into The Amalgam Universe. However, Access returned and brought the soul of Doctor Strange into the mansion to battle Doctor Strangefate. After he is defeated, Strangefate begs just to go home. So, Doctor Fate recreates The Amalgam Universe in a realm cut-off from Marvel and DC and Access becomes the guardian of that world.
Out of all of the Amalgam characters, I find Doctor Strangefate to be the most interesting. Being a combination of three incredibly powerful characters he is a God in his own right, but seeing him return a failure of a protector, so desperate to get his home back he hijacks Doctor Strange's body is incredible. He also seems more of a manipulator rather than a malevolent god which is an interesting direction for such a powerful character. Part of me hopes he remains the last of his universe and returns to be a reminder of another era in comic book history.
Thanks for reading!
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Twitter: @ThePanelBiter
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