And here's another one.

Continuing our list of My Favorite JSA Characters, we have Doctor Fate, who used to be a fellow named Kent Nelson, then wasn't, then wasn't, then wasn't, but then he was again, but not the same Kent Nelson as the original, unless that bizarre helmet of his, that sometimes contains the spirit of Nabu, and sometimes doesn't, and sometimes contains its own pocket universe, and sometimes doesn't (all depending on who's writing it I suppose) is playing some sort of game of its own.

        My departed friend Steve Gerber was hired to sort through all of the past continuity and redesign Doctor Fate in a way that preserves the cool stuff and discards some of the chaff, while adding a few new, uniquely Gerberesque elements to the good doctor.

        Steve died before he could entirely explore the new Doctor he'd fashioned, but we'd had some opportunities to discuss Steve's long range plans, back when the Las Vegas based funnybook writers were getting together for regular lunches, and Steve was helping me come up with ideas behind the change in magic status in the DCU -- ending the fictional universe's Ninth Age of Magic and ushering in the shiny new Tenth Age. In doing so, Steve provided all of the best lines for my Detective Chimp special issue, which was part of Steve's Helmet of Fate event, that would lead into his new Doctor Fate series. Steve was a most generous fellow.

        So what happens when a brand new Kent Nelson Doctor Fate joins the JSA that used to have an entirely different Kent Nelson Doctor Fate as one of its early members? Finding out is going to be fun.