Comic Book Resources

Gaiman's Books of Magic very elegantly explained how both Thirteen and Stranger could be right: the argument that magic is a belief-optional system. Pity they seem to have gone with "Dr. Thirteen is a schmuck" instead, though.

I totally agree, Gaiman's explanation is the best (I couldn't figure out where to fit that in, but I do remember it fondly.) I also liked Morrison's take on Doctor Thirteen, where he had him look at seemingly magical phenomena and find hard-science rationales for them (similar to the way Ted Knight refused to take his own afterlife at face value in 'Starman')...except, of course, that Morrison then decided to kill the character off for shock value, which pretty severely impacted my enjoyment of his take.

I have to say this is the first Storytelling Engine I've been disappointed in and it's all down to the billing: I thought we were going to get an analysis of the Phantom Stranger, which I thought would be fascinating look at the character...instead we got an analysis of the Phantom Stranger and Dr. Thirteen-- an absolutely small period in both character's histories when they teamed up. It's like doing the Atom but concentrating on the period in the '60s when he was teamed up with Hawkman.

That said, I think there's potential to bring this pairing back, only play up the potential for a buddy comedy: "He's a skeptic who debunks ghosts for a living...He's a mysterious stranger who fights supernatural menaces. When they meet...they're in the ride of their life!" It's so obvious I'm amazed they never assigned it to Giffen and DeMatteis or Will Pfiefer.

Sorry you were disappointed--what can I say, I'm looking through the lens of 'Showcase Presents', and that was the period they chose to present.

I've admitted it in the past, but I'm actually a bit of a novice when it comes to DC; I'm a lifelong Marvel reader, but I only started picking up DC books in the early 90s. Pre-Crisis DC is something I'm more or less just learning about now, through these reprint volumes, and so there's a lot of stuff that I'll admit to not knowing. For example, I actually had to look up whether the 'Showcase Presents' stuff was the first appearance of the character, or whether he was older than what they showed.

(I will second your opinion on there being some potential in the pairing, though, if only as a limited series or a one-shot...the two as reluctant team-mates, each using their own area of expertise to solve a mystical crime CSI-style might be fun. I see each one as being convinced that the other should use their methods--the Stranger is convinced that Doctor Thirteen could be a powerful mystic if he only opened his mind, while Doctor Thirteen believes that PS has a fine analytical mind if he'd only use it.)

I've never read either title so I can't be sure, but it would seem to me that magic being "real" doesn't preclude the existence of charlatans. In fact, if magic/supernatural phenomena are common in this world (and they are) then surely this would lead to more villains trying to simulate the effects? Thus you could have your two protagonists approaching each case from their own angle and part of the mystery each time being whether the cause really is mystical.

Having written it down, I realise just how Mulder & Scully it sounds, but as long as the writers are willing to write both kinds of stories then it could work.

That was one of the problems with X-Files...after some of the crap they'd seen over the years it just became ridiculous that the redhead could still be a skeptic for so long. She went from seeming smart to just seeming stubbornly thick.

In contrast to Graeme, this is probably my favorite Storytelling Engine out of the last few. I'm not very well-versed in the realm of the Phantom Stranger myself, but the concept's pretty interesting; the same goes for Dr. Thirteen, who has a fantastic name and a fun high concept behind him.

Were I to pitch a new Phantom Stranger series today (and I'd like to), I'd turn it into a supernatural version of Doctor Who, basically, with P.S. as the Doctor-- and perhaps Dr. 13's daughter (does he have just the one? I don't know) as the human sidekick. Dr. Thirteen would show up quite often too, because I wouldn't be able to resist. I quite liked Morrison's version before he got fried, and Azzarello has been doing some great and hilarious stuff with the guy, so I'd definitely like to see more of him in the DCU.

I'm such a sucker for PS.

I even fondly remember him playing Candyland in the Hal Jordan Spectre series.

There's certainly room for Magic and Skepticism, just not in the same story. When you've introduced Phantom Stranger as a bona fide magic guy, having someone else come along and constantly doubt him doesn't really work. They just look really stupid, as I pointed out a couple months ago.

In what story did Morrison kill off Dr. Thirteen?

He died in Zatanna #1, along with Ibis the Invincible (if he died, is that false advertsing?) and some other magic types.

Personally, the "atheist in a fantasy setting" always bugged me.

This bit was an enjoyable read, alright. And it's funny when you consider what Dr. Terry Thirteen is going through in Tales of the Unexpected (which is actually far more entertaining than the Spectre's "main story").

It seems that, as it's stated here, he can't exist in the DCU anymore. He got himself a ticket to limbo (following the steps of Buddy "Animal Man" Baker) and he's struggling to... get out? Maybe. It's hilarious to see him try to deal with other limbo'd characters since most of them are supernatural (talking nazi Gorillas, vampires, pirate ghosts, etc). I am hoping for a decent resolution on his ultimate fate when this limited series ends, but I bet it'll be far better than the out of character death he got.

I suppose one way to make Dr. Thirteen a workable character would be for him to act as a vocal proponent of Clarke's Law, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

So whenever Thirteen came across supernatural phenomena, he could argue for a science-based explanation, i.e. "Those aren't ghosts, they're intangible energy-based lifeforms" or "We're not fighting demons, but creatures from another dimension" or "That guy over there who claims to be a Greek god is really just an incredibly advanced alien being posing as a deity." That way, Thirteen doesn't come across as such a stubborn, narrow-minded individual, but rather as a rationalist who seeks to understand the universe via scientific inquiry.

Ben Herman -

At least one 13 story used that very idea, with Dr. 13 debunking a ghost that was really an otherdimensional alien... which didn't even surprise him a little. It's in the Phantom Stranger Showcase. In a world where aliens are commonplace, psychic phenomena is understood by science, and 7% of the population (as of Invasion!) has the potential to develop superpowers under stress, Dr. 13's point of view isn't hard to accept. In a way, he's the sanest man in the DCU.

Of course, his daughter's introduction really hurt his character. And where's Marie been for the past 20 years? I kinda miss her.

A lot of people (whether in fiction or real life) misunderstand skepticism in general. It's not "stubborn disbelief," but more like "Wait a sec. If you want me to believe this, *prove it* first."

Even in the DCU, magic and "psychic phenomena" probably aren't *that* common from the average person's perspective, and there are quite possibly *more* charlatans there than in the real world, since the "magic exists" premise is more or less a given. (Though perhaps the best debunker would be an actual practitioner of the real thing.)

Regarding the plausibility of "atheist in a fantasy setting": Without wishing to start off a religious flamewar, what makes it more implausible than certain kinds of theism (deliberately being nonspecific) in reality? There are a lot of intelligent people who believe things that are clearly, provably wrong- why should comic characters be any exception?

A lot of people (whether in fiction or real life) misunderstand skepticism in general. It’s not “stubborn disbelief,” but more like “Wait a sec. If you want me to believe this, *prove it* first.”

Well, yeah, there is "sensible skeptical," which you describe. And then there is "stupid skeptical," an example of which would be you were a citizen of Earth in the DCU, you saw Darkseid boom tube in with an army of Parademons ready to sweep across the globe to conquer humanity, and you dismissively concluded "Ehh, it's just a guy in a Halloween fright mask with a bag full of SFX."

ehh, the old "Mulder and Scully" situation.

Thing that made "The X files" work, though, was that both Mulder and Scully had opportunities to be grossly wrong about whatever they were investigating that week. Though the skeptic was usually wrong, every now and then the true believer stuck his foot in it too.... and sometimes BOTH of them were miles off target.