Fresh Start Mark Waid On Doctor Strange

[nickytesla96]

I hope his output here will be better than his Avengers and Champions work he seems to be quite miserable over at Marvel.

Yeah agreed. His recent team books have been weak but his recent solo books have all been great. Daredevil, Black Widow (ANAD) and Captain America (Legacy). Hope he keeps it up.

[ed2962]

I'd really like to see Hickman on Strange. I'm just blown away by his Black Monday Murders which mixes the occult, finances, and conspiracy theories. A similar approach to Doc would be just the thing to reinvigorate the character.

[Frontier]

I'd really like to see Hickman on Strange. I'm just blown away by his Black Monday Murders which mixes the occult, finances, and conspiracy theories. A similar approach to Doc would be just the thing to reinvigorate the character.

I think Hickman's Strange in New Avengers and Secret Wars was probably the most in-character Stephen's been portrayed in a really long time.

[Clea]

Maybe getting Strange away from the rest of the NY based Marvel characters will be a way to reset the character back to something like what he used to be before Marvel tried to turn him in just another typical superhero. I'm willing to give Waid's story a try. IMO, the reason that the previous generation of writers were able to write Strange so well is because Strange largely kept to his own weird corner of the MU. He didn't really interact much with the superheroes. He didn't usually come off as a deus ex machina character in his own stories because he was typically fighting against vastly powered mystical enemies. He was designed to fantasy novel style gods and demonic entities and hang out with enigmatic beings like Eternity and the Vishanti. He was the mystical protector of the entire dimension, not just a NYC based Earth superhero. He got a cool alien witch princess girlfriend and a [now outdated, problematic] link to mysterious eastern/Tibetan mystics, and he had an entire stable of magical foes that no one else in the MU could really fight against, like Dormammu (who used to be very cool and is now pretty much a joke) to Nightmare to Shuma-Gorath as well as earth-based sorcerous foes like Baron Mordo who was just as powerful but evil. So long as Strange was kept over in his corner of the MU, all was well. When writers crossed him over into stories involving non-magical superheroes who fight criminals and aliens with muscle and technology, of course Strange came off as a deus ex machina. He was cool...but he also kinda sucked all the air out of the story because you just knew that the writer would have Strange wave his hand and utter some gibberish spell and make everything fine again. Once in a while that sort of story works but usually it just ends up kinda dumb. Writers either had to knock him of the story somehow or depower him because magic isn't really appropriate in a typical Marvel superhero type story. Everybody loved Strange because he was cool, but they couldn't use him well.

I don't think we're ever going to get the old school version of Strange back, not so long as Marvel wants to continue writing him as a superhero. They keep depowering him because they can't figure out how to have him be both an ax-wielding, wise-cracking, cranky, garbage-eating superhero, but also the thoughtful, mature sorcerer whose ability to defend the dimension required a combination of years of study and a solid moral character and strength of will. Superhero Strange is a completely different character from Sorcerer Supreme Strange, IMO.

[Strangefan]

I will probably read it, because I can tolerate the 10 minutes a month to read a comic, just to get a new Strange story. Frustrated, but unsurprised Strange is depowered again. Unsurprised that the writers forget Strange's magic is extra-dimensional, not Earth based. Funny the things these more recent writers latch onto. "The price of Magic!", got to eat really weird things because my body won't metabolize actual food anymore. It would be more believable if all he could eat was brown rice and tea, not squiggly things with eyeballs. Also, the Strange is so very arrogant he causes his own problems!! This is something Hickman started, but was never a part of his 30 odd year history prior to that.

Just continuing to hope that a writer will actually create a story for AFTER Strange regains more powerful level, because ^V^&* this guy is supposed to protect our universe. The amount of time Strange has been depowered or side-lined Dormammu should have moved in long ago.

[CaptCleghorn]

I'd really like to see Hickman on Strange. I'm just blown away by his Black Monday Murders which mixes the occult, finances, and conspiracy theories. A similar approach to Doc would be just the thing to reinvigorate the character.

Should I take this as a recommendation to pick up BMM? (And i suspect you're going to be one of those people who is going to recommend good stuff that will empty my wallet, blast you. )

[Frontier]

I don't think we're ever going to get the old school version of Strange back, not so long as Marvel wants to continue writing him as a superhero. They keep depowering him because they can't figure out how to have him be both an ax-wielding, wise-cracking, cranky, garbage-eating superhero, but also the thoughtful, mature sorcerer whose ability to defend the dimension required a combination of years of study and a solid moral character and strength of will. Superhero Strange is a completely different character from Sorcerer Supreme Strange, IMO.

I don't think those character traits should prevent Strange from being presented as a Superhero, since I feel like those are exactly the traits that make him one.

But I think the issue is indeed that Marvel finds the former traits more "palatable" and in-tune with mainstream audiences, even if they're antithetical to who Strange is.

[ed2962]

Should I take this as a recommendation to pick up BMM? (And i suspect you're going to be one of those people who is going to recommend good stuff that will empty my wallet, blast you. )

I'd say definitely give it a try, it's challenging but satisfying.

[Hypestyle]

best of luck to mr. waid-- he's a high profile writer so this will hopefully last longer than the first arc? having him in a space setting could be interesting, introduce him to lots of villains, new characters and settings. Have stories that don't depend on blowing up the adversary at the end. Have some mysteries to solve.

[Reviresco]

I'm not liking how this sounds. I don't understand why Marvel keeps slavishly following the movies. But Saiz's art is pretty, though I'm not sure it will work well for Strange's mystical world. Of course, that's getting ignored for a cosmic world, so it may work out.

[kilderkin]

Maybe getting Strange away from the rest of the NY based Marvel characters will be a way to reset the character back to something like what he used to be before Marvel tried to turn him in just another typical superhero. I'm willing to give Waid's story a try. IMO, the reason that the previous generation of writers were able to write Strange so well is because Strange largely kept to his own weird corner of the MU. He didn't really interact much with the superheroes. He didn't usually come off as a deus ex machina character in his own stories because he was typically fighting against vastly powered mystical enemies. He was designed to fantasy novel style gods and demonic entities and hang out with enigmatic beings like Eternity and the Vishanti. He was the mystical protector of the entire dimension, not just a NYC based Earth superhero. He got a cool alien witch princess girlfriend and a [now outdated, problematic] link to mysterious eastern/Tibetan mystics, and he had an entire stable of magical foes that no one else in the MU could really fight against, like Dormammu (who used to be very cool and is now pretty much a joke) to Nightmare to Shuma-Gorath as well as earth-based sorcerous foes like Baron Mordo who was just as powerful but evil. So long as Strange was kept over in his corner of the MU, all was well. When writers crossed him over into stories involving non-magical superheroes who fight criminals and aliens with muscle and technology, of course Strange came off as a deus ex machina. He was cool...but he also kinda sucked all the air out of the story because you just knew that the writer would have Strange wave his hand and utter some gibberish spell and make everything fine again. Once in a while that sort of story works but usually it just ends up kinda dumb. Writers either had to knock him of the story somehow or depower him because magic isn't really appropriate in a typical Marvel superhero type story. Everybody loved Strange because he was cool, but they couldn't use him well.

I don't think we're ever going to get the old school version of Strange back, not so long as Marvel wants to continue writing him as a superhero. They keep depowering him because they can't figure out how to have him be both an ax-wielding, wise-cracking, cranky, garbage-eating superhero, but also the thoughtful, mature sorcerer whose ability to defend the dimension required a combination of years of study and a solid moral character and strength of will. Superhero Strange is a completely different character from Sorcerer Supreme Strange, IMO.

I think you make a good point

Strange as sorcerer supreme is so far beyond most characters it's hard to put him in the same sandbox

I think there's maybe 4 heros on earth who come close but to be honest the powers he can call on are magnificently powerful only true cosmic scale threats are a problem, I recall the Watcher saying he could stop the civil war with a gesture

But whilst a change of scene would help, I think the days of him being full stats are well gone, which for me is a shame

but I hold out hope the depowered version is up stated soon coz it's old news to me now

[King_Thor13]

Any guesses as to who the supporting cast for Waid's Doctor Strange run will be? Could very well be a new character, possibly the female on the cover to #1. I miss Clea. Maybe once Strange gets back to Earth we can finally get her back in the comics again

[Frontier]

Any guesses as to who the supporting cast for Waid's Doctor Strange run will be? Could very well be a new character, possibly the female on the cover to #1. I miss Clea. Maybe once Strange gets back to Earth we can finally get her back in the comics again

I'm assuming it'll probably be a lot of new characters with Stephen in space.

Wong is probably going to be stuck at the Sanctum again .

[ed2962]

Waid introduced a girl during the Strange mini series some years back. I never finished it. Is it possible that she may return?

[King_Thor13]

I'm assuming it'll probably be a lot of new characters with Stephen in space.

Wong is probably going to be stuck at the Sanctum again .

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Wouldn't be at all surprised if Stephen happens to encounter Beta Ray Bill or Silver Surfer during his travels too.

Poor Wong. I suppose there's always a chance of Midnight Sons being a new thing if Damnation sells well. I'd love to see Man-Thing, Doctor Voodoo & Elsa Bloodstone regularly