Two of the most powerful Justice League heroes in the DC Comics universe once became one after Martian Manhunter acquired Doctor Fate’s helmet and used it to save the world. In the story, Doctor Fate’s mortal body became infected with an alien virus that separated him from the Helmet of Fate. In response, J’onn J’onnz put on the powerful artifact and used its immense powers to discover how to bring the Justice League to victory.
Doctor Fate has incredible magical and cosmic powers, acting on behalf of the Lords of Order in an ancient war against the Lords of Chaos. With the Helmet of Fate, Cloak of Destiny, and Amulet of Anubis, Doctor Fate is one of the strongest characters in the DC Universe whose magical abilities have no upper limit. Meanwhile, his Justice League teammate Martian Manhunter is a powerhouse himself. His shapeshifting, invulnerability, and heat vision even had Superman admitting that he’s afraid to face off against the hero. However, in one of the coolest combinations of powers between two heroes, Martian Manhunter wielded Doctor Fate’s powers by wearing the Helmet of Fate.
In Justice League Annual #1 by J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, Bill Willingham, Robert Campanella, Dick Giordano, Gene D’Angelo, and Bob Lappan from DC Comics, the Justice League learns that an infection has caused a violent outbreak as something mind-controls the general public. Eventually, the Justice League becomes infected themselves, as their efforts to stop the disease from spreading fail. Even Doctor Fate, who believes nothing can harm him, gets infected after the disease attacks his mortal body. In a last-ditch effort before turning, Fate throws his helmet to Martian Manhunter, whose alien physiology protects him from the infection. To learn more about the infection, J’onn J’onnnz puts on the Helmet of Fate, merging two of the greatest heroes in the DC Universe.
Realizing the Helmet of Fate is the only way he can find out who’s causing the attack, Martian Manhunter briefly puts it on, allowing him to learn that a sentient cell created a mutation that’s infecting people on Earth. Later, Martian Manhunter would use Doctor Fate’s helmet to briefly give the original hero control of his powers again before the plague took over. Fate channels the infection into J’onn J’onnnz as he absorbs the disease and nearly sacrifices himself. In the end, the Justice League hero made his body the home of the infection, preventing it from spreading on Earth.
While Martian Manhunter only briefly wears the Helmet of Fate, taking on its incredible powers and learning about the alien infection’s true nature is a brilliant move from the hero. It was a hail mary, as keeping the helmet on too long could have changed J’onn J’onnz forever – however, his great power allowed him to harness the powerful artifact. By quickly taking it off after gaining the information he needed, he managed to use its powers to stop the disease from spreading. Ultimately, Doctor Fate’s Helmet helped Martian Manhunter save the Justice League and the world, with the alien hero looking cool doing it, too.
