Master of the Mystic Arts: Doctor Strange Appreciation 2019

[Doombot]

He seems to fluctuate in age really depending on the artist and writer. To me, he should look like he's a very healthy 50ish, but many creative teams always want to make him some 35ish yr old bachelor type. They seem hesitant or unwilling to write and draw him as a fully mature, middle aged man. That's not even taking into account the fact he's a sorcerer and has lived many lifetimes in other dimensions etc, so he's actually old as hell. This issue alone is one of the reasons so many people don't get Dr Strange and write him incorrectly imo. All the self doubt and de-powerings and deconstructions stem from writers always wanting to put Strange through the classic heroes journey when he should be long past that.

[marshal88]

has doc's age been retconned? how old is he supposed to be at this point? how long has he been sorcerer supreme?

didn't he got drafted to fight in the mystic realm for agamotto for 5000 years but only a couple of months in the earthly realm in the war of the 7 spheres among all the mystic entities.

[Rrobin]

didn't he got drafted to fight in the mystic realm for agamotto for 5000 years but only a couple of months in the earthly realm in the war of the 7 spheres among all the mystic entities.

And it got almost totally ignored! He came back basically same as before iirc. I bet the writers at that time just wanted his full entity-based powers back with as little trouble as possible. Such wasted potential

He seems to fluctuate in age really depending on the artist and writer. To me, he should look like he's a very healthy 50ish, but many creative teams always want to make him some 35ish yr old bachelor type. They seem hesitant or unwilling to write and draw him as a fully mature, middle aged man. That's not even taking into account the fact he's a sorcerer and has lived many lifetimes in other dimensions etc, so he's actually old as hell. This issue alone is one of the reasons so many people don't get Dr Strange and write him incorrectly imo. All the self doubt and de-powerings and deconstructions stem from writers always wanting to put Strange through the classic heroes journey when he should be long past that.

Hm, to me he should be mid 40s. 50ish feels a tad on the old side for me

[Hypestyle]

So is it true that Dormammu is the herald of Galactus at this point? I wonder how long that is going to last, and what's it going to cost Doc to set things right? Hmm..

[Tulku]

So is it true that Dormammu is the herald of Galactus at this point? I wonder how long that is going to last, and what's it going to cost Doc to set things right? Hmm..

I think it is more complicated than that. I read it as more like Dormammu was possessing Galactus' being. Or something like that. But much more than just another herald.

[ernestm]

I had to search quite a ways down to find Doctor Strange on this forum. So I have something more than you normally might read about this character, and in particular, the difficulties with a Doctor Strange 2 movie.

First, this probably wont say what you think, so please dont be surprised what this says.

It just seems so obvious to me that comic-book stories are pubescent, I can't understand why anyone doesn't understand it. All of Stan Lee's stories are about people who suddenly found themselves endowed with superpowers, but still had the same problems as before. It's appealing to people before puberty because they know something is going to change about them, but they don't know what. Stan Lee's idea to create comics for children in that situation was brilliant, and he redid the idea over and over again in different ways, just like many great storytelters did in the past. Even Thor started out in a wheelchair. That was his point.

But then extending the stories with sequels based on story arcs is totally contrived. After the original problems at the time of transformation work through their natural progression, there isnt real interest in the character any more. Stan Lee kept having this problem and kept having to restart the story. That's why there's so many of them. Its why the Fantastic Four already was redone twice and disappeared. It's why different actors of Spiderman keep having entirely new romances with the same girl. It's why the Xmen already disappeared.

Stan Lee knew this problem and wen through a great deal of effort creating an entirely new character to defeat Thanos called Adam Warlock, who was born as an adult with an infinity gem in his forehead. Hollywood totally destroyed the point and made Warlock into a stupid secondary character that was fabricated by machines. It was such an awful rewrite, Stan Lee actually died. Ive seen it happen before to creative people like him, and it's very sad.

In Stan Lee's original story, Thanos wanted to kill off half the people alive and failed because of Adam Warlock. Im totally on Stan Lee's side on that. What the hell does anything mean after you kill off half the universe and resurrect them by creating a timeline split, oh well, it was all a dream anyway, lalala, why bother listening to the story at all. Even Disney has been having second thoughts on that.

If there is any Marvel movie I would watch in the future, it is Doctor Strange 2. A surgeon who has a near fatal accident who becomes master of the mystic arts. I'm sorry, that still turns me back into a kid ) There's only one problem. He's dead. they could go back and tell how he rescues Clea from Baron Von Mordo, but they should have told that part already, and if it does make it to the silver screen, it will probably be with different actors and even studio.

If a new studio ends up making it, they would probably want to start all over again, with the Ancient one as a guy. Most of all I'd like to see Dr. Strange battling Nightmare and Despair. But that's far too clever for Xmen fans, and what probably happens is the boring vampires show up again, for some kind of crossover thing to increase audience because vampires sell better. Sigh.

Clea being rescued from Nightmare might be better. Disney's problem has been that introducing sorcerers into a unified 'superhero universe' makes many of the other characters abilities totally insignificant. But in a solo story, there remains something to tell about Doctor Strange having a real romance, with a real person, from an alternate reality. There's a real West Side Story to tell there, and its just sad how unlikely it will ever be told for adults.

[Doombot]

Stan Lee went through a great deal of effort to creating Thanos and Adam Warlock? Whaaaat?

[ernestm]

Yes, it was a problem because sorcerors have never been particularly popular to Marvel fans. Doctor Strange shared space with other characters, first with Nick Fury, then Cloak and Dagger, and Adam Warlock had the same problem. He was actually Stan Lee's favorite creation, although you will hear others so named, Adam Warlock was his favorite because the idea of a God born as an adult is directly drawn on Greek myth, most frequently, as Prometheus, who was born from fire, and Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam. He felt it necessary to create a new character as an adult to avoid the normal long dialog on earlier life problems, so he could focus entirely on the nature of fate, which does make him one of the most important characters in the entire Marvel series, if you are looking for real mythological underpinnings.

[MaximoffTrash]

I had to search quite a ways down to find Doctor Strange on this forum. So I have something more than you normally might read about this character, and in particular, the difficulties with a Doctor Strange 2 movie.

First, this probably wont say what you think, so please dont be surprised what this says.

It just seems so obvious to me that comic-book stories are pubescent, I can't understand why anyone doesn't understand it. All of Stan Lee's stories are about people who suddenly found themselves endowed with superpowers, but still had the same problems as before. It's appealing to people before puberty because they know something is going to change about them, but they don't know what. Stan Lee's idea to create comics for children in that situation was brilliant, and he redid the idea over and over again in different ways, just like many great storytelters did in the past. Even Thor started out in a wheelchair. That was his point.

But then extending the stories with sequels based on story arcs is totally contrived. After the original problems at the time of transformation work through their natural progression, there isnt real interest in the character any more. Stan Lee kept having this problem and kept having to restart the story. That's why there's so many of them. Its why the Fantastic Four already was redone twice and disappeared. It's why different actors of Spiderman keep having entirely new romances with the same girl. It's why the Xmen already disappeared.

Stan Lee knew this problem and wen through a great deal of effort creating an entirely new character to defeat Thanos called Adam Warlock, who was born as an adult with an infinity gem in his forehead. Hollywood totally destroyed the point and made Warlock into a stupid secondary character that was fabricated by machines. It was such an awful rewrite, Stan Lee actually died. Ive seen it happen before to creative people like him, and it's very sad.

In Stan Lee's original story, Thanos wanted to kill off half the people alive and failed because of Adam Warlock. Im totally on Stan Lee's side on that. What the hell does anything mean after you kill off half the universe and resurrect them by creating a timeline split, oh well, it was all a dream anyway, lalala, why bother listening to the story at all. Even Disney has been having second thoughts on that.

If there is any Marvel movie I would watch in the future, it is Doctor Strange 2. A surgeon who has a near fatal accident who becomes master of the mystic arts. I'm sorry, that still turns me back into a kid ) There's only one problem. He's dead. they could go back and tell how he rescues Clea from Baron Von Mordo, but they should have told that part already, and if it does make it to the silver screen, it will probably be with different actors and even studio.

If a new studio ends up making it, they would probably want to start all over again, with the Ancient one as a guy. Most of all I'd like to see Dr. Strange battling Nightmare and Despair. But that's far too clever for Xmen fans, and what probably happens is the boring vampires show up again, for some kind of crossover thing to increase audience because vampires sell better. Sigh.

Clea being rescued from Nightmare might be better. Disney's problem has been that introducing sorcerers into a unified 'superhero universe' makes many of the other characters abilities totally insignificant. But in a solo story, there remains something to tell about Doctor Strange having a real romance, with a real person, from an alternate reality. There's a real West Side Story to tell there, and its just sad how unlikely it will ever be told for adults.

Hard to watch with so many Stan Lee.

[Reviresco]

I had to search quite a ways down to find Doctor Strange on this forum. So I have something more than you normally might read about this character, and in particular, the difficulties with a Doctor Strange 2 movie.

First, this probably wont say what you think, so please dont be surprised what this says.

It just seems so obvious to me that comic-book stories are pubescent, I can't understand why anyone doesn't understand it. All of Stan Lee's stories are about people who suddenly found themselves endowed with superpowers, but still had the same problems as before. It's appealing to people before puberty because they know something is going to change about them, but they don't know what. Stan Lee's idea to create comics for children in that situation was brilliant, and he redid the idea over and over again in different ways, just like many great storytelters did in the past. Even Thor started out in a wheelchair. That was his point.

But then extending the stories with sequels based on story arcs is totally contrived. After the original problems at the time of transformation work through their natural progression, there isnt real interest in the character any more. Stan Lee kept having this problem and kept having to restart the story. That's why there's so many of them. Its why the Fantastic Four already was redone twice and disappeared. It's why different actors of Spiderman keep having entirely new romances with the same girl. It's why the Xmen already disappeared.

Stan Lee knew this problem and wen through a great deal of effort creating an entirely new character to defeat Thanos called Adam Warlock, who was born as an adult with an infinity gem in his forehead. Hollywood totally destroyed the point and made Warlock into a stupid secondary character that was fabricated by machines. It was such an awful rewrite, Stan Lee actually died. Ive seen it happen before to creative people like him, and it's very sad.

In Stan Lee's original story, Thanos wanted to kill off half the people alive and failed because of Adam Warlock. Im totally on Stan Lee's side on that. What the hell does anything mean after you kill off half the universe and resurrect them by creating a timeline split, oh well, it was all a dream anyway, lalala, why bother listening to the story at all. Even Disney has been having second thoughts on that.

If there is any Marvel movie I would watch in the future, it is Doctor Strange 2. A surgeon who has a near fatal accident who becomes master of the mystic arts. I'm sorry, that still turns me back into a kid ) There's only one problem. He's dead. they could go back and tell how he rescues Clea from Baron Von Mordo, but they should have told that part already, and if it does make it to the silver screen, it will probably be with different actors and even studio.

If a new studio ends up making it, they would probably want to start all over again, with the Ancient one as a guy. Most of all I'd like to see Dr. Strange battling Nightmare and Despair. But that's far too clever for Xmen fans, and what probably happens is the boring vampires show up again, for some kind of crossover thing to increase audience because vampires sell better. Sigh.

Clea being rescued from Nightmare might be better. Disney's problem has been that introducing sorcerers into a unified 'superhero universe' makes many of the other characters abilities totally insignificant. But in a solo story, there remains something to tell about Doctor Strange having a real romance, with a real person, from an alternate reality. There's a real West Side Story to tell there, and its just sad how unlikely it will ever be told for adults.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Stan Lee had nothing to do with Adam Warlock or Thanos. Stan and Jack created Him, but it was Roy Thomas and Gil Kane who made Him into Adam Warlock and Jim Starlin, who created Thanos, developed him even more.

Yes, it was a problem because sorcerors have never been particularly popular to Marvel fans. Doctor Strange shared space with other characters, first with Nick Fury, then Cloak and Dagger, and Adam Warlock had the same problem. He was actually Stan Lee's favorite creation, although you will hear others so named, Adam Warlock was his favorite because the idea of a God born as an adult is directly drawn on Greek myth, most frequently, as Prometheus, who was born from fire, and Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam. He felt it necessary to create a new character as an adult to avoid the normal long dialog on earlier life problems, so he could focus entirely on the nature of fate, which does make him one of the most important characters in the entire Marvel series, if you are looking for real mythological underpinnings.

Stan Lee's favorite character was Silver Surfer, not Adam Warlock, who again, he really had almost nothing to do with.

Doctor Strange shared space with Nick Fury, because Marvel was limited by their distribution company to only a few books. Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America all shared books for the same reason. Even after Marvel escaped their distribution limitations, Cap went on to have his 'solo' book re-titled Captain America and Falcon, and DD "shared" his solo with Black Widow, so I don't think "sharing" a book has much to do with Strange being a sorcerer. Marvel claims Dr Strange was a low seller, but he carried a solo title for almost 35 uninterrupted years, before Marvel's editorial decided that was the excuse they would give for not publishing a Strange solo book.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #65 May 1994
Amok! [Strangers Among Us, Act 2]
Strange battles a Salomé possessed Namor (who recovers his Coral Crab);

Wong and his partially resurrected Imei go looking for 'the other' Doctor Strange

while Vengeance and Strange have a short battle.

Script by David Quinn, pencils by Melvin Rubi, inks by Fred Harper

[Tulku]

Yes, Quinn's storyline is a strong competitor for "worst Doctor Strange storyline"--the character still hasn't really recovered from it.

[Rrobin]

Yes, Quinn's storyline is a strong competitor for "worst Doctor Strange storyline"--the character still hasn't really recovered from it.

Hm, what effects of it are still seen recently? My impression is that it is almost entirely ignored these days

But yes, it was bad

[Tulku]

Hm, what effects of it are still seen recently? My impression is that it is almost entirely ignored these days

But yes, it was bad

It seems to me that that was when Marvel really lost the thread of what "magic" was for Doctor Strange. The old rules were thrown out and, instead of returning to them, ever since ever writer makes up their own "new" magic rules. The days when one could simply look up cat yronwode's "Lesser Book of the Vishanti" to find out what Doc could do were gone. And they have never come back.

[Shadowcat]

Restarting the current run, and just wondering is Loki still the Sorcerer Supreme?