Comments on: Doctor Fate Cancelled For Now

By: Lew Newmark

Lew Newmark — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:53:48 +0000

Could we see a teamup of Dr Fate and The Spectre in a new book?

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:36:20 +0000

Just so folks know -- Gerber has stated on his blog that the Fate material will become the lead feature in a new dual-feature book, expected in September.

By: Lew Newmark

Lew Newmark — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:53:46 +0000

Another big setup, and another big fall. Not that the good doctor hasn’t had a few series in the past, but I purposly stayed away from all the to-do about this one. But again the bigger problem for the comic reader is the fact that this project like alot of others now a days doesn’t come to fruition in a timely manner or in some cases at all. Marvels biggest offenders, Ultimates#13, the final issue and Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine, along with DC’s Action Comics Last Son storyline that’s been delayed, and All Star Batman and Robin #5 which was also late, makes the comics reader waiting for these titles at the least put off, and at worst angry enough to not even bother to pick up the comic. I know this has happened to me as far as both of the Ultimate books from Marvel goes. The big comic publishers need to get their acts together, and start getting it right,or the comic reader is just going to stop buying their offerings due to continued dissapointment and frustration.

By: What’s Going on With the Doctor Fate Archives? » Comics Worth Reading

What’s Going on With the Doctor Fate Archives? » Comics Worth Reading — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:36:08 +0000

[...] DC offered the Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives, due out at the end of June. In March, they cancelled the series of the character, but no word was said about the Archives. At that time, I found the book for order [...]

By: Dan Coyle

Dan Coyle — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:46:01 +0000

I read Black Alice and Ibis; Ibis was AWFUL while Black Alice was quite good.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:24:25 +0000

I really only enjoyed the Black Alice and Detecive Chimp books and it makes me wonder if the less than stellar quality of the others helped push the Fate book back. I honestly hadn’t planned on reading the others but curiosity got the better of me and I can say without reservation that the latest (Zauriel) was by FAR the worst of the bunch and it may be what caused my pneumonia. It was that bad. Something else that I noticed before these came out. Previews had the Black Alice book listed as being written by Steve Niles while the ads in DC books said it was written by Gail Simone. I remember telling Frank that I wouldn’t be buying it if Niles was the writer but noone could get a straight answer until the day the book shipped. I hope that doesn’t become a trend.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:34:24 +0000

I saw the one-shots as more of a chance to focus on characters DC saw futures in. I know I’m not the target audience, but I picked up one because it was a Black Alice story, not because of any upcoming series (which I didn’t know about at the time).

By: Don MacPherson

Don MacPherson — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 03:31:21 +0000

Guy wrote: While I bought the Helmet of Fate one-shots mainly because I was looking forward to the ongoing series, I don't get Don's rationale for returnability. It's not like they canceled it outright, and the delay doesn't make them any more or less readable as they're all relatively self-contained stories. I can see how one might think I'm making a bit of a leap. Look at it this way: if DC solicits a four-issue limited series but releases only the first two issues and then cancels it, presumably, DC would make those two first issues returnable, as they wouldn't be able to sell the whole story. I view the Helmet of Fate one-shots as "pre-issues" to the new Doctor Fate series. Now, it has been postponed, not cancelled, per se, but that lapse in time makes it harder for retailers to move those one-shots, in theory. I really don't think DC will make the Helmet specials returnable, and I don't know if there would be a demand for it from retailers. But I do think it would be a sign of good faith from DC, given this misfire for the launch of the new series.

By: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:41:45 +0000

While I bought the Helmet of Fate one-shots mainly because I was looking forward to the ongoing series, I don’t get Don’s rationale for returnability. It’s not like they canceled it outright, and the delay doesn’t make them any more or less readable as they’re all relatively self-contained stories.

That said, I wonder how much of this has to do with the relatively low sales for the one-shots, which were an odd marketing choice to launch a 2nd (3rd?) tier character’s ongoing to begin with. Is Justiniano’s page rate notably lower than Gulacy’s, perhaps?

By: Don MacPherson

Don MacPherson — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:46:03 +0000

If the delay proves to be a lengthy one, I wonder if DC will allow the Helmet of Fate one-shots that were to lead up to the new series to be made returnable. With no Doctor Fate title on the horizon, I wonder if retailers will feel as though they were stuck with their shelf copies.