Stephen Strange: Doctor Strange Appreciation 2021

[Clea]

I would be more impressed by this storyline if spoilers:

it didn't feel like a retread of the Aaron run. 1. Start with Stephen doing a minor bit of sorcery work. 2. Turn the Cloak into a scarf for a few panels to make Stephen look stylish. 3. Introduce a never-before-seen mystical threat that wants to eliminate magic. 4. Have sorcerers flee to Earth to let them know. 5. Gather a bunch of heroes together to talk, but ultimately be ineffective. 6. Nerf Strange so he can't handle the situation. 7. Profit?

end of spoilers

spoilers:

It does have strong Empirikul vibe to it. I'm giving it a pass because I loathed the Aaron run (except for the art), and I'm finding the tone of this mini-series to be quite entertaining. I don't mind the set up with new villains or the fact that other major magical villains have fled to Earth. Considering the outcome of the Last Annihilation and the currently unfolding Darkhold event, creating a major new foe is suitable for this story. Having the villainous magical 'warlords' flee to Earth just reinforces how these beings regard Doctor Strange, because I'm sure they're assuming that Strange will intentionally or inadvertently protect them as part of protecting the Earth dimension. Gathering heroes together and then knocking them down like bowling pins is standard Marvel fare for an event story, so that all just made me laugh. As for nerfing Strange, I think the whole point of this series is to show exactly how powerful and critical Sorcerer Supreme Strange actually is. Best way to do that is to knock him off his feet at the start of the story so that he can rise again. I'll be truly surprised if Strange is not fully restored by the end of this story, with everyone reminded of just how important he actually is to the MU.

end of spoilers

[DigiCom]

spoilers:

It does have strong Empirikul vibe to it. I'm giving it a pass because I loathed the Aaron run (except for the art), and I'm finding the tone of this mini-series to be quite entertaining. I don't mind the set up with new villains or the fact that other major magical villains have fled to Earth. Considering the outcome of the Last Annihilation and the currently unfolding Darkhold event, creating a major new foe is suitable for this story. Having the villainous magical 'warlords' flee to Earth just reinforces how these beings regard Doctor Strange, because I'm sure they're assuming that Strange will intentionally or inadvertently protect them as part of protecting the Earth dimension. Gathering heroes together and then knocking them down like bowling pins is standard Marvel fare for an event story, so that all just made me laugh. As for nerfing Strange, I think the whole point of this series is to show exactly how powerful and critical Sorcerer Supreme Strange actually is. Best way to do that is to knock him off his feet at the start of the story so that he can rise again. I'll be truly surprised if Strange is not fully restored by the end of this story, with everyone reminded of just how important he actually is to the MU.

end of spoilers

The problem with that is that spoilers:

pretty much since New Avengers, practically every Strange run or storyline has been "knock him off his feet at the start of the story so that he can rise again". Depower him, have him lose his title, have Magic stop working 2 or 3 different ways... I'm bored with it. I prefer my heroes to at least have base competence in their role. Always being on the back foot becomes wearisome after a while.

end of spoilers

But hey, if you like it, more power to you.

[Clea]

The problem with that is that spoilers:

pretty much since New Avengers, practically every Strange run or storyline has been "knock him off his feet at the start of the story so that he can rise again". Depower him, have him lose his title, have Magic stop working 2 or 3 different ways... I'm bored with it. I prefer my heroes to at least have base competence in their role. Always being on the back foot becomes wearisome after a while.

end of spoilers

But hey, if you like it, more power to you.

spoilers:

No, I'm with you about the endless cycle powering/depowering Strange. Strange had the occasional crisis in his pre-New Avengers days, but you are absolutely correct that over in the non-magical part of the Marvel Universe, the creative team have nerfed Strange relentlessly, and part of that nerfing includes cycles of depowering him and taking his title away, then giving it back. Every new writer that comes along seems to think that they get to depower/repower him too. Stephen Strange, actual Sorcerer Supreme does not fit in with the non-magical, superhero capes and tights crowd. He should only appear in the non-magical books sparingly, IMO. However, he's popular and Marvel wanted to use him, and bringing him into the Avengers world made him very popular, so they turned him into 'Stephen Strange, magical dude with a cool (yet meaningless) title. This mini-series, if nothing else, is about restoring the meaning to the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Is the story set up contrived? Yes, sure it is. But I also find it to be respectful, even affectionate towards what being Sorcerer Supreme is supposed to mean. It's like the book's intent is to say, 'Since you all have forgotten what being Sorcerer Supreme is supposed to mean, fine. We're not going to just depower him, we're going to kill him! Ha! How about that?!? That'll show you all who Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme really is. He's not just some magical dude Avenger. I expect MacKay to restore him at the end somehow, with everyone in the MU reminded of who Strange is supposed to be. I hope so, at any rate. And I hope that we stop seeing depower/repower Strange stories in the future.

end of spoilers

[DigiCom]

spoilers:

I expect MacKay to restore him at the end somehow, with everyone in the MU reminded of who Strange is supposed to be. I hope so, at any rate. And I hope that we stop seeing depower/repower Strange stories in the future.

end of spoilers

I'll just say I lack your optimism and leave it at that.

[Tendrin]

I'm expecting him to be dead for a while after this myself.

It's ... okay. I'm just very tired of death-and-replacement stories.

[Clea]

I'm expecting him to be dead for a while after this myself.

It's ... okay. I'm just very tired of death-and-replacement stories.

Really? You think Strange will be dead for a long time? I think the novelty factor of swapping contemporary Strange with a blank slate, younger version of himself would wear off rather quickly, but I'd have to wait and see how would work before making up my mind. I'm seeing from other comments here that Marvel is apparently killing Wanda and replacing her with a different version of herself (maybe a younger version?) and also killing and bringing back Spider-Man. I'm not sure what that's all about. I wonder if Marvel is planning to mess around with all of their major characters, or only the ones that are related to the MCU multiverse storylines? I long ago gave up trying to figure out or follow most of what Marvel does. I cherry pick individual stories with characters that I like and read those, but don't even bother with stories that I don't like, even for characters that I love. For example, with Strange I sat out the bulk of Aaron run after reading the first few issues because I just hated it so much.

[Frontier]

Well, the New Mutants solicit dubs Magik the Sorcerer Supreme so...

[DigiCom]

Well, the New Mutants solicit dubs Magik the Sorcerer Supreme so...

Subsidiary clauses matter. As the solicit says:

" Illyana Rasputin is the Sorcerer Supreme and the rightful queen of Limbo."

Emphasis mine. And that's perfectly accurate, she is the Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo. And also the rightful queen of Limbo. And has been since... um...probably since she deposed Belasco. She even says as much in Death of Doctor Strange #1:

[Clea]

Subsidiary clauses matter. As the solicit says:

" Illyana Rasputin is the Sorcerer Supreme and the rightful queen of Limbo."

Emphasis mine. And that's perfectly accurate, she is the Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo. And also the rightful queen of Limbo. And has been since... um...probably since she deposed Belasco. She even says as much in Death of Doctor Strange #1:

I interpreted that statement in the same way as you. It would have been clearer if she'd said, "Queen and Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo," but she was probably just ranking her titles in order of importance.

[Reviresco]

I'm more concerned about the Scarlet Witch on the cover ... but I still stand by my earlier observation. It's going to be Ditko Strange.

[GenericUsername]

I'm more concerned about the Scarlet Witch on the cover ... but I still stand by my earlier observation. It's going to be Ditko Strange.

It's a variant and there is a green aura around the Skull and younger Strange. So it's either a thing that doesn't happen, is a clone or is Loki or Hela posing as her. Wanda doesn't have green powers and is going through her own death issues at the time this is all occuring.

[Clea]

It's a variant and there is a green aura around the Skull and younger Strange. So it's either a thing that doesn't happen, is a clone or is Loki or Hela posing as her. Wanda doesn't have green powers and is going through her own death issues at the time this is all occuring.

My first thought was that it was Nightmare posing as Wanda. That would be a nice call back to Strange's first appearance.

[Tendrin]

Really? You think Strange will be dead for a long time? I think the novelty factor of swapping contemporary Strange with a blank slate, younger version of himself would wear off rather quickly, but I'd have to wait and see how would work before making up my mind. I'm seeing from other comments here that Marvel is apparently killing Wanda and replacing her with a different version of herself (maybe a younger version?) and also killing and bringing back Spider-Man. I'm not sure what that's all about. I wonder if Marvel is planning to mess around with all of their major characters, or only the ones that are related to the MCU multiverse storylines? I long ago gave up trying to figure out or follow most of what Marvel does. I cherry pick individual stories with characters that I like and read those, but don't even bother with stories that I don't like, even for characters that I love. For example, with Strange I sat out the bulk of Aaron run after reading the first few issues because I just hated it so much.

I expect him to be dead until, oh, sometime around May 6th, 2022, all things being equal. I can't help but be cynical about this.

[GenericUsername]

My first thought was that it was Nightmare posing as Wanda. That would be a nice call back to Strange's first appearance.

That's a good guess as well. And they've had people pose as Wanda since the 2000s, so my first thought is always this is fake, lol. Especially on variants.

[Reviresco]

It's a variant and there is a green aura around the Skull and younger Strange. So it's either a thing that doesn't happen, is a clone or is Loki or Hela posing as her. Wanda doesn't have green powers and is going through her own death issues at the time this is all occuring.

A variant sounds about right for Marvel. Just make it more confusing for fans.


So, it appears the Dr Strange sequel is going back for a second set of reshoots. Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.