10 Superheroes You Totally Forgot Were Rip-Offs
5. Doctor Strange - Ripped-Off Doctor Fate
Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme has never had too popular a run in the comics. While his initial line in sixties was a hidden gem for the hippie crowd thanks to its psychedelic imagery and symbolism, all of his other attempts at a solo title have floundered. He's really just there because it's convenient and cool to keep a resident wizard floating around throughout other Marvel comics.
Doctor Strange's unpopularity might be due to his unoriginal archetype. He's not just a rip-off of another comic book character, he's a rip-off of two completely separate source materials in two entirely different mediums.
His concept, character, design, and the title Sorcerer Supreme are all stolen directly from DC's Doctor Fate and both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko admitted to being inspired by and plagiarizing the wizard-based radio dramas they both grew up loving, specifically the popular Chandu the Magician program.
The parallels are obvious between both influences. Everything from his aesthetics to mannerisms, to his personality are ripped from something else. One of his only original elements are the specifics of his origins. The argument could even be made that early Doctor Strange comics bear an uncanny resemblance to those old Zoltar the Fortune Teller machines.