Strange Doctors vs Dr Strange

[Darth Drizzle]

The Strange Doctors consist of:

Space Doctor Strange- After all magic was destroyed Strange went into space to find and study more magic. In this run he used very high level totems/artifacts and learned some new spells. In this fight he has all his artifacts.

Galactus buster Strange- He recently took on Galactus with a couple of potent artifacts, which he has in this fight.

They are both fighting Classic Dr Strange.

1. Standard arena fight 2 on 1.

2. One on One fight

[big_adventure]

The Strange Doctors consist of:

Space Doctor Strange- After all magic was destroyed Strange went into space to find and study more magic. In this run he used very high level totems/artifacts and learned some new spells. In this fight he has all his artifacts.

Galactus buster Strange- He recently took on Galactus with a couple of potent artifacts, which he has in this fight.

They are both fighting Classic Dr Strange.

1. Standard arena fight 2 on 1.

2. One on One fight

"Took on Galactus" how? Did he win? Was he brushed aside like a gnat? It matters.

[The Dog]

"Took on Galactus" how? Did he win? Was he brushed aside like a gnat? It matters.

Yeah. You can say Red Hulk "took on Galactus" and be correct, when all Rulk did was fly at Galactus on his stolen Silver Surfer board talking tough only to get blasted by Galactus' laser eyes as the Devourer of Worlds talked about eating Earth and kicking The Grandmaster and Collector's asses for this.

[Shellhead]

These Doctor Stranges are nowhere near as strange as...

Strange from the mid-'90s:



Bozo Dr. Strange from the Gerber Defenders run:



or Doctor Stranger Yet:

[Sharpandpointies]

So, the Galactus thing. "Galactus Buster" might be somewhat of an exaggeration, unless we're using it like Tony Stark uses '---buster' (ie, it looks like it might put up a fight...then gets its rear kicked).

Strange catches Galactus off-guard with a binding spell that actually looks to be more potent than the Crimson Bands (it's a new one he picked up from another sorcerer). It works -- briefly -- and then an enraged Galactus starts to break free, Strange pointing out that he's trying to contain one of the forces of the Universe and once Galactus DOES break out, he's hosed (and yes, this is not taking Galactus long to bust his way out, even caught off-guard).

...it's worth noting that at this point, Galactus is NOT in the Earth Dimension any more, but in some alternate dimension where magic holds serious sway.

The spell then locks back together because someone helps him (see below) and he manages to banish Galactus to yet another dimension.

The person that helps him turns out to be Clea, who is the Sorcerer Supreme of her own dimension and shown to be roughly on the same power level as Classic Strange in his old series. So, that's quite a boost to the binding spell.

Later on, they both take on Galactus. They last long enough for Strange to get Galactus to talk to them, that's all (Strange noting 'Without Clea's help, I'd be dead', and that's in about two-three panels of 'zap', shields barely holding, captain!).

It's really not taking on Galactus in any meaningful way. It's more like what Thanos might (and did) manage -- take him off guard, knock him down or make him lose his hat, manage to shift him to another dimension because they caught him off guard. Note that it takes a pretty strong modern Strange plus Clea (equal to Classic Strange) to pull this off...together. And that's when Galactus has been taken off guard. When he's ready for them? They're completely on the defensive, shields are breaking down, Strange is saying 'I gotta get through to him and if Clea weren't here I'd be already dead', etc.

I'm pretty cool with it, but it's not any indication he could actually take it to Galactus for anything more than a couple of seconds if he were alone. Then poof, dead.

'Strange', from the 90's, was a construct Stephen put together to act on his behalf while he struggled with yet ANOTHER 'My magic has been corrupted/removed/whatever' situation (this one was vaguely interesting, at least...but only for a while)*. It wasn't 'him', so much as a magical being that was a tad psychopathic and aggressive.

Anywhoo....

Outer Space Magic Strange isn't worth a lot in this fight. It was a vaguely interesting idea, and had I not been bombarded with 'Oh Noes I Have Lost My Magic!' storyline every time Stephen got a series for the last three decades**...but he was pretty weak through this series, comparatively. Not 'weak-weak', but I'm at a loss to recall any kind of feats that put him in the range of 'blows up planets for propulsion', 'corks black holes', 'endures a supernova via a spell cast in astral form', 'controls time on a planetary scale', etc.

That series led to his current situation, which is the Galactus thing. THAT Strange looks like he could at least put up a fight against Classic Strange. I'm not giving him the win, due to him simply not having the laundry list of feats, but his power seems to be closer to the Classic Strange level. Certainly he's viewed as being in Clea's ballpark, and Clea -- as the leader of her dimension -- seemed roughly on the same level as Classic Strange (taking on Umar being an example).

This Strange also said he was good enough to beat up Furnace Face while the Dorm was in the Earth dimension, but then noted in narration that he was bluffing.

I feel that Classic Strange still takes this, but between the two of them (mostly the later guy) they make him work for it.

* it's possible this is a sore point.

** yes, yes it is.

[Sharpandpointies]

Side note - as of his last issue, Strange has made a bargain with magically-infected Galactus. And it's the usual one a being makes with Galactus.

Sadly, Galen is clearly feeling chintzy (or possibly realizes the good doctor requires no assistance), so no Power Cosmic. Therefore, we sadly won't yet be getting 'Dr. Strange, Herald of Galactus' for Rumbles.

...on the other hand, they're gearing up for Dormammu versus Galactus, which might show some interesting stuff about Furnace Face in his 'place of power' (he's back to his old tricks of stealing other people's dimensions).

[The Arbiter]

Side note - as of his last issue, Strange has made a bargain with magically-infected Galactus. And it's the usual one a being makes with Galactus.

Sadly, Galen is clearly feeling chintzy (or possibly realizes the good doctor requires no assistance), so no Power Cosmic. Therefore, we sadly won't yet be getting 'Dr. Strange, Herald of Galactus' for Rumbles.

...on the other hand, they're gearing up for Dormammu versus Galactus, which might show some interesting stuff about Furnace Face in his 'place of power' (he's back to his old tricks of stealing other people's dimensions).

Didn't Galactus beat up a Dormammu lite "beast of pain" in that run as collateral to his fight with Strange? #12 or #13 iirc?

[Sharpandpointies]

Yep.

And then Dormammu showed up, basically killed off the dude Galactus wrecked (who referred to him as Lord Dormammu, always good to pander to Furnace Face's ego only it didn't work this time), and is looking pretty interested in going to have a chat with this other guy who dresses in purple.

...this takes place literally immediately after a scene where Galactus asks Clea "You speak of forming a mystic union of defense. You waste your efforts. Who among you would even dare challenge me?"

Who, indeed?*

Dum dum dum.

Frankly, the Dorm should be pretty knowledgeable about Galen, given that people like Agamotto and Mephisto are familiar with Galactus and the Dorm has chatted (okay, yelled at but actually got answers) with Eternity. Hopefully Furnace Face with recognize the purple hat, and we'll still get a nice tussle.

* consider the ego involved, and even without the next scene it's pretty obvious.

[Sharpandpointies]

It's interesting to note that Galactus deigns to talk with Clea. Apparently she's strong enough to be at least worth his attention.

...frankly, it's about time. She's part-Faltinian, she's the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension (when her uncle hasn't shown up and reclaimed the place, it's kind of a regular thing)...she's a being of power in her own right.

[Darth Drizzle]

Yeah the Buster was Iron man themed

I will look again but Space Strange was using supposedly be his words planet/dimensional level artifacts in his exploits, just that the downside was they were one use only.

[Sharpandpointies]

Yeah the Buster was Iron man themed

I will look again but Space Strange was using supposedly be his words planet/dimensional level artifacts in his exploits, just that the downside was they were one use only.

Lemme know what you find (issue numbers) -- I'd love to have a look again.

Might do a little searching myself.

[Darth Drizzle]

Alright, did a quick pass through some issues.

Dr Strange #2: After stealing what Kanna thinks is a rock they escape a planet in a ship, then to stop them from being followed Strange uses the Stone to encased the entire planet(full spread panel) in a sheild.

Dr Strange #5: He crafts the "Sword of Strange" which cuts through anything including dimensional space and magic energy and he can come trol it with TK. The sword later shatters a spear that hurt Satan himself. He also crafts the Gauntlet of Strange that let's him use TK without any spells(usually giant hand constructs).

Dr Strange #8: Kanna crafts him a Vanishing Enchanted magic Bow that shoots dimensional phasing arrows that go through sheilds.

He wasn't that bad overall imo.

[Sharpandpointies]

Lemme have a look at those....

The shield one seems to have some kind of flex to it - he specifically wished for the shield to seal off the planet, so it seems he could wish for something else. That's a decent, one-shot attack against Classic Strange. ...that's ALL it is, but if it can engulf an entire planet in a shield permanently, it's something.

The gauntlet, yeah. The sword...seems okay.

The bow doesn't shoot through shields. It seems to just shoot directly into Mordo, the arrows then send Mordo away (basically, they hit him and dimension dump him). That's the idea I got off of it. It's also something he got from what'shername, used once, and that's all (and it was after the Space Strange storyline, into the one that leads up to Galactus).

So okay, he has a little more to offer here than I thought. I don't think the Bow is worth a lot, and neither the Gauntlet, not against Classic Strange. The sword, if he can get close enough, seems likely to at least mess up Strange's shields, and the wishing stone might be good for one big attack.

It helps the other Strange, at the least, who seems to be somewhat in Classic Strange's ballpark.

[The Drunkard Kid]

I'm assuming the Chaos Magic Dr. Strange that defeated Shuma Gorath in direct combat by basically becoming a being like Shuma Gorath himself may be a bridge too far?

[Sharpandpointies]

I'm assuming the Chaos Magic Dr. Strange that defeated Shuma Gorath in direct combat by basically becoming a being like Shuma Gorath himself may be a bridge too far?

That was actually Black Magic Strange. And that's actually a phase of Classic Strange's, though we could consider it a separate thing if we wished (I normally would; it's just that after he 'gets better', he goes right back to being Classic Strange for the first few arcs of his new series...and then things go downhill, and we never see Classic Strange again).

After stealing Arioch's power (and getting a funky new hairstyle), Black Magic Strange is certainly stong enough to mop the floor with all three of the other contestants here simultaneously (that would be Classic, Space-mage, and Herald of Galactus Stranges, for wont of better titles). Effortlessly, actually.

.....

After absorbing Shuma-Gorath's power, Black Magic Funky Hair Strange kills all three simply by showing up in the arena, and barely notices they're facing him (before they die, I guess, because that happens awfully quickly). I suppose we could add the Dorm to the trio of Stranges, but all that means is that they live for a couple more seconds.