Stephen Strange: Doctor Strange Appreciation 2021

[jebsib]

Has there ever been an issue devoted to the background (or origin) of Wong?

[Reviresco]

Has there ever been an issue devoted to the background (or origin) of Wong?

I'm not sure if it is canon, but I enjoyed Greg Pak's Season One take on Wong and Strange. It's not the traditional, Wong as manservant, take.





The art was by Emma Rios, so that may or may not be to your taste. Here's a review from IGN.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09...son-one-review

[Reviresco]

Also there was a short story in the Alex Ross curated Marvel series (issue #5) that featured Wong. A Day in the Mystical Life of Wong written by Zander Cannon with art by Gene Ha.

https://screenrant.com/doctor-strang...ibrary-marvel/

[Lee Stone]

I'm really hoping we'll see a third film.
So much left to explore...
And Clea really needs to appear.

[Hypestyle]

what do people think will be the denouement of the "Death of Dr. Strange" mini series? Is there going to be some type of reshuffling of relationships in the magic hero world? Introducing more new characters, heroes, villains and supporting characters?

What happened to the "man-bull" Rhintrah, Jennifer Kale, as well as women associated with Dr. Strange in the 1980s? Sarah Wolfe, Topaz, etc.

[DigiCom]

what do people think will be the denouement of the "Death of Dr. Strange" mini series? Is there going to be some type of reshuffling of relationships in the magic hero world? Introducing more new characters, heroes, villains and supporting characters?

If the rumors are correct, then spoilers:

they are going to "Teen Tony" him

end of spoilers.

I'll be disappointed if that's true. I can't think of an example of that particular trope that worked.

What happened to the "man-bull" Rhintrah, Jennifer Kale, as well as women associated with Dr. Strange in the 1980s? Sarah Wolfe, Topaz, etc.[/QUOTE]

Jennifer Kale bounced around the GR books for a while, teamed up with Topaz & Satana in a miniseries called Witches, and then got turned into a bit of a punching bag in other books.

Topaz was in that mini, but has been in Limbo ever since. She did get an odd race-lift, but looks cool either way,

Sara Wolfe & Morgana Blessing both faded into Limbo after the Thomas run.

Rintrah too, although I did hear a rumor he'd be popping up in Multiverse of Madness, which suggests he'll be in the comics soon enough.

[Clea]

Re the denouncement of the "Death of Doctor Strange" mini:
spoilers:

I can't imagine a 'teen tony' version of Stephen Strange so I hope Marvel doesn't do anything that drastic as an outcome of the Death mini-series. If Marvel does decide to replace current Strange with the Strange Tales-era version that showed up in issue #1, there wouldn't be a drastic age difference. The biggest difference would be in his relationship to the rest of the Marvel characters, since ST-era Strange rarely interacted with the non-magical characters. Plus, ST-era Strange was still mastering his skills so he'd be less of a hand-wavy, deus-ex-machina type that he became at times over the years. If this is Marvel's plan, it would give them a chance to align comics Strange with MCU Strange. It would make the comics version of Strange more accessible to the MCU-only fans. I think attracting more film fans to the comics-side of Marvel is a good thing, so if that's what Marvel is planning, I don't mind. Anything that keeps comics sales healthy works for me. I doubt any such soft reboot would last very long.They could do some old-school style magic-focused stories for a bit after the film and then rapidly reintegrate him back onto the Avengers etc., and have him acting like current Strange again before you know it.

end of spoilers

I would love to see some of Strange's previous support cast of characters show up again. Rintrah is very specific to Doctor Strange so I don't think he would have much play outside of Strange's own series, but Topaz and Jennifer Kale could easily be used in other series and teams, or even on a witch/horror themed Disney+ series.

[DigiCom]

Re the denouncement of the "Death of Doctor Strange" mini:
spoilers:

I can't imagine a 'teen tony' version of Stephen Strange so I hope Marvel doesn't do anything that drastic as an outcome of the Death mini-series. If Marvel does decide to replace current Strange with the Strange Tales-era version that showed up in issue #1, there wouldn't be a drastic age difference. The biggest difference would be in his relationship to the rest of the Marvel characters, since ST-era Strange rarely interacted with the non-magical characters. Plus, ST-era Strange was still mastering his skills so he'd be less of a hand-wavy, deus-ex-machina type that he became at times over the years. If this is Marvel's plan, it would give them a chance to align comics Strange with MCU Strange. It would make the comics version of Strange more accessible to the MCU-only fans. I think attracting more film fans to the comics-side of Marvel is a good thing, so if that's what Marvel is planning, I don't mind. Anything that keeps comics sales healthy works for me. I doubt any such soft reboot would last very long.They could do some old-school style magic-focused stories for a bit after the film and then rapidly reintegrate him back onto the Avengers etc., and have him acting like current Strange again before you know it.

end of spoilers

I would love to see some of Strange's previous support cast of characters show up again. Rintrah is very specific to Doctor Strange so I don't think he would have much play outside of Strange's own series, but Topaz and Jennifer Kale could easily be used in other series and teams, or even on a witch/horror themed Disney+ series.

Well...

spoilers:

I was referring more to "Replacing a hero with a younger, less-experienced version of himself" more than turning him into an actual teenager. The fact is, Stephen stopped using the blue cloak in Strange Tales #127, a bit over a year after his debut. We are talking decades of character development and experience, thrown out while the movie version is becoming MORE experienced. (And that's straight RL time. What with one thing and another, Stephen has had CENTURIES of experience.) In the end, it's just another bloody depowering.

end of spoilers

[Clea]

Well...

spoilers:

I was referring more to "Replacing a hero with a younger, less-experienced version of himself" more than turning him into an actual teenager. The fact is, Stephen stopped using the blue cloak in Strange Tales #127, a bit over a year after his debut. We are talking decades of character development and experience, thrown out while the movie version is becoming MORE experienced. (And that's straight RL time. What with one thing and another, Stephen has had CENTURIES of experience.) In the end, it's just another bloody depowering.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I agree it would be another depowering in a long line of depowering the character. It would go beyond just depowering him since they'd be erasing pretty much all of Strange's experiences in Marvel and starting from scratch. I just can't see them doing that to Strange long term. As a short term gimmick story...sure. I can't imagine that Marvel would want to permanently reboot the character back to day one. That would just alienate all of the current comics fans for no reason. I haven't always liked all of the changes they've put this character through over the years [with so many different writers over so many decades, that would be impossible], but I'd hate to see the character rebooted from scratch permanently. I can't imagine that Marvel would be that foolish.

end of spoilers

[alanyoung909]

What happened to the "man-bull" Rhintrah, Jennifer Kale, as well as women associated with Dr. Strange in the 1980s? Sarah Wolfe, Topaz, etc.

Rintrah is currently an instructor at Strange Academy. It was mentioned in the data page at the end of issue 2.
I don't believe we've actually seen him on panel yet, but I could have missed something.

[Stormy]

At times (I'm not sure of her current status) she's been the Sorceress Supreme and bearer of the Flames of Regency for the entire Dark Dimension.

So, at the very least, we're talking Magik level, probably higher (she has more experience).

Oh yeah, could she go toe-to-toe or get into fights against characters like Stephen, Doom and Wanda??

[Clea]

Oh yeah, could she go toe-to-toe or get into fights against characters like Stephen, Doom and Wanda??

Clea's magic is most powerful when she is in the Dark Dimension, and especially so when she's crowned with the Flames of Regency. While in the Dark Dimension, she's defeated Umar and fought a long resistance war against Dormammu, so I expect that she could put up a good fight against these other characters if she was there...though why she'd want to fight them is beyond me. She's been shown to be more versatile and powerful than Wanda in at least one instance when they fought together in the past, but that was 'mutant hex power' Wanda, not 'uber-powerful, Nexus being, sometimes crazy, reality altering Wanda'. Poor Wanda is a character who's been written so erratically and with such drastically shifting power levels and abilities over the years that you'd have to define which version of Wanda you're talking about. Even so, she and Clea have been allies so I don't know why Clea would want to fight her. Off the top of my head, I can only recall her actually fighting against Doombots (not Doom himself) but she held her own quite well. On Earth, I suspect Clea would end up in a draw and retreat (if she was lucky) or else lose a protracted fight against Strange, Doom, or Wanda.

Edit to add: Another writer could come along at any time and change the scope and level of any character's powers, including Clea's. That's one of the interesting, but also unfortunate aspects of writing superhero type comics. Over the years in Strange's various series, she experienced a long term, natural growth in her skill level and magical knowledge because she spent years as Strange's disciple. He taught her everything he knew. A new writer could come along and give her a power boost or knock her power and abilities down to suit a story. That's why it's always hard to answer 'who could fight who' questions. Edit to add again: Aside from sheer power levels, when it comes to magic users fighting each other, strategy and just being able to out-maneuver or out-think your opponent matters as much simple force. That's why Strange spends so much time studying magic and spells, as well as learning how to wield amulets/etc. that have stored the power of major supernatural beings. When it comes to 'going toe to toe' in a fight with a magical opponent, being able to outwit them is often more important than merely being able to out-power them.

[alanyoung909]

what do people think will be the denouement of the "Death of Dr. Strange" mini series? Is there going to be some type of reshuffling of relationships in the magic hero world?

Regarding the earlier conversation about the ending of The Death of Doctor Strange 1,

I don't think that this 'Young Strange' is going to stick around in the Marvel Universe after this mini. He's a fun, exciting idea but if he stayed around long-term, it will become grating.
Like others have said, I don't want all of his character development over the years to be lost.

I think that this is a story where he shows up after Strange Prime dies, helps to solve the murder, helps to defeat the killer (and the other antagonists), and then he either goes back to that pocket dimension where he came from or he merges back with Strange Prime.

This is also a really good way to address that Hickman plot point (or at least I think it originated with Hickman) from New Avengers that Doctor Strange does not have ownership of his soul and could not pay the price for power in the Sinner's Market. Hickman never came back to this plot thread (he used it for the Black Priest stuff, but he never addressed what had happened to Stephen's soul). This is a good way to resolve that storyline. The obvious solution would have been to just say that Strange had previously sold his soul to some other demon for power and had forgotten about it. But this idea that he had secreted his soul in a pocket dimension early in his career instead is a clever bit of plotting.

Regarding the future of the Sorcerer Supreme:

I know that some fans of Magik, Scarlet Witch, Loki and Doctor Doom would like for their favorite characters to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, but I think that they are all too tied up in their respective franchises (Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, ...) to also be able to lead the mystic side of Marvel as well.

I'd like to propose an alternate theory: the next Sorcerer Supreme is one (or more) of the students at Strange Academy.

There's some foreshadowing to this. From The Death of Doctor Strange 1,
Doctor Strange (to the Strange Academy students): I don't tell you this because I enjoy talking about myself and the esoteric titles I've accrued. I tell you this because there is every possibility... that the next Sorcerer Supreme is in this room.

Also, take a look at the solicit for Strange Academy 14. It comes out in December, the same month as the Death of Doctor Strange 4 where the new Sorcerer Supreme is supposedly revealed.

STRANGE ACADEMY #14
SKOTTIE YOUNG (W)
HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
This is it. The issue that you’ll be looking back on five, ten, fifteen years from now… See the future of Strange Academy and the Marvel Universe. You won’t believe your eyes.

If this theory proves true, then the most likely candidate to be the SS is either Emily Bright or Doyle Dormammu. There's a possibility that it could be Zoe Laveau as well, given that she is in that panel of TDoDS 1 where Strange delivers the line I quoted above.

Where does that leave Doctor Strange, then? I'm quite sure that he will be back to life by the end of this event. If he's not the Sorcerer Supreme going forward, then what will he be? Maybe the new Ancient One?

[Clea]

Regarding the earlier conversation about the ending of The Death of Doctor Strange 1,

I don't think that this 'Young Strange' is going to stick around in the Marvel Universe after this mini. He's a fun, exciting idea but if he stayed around long-term, it will become grating.
Like others have said, I don't want all of his character development over the years to be lost.

I think that this is a story where he shows up after Strange Prime dies, helps to solve the murder, helps to defeat the killer (and the other antagonists), and then he either goes back to that pocket dimension where he came from or he merges back with Strange Prime.

This is also a really good way to address that Hickman plot point (or at least I think it originated with Hickman) from New Avengers that Doctor Strange does not have ownership of his soul and could not pay the price for power in the Sinner's Market. Hickman never came back to this plot thread (he used it for the Black Priest stuff, but he never addressed what had happened to Stephen's soul). This is a good way to resolve that storyline. The obvious solution would have been to just say that Strange had previously sold his soul to some other demon for power and had forgotten about it. But this idea that he had secreted his soul in a pocket dimension early in his career instead is a clever bit of plotting.

Regarding the future of the Sorcerer Supreme:

I know that some fans of Magik, Scarlet Witch, Loki and Doctor Doom would like for their favorite characters to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, but I think that they are all too tied up in their respective franchises (Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, ...) to also be able to lead the mystic side of Marvel as well.

I'd like to propose an alternate theory: the next Sorcerer Supreme is one (or more) of the students at Strange Academy.

There's some foreshadowing to this. From The Death of Doctor Strange 1,
Doctor Strange (to the Strange Academy students): I don't tell you this because I enjoy talking about myself and the esoteric titles I've accrued. I tell you this because there is every possibility... that the next Sorcerer Supreme is in this room.

Also, take a look at the solicit for Strange Academy 14. It comes out in December, the same month as the Death of Doctor Strange 4 where the new Sorcerer Supreme is supposedly revealed.

STRANGE ACADEMY #14
SKOTTIE YOUNG (W)
HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
This is it. The issue that you’ll be looking back on five, ten, fifteen years from now… See the future of Strange Academy and the Marvel Universe. You won’t believe your eyes.

If this theory proves true, then the most likely candidate to be the SS is either Emily Bright or Doyle Dormammu. There's a possibility that it could be Zoe Laveau as well, given that she is in that panel of TDoDS 1 where Strange delivers the line I quoted above.

Where does that leave Doctor Strange, then? I'm quite sure that he will be back to life by the end of this event. If he's not the Sorcerer Supreme going forward, then what will he be? Maybe the new Ancient One?

I think it's improbable that Marvel would assign a child to be the next Sorcerer Supreme. The role of Sorcerer Supreme is not just about having raw magical potential or even about being the "strongest" (whatever that means) magical user in the room. The Sorcerer Supreme needs to be a trained, experienced adult with the right temperament (by which I mean dedicated, selfless, determined, and mature - not necessarily kind or friendly). I think when Strange told the students at the Academy that one of them might become the next Sorcerer Supreme, he meant in terms of their future potential for greatness, not their present readiness. As for picking another adult to fill the roll...who can say? Marvel has bounced the title of Sorcerer Supreme around to a variety of other characters in the last few years. There's been foreshadowing in other stories that Illyana/Magik might one day be Strange's successor, but if so, what becomes of her current role as Sorceress Supreme of Limbo? Doom and Wanda already have very convoluted storylines of their own to deal with. Mordo? He's powerful and is a one-time runner up for the role, but temperamentally he's unsuited and has been proven to turn despot once he's given power. Not Clea. She's got the Dark Dimension to deal with. I don't know what's going on with comics Loki at the moment, but he's already had the title once. For the moment, I am still expecting that murdered Strange will be restored to life and take his title back one way or another. Otherwise, I vote for Bats.

[GenericUsername]

I don't even want Wanda to be Sorceress Supreme unless it'd be an alt reality thing. Because I see her more as an equal to Strange. And it wouldn't really be a promotion. Plus he's had people go to her for help when he couldn't help, so her being in that role really wouldn't change much. It'd just remove him, which isn't fair to his fans.