Master of the Mystic Arts: Doctor Strange Appreciation

[Lady Warp Spasm]

Was looking through Alan Davis' site and found this:

Lovely work as always from Davis and Farmer

That is beautiful.

This post will be discussing New Avengers Annual So if you don't like to be spoiled, please skip this post.

I think that the Annual comes before issue 20. Neither issue seems to totally hinge on the other, except they show the lengths that Strange will go to in order to do his job. The annual has the lovely watercolor art, which really suits the good Doctor. It did seem the colors were a bit limited, lots of red, yellow and white.

The Annual goes back and forth in Strange's life. When he was an arrogant physician, sure of his ability, to him being the Sorcerer Supreme, willing to sacrifice every bit of himself, also a bit of arrogance there.

In the present the problem is the monks, expanding their dimensional exploration in a search for knowledge. Doing so, they manage to find a parasitic demon, that in turn possesses the daughter of an emperor, a powerful mystic even though she is a child. The monks are afraid that the demon cannot be separated from the girl without killing her, and she is their greatest student.

In the past, the problem is obviously more mundane. Martha, a teaching doctor, is trying to prepare her students for the cases they can't solve, and Strange interrupts, cocky that he's always been able to save all his patients. All you need is the drive to succeed, basically. We all know where that will go. Yes, Martha introduces Strange to Colin, a guy with an inoperable tumor, and there is a child there who calls her Auntie Martha, but I think it is more of an honorary title. Strange steals the file, and promises the child he will save his father.

Back in the present Strange enters the astral plane, and the artist depicts him without the cloak. It looks like Vol 2 New Avengers, when Strange had the caplet or whatever at his waist. He goes and faces the demon to find out that destroying the demon will kill the girl.

Past-Never use anything with the word "Gamma" in it Strange, ask Bruce Banner about that, pretty please. Anyway, Strange decides the newly devised Gamma Knife will get that nasty tumor out of there, right in time for Martha to discover he not only stole the file, but went behind her back to speak with family to operate. Martha is not pleased, because Colin had reached peace with his death. Stephen has too much hubris to see that this is beyond his skills.

Present-Battle in the background. The boxes tell us Strange's point of view, that the difference between strength and weakness is basically how much you are willing to pay, and that he has given himself to darkness, and he won't be denied. Unfortunately, he is being denied, because he isn't winning and the demon points out he is holding back. Strange is still determined to win. Mentioning his previous experience with Ebony Maw of having someone in his mind, he simply isn't having that again, no matter what the cost. So he uses Blood Magic to make himself similar in scale to the demon, to match him size for size. Strange proceeds to kick demon Ass, because he is beyond pissed. The demon acknowledges that Strange is more powerful, but in destroying it he will kill the innocent girl.

Past-yep, Strange operates, guy dies, and little boy is heart broken. Martha hopes Strange will finally learn his lesson, that everything has a price. And it is high time Strange paid the price. Strange needs to learn that lesson, and sadly, he learns it really well, because I think that is why he has been behaving as he has for some time. Willing to sacrifice every bit of himself to protect his world.

Present- Strange offers an alternative to the demon, take him instead. Demon jumps at the opportunity to inhabit the SS, he can destroy the universe!! Unfortunately Strange basically swallows him whole and locks him away inside, not exactly what the demon thought was going to happen. Meany, lying to a demon. Strange awakens to the real world in a basically black and white panel. His eyes are red, though, never a good sign.

Then, in gratitude the monks laud Strange for saving their precious pupil, and the price he had to pay in doing so, vowing to assist him in his great pain. Nope, that is what should have happened, but no, this is the current kick Strange in the stomach and cause him more anguish stage of the story. Girl recoils in horror from him and the monks call him the greater demon for using forbidden blood magic. They basically say he is unwelcome and tell him to go.

Issue ends with Strange stating he has become what the world requires him to be, and he has paid the price.

Very much an elegantly drawn downer. I still think that before Strange gets his movie things have to look up, and perhaps this is showing his nadir, I mean, he is walking around with an extra-dimensional parasitical demon inside him. He has to be in great spiritual and physical pain, and he just deals with it. I think the fellow heroes of Marveldom need to bloody well take better care of their SS, because he is literally destroying himself in front of them.

Long, long post, sorry. Tried to keep it as concise as possible, but for those who can't read it for a while, I wanted it to be informative as possible.

Strangefan thank you very much for the detailed post.

And huge shout out, thank you to Clea for offering your code. Bows before my computer display.

Wow. The annual sounds like a good story, but <yikes> he has the demon inside him?!?

NA 20 just sounds like all kinds of fun (along with 19.)

[Clea]

Great summary of the New Avengers annual, Strangefan. I quite liked the art in this book. It's trippy and weird, with odd blends of art nouveau curves and art deco angles. I particularly noticed how the flashback scenes were encased in circles and concentric waves, like little bubbles of memories, but once things start to go bad for Strange the circles become increasingly more corrupted looking and the colors drain out until all that is left is the metaphorical blood on his hands. The use of color, sometimes contrasted with stark black and white, is extremely well done, especially the amazing swathes of blood red. When you finish reading the story and look back at red cover, it drives home what Strange did to himself here to save the girl from the parasitic, other dimensional demon.

On a trivial note, is it just me, or does it seem that the artist modeled young 'flashback' Strange on Aiden Gillen, the actor who plays Littlefinger in Game of Thrones? It might be just me. I love Littlefinger and I really like that actor.

This post will be discussing New Avengers Annual So if you don't like to be spoiled, please skip this post.



I think that the Annual comes before issue 20. Neither issue seems to totally hinge on the other, except they show the lengths that Strange will go to in order to do his job. The annual has the lovely watercolor art, which really suits the good Doctor. It did seem the colors were a bit limited, lots of red, yellow and white.

The Annual goes back and forth in Strange's life. When he was an arrogant physician, sure of his ability, to him being the Sorcerer Supreme, willing to sacrifice every bit of himself, also a bit of arrogance there.

In the present the problem is the monks, expanding their dimensional exploration in a search for knowledge. Doing so, they manage to find a parasitic demon, that in turn possesses the daughter of an emperor, a powerful mystic even though she is a child. The monks are afraid that the demon cannot be separated from the girl without killing her, and she is their greatest student.

In the past, the problem is obviously more mundane. Martha, a teaching doctor, is trying to prepare her students for the cases they can't solve, and Strange interrupts, cocky that he's always been able to save all his patients. All you need is the drive to succeed, basically. We all know where that will go. Yes, Martha introduces Strange to Colin, a guy with an inoperable tumor, and there is a child there who calls her Auntie Martha, but I think it is more of an honorary title. Strange steals the file, and promises the child he will save his father.

Back in the present Strange enters the astral plane, and the artist depicts him without the cloak. It looks like Vol 2 New Avengers, when Strange had the caplet or whatever at his waist. He goes and faces the demon to find out that destroying the demon will kill the girl.

Past-Never use anything with the word "Gamma" in it Strange, ask Bruce Banner about that, pretty please. Anyway, Strange decides the newly devised Gamma Knife will get that nasty tumor out of there, right in time for Martha to discover he not only stole the file, but went behind her back to speak with family to operate. Martha is not pleased, because Colin had reached peace with his death. Stephen has too much hubris to see that this is beyond his skills.

Present-Battle in the background. The boxes tell us Strange's point of view, that the difference between strength and weakness is basically how much you are willing to pay, and that he has given himself to darkness, and he won't be denied. Unfortunately, he is being denied, because he isn't winning and the demon points out he is holding back. Strange is still determined to win. Mentioning his previous experience with Ebony Maw of having someone in his mind, he simply isn't having that again, no matter what the cost. So he uses Blood Magic to make himself similar in scale to the demon, to match him size for size. Strange proceeds to kick demon Ass, because he is beyond pissed. The demon acknowledges that Strange is more powerful, but in destroying it he will kill the innocent girl.

Past-yep, Strange operates, guy dies, and little boy is heart broken. Martha hopes Strange will finally learn his lesson, that everything has a price. And it is high time Strange paid the price. Strange needs to learn that lesson, and sadly, he learns it really well, because I think that is why he has been behaving as he has for some time. Willing to sacrifice every bit of himself to protect his world.

Present- Strange offers an alternative to the demon, take him instead. Demon jumps at the opportunity to inhabit the SS, he can destroy the universe!! Unfortunately Strange basically swallows him whole and locks him away inside, not exactly what the demon thought was going to happen. Meany, lying to a demon. Strange awakens to the real world in a basically black and white panel. His eyes are red, though, never a good sign.

Then, in gratitude the monks laud Strange for saving their precious pupil, and the price he had to pay in doing so, vowing to assist him in his great pain. Nope, that is what should have happened, but no, this is the current kick Strange in the stomach and cause him more anguish stage of the story. Girl recoils in horror from him and the monks call him the greater demon for using forbidden blood magic. They basically say he is unwelcome and tell him to go.

Issue ends with Strange stating he has become what the world requires him to be, and he has paid the price.

Very much an elegantly drawn downer. I still think that before Strange gets his movie things have to look up, and perhaps this is showing his nadir, I mean, he is walking around with an extra-dimensional parasitical demon inside him. He has to be in great spiritual and physical pain, and he just deals with it. I think the fellow heroes of Marveldom need to bloody well take better care of their SS, because he is literally destroying himself in front of them.

Long, long post, sorry. Tried to keep it as concise as possible, but for those who can't read it for a while, I wanted it to be informative as possible.

[Mahes]

Great summary of the New Avengers annual, Strangefan. I quite liked the art in this book. It's trippy and weird, with odd blends of art nouveau curves and art deco angels. I particularly noticed how the flashback scenes were encased in circles and concentric waves, like little bubbles of memories, but once things start to go bad for Strange the circles become increasingly more corrupted looking and the colors drain out until all that is left is the metaphorical blood on his hands. The use of color, sometimes contrasted with start black and white, is extremely well done, especially the amazing swathes of blood red. When you finish reading the story and look back at red cover, it drives home what Strange did to himself here to save the girl from the parasitic, other dimensional demon.

On a trivial note, is it just me, or does it seem that the artist modeled young 'flashback' Strange on Aiden Gillen, the actor who plays Littlefinger in Game of Thrones? It might be just me. I love Littlefinger and I really like that actor.

Regarding the annual, I was skeptical on Rudy's art when I saw the preview but reading it really sold me on it. It's extremely well done and if Strange can get a solo then they should see if Rudy could do the art for it. But yeah it was extremely well done and one of the best Strange stories in recent years.

Regarding how young Strange looks, I didn't notice it until now. Young Strange does have some Littlefinger-esque qualities.

[Lady Warp Spasm]

@ Clea. LOL - yes the young Strange looks a lot like Aiden Gillen GoT character. tumblr_m3rggwUgZW1qkymmho1_500.jpg

That really was a terrific annual (thanks again.) The last page with the bleeding eye of Agamotto sent shivers down my spine. I really hope that is reversed quickly. It kind of bothers me that Stephen has to go to this extreme.

I know this is probably sacrilege, but I still want this version of Doctor Strange to happen. Probably never will, but I can definitely see Leto going this route too.

[Strangefan]

I can see some similarities to Aiden, but there is a pronounced cleft chin in Strange which the actor does not have. But the look does remind me of someone, but perhaps I am just projecting. I can't think right now who he reminds me of.

[Clea]

@ Clea. LOL - yes the young Strange looks a lot like Aiden Gillen GoT character. tumblr_m3rggwUgZW1qkymmho1_500.jpg

That really was a terrific annual (thanks again.) The last page with the bleeding eye of Agamotto sent shivers down my spine. I really hope that is reversed quickly. It kind of bothers me that Stephen has to go to this extreme.

I know this is probably sacrilege, but I still want this version of Doctor Strange to happen. Probably never will, but I can definitely see Leto going this route too.

60's burnout Doctor Strange running an occult bookstore in Greenwich Village... that's an interesting take on a reboot. His shop could be down the street from Madame Xanadu's [[DC Comics] shop. They could hang out together.

The bleeding Eye of Agamotto was so ominous and so, so sad.

[Strangefan]

I am also bothered that Strange has been brought to such painful depths, all the Illuminati have, but no one to the point that Strange has had occur. They've lost kingdoms, Strange has lost so much he doesn't even have a soul to sell anymore. Tony and Reed have been brought to emotional emptiness/hopelessness, Strange only has his absolute resolution to give everything it takes to keep Earth alive left. With the very, incrementally slow storytelling of Hickman though, I think we shall have to suffer through this for some time to come.

Biggest hope, if they start filming in the spring next year, I can't see them wanting world-destroying soul destroyed Strange to be what people see if they decide to check out the character. I am hoping for a soul catharsis and rejuvenation of Stephen's hope. So much of Strange's power is stemmed from pain and sacrifice lately, it is time to find a new power source.

[Ravin' Ray]

I found the bleeding Eye creepy too, Clea. And I can't help but compare this to when Strange hosted Zom in WWH. He lost control of Zom and got overwhelmed. Presumably he was now better prepared this time.

[Strangefan]

The problem, well, one problem, with Strange not having his own comic, there is no through storyline. Did he ever get rid of Zom? I've tried to back collect all the Strange issues I could find when I started reading comics again, but I don't recall seeing that. Maybe parasiteDemon and Zom are having a party, along with all the mental scars of being in the War of Seven Spheres and the damage Ebony Maw must of caused. If anyone should have PTSD, it is Stephen Strange.

[Ravin' Ray]

I can help you out with that one. In Incredible Hulks during Chaos War, while Strange confronted Abomination's shade in Hades, Mikaboshi/Chaos King drew out Zom who dominated Strange in order to trick the Hulks into locating Marlo Chandler, the wife of Rick Jones, because she once was an avatar of Death that Mikaboshi wanted to use. Long story short, once Marlo's death powers surfaced she turned against Zom and helped banish him from Strange.

[Rheged]

Absolutely amazing annual. Loved it!

[JaggedFel]

The Art was great, not sure it sustainable for an ongoing though.

[DebkoX]

We need someone to make Strange bigger.

[Lady Warp Spasm]

60's burnout Doctor Strange running an occult bookstore in Greenwich Village... that's an interesting take on a reboot. His shop could be down the street from Madame Xanadu's [[DC Comics] shop. They could hang out together.

The bleeding Eye of Agamotto was so ominous and so, so sad.

I had no idea Madame Xanadu also had a shop in the village. That's a team up I'd definitely like to see. Yeah, the more I look at the bleeding eye, the more bummed I am.

I am also bothered that Strange has been brought to such painful depths, all the Illuminati have, but no one to the point that Strange has had occur. They've lost kingdoms, Strange has lost so much he doesn't even have a soul to sell anymore. Tony and Reed have been brought to emotional emptiness/hopelessness, Strange only has his absolute resolution to give everything it takes to keep Earth alive left. With the very, incrementally slow storytelling of Hickman though, I think we shall have to suffer through this for some time to come.

Biggest hope, if they start filming in the spring next year, I can't see them wanting world-destroying soul destroyed Strange to be what people see if they decide to check out the character. I am hoping for a soul catharsis and rejuvenation of Stephen's hope. So much of Strange's power is stemmed from pain and sacrifice lately, it is time to find a new power source.

^This. It would be nice to have a positive power source I agree. While I enjoy stories with evil sorcerers, Strange is not one of those. I hope for those as well.

The problem, well, one problem, with Strange not having his own comic, there is no through storyline. Did he ever get rid of Zom? I've tried to back collect all the Strange issues I could find when I started reading comics again, but I don't recall seeing that. Maybe parasiteDemon and Zom are having a party, along with all the mental scars of being in the War of Seven Spheres and the damage Ebony Maw must of caused. If anyone should have PTSD, it is Stephen Strange.

Indeed.

Absolutely amazing annual. Loved it!

I enjoy it immensely. And NA 20 was fun too, but again, I really hope this demon inside is temporary. Now that Jonathan has answered questions about Strange, hoping he'll give Stephen another issue or two to shine and get his good mojo (and perhaps that would include Clea?) back.

[Strangefan]

I can help you out with that one. In Incredible Hulks during Chaos War, while Strange confronted Abomination's shade in Hades, Mikaboshi/Chaos King drew out Zom who dominated Strange in order to trick the Hulks into locating Marlo Chandler, the wife of Rick Jones, because she once was an avatar of Death that Mikaboshi wanted to use. Long story short, once Marlo's death powers surfaced she turned against Zom and helped banish him from Strange.

Thanks, I'll have to check that out.