Who was the first (Dr.) Fate you ever read about?

[Astroman]

Kent Nelson for me. But I do have to give a shout out to how awesome I thought the Dematteis run was, especially the mini-series with Giffen on art that kicked that off and officially passed the mantle to Eric and Linda.

That, and especially Kent and Nabu's characterizations were amazing. Y'all should pick that 4 issue mini up if you can.

[Jim Kelly]

. . . I wanted to mention 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL No. 9 (December '75) that featured Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson) with Inza, by Marty Pasko and Walt Simonson . . .

The next thing after this for Doctor Fate was his appearances in ALL-STAR COMICS--where he was shown throwing around some ankh-bolts, a la Simonson's treatment. And Keith Giffen got his first try at working with the good Doctor in that JSA comic.

Then Martin Pasko and Keith Giffen teamed up--with a little help from their friends, Steve Gerber and Larry Mahlstedt--for the Dr. Fate back-up series in THE FLASH. At this time Keith Giffen was going through a new phase in his art style that was much more detailed than where he eventually ended up. I liked that art--it brought out the weirdness in Kent and Inza--so I was sorry to see Giffen move on to a different approach afterward.

[MRP]

I had an issue of the 70s revival of All Star Comics that had Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate in it that I got off the spinner racks at the local drug store with allowance money. That was my first exposure to him. I got the Immortal Dr. Fate mini when I was getting serious about collecting comics and had the Super Powers action figure because I loved the look. When he appeared in the new Justice League coming out of Legends, I was becoming a big fan and started tracking down appearances as best I could (Golden Age stuff was out of my price range). I've read several of the other incarnations of Fate, but the original Kent Nelson is still my favorite version.

-M

[MajorHoy]

Since the last time I tallied up the poll results:

* Kent Nelson (orig. Golden Age version from 1940) = 34 votes (+ 8)
* Hector Hall (first became Dr. Fate in 1999) = 6 votes (+ 1)
* Eric & Linda Strauss (from 1987 series) = 5 votes (+ 1)
* Khalid Nassour (New 52/DCYou version from 2015) = 4 votes (no change)
* Inza Nelson (became Dr. Fate in 1991) = 3 votes (no change)
* Kent V. Nelson (2007 version / grandnephew of Golden Age Kent) = 1 vote (no change)
* other = 2 votes (no change)

Still no votes yet for:

* Jared Stevens (as "Fate") - Fate #0 (October 1994)
* Khalid Ben-Hassin - Earth 2 #9 (Feb. 2013)

[Jim Kelly]

I recall that Kent Nelson was an actual physician so the Doctor title was legitimate--although when he trained for his medical license, I don't know. How many other Doctors Fate were doctors?

It's interesting to think about this--are all the Doctors real doctors are all the Captains real captains, all the Majors real majors, etc. I don't think Billy Batson had any right to call himself Captain. And Steve Rogers was just a buck private when he became Captain America, eh?

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

I recall that Kent Nelson was an actual physician so the Doctor title was legitimate--although when he trained for his medical license, I don't know. How many other Doctors Fate were doctors?

It's interesting to think about this--are all the Doctors real doctors are all the Captains real captains, all the Majors real majors, etc. I don't think Billy Batson had any right to call himself Captain. And Steve Rogers was just a buck private when he became Captain America, eh?

Kent was both a medical doctor and also a doctor of archaeology as well

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

I recall that Kent Nelson was an actual physician so the Doctor title was legitimate--although when he trained for his medical license, I don't know. How many other Doctors Fate were doctors?

It's interesting to think about this--are all the Doctors real doctors are all the Captains real captains, all the Majors real majors, etc. I don't think Billy Batson had any right to call himself Captain. And Steve Rogers was just a buck private when he became Captain America, eh?

Kent was both a medical doctor and also a doctor of archaeology as well ... take that Stephen Strange!

[John Venus]

First saw Dr. Fate on JLU but didn't really anything about the wearer. Hector Hall on JSA was the first time learning about the man behind the helmet.

[astro@work]

The OG Kent Nelson for me, in a Silver Age JLA/JSA team up. May have been the one where Larry Lance died.
It was in my neighbors box of "old" comics where my buddy and I also discovered the Legion and many other Silver Age treats.

He'll always be the real Dr. Fate for me.

[MajorHoy]

One month later:

* Kent Nelson (orig. Golden Age version from 1940) = 38 votes (+ 4)
* Hector Hall (first became Dr. Fate in 1999) = 7 votes (+ 1)
* Eric & Linda Strauss (from 1987 series) = 6 votes (+ 1)
* Khalid Nassour (New 52/DCYou version from 2015) = 4 votes (no change)
* Inza Nelson (became Dr. Fate in 1991) = 3 votes (no change)
* Kent V. Nelson (2007 version / grandnephew of Golden Age Kent) = 1 vote (no change)
* Jared Stevens (as "Fate") - Fate #0 (October 1994) = 1 vote
* other = 2 votes (no change)

Still no votes yet for Khalid Ben-Hassin - Earth 2 #9 (Feb. 2013)

[The Whovian]

Kent Nelson

[byrd156]

One month later:

* Kent Nelson (orig. Golden Age version from 1940) = 38 votes (+ 4)
* Hector Hall (first became Dr. Fate in 1999) = 7 votes (+ 1)
* Eric & Linda Strauss (from 1987 series) = 6 votes (+ 1)
* Khalid Nassour (New 52/DCYou version from 2015) = 4 votes (no change)
* Inza Nelson (became Dr. Fate in 1991) = 3 votes (no change)
* Kent V. Nelson (2007 version / grandnephew of Golden Age Kent) = 1 vote (no change)
* Jared Stevens (as "Fate") - Fate #0 (October 1994) = 1 vote
* other = 2 votes (no change)

Still no votes yet for Khalid Ben-Hassin - Earth 2 #9 (Feb. 2013)

I honestly forgot about Khalid, is he still around?

[kilderkin]

Kent is my first but hector is my favourite

[MajorHoy]

I honestly forgot about Khalid, is he still around?

Depends on which one you're talking about.
I thought I heard that Khalid Nassour (New 52/DCYou)
is suppose to show up (possibly in JLDark?), but I have no idea what the story is with Khalid Ben-Hassin (Earth 2).

[DrNewGod]

I think I first saw Kent Nelson in one of the JL/JSA crossovers (may have been a reprint of "Crisis on Three Earths"). Then I got a copy of a reprint of All-Star Comics number 3 (one of those huge format things DC did in the mid-1970s). I loved his story of his battle against the sorcerer, and was bitterly disappointed I couldn't find more stories with him.

He was such an interesting character, and had such great stories in the beginning. When I finally got the collected edition of his original stories, I was stunned by how short a life "the real Dr. Fate" had lived, before they chopped his helm in half and reduced him to a second-rate superman.