Master of the Mystic Arts: Doctor Strange Appreciation 2019

[MaximoffTrash]

Restarting the current run, and just wondering is Loki still the Sorcerer Supreme?

Nope, that story got resolved with Stephen getting back his title and Loki not actually acquiring the SS title.(The Vishanti that grants Loki his title is Loki's illusion.)

[Shadowcat]

Nope, that story got resolved with Stephen getting back his title and Loki not actually acquiring the SS title.(The Vishanti that grants Loki his title is Loki's illusion.)

I’m a little confused though. In the first issue he’s lost his connection to magic. How can he still be the Sorcerer Supreme if earth’s magic is cut off to him?

[Rrobin]

I’m a little confused though. In the first issue he’s lost his connection to magic. How can he still be the Sorcerer Supreme if earth’s magic is cut off to him?

The title isn’t supposed to change unless another tournament is carried out, the current one dies or the current one gives it up by his/her own will iirc. Besides, the Vishanti might simply not have noticed the new development, or they might be behind it.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Strange Tales #121 Jun 1964
"Witchcraft in the Wax Museum!"
A phone call lures Doctor Strange away in his ectoplasmic form,

so Baron Mordo can steal his body; Knowing that Strange is doomed if the two are not reunited within 24 hours,

Mordo places a spell over the body so Strange cannot return to it.

Script by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (co-plot), art by Steve Ditko

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Doctor Strange #181 Jun 1969
"If a World Should Die Before I Wake"
Strange enters the Dream Dimension

to battle Nightmare and free Eternity;


Nightmare turns the Eye of Agamotto against Strange
Clea appearance. Letter to the editor from comics artist Scott Shaw.

Script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Tom Palmer

[MaximoffTrash]

Just thinking about the recent Captain Marvel issue, how much of Stephen's power is bound to his body?
He can cast spell in Astral Form without a body, and I always think his power is mostly knowledge-based which won't matter even if he swapped body with others since he is not born of mystical bloodline or have specific curses/blesses like Hellstrom, Magik, Asgardians, Scarlet Witch, Storm, etc. Or does Vishanti actually changed SS's physical body to some extent?

[Indian Ink]

Just thinking about the recent Captain Marvel issue, how much of Stephen's power is bound to his body?
He can cast spell in Astral Form without a body, and I always think his power is mostly knowledge-based which won't matter even if he swapped body with others since he is not born of mystical bloodline or have specific curses/blesses like Hellstrom, Magik, Asgardians, Scarlet Witch, Storm, etc. Or does Vishanti actually changed SS's physical body to some extent?

Not much of his power is in his body I think. (At least in most of his history) I'm sure there have been many stories where he was using someone else's and he appeared to still have full power. I think his power is a combination of knowledge, mental training, magical entity allegiance and his own divine soul. Of course he's also supposed to have arrested aging, and I don't know if that's now his body's natural nature, or an effect of Strange merely being in it.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Doctor Strange #1 Jun 1974
First appearance of the Silver Dagger in the beginning of a classic Dr. Strange storyline, "Through an Orb Darkly!"
While Clea is practicing her mystical powers, Dr. Strange's Sanctum is infiltrated by Silver Dagger, who believes Strange to be a demon in need of destruction.
Mesmerizing Clea and incapacitating Wong, Silver Dagger manages to sneak up behind Strange and stab him in the back with a mystical dagger

before stealing the Eye of Agamotto and fleeing with Clea.

Strange survives the attack. However when he tries to use the Orb of Agamotto, it transports him into the land of Agamotto,
where the being presents itself in a form similar to the caterpillar from "Alice in Wonderland". After a brief battle with the creature,

Agamotto sends Strange off to the center of the Orb, where he may find freedom.

Script by Steve Englehart (co-plot, script) and Frank Brunner (co-plot), pencils by Frank Brunner, inks by Dick Giordano

[Tulku]

Not much of his power is in his body I think. (At least in most of his history) I'm sure there have been many stories where he was using someone else's and he appeared to still have full power. I think his power is a combination of knowledge, mental training, magical entity allegiance and his own divine soul. Of course he's also supposed to have arrested aging, and I don't know if that's now his body's natural nature, or an effect of Strange merely being in it.

There was a story, just prior to the book becoming "Volume 2" of Strange Tales, where Strange's body is seriously wounded. He uses his astral self to take control of Morgana Blessing's body. He was still able to do some spells, but he did mention that he could not use the "higher functions" of the Eye of Agamotto because of impurities in her body.

So, basically, the ascetic regimen is needed to attune the body to the magical energies for some spells, but others can be done without. Some require high mental training and discipline, while other spells contain the power in the words themselves (these tend to be written in glyphs). Some spells require precise physical gestures to work, others do not. It is quite the mixed bag. Despite that, there has generally been a consistent that the spells that require more discipline, more gestures, more everything also tend to be the more powerful spells, while the spells done easily (with just a gesture and no words, for example) tend to be weaker spells. So it is harder to do the more powerful spells and easier to do the weaker ones. So, for example, the Shield of the Seraphim--when it is summoned with just a gesture, it tends to be weaker than if the Shield is summoned by reciting a spell (I personally always figured that the rhyming spell thing works basically as a mnemonic device to properly channel the magical energies in one's mind--that way you can channel more energies reciting the spell than if you just gesture).

[Rrobin]

DOCTOR STRANGE #20
MARK WAID (W) • JESUS SAIZ (A/C)
IMMORTAL WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY TBA
MARVELS 25TH VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
• An event so epic shakes Doctor Strange to the core and makes him completely reevaluate his life and role.
• This event is so huge that it makes this the LAST ISSUE OF DOCTOR STRANGE!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Thoughts on this? I suspect it’s probably a marketing gimmick and it will be have a new title. Hope it won’t be cancelled, I have been really enjoying Waid’s run so far and sales have been ok

[mreddie]

Likely a swerve since trade wise, this would be the third issue of the 5-6 issue trade so yeah, I expect October to be DOCTOR STRANGE HAS BEEN KILLED BUT CAN HE SOLVE HIS OWN MURDER AND RECOVER type of deal.

Sales have been good.

[maklelin highbain]

DOCTOR STRANGE #20
MARK WAID (W) • JESUS SAIZ (A/C)
IMMORTAL WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY TBA
MARVELS 25TH VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
• An event so epic shakes Doctor Strange to the core and makes him completely reevaluate his life and role.
• This event is so huge that it makes this the LAST ISSUE OF DOCTOR STRANGE!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Thoughts on this? I suspect it’s probably a marketing gimmick and it will be have a new title. Hope it won’t be cancelled, I have been really enjoying Waid’s run so far and sales have been ok

I have a feeling this isn't a cancellation but more of a direction change but i guess we get to wait until next month for confirmation

[Rrobin]

Man, Waid has really been doing all the right things for me in this arc, it’s been straight fire and #15 continues the trend. Issue does feel slower than the rest, probably because it’s actively building up to the climax. The deal with Mephisto is worrying though, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s used as leverage to remove his magic again when a new writer comes in

The huge ensemble feels pretty fake though, Zoloz being the biggest hint for me. Then again, if it’s real I won’t mind either although it would require time travel as an explaination or something

[Morsoth]

That's a weird unexpected news. To me, it looks like a cancellation or a very sudden reboot… but I don't think it was planned a long time ago. Also, if we measure the run based on collected editions, it is far from being a perfect number to end a series.

I have the 2 first trade paperbacks of the run, and the first collects #1-5, the second TPB collects #6-11.

Based on the marvel solicitations, the upcoming TPB will only collects #12-17 (The "Herald Supreme" story arc) so we are now left with the last 3 issues (#18-20). It could makes a very small TPB but I highly doubt it. I guess they'll make a bigger TPB with #12-20.

I remember when Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme was cancelled/shortened. We got the first TPB with 5 issues (#1-5), and then the last TPB was made bigger with #6-12 (7 issues). That 2nd TPB was previously solicited with #6-10 before the news of the cancellation, and they added #11-12 to the book at the release date. To this day, Amazon still erroneously list that book as "COLLECTING: DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE SORCERERS SUPREME 6-10". If it would have been planned as a 12 issues series, it's clear that the first TPB would have collected #1-6, and the 2nd #7-12. Anyway!, Only time will tell.

It is also a weird feeling that the two main Marvel characters that I collects are now suddenly stepping back from the solicitations. I'm collecting stories of Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch (missing in action since Avengers: No Road Home), Nico Minoru (still in Runaways) and Wiccan (was missing since a long time, but now in back in action in the Death's Head miniseries and soon to be in Strikeforce).

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Fortunately, Strange now has lots of other appearances in other media. I really enjoyed the movie and am looking forward to the sequel.

Me too I hope that it will lead to the movie with the title "Defenders".