Stephen Strange: Doctor Strange Appreciation 2021

[DigiCom]

I just caught up on Mark Waid's Surgeon Supreme run. Does anyone know why the series was canceled? I thought it was really good.

Sales, probably.

[Eto]

Strange Tales #122 question
How does hypnotizing in the Marvel Universe work? Strange was asleep and it looked like Nightmare clearly had the upper hand since Strange had no powers there...yet he outsmarted him by hypnotizing him. Doesn't that fall under the category powers as well?
Doctor Strange's stories keep getting better and better.

[DigiCom]

Strange Tales #122 question
How does hypnotizing in the Marvel Universe work? Strange was asleep and it looked like Nightmare clearly had the upper hand since Strange had no powers there...yet he outsmarted him by hypnotizing him. Doesn't that fall under the category powers as well?
Doctor Strange's stories keep getting better and better.

Early Marvel tended to pull powers out of a hat as required. I would not expect there to be consistency in magic at this time. But it's possible the story was talking about real-world hypnosis, which is NOT magic-based.

[Tulku]

strange tales #117 question:
I know Strange borrows powers from the Vishanti, but why does he in this issue say "By the powers of the Vishanti, in the name of the all-seeing Ancient One.."
Why in his name? Since he's his mentor or is there another reason for it?

issue #120 question
the eye leaves the amulet and moves to Strange's forehead.
They retconned this, right? I've never seen that in recent comics....in recent comics it was simply Strange "opening" his third eye.

(1) Ummmmmmm, he was just sucking up to the Ancient One, who was probably monitoring his progress. Teacher's pet! Teacher's pet! (2) The classic use of the eye is that it comes out of the amulet and attaches to the forehead. I have no idea why they got away from that because it was so damn cool. I don't think it was retconned, strictly speaking. I don't know of any story that states that it CAN'T do that. It just doesn't happen anymore.

Think of it like the Shield of the Seraphim. Sometimes Doc can summon it with just a gesture, but at other times he has to recite a spell. In my own in-head continuity, the Shield summoned just by a gesture is weaker than Shield conjured by a spoken spell...but I don't think any actual story has ever stated that.

[Eto]

Thanks Digicom and Tulku!

Now I've finished Strange Tales #126 and #127, a two-part story.
The first appearance of Dormammu and Clea.
I love this story so much! Didn't think Dormammu would stop fighting Strange. I mean sure Strange helped him by lending his powers so that he could keep the Mindless Ones away, but still, I thought Dormammu would go on fighting Strange after that.
So beneath all that evil, there's still some moral code.

[Tulku]

Thanks Digicom and Tulku!

Now I've finished Strange Tales #126 and #127, a two-part story.
The first appearance of Dormammu and Clea.
I love this story so much! Didn't think Dormammu would stop fighting Strange. I mean sure Strange helped him by lending his powers so that he could keep the Mindless Ones away, but still, I thought Dormammu would go on fighting Strange after that.
So beneath all that evil, there's still some moral code.

Yes, the early Dormammu stories are great! It is set up that Dormammu is MUCH more powerful than Strange, which means that Strange has to do something tricky to win. We've lost that over the years so that now, for example in Aaron's run, he can be defeated by simply opening a portal behind him and pushing him through. The Dormammu of #126 & 127 would have been insulted by such a simplistic ploy.

[Clea]

Yes, the early Dormammu stories are great! It is set up that Dormammu is MUCH more powerful than Strange, which means that Strange has to do something tricky to win. We've lost that over the years so that now, for example in Aaron's run, he can be defeated by simply opening a portal behind him and pushing him through. The Dormammu of #126 & 127 would have been insulted by such a simplistic ploy.

Dormammu's power level fluctuates widely over the years, depending on how the writers decided to use him. He's an immensely ancient being who's intent on taking over as many dimensions as he can. I thought the MCU version aligned with his overall history. He is stronger than Strange, so Strange must constantly outwit him rather than out-power him.

I'm still trying to figure out where kid Dormammu came from over in the Strange Academy book.

[MaximoffTrash]

Doyle is pure Faltine right?
Maybe Dorm reproduced the traditional Faltine way like Sinifer?AKA splitting part of himself to be his kid.

[Clea]

Doyle is pure Faltine right?
Maybe Dorm reproduced the traditional Faltine way like Sinifer?AKA splitting part of himself to be his kid.

That could be. The Faltine split that way when they exist in their nature state as pure magical energy beings. Dormammu fashioned himself a quasi-humanoid form, but he still exists as a being of magical energy for the most part. So you're right, he probably could have just split off a bit of himself to make Doyle. All unlike Umar who made the mistake of getting pregnant and giving birth while in a fully physical body, and then ending stuck in physical form as a result. (And going mad as a result, too.) I just didn't know if the writers ever explained where Doyle came from. I haven't had a chance to find and read Strange Academy yet. I had to stop buying comics for a couple years, so now I'm trying to catch up and fill in the gaps of what I missed. It just seems odd to me that there's a kid Faltine on Earth and nobody seems the slightest bit concerned about it.

[DigiCom]

Doyle's origin is, as yet, unexplained.

[Clea]

Doyle's origin is, as yet, unexplained.

I wonder if the team that created Doyle even knew anything about the Faltine, or about Dormammu's personality and history other than, 'Dormammu's a magic guy! He looks cool. Let's had a kid Dormammu!' Ah well. Maybe they'll explain it one day.

[Albert1981]

Just watched the first episode of the PBS Hemingway documentary. I came away more convinced than ever that Marvel is doing the right thing by making Strange change the way he talks. I think Old Strange, from what I've read, talks in too much archaic prose with lots of flowery and verbose phrases which would alienate modern audiences. And by using that kind of syntax and grammar, it disrupts the pacing of a lot of stories he takes part in (in my humble opinion). Hemingway (and dudes like Bradbury and Salinger who followed in his wake) knew that rhythm was really REALLY important in the use of certain words to tell tales. Use too many, and the pacing goes sideways. So I agree with Disney's decision to make Strange more like Stark-like when it comes to his dialogue. I apologize if this statement offends longtime Doctor Strange fans.

[Albert1981]

I was just wondering, do you think it would be possible for Strange to "heal" Rhodey's injuries by using magic? I think this would be a VERY bad idea, and somebody posted a comment elsewhere which echoes my own sentiments:

"There are a lot of people and kids out there who don’t have a Stark Technology or Strange magical solution and live with a disability that greatly affects their life. There’s not a lot of representation for those kids, and Marvel has an opportunity to correct that with Armor Wars."

I know folks here on this thread really enjoy Strange's mystical powers, but his background as a surgeon also fascinated me. I watched quite a few medical dramas as a kid, and I've long been interested in medical ethics in particular. I always thought it would be cool if Strange actually LOST his powers for a while, and he had to make some tough medical decisions during that time. Has that ever happened? I ask this because a lot of magic users in the Marvel Universe and the MCU are not actual medical practitioners.

I also know many of the posters here really want to see Clea show up (so do I, believe me), but I also have a very soft spot for the Night Nurse as well. I diverge from folks here in that I really admire fictional characters in a superhero world who don't have any powers at all, but who are ready to use their knowledge and training to help people who are in pain. To me it's kind of like medics helping soldiers (superheroes in this case) who have been wounded in battle. So that's why I have no problem with the Night Nurse appearing again in the Multiverse of Madness.

[Reviresco]

Just watched the first episode of the PBS Hemingway documentary. I came away more convinced than ever that Marvel is doing the right thing by making him change the way Strange talks. I think Old Strange, from what I've read, talks in too much archaic prose with lots of flowery and verbose phrases which would alienate modern audiences. And by using that kind of syntax and grammar, it disrupts the pacing of a lot of stories he takes part in (in my humble opinion). Hemingway (and dudes like Bradbury and Salinger who followed in his wake) knew that rhythm was really REALLY important in the use of certain words to tell tales. Use too many, and the pacing goes sideways. So I agree with Disney's decision to make Strange more like Stark-like when it comes to his dialogue. I apologize if this statement offends longtime Doctor Strange fans.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to disagree with you on all counts.

Hemingway's writing is boring. There's zero love of language there, much less use of rhythm. Rhythm is the realm of poetry and lyrical language, and that is what sticks with and inspires people. I can't think of a single memorable quote from Hemingway. And for someone who was all about stripping writing down to nothing, he sure didn't do so when he went for his titles, where he went straight for those 'flowery' poets like John Dunne and the KJV Bible.

As for appealing to modern audiences, there's plenty of them that LOVE articulate and interesting dialogue, full of wordplay and poetry and rhythm, instead of monosyllabic, slang filled, 'realistic' speech, exemplified by the horror of Bendis talk. There were huge audiences for Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings to name a few, not to mention the near constant staging of Shakespeare.

And no. Please no. Doctor Strange should never be more like Tony Stark. I don't think Disney or MCU are going that route at all, since they cast Benedict Cumberbatch, who easily handles the more "archaic prose" of magic. Heck, casting mostly Brits, instead of raiding SNL, for the Doctor Strange movie shows they don't want just another RDJ. The comics are making a mistake, IMO, to 'simplify' Doctor Strange and his speech.

I concede that Silver Age Doctor Strange may not be everyone's cup of tea now, but I still enjoy reading comics that have more than five word balloons on a page. And I think that Doctor Strange, more than most comics, needs to have more prose, and the character should be more articulate and verbose. He deals with esoteric subjects and larger than life opponents. Spells are all about language, often ancient and intricate. I know I may be in the minority, but I actually miss the Roy Thomas rhymed spells.

[Oberon]

Hey, Rev, and I agree with you.

Saying incantations which may sound variously tome-y is the right pattern for Dr. Strange.