The face of the magical DCU: Doctor Fate vs. Zatanna vs. Wonder Woman

[lemonpeace]

In terms of who should be the face of magic as a whole, I'd like to say Wonder Woman, but in terms of who should be like the premier magical specialist or Dr. Strange analogy, I'd say Zatana. I like the more overtly magical turn they've taken with Wonder Woman and I think it's a great avenue to further define her niche in the DC universe in a way that's not so self-contained and is more inclusive of the rest of the DC universe. on this route, I can more easily see Wonder Woman leading her own major event ala Thor and Batman recently. However, she should stay a more fantasy and celestial type of magical hero, Zatana's the best fit for the mysticism and sorcery side of magic. Snyder's JL hinted toward Wonder Woman recruiting other female heroes as Amazons, that would be the best way to play on that balance; have Zatanna join the Amazons and make that community the face of magic.

[9th.]

I've always seen Zatanna as the face of any magical happening in the DCU. I see Dr. Fate as old school and I don't really associate WW with magic that often.

[Frontier]

I mean, if we're talking about character's whose job it is to deal with the biggest magical and supernatural problems in the DCU, that usually falls to Fate and whoever's wearing the helmet.

Zatanna does her part but she's not a Lord of Order, if only because that type probably wouldn't be putting on magic shows and wearing fishnets, even if those aspects are probably part of why Zatanna is more popular then Fate is.

[Restingvoice]

Younger gen, or recent, newer gen, would pick Zatanna
Wonder Woman is involved with magic... explicitly involved, where the word magic is uttered, and not just dealing with gods in general... only on specific storylines like with Hecate, Circe, or Justice League Dark
I didn't even know Fate is about magic because my first Fate was New 52 where the focus is more on Egyptian myth

How about Shazam and Constantine? Honestly, I'd put Constantine before the other two. Right after Zatanna.

[Sutekh]

Zatanna or maybe Raven, for casual use. (Definitely prefer an actual spellcaster to one of the magically empowered tanks like Wonder Woman, Shazam or Blue Devil, or other supernatural sorts like Deadman or Swamp Thing.) And then there's Constantine, but he's a little too *low* powered, for the position, IMO.

Dr. Fate I see as a 'big gun' with more important stuff to do than show up for anything less than apocalyptic (much like the Phantom Stranger or the Spectre). He's a Lord of Order, pretty much on par with Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme, so I think him being part of a team on the regular is a bit of a step down, and perhaps even constitutes shirking his responsibilities. (And yeah, I know, he's been a member of the JSA, All-Star Squadron and even a jokey version of the Justice League, but, barring the time when he was stripped of most of his powers and using the half-helmet, he always felt a little too big for the room.) Nommo/Dr. Mist and Madame Xanadu, IMO, also occupy this sort of niche. More 'NPC' or 'quest-giver' than active hero in the field.

[byrd156]

Green Lantern is probably their most direct one, in my opinion.

LoSH I would say is even more direct considering they never deal with the modern day unless it's special circumstances.

[kjn]

Green Lantern is probably their most direct one, in my opinion.

Note: that question was rhetorical on my part. While GL is the one who deals with it the most, they all have rather clear niches and strong places there. None of them need be given a special status for framing or for interpretations.

There are a few exceptions to the lack of "face" for various story concepts within DC. Batman has evolved into the face of the city and street-level stories, but that's more because nearly every street-level hero has been moved into Gotham. And Wonder Woman is the face for the mythical stories, but that's more because no other hero has moved into that field with strong stories since Pérez.

[Rrobin]

Dr Fate will always be the face to me, given that Nabu is one of the higher entities as well. Wonder Woman in particular doesn’t fit the magical side as well as her Greek mythology side imo

[Aahz]

Depends a little on what the face is supposed to do.

Fate has imo the advantage that he looks more like a Superhero than Zatanna, and that he iirc combines spell casting with superhero level physical power.

Fate you could have fly into battle along with Superman, Green Lantern and the others, without that it would look odd, Zatanna can't really do that.

Fate has afaik also a longer history as solo character, while Zatanna had only one short lived solo and was apart from that mostly on team books.

[Frontier]

Depends a little on what the face is supposed to do.

Fate has imo the advantage that he looks more like a Superhero than Zatanna, and that he iirc combines spell casting with superhero level physical power.

Fate you could have fly into battle along with Superman, Green Lantern and the others, without that it would look odd, Zatanna can't really do that.

Fate has afaik also a longer history as solo character, while Zatanna had only one short lived solo and was apart from that mostly on team books.

Ironically I think we see Zatanna with those heroes more then we see Fate.

[Aahz]

Ironically I think we see Zatanna with those heroes more then we see Fate.

But she pops iirc hardly up in the big cosmic JL stories.

[Vampire Savior]

The best option to me is Amethyst. I see way more potential in her than any of the other characters. She just hasn't been utilized as well as she could be by DC Comics. I'm not sure they ever really knew what to do with a Magical Girl or how to best present one. That's somewhat outside of their wheelhouse, but if they got creators together who could properly capitalize on that I think she could be really successful. She can do what Wonder Woman can't because Wonder Woman is too much of a generic DC Comics superhero, and if you try to veer away from that, like Azarrello did, then her fans are going to protest and want her put back in that role. As such, I don't see Wonder Woman ever successfully filling a certain niche aside from "female DC Comics superhero," which I guess isn't such a bad niche to own.

Regarding Dr. Fate, he could be pretty awesome with the right writer and artist who are really interested in exploring metaphysical themes and good at it. It could work well, but you really need the right creators, and likely it won't be easy to sustain, because some hacks will come and botch it even if someone successfully gets it going.

Zatanna, despite being a character I like a lot, I don't see her offering nearly as much as the others, aside from cheesecake. Honestly, I think she's best utilized as a the "magician" of a superhero team, like the JLA.

[Midnight_v]

Jason Blood.

Or

Doctor Fate.

You get a hulk figure. Who is also a master of magic, covered in tattoos under his clothes etc etc.

Or you get a Helmet that someone has to willingly put on and allow themselves to be "taped over".

but really....

Isn't the answer Constantine?

I saw the Constantine move and I'd see doctor fate... I'd see etrigan but I'm not sure I'd go watch Zantana

[Robotman]

I don’t think there needs to be a face of the DC magic universe. The supernatural characters are one of the strongest facets of the DCU. Their amazing array of mystics is far ahead of Marvel or any other company for that matter. Dr. Fate is the equivalent to Dr. Strange as the “Sorcerer Supreme” of the DCU. But the world of magic is a very dark place and sometimes you need a conman who is willing to sacrifice anything in order to win. So yeah, in certain situations Constantine is the face of the magical universe. Not to mention the fact that he’s the poster child for the Vertigo years which featured some of the greatest fantasy/magic based stories in comics history. Zatanna is the moral center of the magic world. She isn’t the emotionless Lord of Order and she isn’t the immoral conman. She’s the “good guy” of magic.

I never knew I needed Wonder Woman to play such a big role in the DCU magic world but here we are. I’ve absolutely loved her leading the Justice League Dark. Diana has always encompassed beauty and truth but I love seeing her get dirty battling demons and extra dimensional evil.

There’s also the Phantom Stranger as a candidate, but he’s more of a guide who can’t really get involved.

[Confuzzled]

Choice #4: Raven.

No immediate Marvel counterpart comes to mind.

Lol I missed this. Nico Minoru from Runaways is a very blatant Raven counterpart.