"We Can't Find Dr. Strange!"

[gurkle]

One thing I've noticed in Marvel comics since at least the '80s: whenever there's a problem involving magic, and the writer doesn't want Dr. Strange to show up and fix it, there has to be an excuse given for why he's unable to show up.

Well, not exactly an excuse. Usually they just say he's "unavailable" or they "can't find him."



And there was a recent Fantastic Four where Reed calls Dr. Strange, only to be told that "Stephen is needed elsewhere." Because the writer doesn't always know exactly what Strange is going to be doing in other books.

Part of the point is not to have Strange show up and get beaten by the magical threat of the week - he's supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer, and he looks bad when he gets taken down by every penny-ante magical creature. In Infinity War, it takes four mystics to do what Strange could do on his own, emphasizing just how powerful he's supposed to be.

[gurkle]

Also, sometimes the writer just wants to use another, more obscure magician. Like in Claremont's Fantastic Four annual, Reed wastes two pages calling not only Strange but several other magic characters (like Franklin's ex-nanny Agatha Harkness) before settling for Claremont's own creation, Margali Szardos.



And then there's Busiek's Maximum Security, which gathers together just about every sorcerer who was alive in the Marvel Universe at the time... but not Strange. They couldn't find him.



Any other examples of Dr. Strange being absent or unavailable when a magic problem comes up? Really, sometimes you wonder why bother having a Sorcerer Supreme if he's never around.

[MindofShadow]

Shared univerrse gonna be a shared universe


If they didn't mention it, people woudl just get on the internet and complain "WHERE IS DR STRANGE!"

[Iron Maiden]

LOL at Mechmage. She must be consigned to the bowels of comic book character limbo.

[Of Atlantis]

I see more and more of "Where are the Avengers?" lately.

Can't be helped. There's always going to be stories where you'll wonder why there aren't certain characters involved, whether it be right up their alley or a big enough issue to be brought to their attention. It's up to the writer to determine whose story they want to tell and the reader's to accept that.

[AdamFTF]

You know, for a guy who can't even hold down a solo title, Dr. Strange is awfully busy.

[Ravin' Ray]

LOL at Mechmage. She must be consigned to the bowels of comic book character limbo.

Khalid Inshallah and Jules St. Thomas are lucky Busiek remembered them from Stern's Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, because based on wikis Maximum Security was only their second appearance, and so far to my knowledge last.

[Iron Maiden]

Khalid Inshallah and Jules St. Thomas are lucky Busiek remembered them from Stern's Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, because based on wikis Maximum Security was only their second appearance, and so far to my knowledge last.

Good call, RR. I thought they looked familiar but couldn't quite place them.

[MichaelC]

He's a drama-destroying plot-device; of course he vanishes for long stretches of time.

[Expletive Deleted]

Can't be helped. There's always going to be stories where you'll wonder why there aren't certain characters involved, whether it be right up their alley or a big enough issue to be brought to their attention. It's up to the writer to determine whose story they want to tell and the reader's to accept that.

Exactly. It's one of the built-in perils of a shared universe setting.

[Kevinroc]

You know, for a guy who can't even hold down a solo title, Dr. Strange is awfully busy.

It's all that Ditko love!

[Greg]

There's been a few issues where they couldn't get Strange so they got Brother Voodoo instead.