Kid Flash: More like Doctor Fake. Guy knows a little advance science and Dumbledore’s it up to scare the badguys and impress the babes.

Artemis: Do you ever get tired of being wrong?

July 27th – Kent Nelson, a widowed centenarian, goes unnoticed by the tourists in New Orleans as he makes his way to the parlour of the medium Madam Xanadu. She welcomes him and offers to make contact with his late wife Inza (Kent carries her photograph in his pocket watch). A glow envelopes Madam Xanadu as she claims to be talking with Inza’s voice. However, Kent bursts out laughing and points out her tricks and wind machines. He’d sensed some true mystical ability in this “medium” and had hoped that she could actually contact his beloved Inza. However, Kent’s sarcasm is cut short when he pulled to his feet by a dark stranger (Abra Kadabra) who tells him “you will be with her soon enough”. Kadabra and Kent then vanish into thin air.

August 19th – Artemis and Miss Martian (Megan) watch as Superboy and Aqualad spar in the Cave’s training area. Artemis suggests that Megan should ask Aqualad out while Megan suggests that Artemis and Kid Flash (Wally) would make a cute couple. It appears that Superboy has finally taken Black Canary’s lessons to heart (c.f. “Schooled”), but the training session is interrupted by the arrival of the Red Tornado. Wally asks him if he’s got a mission for them, but the Tornado explains that his friend (the aforementioned Kent Nelson) has vanished. As Doctor Fate Nelson was a founding member of the Justice Society (the Justice League’s predecessor) and the custodian of the massively powerful Helmet of Fate. Aqualad offers their services to the Red Tornado and he gives them a key to the Tower of Fate, Doctor Fate’s mystical home in Salem, Massachusetts.

Wally is dismissive of magic, but pretends to be a “true believer” when Miss Martian professes her own belief. He keeps up the pretence during the flight to Salem – even under Artemis’s cross-examination. However, there appears to be nothing on the site where they expected the tower to be. Aqualad understands that this is a test of faith. He turns the Tower key in mid-air and the Tower appears around it. They enter through the newly appeared door, but it vanishes behind them.  A glowing figure (a program) of Kent Nelson appears before them and asks their purpose for visiting. Wally, who still trying to impress Megan with his belief in magic, tells the Tower that he’s a true believer here to find Doctor Fate. Unfortunately the tower senses his dishonesty and the floor vanishes beneath them.

The teen heroes arrival was watched by Teekl, the feline familiar of the witchboy Klarion.  Unknown to the newly arrived heroes, Klarion is nearby in an abandoned theatre watching Abra Kadabra torture Nelson. They are trying to find the Helmet of Fate which is hidden within the Tower. Unfortunately, by using the Tower’s Key Aqualad has unwittingly revealed its location to Nelson’s abductors. The Tower’s door opens as they force Nelson to approach. Kadabra’s future science fakes Nelson’s voice tells the glowing Kent Nelson program that Klarion and he are actually Kent’s friends. The program smiles and then grants them access – but telling not the secrets of – the labyrinth within the Tower.

The floor that vanished under Wally sent him and his friends plunging towards a pool of lava. Artemis grabs Aqualad with a grapple-line, and Megan grabs Wally, while Superboy uses his super strength to slow his fall (despite loosing his footwear to the lava). Megan realises that they didn’t properly answer the Tower’s question so she shouts out that the Red Tornado has sent them to check on Kent and the Helmet of Fate. The lava pit suddenly closes over creating a paved stone floor beneath them. Artemis is furious with Wally for lying to the Tower and to Megan, but he calls magic the true lie and cites the example of primitive cultures who thought fire was magic. However, his point is undermined when Aqualad opens a trap door and they all tumble sideways into an icy wasteland. Kent’s walking stick is there, hovering in mid-air. Artemis and Wally make a grab for it at the same time, but they find that they can’t let go of it and are suddenly teleported away.

Abra Kadabra and Klarion are lost amid the Tower’s labyrinth until Artemis and Wally appear next to them. Wally recognises Kababra as one of the Flash’s foes. The appearance of his walking stick gives Kent enough magical power to momentarily overcome his abductors and summon an elevator which he, Artemis, and Wally escape in. Kent agrees that Kababra uses science to simulate magic, but he tells them that Klarion is a Lord of Chaos (“the ultimate enemy of a Lord of Order like Doctor Fate”). Superboy, Aqualad, and Miss Martian eventually find another door and the tumble through it. They find themselves beside their friends and Nelson just as Klarion and Kababra reappear.

Nelson rings a massive bell and steps into through it with Wally. They reappear on the roof of the Tower with the Helmet of Fate beside them. However, Klarion follows them and mortally wounds Kent. The old man manages to erect a protective bubble around them and the Helmet, but the dies telling Kid Flash that the only way to defeat Klarion is so put on the helmet and allow Doctor Fate to take control of his body. Kent was only ever an anchor, a puppet, that allowed the true Doctor Fate – a Lord of Order called Nabu – to exist on the Earthly plane.  Miss Martian telepathically calls to Wally telling him that Kadabra is overcoming them and that they need help.

With his friends in trouble, Kent dead, and Klarion moments away from ripping the protective bubble apart Wally swallows his pride and puts the Helmet on. He suddenly finds himself in a black void with the soul of Kent Nelson who tells him that Nabu is now controlling his body as Doctor Fate. Despite not being in control Wally still feels Klarion’s attacks against his body. Fate appears to falter against Klarion until he realises that Klarion, as a Lord of Chaos, needs Teekl as an anchor to stay on the Earthly plane just as he needs the Helmet and a mortal host. Fate targets his attacks against Teekl causing Klarion to scoop up the stunned cat and vanish with the exclamation “We’re out of here!” Doctor Fate then magics away Kadabra’s gadgets leaving him helpless against Superboy’s lightest punch.

The Doctor refuses to take off the helmet and surrender Wally’s body. He says that there is still chaos to fight and is angry that Kent left him on a shelf for 65-years. Nabu eventually accepts Kent’s bargain for his soul to remain in the Helmet until such time that Wally can find a worthy successor. Wally then finds himself back on the Tower’s roof, alone with Kent’s lifeless body. He places Kent’s pocket watch with Inza’s photograph into the old man’s dead hand.

August 20th – Wally includes the Helmet of Fate in his growing trophy collection and he dodges Artemis’ questions about what happened to him when it put it on. She calls him geek and walks off as Kent’s words ring in Wally’s ears “Find your own little spitfire, one that won’t let you get away with nothing.” Despite now believing in magic, Wally isn’t quite ready to believe that he and Artemis have potential as a couple so he once again goes chasing after Megan.

• The abduction of Kent Nelson takes place on July 27th. The search for him begins on August 19th and they return to the Cave on August 20th.
• Superboy mentions a lesson from Black Canary showing that he’s taken to heart their exchange in “Schooled”
• Robin does not appear in this episode (Kid Flash: “he’s off doing the dynamic duo thing with Batman.”)
• Kid Flash does not believe in magic until confronted with it here.
• Martian physiology is susceptible to heat. There are Sorcerer Priests/Priestesses on Mars.
• Atlantean physiology is susceptible to heat. Aqualad studied for a year at the Conservatoire of Sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin-icons (his eel tattoos) which power his water bearers.
• The Justice Society existed on this Earth and are described as the Justice League’s predecessors. Doctor Fate (Nabu/Kent Nelson) was one of their founding members, but he hasn’t been active in 65-years.

Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate, Nabu, and Kent Nelson first appeared in More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940). Garnder Fox gets a creator credit for Doctor Fate in this episode – Fox was also the co-creator of the Justice League. Nabu the Wise was a sorcerer from ancient Egypt. Nabu was originally portrayed as an ancient Egyptian wizard, but he was later described as a Lord of Order. The Lords of Order and Chaos, possibly inspired by Michael Moorcock’s Law and Chaos, are the two-sides of magical power in the DC Universe. They are either Lovecraftian entities or human sorcerers who have elevated themselves as to be equals to gods. Order/Chaos have transcended past good/evil into a purer confrontation, however the difference is often immaterial.

Nabu fought evil in Egypt until he weakened and was entombed, believed dead. His spirit and power waited until the time that they could possess a suitable champion and together continue the fight against Chaos. That vessel was Kent Nelson, the young son of the archaeologist who uncovered Nabu’s tomb. Nabu’s spirit taught Kent to be his champion as he poured his own power into the Helmet of Fate. A worthy person who wears the helmet will be granted access to Nabu’s full power. The catch is that it takes the strongest of minds and spirits not to be completely overwhelmed by Nabu’s personality whilst wearing the helmet. Indeed, the weak or unworthy may be driven insane or worse by the experience.

When Kent Nelson puts on the Helmet he is transformed into Doctor Fate and loses much of his own personality. He tried using a demi-helmet for a time, but he was greatly reduced in power without Nabu’s influence. The helmet has passed through a few hands over the years and has even been worn by Inza – Kent’s wife mentioned in his episode – when she became a female version of Doctor Fate. The current comic book Doctor Fate is another Kent Nelson, the grandnephew and namesake of the original.

This Kent Nelson is 106 years old. If this episode is set in 2011 it would mean that Kent was born in 1905. He hasn’t put on the helmet in 65-years which would also mean he retired circa 1946, just after WWII, at the age of 41. His biography is seen behind Red Tornado in the Cave:

JL File No. 00942.
Kent Nelson
Age: 106    Height: 5’10
Kent Nelson was born in 1905 to Celestine Babcock-Nelson, a spiritualist, and Sven Nelson, an archaeologist. Kent’s mother died sometime after his birth under unknown circumstances. However, Kent’s destiny was already written and at the age of 18 his sheltered wife would soon change.

The sorcerer Wotan, who is mentioned in “Independence Day” as the reason that the Justice League cannot investigate Cadmus themselves, was an enemy of Doctor Fate.

Edward Asner seems to have something of a monopoly on seniors in DC Comics cartoons as he was also the voice of Granny Goodness in Superman, Justice League Unlimited and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and Perry White in All-Star Superman. He played Roland Daggett in Batman: the Animated Series. He has also voiced characters in Weisman’s other productions including Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Hudson in Gargoyles.

Nabu is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson who usually voices the Martian Manhunter in this series.

Klarion

Klarion the Witch Boy was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in The Demon (vol. 1) #7 (March 1973). Grant Morrison, who revamped Klarion in 2005, described Kirby’s Klarion as “a weird little Puritan-dressing kid with ill-defined powers and a mischievous streak”. The comic book Klarion was from an other-dimensional place called Witch World and had a familiar called Teekl. She had the ability to transform into a fierce humanoid form, but that isn’t shown here.

This episode makes Klarion one of the Lords of Order – the polar opposite entities to Doctor Fate’s Lords of Chaos – and gives a new spin on the Teekl familiar by claiming that she is his link to the Earthly plane just as the Helmet of Fate is Nabu’s anchor. Klarion is voiced by Thom Adcox, another Wesiman alumni who played Lexington in Gargoyles and Tinkerer in Spectacular Spider-Man.

Abra Kadabra

The Flash and Kid Flash are almost totally science or science fiction based characters. As Barry Allen the Flash is a police scientist (CSI in modern terms) and most of his enemies got their break by stealing from one or other of Central City’s private laboratories. The Flash’s origin was laboratory accident and his stories were often peppered with “Flash Facts” describing some new or interesting bit of science trivia. It’s this background that creates Kid Flash’s skepticism about magic.

The science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once postulated that:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

So this is the direction that Flash writer John Broome took when he introduced Abra Kadabra in The Flash #128 (May 1962). Kadabra is a time traveller from the 64th Century and uses his time’s advance science to pose as real magician. The original name Abracadabra was an ancient incantation which has been taken up by stage magicians looking to give their acts a bit more shazam.

Abra Kadabra is voiced by Jeff Glenn Bennett (the same voice as the Red Tornado).

Madame Xanadu

In the comic books Madame Xanadu is a uniquely gifted medium and a mysterious fortune-teller who is able to talk with spirits and has a certain mystical power herself. The Earth-16 one shares some of that potential as Nelson alludes to her having the right “aura” for the work. She says “may fate be kind”. To which Kent replies “but, he so rarely is.” Both unknowingly or knowingly referring to Doctor Fate.

Madame Xanadu is voiced by Cree Summer (Max from Batman Beyond and Penny from Inspector Gadget). David Michelinie and Val Mayerik get creator credits for Xanadu.

References

• Aqualad called Doctor Fate “Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme”, an epithet usually reserved for Marvel Comics’s Doctor Strange.
• Kid Flash says that Doctor Fate “Dumbledore’s it up to scare the bad guys”. Albus Dumbledore was the Merlin/Gandalf like wizard who served as the Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
• Artemis postulates that the tower is hidden by “phase-shifting”. This is the name given in this world to the Martian Manhunter’s ability to ghost through objects and appears to be a valid scientific concept for them.
• The Atlantean Conservatoire of Sorcery is a tip of the hat to the Conservatoire de Paris, a prestigious school of art and dance in France.
• Kid Flash’s origin: “I recreated Flash’s laboratory experiment and here I am.” A short, but accurate account of events in The Flash #110 (December 1959).

Misc.

• Wally’s trophy collection: Mister Twister’s eye from “Welcome to Happy Harbor”, Kobra’s cowl from “Drop-Zone”, Artemis’s arrow from “Schooled”, Cheshire’s mask from “Infiltrator”, and now the Helmet of Fate from this episode.
• Unanswered questions: How did the Tornado and Kent Nelson become friends and why was he given a key to the Tower?
• Kid Flash’s diet: Burrito while Aqualad and Superboy train.

Highlights

It doesn’t matter what show he’s in Klarion is always a scene stealer. This version remains funny, but gets a good dark edge to him.

Oddities

Wally has seen how cranky Nabu was at being left on a shelf for 65-years yet he just puts him back on a similar shelf – not to mention the massive security headache of storing the Helmet of Fate in plain sight, in the Cave. I wonder how long it is until Red Tornado notices.

First Impressions

Ed Asner completely inhabits the role of Kent Nelson and out shines almost everybody else in this episode. His dignified, yet sardonic elder statesman is a nice contrast to this show’s Justice Leaguers who seem slightly bland when compared to their youthful sidekicks. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but Nelson has a slight air of the Doctor (the BBC Timelord not the superhero) to him and the Tower makes for a convincing Tardis (larger on the inside, possibly intelligent).

I must admit that I have no idea how this cartoon plays to somebody who had never read any of the comic books. Take Madame Xanadu as an example. Comic fans watching the teaser to this show will recognise her instantly and will be expecting – maybe over expecting – her to do something significant. In the comics she’s a genuine mystic who is respected by the superhero community. So the trick with her being a fake in this world is a surprise and works nicely in that scene. It should work equally well just based on the setup within the teaser, but its hard for me to separate that from what I already expect.

The villains, Kadabra and Klarion, are an odd pairing, but are slightly under used – or at least under developed compared to Asner’s Nelson. Kababra feels like he’s only there to show some real muscle and to stop Klarion looking too silly out on his own. I thought that more would be made of Klarion given that he is the first opponent of their own age that Young Justice have fought

Irrespective of wizards and sorcery the true heart of this episode is Artemis and Wally’s bickering. When she was introduced last episode she was the new kid and was rather defensive. Here she is settled and accepted within the group and is shown causally chatting with Megan about the boys. The potential romance between her and Wally is telegraphed several times and there is a  parallel with Green Lantern/Hawkgirl from Justice League or Beast Boy/Terra from Teen Titans.

The Verdict