A judgment on fate!
Creative Staff:
Story: Paul Levitz
Art: Sonny Liew
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
What They Say:
In this climactic concluding chapter, chaos reigns as New York City is plunged into darkness and terrifying mummies rise to wreak havoc on the streets. And in the center of it all, Osiris, has come to render judgment on Doctor Fate and the rest of mankind. But can even the combined might of two magic wielders be enough to defeat the God of Death?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we get into the final three issues of Doctor Fate, I’m still in that weird place with the book. I’ve come to really like Khalid and his family and setting a whole lot but have struggled with the decompressed storytelling that has left me feeling like the arcs don’t truly result in much. I’m still somewhat surprised that the book didn’t end earlier in the Rebirth event and find a new path but it leaves me hopeful that Khalid will find a place elsewhere sooner rather than later. Thankfully, we’ve got another issue that features the great creative team that drew me to the series early on as Levitz is shepherding this to its conclusion and Sonny Liew is delivering more fantastic artwork, especially that last page with Khalid that’s just fantastic all around.
With this issue, events are in the darkness once again, or at least an overcast version of it, as there’s a dangerous magic in the air that Khalid is sensing. That end times feeling is permeating the consciousness of a lot of people and seeing it reflected in different ways is certainly interesting to watch. In particular I like that we see Khalid’s parents drawing together as soon as they can and trying to bring Khalid back home as well. If the world is going to end, not that either seem to feel like it’s an immutable truth at the moment, then you want it to be with those that you love and feel connected to in a deep way. These little moments are what made the run interesting for me, though I would have liked to have seen more of it and more with the women in Khalid’s life. It just feels like too many opportunities lost along the way.
What makes up the “action” component of this installment is the return of Osiris to the world to pass judgment on what’s gone on. This is something that works better than it should in some ways, especially since other religious aspects are brought in. With his role in dealing with the living and the dead, there are some nice callback pieces to the formation of Fate and Osiris role in it and some advocacy by others for what Khalid has done. It’s all done in such a big and sprawling public way – with a whole lot more destruction than I think is actually explored, that I’m somewhat unsure of how to take it. It has that kind of grand interacting with gods idea about it that plays well visually as Liew delivers with some great panels, but I almost feel like everything came out of left field in a way that I sometimes get from a monthly book that works stories as decompressed as this series does.
In Summary:
Doctor Fate continues to be a series that I enjoy overall and I kind of feel like it can find itself a really good cult status in years to come and we’ll see some sort of elaborate oversized library edition that will delight. In the here and now, it has that sense of winding down and that does take some of the energy out of it as you know we’re getting to that point. But there is, in a way, a kind of rebirth that we get for Khalid here as it hits that final page and you can see how he’s viewing the world in the right frame of mind. Levitz continues to do some solid stuff here with an interesting cast that Liew brings to life in a really great way. I’m hopeful that both of these creators have a lot more in store, whether together or apart, that engages like this series does.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 21st, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
