JSA / Justice Society of America Appreciation Thread 2022 version

[TheCasualReader]

I'd love for Khalid to get to be an actual character again. He's stuck in the same role that writers always seem to stick Doctor Fate - regardless of which Doctor Fate it is - in: bland mystical cameo character. It's the same thing that happened with Kent. Seriously, it's the exact same thing: they're being written the exact same way.

The Doctor Fate tie-in for the Black Adam movie was decent and left me hopeful they might use some of his lore.

God, I'd love for Doctor Fate to get a mini-series in the wake of the movie with Kent in the role and Khalid as his grandson/apprentice. It'd be a good way to re-introduce Doctor Fate lore and give the character some memorable chaos villains. Kent's story would be great to set the tone and nature of the grey-and-grey conflict between order and chaos because he was a victim of order, but has also fought against chaos and is basically trying to be the good in that grey-and-grey conflict. His backstory works well to introduce the cosmic horror aspect and his relationship to Nabu is just dark psychological intrigue incarnate when writers explore just how screwed-up it is (Never cared for the creepy Linda-and-Eric thing, but I absolutely loved the Kent and Nabu parts of the Dr. Fate mini-series)

Including Khalid as his immediate supporting cast also means you have someone who is new to all this horror, it gives a chance to better establish Khalid's characterization and his relationship to Kent would be a good way to have some levity and sunshine balance the darker aspects. Khalid and Kent's relationship was one of my favorite things in the Justice League: Dark series and I would love to see it return. I liked that Khalid had a different approach to handling Nabu because he never went through the same things as Kent did. It was a nice contrast that added something and it made a lot of sense because Khalid was never "raised" by Nabu.

For example, he was a different kind of defiant and had a way of getting through to Nabu (and other gods) by knowing how to appeal to their way of thinking and not through verbal appeasement. His exchanges with Nabu were always interesting to me.

It was a good dynamic so, naturally, Nabu died with Kent because god forbid, Khalid has any interesting supporting cast to interact. I was really sad when JLD got cancelled, but to be honest, I've become less sad about it over time because Khalid was basically losing everything Doctor Fate-related: he'd lost Kent, he'd lost Nabu and he was about to lose the Tower. The way they handled his grief over losing Kent - namely, the fact that they didn't handled it at all save a single exchange between him and Bobo - didn't make me confident they were actually going to build him back up.

[Robotman]

I really like the Black Adam JSA merch. The designs have a classic old school vibe. Which is perfect for the JSA.

[Frontier]

Find it strange that they won't captalize on Kent being Dr. Fate in the Black Adam movie, unless we'll see a passing of the torch at the end of the film, which I find totally possible. But they REALLY need to do something about Khalid's lame costume.

Peace

Would be a waste of Pierce Brosnan (even if he's not getting any younger).

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

Oh I thought you were talking about his current Dr. Fate look.

New look is better but sneakers?!?!?



A writer thought that would be cool... heh!

[Digifiend]

That's not uncommon. Doesn't Static wear them too? Even the MCU is doing it, both Ms. Marvel in her Disney+ show and Stinger in the upcoming movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wear trainers. Neither of them does in the comics, funnily enough.

[Nomads1]

I actually think Dr. Fate works better as a seasoned sorcerer, the only one who even has a chance of standing against someone like, say, the Spectre (a very small chance, infinitesimal, really), than as a young neophyte prodigy who is still learning the craft.

Peace

[sifighter]

So who would we say we prefer then: Khalid Nassour or Kent V. Nelson.

I personally prefer Khalid, he feels more unique to me then the other Kent who showed up post-Infinite Crisis and felt kind of like a knock off of the original Kent Nelson minus being homeless. Probably didn’t help that his name was also just Kent Nelson. Although it’s been a good decade since that character existed so maybe I need to review.

[Dataweaver]

If you're not going to use the Kent Nelson who was a member of the original JSA, then I prefer Khalid Nassour. Frankly, I don't get why they decided that a younger Kent Nelson would be a better choice for Doctor Fate than Hector Hall.

[Frontier]

Stargirl actually mentioned Dr. Fate in their recent episode! And Wotan!

[Lucas 35]

Don't worry about the Khalid Nassour or Kent V. Nelson debate. Now the Batman is the new Dr. Fate!

[TheCasualReader]

I actually think Dr. Fate works better as a seasoned sorcerer, the only one who even has a chance of standing against someone like, say, the Spectre (a very small chance, infinitesimal, really), than as a young neophyte prodigy who is still learning the craft.

Peace

To be fair, Khalid was significantly more powerful and knowledgeable in the Lord of Order arc: he was the guide, the explainer and he was powerful enough to do things like hold Nabu - who was exceptionally powerful at the time - in place. He was an apprentice, but only in comparison to Kent. He was shown to be as powerful as, if not more powerful than, the other sorcerers. It was only after that arc that they changed his characterization (and age) to more closely resemble a stereotypical sidekick: teenager, inexperiencec, having feelings of inadequacy as a successor, not as knowledgable etc. For example, Khalid's insecurity is not at all present in the LoO arc: he's very much in his element even when he has no control over the situation.

It was something I really liked about that version of Khalid (his calm, his smarts etc.) and was sad to see go. That Khalid also felt a lot like how an apprentice to someone like Doctor Fate should be: he's calm, he's got his **** together, he actually studies and retains knowledge so he's smart, and he knows how to verbally stick it to Nabu (while believing in the cause)

So who would we say we prefer then: Khalid Nassour or Kent V. Nelson.

I personally prefer Khalid, he feels more unique to me then the other Kent who showed up post-Infinite Crisis and felt kind of like a knock off of the original Kent Nelson minus being homeless. Probably didn’t help that his name was also just Kent Nelson. Although it’s been a good decade since that character existed so maybe I need to review.

I never understood why they named him Kent Nelson (I know the in-universe reason) They even named his designated love interest Inza.

[krazijoe]

Don't worry about the Khalid Nassour or Kent V. Nelson debate. Now the Batman is the new Dr. Fate!

Or is Dr. Fate the new Batman?

[TheCasualReader]

I did find it funny that the helmet of Fate has itsy bitsy bat ears.

[MajorHoy]

If you're not going to use the Kent Nelson who was a member of the original JSA, then I prefer Khalid Nassour. Frankly, I don't get why they decided that a younger Kent Nelson would be a better choice for Doctor Fate than Hector Hall.

But Hector and Lyta were banished from the DC Universe proper because Karen Berger complained they now belonged to Vertigo / the Sandman Universe, didn't she?

[CaptCleghorn]

But Hector and Lyta were banished from the DC Universe proper because Karen Berger complained they now belonged to Vertigo / the Sandman Universe, didn't she?

Does the Vertigo Universe even apply to anything anymore now that DC changed the line to Black Label.

DC can also take Hector and Lyta out and put them on whatever the main DC Earth is called this month and have the Sandman star in remakes of Risky Business and/or Home Alone. My selection would be Sandman dancing in his underwear and lip syncing "That Old Time Rock & Roll".