Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

PALINDROME

NEILALIEN

A Doctor Strange Fansite
A Comic Book Weblog/Portal
A Steve Ditko Fansite
A Mysterious Palindrome

Links Open Windows

NEILALIEN STATUS
Neilalien.com: occasional linkblog
Twitter: linkblog RSS & Doc/geek retweets
Mastodon: linkblog RSS & Doc/geek boosts
Tumblr: linkblog RSS & Doc/geek reblogs
Facebook: nonfunctional
Neilalien RSS Feed

- -

Latest Weblog Post:

11 Is A Palindromic Number, and,
A Recusal

Please celebrate with Neilalien his 11th Blogiversary! Exclesior!

That's 1,111 in internet/weblog/dog years. You won't find a better combination of starting earlier and blogging longer in comics-blogging.

But alas, as of today, Neilalien is officially recusing himself from the news, entertainments, and expectations of the near-daily visitor to his website.

Now is a good time- 11 is a palindromic number, of course...

[25 Feb 02011: More...]

- -

Dr. Strange Information
 [Story List] [Powers/Items]
 [Origins] [Book of Names]
 [Many Faces] [Questions/FAQ]
 [Oath #3 Cover Lineup]
 [Historical Sales Numbers]
 [Recommended Reading]

Email Neilalien:
webmaster AT neilalien.com

Excite My Chicken [Flash RIP]
Ask The Mysterious Orb [Flash RIP]
Black Jack #1
Neilalien T-Shirts
Neilalien Site Map

Neilalien Blog Archive
02023: 01
02022: 010203040506
02022: 070809101112
02021: 010203040506
02021: 070809101112
02020: 010203040506
02020: 070809101112
02019: 010203040506
02019: 070809101112
02018: 010203040506
02018: 070809101112
02017: 010203040506
02017: 070809101112
02016: 010203040506
02016: 070809101112
02015: 010203040506
02015: 070809101112
02014: 010203040506
02014: 070809101112
02013: 010203040506
02013: 070809101112
02012: 010203040506
02012: 070809101112
02011: 010203040506
02011: 070809101112
02010: 010203040506
02010: 070809101112
02009: 010203040506
02009: 070809101112
02008: 010203040506
02008: 070809101112
02007: 010203040506
02007: 070809101112
02006: 010203040506
02006: 070809101112
02005: 010203040506
02005: 070809101112
02004: 010203040506
02004: 070809101112
02003: 010203040506
02003: 070809101112
02002: 010203040506
02002: 070809101112
02001: 010203040506
02001: 070809101112
02000: 02-080910, 1112
More: OriginPre-Blog Links

- -

Overheard in a comic con bathroom:

"We have a new character... named Dr. Strange... Twas Steve's idea."
- Stan Lee, letter to Comic Reader #16, 23 February 01963, as quoted in Steve Ditko's 32-Page Package v.5 Tsk! Tsk!

"I'm telling you, the only reason that Neilalien has lasted so long is because he kills younger, more innocent, bloggers and drinks their blood in some twisted Ditko-inspired mystical ceremony."
- Fanboy Rampage

"Is that the Eye of Yaphet Kotto?"
- A demon, Marvel Comics Presents #20

"What's wrong with readin' comic books? I don't understand this kiddin' about readin' comic books. When I get through with 'em the other players on our club borrow them from me. Nobody makes a fuss about that."
- Yogi Berra

- -

Creators/Publishers: Neilalien would love to help,
but he does not accept free comics or review submissions.

"Do not accept for review a book you are
predisposed to dislike, or committed by
friendship to like." - John Updike


PORTAL

Alpha News Surf
Comic Book Resources [Doc]
PreviewsWorld [New Releases]
Bleeding Cool [Doc]
Comics Chronicles [Blog]
Comics Continuum
Fandom Marvel Database/Wiki
 [Doctor Strange] [616] [616 Exp]
 [Comics/Volumes/Series] [TPBs]
ICv2 [Comics] [Tops]
IMDb: DSitMOM Movie News
IMDb: Doctor Strange Movie News
Marvel.com [Doc] [Tumblr]
Newsarama
Sanctum Sanctorum [PTor]
Twitter: "ditko"
Twitter: "doctor strange" ["dr."]
Reddit: r/comicbooks [r/marvelstudios]
Reddit: r/doctorstrange
SYFY Wire [Comics] [Marvel]
Yahoo Finance: Disney News

Linkablogotron 2099
» Comic Weblog Update-A-Tron
» Comic Book Blog Updates
Att-Def-Dis/Sean T. Collins
C-Dog's Cryptonaut-In-Exile
Ditko Comics [In Print]
Four Realities
Franklin Harris
The Hurting
LinkMachineGo
Matt Dembicki
Progressive Ruin [Tw] [Ma] [BtC]

Comic Book Portal (cont.)
Doc: Wikipedia
Doc: Howard Hallis [Collection]
 [Custom Covers] [Everything]
 [Strange Multiverse Collectibles]
Doc: Archive [IG] [Tw]
Doc: Sorcerer Supreme
Doc: Original Art Gallery
Doc: Complete [App List]
Doc: Sanctum Sanctorum
Doc: Lesser Book Vishanti
Doc: Strange Scribe
Doc: Toonopedia
Doc: Micro-Heroes
Doc: Fuck Yeah Dumb Magician
Doc: Fuckyeah! Doc Tumblr
Ditko: Ditko FAQ [UFO]
Ditko: Blake Bell [Facebook]
Ditko: Ditko-L [Yahoo Group]
Ditko: Ditkomania [Yahoo Group]
Ditko: Ditko-Kirby [Yahoo Group]
Ditko: Wikipedia [Objectivism]
Ditko: Ditko Cultist
Ditko: Ditko Fever
Ditko: Ditkoland Message Board
Ditko: Steveditko.com
Ditko: Biography
Ditko: IMDb
Lee: Real [Twitter]
Lee: Wikipedia
Lee: IMDb
Brunner: Official Site
Colan: Official Site
Colan: Genecolan [Yahoo Group]
Englehart: Official Site
Stern: Roger Stern MB
Question: VicSage.com [News]
10 Rules For Drawing Comics
13th Dimension
20th Century Danny Boy
4chan /co/ Comics & Cartoons
A Crisis Of Innocence
Adventures In Poor Taste
Adventures In The Marvelous Zone
Alterna Comics
Arthur's Marvel Comics Reprints
Atomic Junk Shop
Bags And Boards
Barry's Pearls
Bass Library's Graphic Novel Collection [Yale]
The Beat
Bill Mantlo Project
NYC: Black Comic Book Festival
Black Comix
Black Comix Arts Festival [BCAF]
Black Girl Nerds [Tw]
Blambot [Nate Piekos]
Bklyn: Blerd City Con
Bobster's Micro-Heroes
Bondage Cover Of The Day
Booksteve's Library
Box Office Mojo: Marvel Comics
Broken Frontier
Bklyn: Brooklyn Book Festival [Comics]
Bklyn: Brooklyn Comic Con
Bklyn: Brooklyn Zine Fest
Calvin and Hobbes
Captain Comics
Cartoonist Pics
Cartoonists Of Color Database
Chain Letters For Disturbed Children
Chris Arrant
Clandestine Critic
The Claremont Run [Tw]
Clifford Meth
Colleen Coover
"Comic..."
Comic Art Magazine
Bklyn: Comic Arts Brooklyn
ComicBloc Forums
ComicBook.com
Comic Book Bin
Comic Book Drug Reference
Comic Book Fonts
Comic Book Herald [Doc Reading Order]
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Comic Book Research [NYPL]
Comic Book Sound Effect Database
Comic Book Tropes
Comic Book Writer's Info Page
Comicon [Pulse] [MB]
Comic-Con Int'l [San Diego]
Comic Coverage
Comic Crusaders
Comic Foundry
Comic Life
ComicMix
Comic News International
Comic Pants
ComicPress [for WordPress]
Comic Publishers Submission Guidelines
Comic Readers [MB]
Comic Shop Locator
Comic Shop News
ComicSpace
Comic Vine
Comic Watch
Comic Widows
Comic World News [MB]
"Comics..."
Comics212.net
ComicsAlliance
Comics Are Open Source
Comics Bookcase
Comics Bulletin
Comics Buyer's Guide Xtra
 [Sales Charts/Analysis]
Comics Comics
Comics Commentary [Twt] [Tmb]
Comics Curmudgeon
Comics Grid
Comics Guaranty's Census
Comics In Context [Sanderson]
The Comics Journal
Comics Lifestyle
ComicsML Resource Page
Comics Podcasts Network
Comics Research & Such
Comics: The Gathering
Comics Worth Reading
ComicsXF
Comiks Debris
Comixfan Forums
Comixology [eaten by Amazon]
Comixtalk
Complete Marvel Reading Order [Doc]
Consequentialart's S.A.C.
Covered
Crime Comic Books 40s/50s
Crivens! Comics & Stuff
The Daily Cartoonist
Dean Haspiel
Deconstructing Liechtenstein
Defenders Fansite
Delusional Honesty
Bklyn: Desert Island Comics
Digital Comic Museum
Digitalwebbing.com [Blog] [MB]
Dispatches From The Fridge
Diversions Of The Groovy Kind
Does This Comic Have Staples?
Don Martin Dictionary
DoomRocket
Drawing Board [MBs]
Eddie Campbell: Comic Book Craft
Encyclopedia Of Pulp Heroes
The Escapist [Dark Dungeons]
Ethan Persoff [Problems] [Tw]
Ever-Ending Battle
Exhibit A Press [Batton Lash]
Eye On Comics
Fantagraphics Books
Fantasy Merchant
First Comics News
Flipboard: Comics
Fred Hembeck [Tumblr]
Free Comic Book Day
Friends of Lulu [RIP 02011]
Giant Size Marvel [Doc]
Girlamatic.com
Girl-Wonder.org [Read Comics]
Gizmodo [comics]
Glyph Comics Awards
Gone & Forgotten
Grand Comic Book Database
Graphic Policy
Graphic Smash [RIP]
Hannibal Tabu [Soapbox]
Heat Vision
Hero Initiative [was ACTOR]
HeroMachine
High Grade Comics
The Hooded Utilitarian
House To Astonish [X-Axis]
IDW [Top Shelf]
IGN Comics
I Like Comics Too
Image Comics [Blog]
ImageTexT [Comics at UFla]
Indy Magazine
Ink Spill
Int'l Comic Arts Association [ICAA]
Int'l Comic Arts Forum
Into The Weird [Twitter]
Isotope Comics [SF]
Jack Kirby Museum [Kirby Blog]
 [Dynamics] [Simon/Kirby Blog]
Jeet Heer [Comics] [Ditko]
NYC: JHU Comic Books
Jim Shooter
Ken Lowery [Ringwood]
Kerry Callen
Kevin Church [They Boldly Went]
Komikwerks
Kurt Busiek [Blog] [Twitter]
The Lexicon Of Comicana
Major Spoilers
Manchu
Manga Curmudgeon
Manga Iconography [Wikipedia]
Mark Evanier's News From ME
List/Learned/Comic Book Industry
Marvel Bullpen Bulletins Index
Marvel Chronology Project
Marvel Comics Creators Hbk
Marvel In The Silver Age
Marvel Toy News
Marvel Universe Appendix
 [Dr. Strange Characters]
Marvel Universe Message Board
Marvel Value Stamps Index
Marvel Zombie Society APA
Masked Avenger Studios
Master List of Comic Stores
Meetup Groups: Comic Books
Metrokitty
NYC: Midtown Comics
Mile High Comics [Tales]
MillarWorld
Mindless Ones
Modern Tales
Monitor Duty
MTV Splash Page
Multiversity Comics
Museum of Black Superheroes
Museum of Comic/Cartoon Art
 [MoCCA] [Tumblr]
Muslim Manga
National Public Radio: "comics"
Neil Gaiman's Journal
New Republic: Comics
NYC: NYCBM [Big Apple Comic Con]
NYC: New York Comic-Con
NYT ArtsBeat: Graphic Books
The Nib
Nick Caputo
No Flying, No Tights
Oh No Robot
OniKimono Links For Creators
On Panel [Bill K.]
Ookla The Mok
Operation Comix Relief
Ormes Society
The Outhouse
Panel And Pixel
Panel To Panel
The Panelists
Pappy's Golden Age Comics
Parkerspace
Paste: Comics
Paul Gravett
Peculiar Art of Mr. Frahm
Pencil Ink [Doc] [Doc]
PeterDavid.net
Periodic Table of Comic Books
Pipeline Comics [Augie De Blieck Jr.] [Tw]
Poopsheet
PopCultureShock
PopImage [News]
PopMatters: Comics
Popverse
POVonline.com [Kirby FAQ]
POWER In Comics
Project Rooftop
Publishers Weekly Comics
Pulp of the Day
PvPonline.com
Quotes On Comics
R. Sikoryak [Carousel]
Reading With Pictures
Rebus Books
rec.arts.comics.misc [GooGrps/Usenet]
rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe
Recalled Comics
Reed Richards Is Useless [TV Tropes]
Rick Veitch
Rom Fans Who Aren't Dicks
Runners Universe
The Savage Critics
Scans_Daily [Doc] [Ditko]
Scoop!
Scott McCloud [Morning Improv]
Scryptic Studios
Seanbaby.com Hostess Page
Sean Howe [Twitter] [Tumblr]
Sequart
Sequential
Sequential Crush
Sequential Tart [MB]
The Shallow Brigade [Tw]
She-Hulk Expert
SKTCHD [paywall/sub]
Small Press & Alt Comics Expo
 [SPACE]
Small Press Expo [SPX]
Society Of Illustrators
So Many Of Us
Space Art In Children's Books
Spiderfan.org
The Spinner Rack
Sterling Silver Comics
Strip Panel Naked
Stripper's Guide
Superhero Dictionary [Strange]
Superhero Food
Superhero Hype
Superhero Songs
Teachingcomics.org [NACAE]
Tenth Letter Of The Alphabet
Texts From Superheroes
Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival
Todd Klein
Tom Brevoort Experience [Tw]
Tony Isabella [Tips] [old Tips]
Too Busy Thinking
Toonopedia
Topless Robot
Toth Fans
Trapped In A Lyric
TwoMorrows Publishing [Blog]
Unpopular Opinions [Jim McLauchlin]
Visual Linguist [Neil Cohn]
Vulture › Comic Books
The Webcomic List
Who Created The Comic Books?
Wizard World
Women In Refrigerators
Women Write About Comics [WWAC]
World Famous Comics
You Don't Read Comics

In Absentia/Memoriam
ACT-I-VATE
A Trout In The Milk
Big Sunny D/Cakes And Money
 [Cakes 2.0] [Insult To Injury]
Bookslut [Comicbookslut]
The Brill Building
Clea's Cave
Comic Book Galaxy [ADD Blog]
 [Trouble With Comics] [Tumblr]
Comics Reporter [RIP]
Dave's Long Box
Earth Minds Are Weak
Egon
Fanboy Rampage
Flat Earth
Franklin's Findings/Culture Shock
Ghost In The Machine
Grotesque Anatomy/Sporadic Sequential
Gutterninja
I Am Not The Beastmaster
In Sequence
Jog The Blog
The Johnny Bacardi Show
Lady, That's My Skull
The Low Road
Majic 12
Motime Like The Present [Archive]
Polite Dissent
Pop Culture Gadabout
Postmodernbarney
Ringwood
Tangognat
Thought Balloons
Unqualified Offerings
Weblog Wannabe

PURPLE GEMS

Doctor Strange #1, new ongoing series, is out today 22 Mar!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Variant cover regime at Midtown Comics

- -

It looks like we are calling this Volume 6 (both the Wiki and Midtown)

Volume 1: #169-183 and then #381-390
Volume 2: #1-81
Volume 3: Flight Of Bones #1-4
Volume 4: #1-26 (Aaron/Bachalo) (then back to Volume 1 #381)
Volume 5: #1-20 (Waid)
Volume 6: Now (MacKay)

- -

Marvel Promises New Role For Wong In 'Doctor Strange' #4 [as an Agent of W.A.N.D.]

[22 March 02023]

- -

'Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania' Didn't Break Marvel Out Of Its Rut [Vox]

Superhero Fatigue Threatens Marvel's Multiverse Saga [Ringer]

Kevin Feige Opens Up About Phase 5, Kang, And The Future Of The MCU [EW]

How Much Is Too Much Marvel And 'Star Wars'? Disney Rethinks Franchise Output [Hollywood Reporter]

Is the mood turning against the MCU?:

  • The Multiverse/Phase 5 is looking a bit like a glutty slog (but now they want to space things out more).
  • The big tentpole Tier-1 actors/characters: contracts ended, humans aged, or sadly died (Boseman), or with other studios (Spider-Man/Sony), or are already over-mined (X-Men) or over-rebooted (FF). (Feel free to use Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange as the core!)
  • The horror of now three straight movies under 79% on Rotten Tomatoes after setting such a high bar (but audience scores are still high, and money is still shoveling in).
  • Endgame epic took ten years to get there. Do we have the attention span or star/character-power for another ten?
  • Marvel isn't the only superhero-glut-source in town (DC Gunn reboot; Sony's Spider-Verse; shows like 'The Boys').
  • Will the Multiverse be done well? Will it be a masterstroke for experimentation, creativity, diversity, and IP longevity, like 'Into The Spider-Verse'? Or just Prime Minister Electro 'Earth-X' 'Exiles' type stuff, absurdly moving around Titanic deck chairs, nostalgia plays and Easter eggs like the Illuminati in 'DSitMoM'? Will we care/will there be life-death stakes if there are infinite disposable versions of a character ('Rick And Morty' ate this lunch already)? If Ironheart, Moon Knight, Beta Ray Bill, and Earth-12345 Iron Man don't sell, do they bring back the heavy hitters that sold and just say 'OK, this is the 616 Thor', this is the same timeless character only played by the next actor after Hemsworth, this IP is just a mantle/title/suit, like Hulk (Norton/Ruffalo), Rhodey (Howard/Cheadle), like a new creative team on a long-running comic, like they do with Doctor Who and James Bond without the pretense of multiverse or reboot?

[5 March 02023]

- -

"You've Got To Constantly Reinvent Yourself": Dan DiDio Is On A Mission To Save Comics From Itself

Highly readable meta-industry interview with the controversial long-time ex-head of DC:

I spoke to the Diamond conference, and I said something that a couple of people agreed with, which was that I believe we lost one to two generations of comic fans. What do I mean by that? I mean that whatever we were doing at the moment wasn't attractive to people looking for something to buy some sort of entertainment. And I think that's when you saw this gravitation to manga. And rather than understand what that audience was going, we doubled down on the audience that we had.
I used to joke- which is not a joke anymore- when I first got to DC about sales on a number of books and price increases. And the simple math was that a book at $2.99 selling 40,000 copies turned the same profit that a book at $7.99 did at 25,000, and a $15 did at 10,000. But the 10,000 book had a hardcover, you had beautiful paper, it didn't [have to hit a] schedule. Everybody said, "Let's make more of those." And I said, "Here's the problem. I make more of those 10,000, I lose 5,000 people. Like, 40,000 [readers] goes to 35, 25 goes to 20, 10 goes to 5. We're out of business."
And the answer becomes, "Well, we just raise the price." And I said, "Great. We're going to create a $1,000 comic for 1,000 people. And that'll be our entire audience at the end of the day." And I think that's where we're heading right now.

Equal Time: "Kinda frustrating to listen to the new Dan Didio interview saying "we lost a whole generation of readers" like gosh whoopsie how did that happen."

[4 March 02023]

- -

Today marks 23 Years of Neilalien comic book/Doctor Strange/Steve Ditko/geek weblog goodies! Excelsior!

[25 February 02023]

- -

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #4 preview at Comics Continuum, out 22 Feb

Update: Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Update: Variant cover regime via Midtown Comics

- -

Doctor Strange #1 Trailer on YouTube
[out 22 March]

Update: 'Doctor Strange' Enlists A Hoary Host Of Super Heroes
["In a new trailer for 'Doctor Strange' #1, Stephen Strange and Clea get a visit from Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Cat, and more."]

- -

Also: Strange Academy: Finals #4 preview at Comics Continuum, out 22 Feb

- -

Marvel's April and May 02023 solicits include Doctor Strange, old friends and foes

DOCTOR STRANGE #2
JED MACKAY (W)
PASQUAL FERRY (A)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
Variant Cover by LEE GARBETT
Variant Cover by Alex Maleev
Stormbreakers Variant Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
An unending sleeping sickness has struck the children of Bleecker Street! There can only be one culprit behind this attack. It's up to Doctor Strange and Clea to travel into the Dream Dimension to confront their old foe, Nightmare. But all is not what they seem... and what they discover will shock them!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

DOCTOR STRANGE #3
Jed MacKay and more! (W)
Pasqual Ferry and tokitokoro (A)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
SPIDER-VERSE VARIANT COVER BY MAHMUD ASRAR
STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY ELENA CASAGRANDE
SISTER GRIMM AAPI HERITAGE MONTH VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE
VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN
A DAY WITH DORMAMMU!
Stephen Strange has no short supply of enemies, but none are more fearsome than DORMAMMU... master of the Dark Dimension! When a cult summons the Dreaded Lord to New York, Stephen has to risk everything in order to defeat his most dangerous foe! But is he truly up for the task? Plus, a backup story featuring Doctor Strange and Sister Grimm of the Runaways!
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

CLOBBERIN' TIME #3 (OF 5)
Ben Grimm travels to the Jersey Shore (and beyond) for a Grimm family reunion. Things get even more awkward when Doctor Strange shows up with information about the time-and-space-traveling thief whos been haranguing the THING. Dont miss part three of the greatest THING story ever told, as far as we know...

WARLOCK: REBIRTH #2 (OF 5)
Adam Warlock has been stripped of his Infinity Gem! But who is the new bearer calling herself Eve? As Adam falls into a coma, Gamora, Pip and Genis-Vell must seek the help of Doctor Strange!

[20 February 02023]

- -

Steve Ditko's hometown- Johnstown, Pennsylvania- has put up a mural commemorating the artist!

YouTube

VisitJohnstownPA.com

Mural is by Matt Lamb and The Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center. Mural shows Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Two other murals honoring Ditko are planned.

[31 January 02023]

- -

What Ever Happened To The Sales Charts?

Killed by the recent distribution wars: the era of Diamond being able to tell us how everything sold- because they distributed everything- is long gone. Do we have a modern-world industry that has this information- or are we trying to hide the death of the periodical? Neilalien needs his wonky data back!

- -

Brain Hibbs: Tilting At Windmills #293: What's Wrong With The Periodical???

  • Too many monthly titles.
  • Not enough new characters/franchises or audience expansion: 24 (half!) of DC's 49 series are Batman-family characters.
  • Too expensive: $4.99 emerging as the new price.
  • Too many variant covers. Marvel/DC are currently averaging 3-4(!) covers per book.
  • Mini-series focused on characters that already have ongoing series. They split the audience rather than grow it.
  • Incessant restarting and renumbering of series. Chasing pops for issues with "#1" on the cover that evaporate immediately. Nuking the angle of connected series/serialization/soap opera/consistent commitment/collecting #1-20 versus four confusing five-issue mini-series providing four "jumping off" points more than four "jumping on" points.
  • Publishing mini-series as a bunch of unconnected number ones (such as: Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man #1, Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers #1, etc.).
  • Diamond was a monopoly, but the consolidation had cost benefits: Now retailer discounts are down and shipping costs are up re: smaller orders with multiple distributors.
  • Without consequences, some retailers are cheating and putting new books on the shelves earlier than Wednesday.
  • There is very little to-consumer/end-reader promotion and marketing. Fans are not the publishers' customers: comic shops are. Even in the age of social media, very little info-hype is reaching fans and potential new fans about books coming out.

Brian Hibbs shop report: Comix Experience Best-Sellers: [0]2022

[29 January 02023]

- -

Strange #10 was out 18 Jan! Series finale ends with Doctor Strange among the living; leads into new ongoing series

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Variant cover regime via Midtown Comics

Clea Resurrects Doctor Strange With A Kiss, Disney Style

- -

Updating/Braindumping:

The table was set that it would be catastrophic if Doc and Clea touched. While Neilalien appreciates that the result of their touching could never have been annihilation, and was quite unexpected and imaginative- this Strange merged entity- he doesn't think that the result should have been so overwhelmingly positive and done. A downside should have been shown- a "cost"- as Doc writers have been so obsessed about of late- would have been appropriate here.

- -

Doctor Strange's Next Epic Role: Magical Wife Guy
[includes preview images/covers for Doctor Strange #1 in March]

"I think there's a certain gravitas in the two of them together - neither of them are young, fresh, unseasoned," said MacKay. "Stephen Strange is an elder statesman in the Marvel universe, the person that's always brought in when magic intrudes into lives of other heroes, and Clea is every bit his equal: an alien warlord who possesses great power of her own. I think Clea and Strange are a power couple in every sense of the word, and I'm interested in exploring that relationship and bringing it back to the forefront in the world of Strange."

- -

Tradd Moore's Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #3 was out 25 Jan!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Variant cover regime via Midtown Comics

- -

Also out 18 Jan: Punisher #9: Frank Castle has killed and replaced Ares, the God of War; Doc in ending cameo assembling a hero confab about what to be done

Also out 25 Jan: Midnight Suns #5 miniseries finale: Agatha Harkness gives herself a Kathryn-Hahn MCU younger makeover

Alex Ross cover for upcoming Doctor Strange #1 used as cover for "Marvel Free Previews Volume 6 #16 January For March 2023 Shipping Product"

[27 January 02023]

- -

Megacorporation Acquires Good Thing, Destroys It

Digital Comics Platform Comixology Hit By Amazon Layoffs [Popverse]

Amazon Ran Comixology Straight Into The Ground, And Now It's Laying Off Staff [Android Police]

Amazon's Huge Layoffs Are Gutting Comixology [Gizmodo/io9]
["In the wake of a disastrous Amazon integration and redesign last year, a move to cut 18,000 jobs is going to have a major impact on the digital comics platform."]

Comic Book Folk React To ComiXology Layoffs [Bleeding Cool]

Jonathan H. Gray: "Still thinking about Comixology & how Amazon bought a thing that worked, gutted it, shat in its bed, and then threw it away because they didn't want to play with it any more. Jobs lost, livelihoods upended, & a fresh digital horizon that was opened up is now gone on a whim."

More/General info about the Amazon layoffs: Amazon CEO Says Company Will Lay Off More Than 18,000 Workers [NPR]
[A little more than 1% of the 1.5 million Amazon workforce; none of the reasons given (pandemic over-hiring then, economic slowdown now) seem to actually be about Comixology; if Comixology activity is down now, it's because Amazon nuked it]

About that "disastrous Amazon integration and redesign last year": Opinion: Comixology's New Update Takes All The Fun Out Of Reading Digital Comics [IGN, February 02022]

When the world was new:

With Comixology, Amazon Acquires A Piece Of The Comic-Based Media Empire [TechCrunch, April 02014] ["Amazon has purchased Comixology, and that's a huge deal, because it means the largest bookseller in the world now owns the company that brought digital comics distribution to the masses, and essentially forced big publishers like DC and Marvel to get with it and start distributing titles on the same day in print and via digital channels. It's hard to understate Comixology's role in digital comics and the transition of the medium from print to online..."]

Amazon Buys Digital Comics Company ComiXology [Wired, April 02014] ["Well, there goes the digital neighborhood [Graeme being prescient lol]. ComiXology, the leading digital comics platform responsible for the sale of more than 4 billion pages of comics in [0]2013 alone, has been purchased by Amazon."]

Amazon.com To Acquire comiXology [Press release, April 02014] ["Amazon.com today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire comiXology, the company that revolutionized the digital comics reading experience with their immersive Guided View technology and makes discovering, buying, and reading comic books and graphic novels easier and more fun than ever before... There is no better home for comiXology than Amazon to see this vision through. Working together, we look to accelerate a new age for comic books and graphic novels... Amazon and comiXology share a passion for reinventing reading in a digital world... Founded in [0]2007, comiXology offers a broad library of digital comic book content from over 75 of the top publishers as well as top independent creators."]

ComiXology [Wikipedia]

Comixology [Amazon.com]

[22 January 02023]

- -

The massive Howard Hallis Doctor Strange collection has been posted online!

Strange Multiverse Collectibles

All 6,660 items have been photographed and categorized!

Auction coming in July: buy the entire lot for $110,000!

Announcement on Twitter

Update: Strange Multiverse Collectibles YouTube Channel

Update: Strange Multiverse Collectibles News Page

[9 January 02023]

- -

Tradd Moore's Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #2 was out last week 28 Dec!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Variant cover regime

Also out:

Midnight Suns #4
Strange Academy: Finals #3

[2 January 02023]

- -

Stan Lee would have had his 100th birthday today! [Wikipedia]

[28 December 02022]

- -

Strange #9 is out!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Mark Chiarello variant cover

Full of catnip for Doc fans: Doc/Clea pillow talk, and the War of the Seven Spheres/Trinity of Ashes!

[21 December 02022]

- -

Inside The AfterShock Comics Bankruptcy- $10m+ Owed, Staff Departures, More [Popverse] [news tag]

AfterShock Comics Files For Bankruptcy, Owes Creators Five Figure Sums [Bleeding Cool] [news tag]

Aftershock Comics Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy [The Beat] [news tag]

AfterShock Comics Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy [CBR] [news tag]

Updating links as found...

[20 December 02022]

- -

Marvel's March 02023 solicitations include new Doctor Strange ongoing series

DOCTOR STRANGE #1
JED MACKAY (W)
PASQUAL FERRY (A)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
MARVEL ICON VARIANT COVER BY STEFANO CASELLI
VARIANT COVER BY MARCO CHECCHETTO
STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY MARTIN COCCOLO
INFINITY SAGA PHASE 3 VARIANT COVER BY STEVE SKROCE
TIMELESS DORMAMMU VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
TIMELESS DORMAMMU VIRGIN SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
CHANGE YOUR REALITY!
Stephen Strange is back! Reunited with Clea and Wong, it's back to business as usual for the Sorcerer Supreme. Have your children fallen into a deep nightmarish slumber? Are demonic refugees invading your home? Is your husband possessed by a satanic entity? Then call Doctor Strange! Join Jed MacKay (MOON KNIGHT, BLACK CAT) and Pasqual Ferry (NAMOR: CONQUERED SHORES, SPIDER-MAN: SPIDERS SHADOW, THOR) as they begin a new chapter in the life of the Master of the Mystic Arts!
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

[19 December 02022]

- -

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness won "The Movie Of [0]2022" at the People's Choice Awards [Hollywood Reporter] [Wikipedia: 48th People's Choice Awards]

[18 December 02022]

- -

Neil Gaiman And Guillermo Del Toro Wanted To Make A [0]1920s-Set Doctor Strange Movie

Neil Gaiman full interview with Josh Horowitz for Happy Sad Confused on YouTube

Link to Dr. Strange part of the interview; "back in 02007, having minimalist conversations with Kevin Feige"

Josh Horowitz tweet with interview snippet: "Wait, @neilhimself & @RealGDT pitched @Kevfeige a 1920s set DOCTOR STRANGE film?"

Blog redux: Neilalien blogged it in November 02015:

When Marvel Wasn't Interested In A Neil Gaiman/Guillermo Del Toro Doctor Strange Movie... [Bleeding Cool]

Neil Gaiman tweet November 02015: "I still wish Marvel had been interested in a @RealGDT & me Dr Strange movie, because I wanted to write Clea so badly after 1602."

Wonder what Gaiman thinks of Clea in the recent Strange?

The new piece of information is it being set in the 01920's.

#DoctorSTRANGE is NOT a "contemporary" man.

[14 December 02022]

- -

New Doctor Strange ongoing series in March!

Writer Jed MacKay continuing; artist Pasqual Ferry; Alex Ross covers

The Master Of The Mystic Arts Returns To Reshape Your Reality In New 'Doctor Strange' Series [Marvel.com]

Marvel Resurrects Doctor Strange For A New Ongoing Series

Doctor Strange Is Back From The Dead And The Sorcerer Supreme Again In A New Ongoing Title

[13 December 02022]

- -

Marvel's January 02023 and February 02023 solicits include:

STRANGE #10
JED MACKAY (W)
MARCELO FERREIRA (A)
Cover by Lee Garbett
Demonized Variant Cover by TBA
Classic Homage Variant Cover by IBAN COELLO
Games Variant Cover by NETEASE
SORCERERS SUPREME UNITE!
Clea and Stephen Strange team up to take down the Blasphemy Cartel and their dreaded super-powered weapon! But will two Sorcerers Supreme be enough for this final battle? And what will finally become of Stephen Strange by the end of it? As one chapter closes, a new one is about to begin in the house of Strange...
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

No Strange #11 solicit for February...

DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE #3 (OF 4)
TRADD MOORE (W)
TRADD MOORE (A/C)
Variant Cover by KRIS ANKA
Variant Cover by Paulina Ganucheau
Doctor Strange is pulled in every direction by powerful figures while millions of lives rest in the balance- including his own! Yalda, Sophia, Bythos or himself: who should Strange serve? Who can he trust? Can this world's deadly ritual be stopped? Or is the answer simply... BLOOD? Heaven help us; it must be blood.
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE #4 (OF 4)
TRADD MOORE (W)
TRADD MOORE (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY CHASE CONLEY
Planet of the Apes Variant Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Doctor Strange enters the cursed castle of Moriah Mensa to challenge a superlunary power and complete an impossible task. As the sun sets, a voice echoes, "There are no good places to die."
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

MIDNIGHT SUNS #5 (OF 5)
ETHAN SACKS (W)
LUIGI ZAGARIA (A)
Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
VARIANT COVER BY KYLE HOTZ
Game Variant Cover also available
SINS OF THE PAST!
The MIDNIGHT SUNS were fated to rise... but in the end, are they destined to stop the apocalypse- or start it?! Only AGATHA HARKNESS knows the truth, but the mistakes of her past have finally caught up to her. She has a terrible choice to make- one that will change her forever, one that may doom ZOE LAVEAU and NICO MINORU- IF THEY and the Suns manage to survive... THE RITUAL!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

[12 December 02022]

- -

Dr. Strange May Have 'Lived' For Over 30,000 Years According To This Theory

Redditor TheCloakOfLevitation: "If Doctor Strange spent 1 day in each of the 14,000,605 possible futures and 20 second in each Dormammu Loop (assuming he did it 1000 times) that would make him an additional 38,331 Years 207 Days and 11 Hours years old mentally"; with discussion

Doctor Strange Spent A Ridiculous Amount Of Time Looking Through Time In Avengers: Infinity War: Thousands of Years [not the first time it's been discussed; another Redditor CleverDevil estimating Doc spent three hours each in 14 million timelines]

Doctor Strange's Glimpses Into The Future Were Probably Excruciating, According To The Russos ["He has to physically live them and then die in each of them... and take copious notes each time"]

Doc sitting there on Titan with his head zipping around (for how long? an hour? five minutes until Mantis notices?) suggests he is simply scanning timelines at an accelerated rate. His actual movie line was "view" "outcomes"- so not living entire timelines, just taking peeks at the ends? But how much time actually passed for Doc, and what did he experience, and how did he experience it? The Time Stone is omnipotent so it could have been anything. Did he scan all the timelines fast-forwarding videos one after the other? Or did he observe all the timelines all at the same time- like watching a wall of TVs in The Matrix movies- until one screen remained on? Or did he have to fully live them all out- not just scan/observe- in his mind- in real time- one after the other? Did he experience death 14 million times- over thousands of years? Math says he died with the Thanos Snap half of the time, and lived longer for half (if Thanos doesn't kill him before the Snap). How long did he experience each future before confirming Thanos won and moving on to the next? Did it only take spending a few milliseconds per timeline, three hours, a day, years, to confirm Thanos won? How many timelines had five-year Blips and how were they experienced and handled?- you can't just move on to the next timeline after reaching a Snap if some will later become Blips and undone. How does his brain remember all that time- or he took "copious notes" as he lived each life- or he only needs to deep-dive into a winning timeline once it's found and remember how that one happened? And how long was that Dormammu Loop anyway, and how many times did Doc die in that? Add in overcoming Death/the forehead-ankh thing. Add in 5,000 years for the War of Seven Spheres. How much time has Dr. Strange experienced? And how many of his own deaths?

[11 December 02022]

- -

Strange #8 out today!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Liking the Greg Land variant cover

- -

Tradd Moore's Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #1 out last week 23 Nov!

Preview at Comics Continuum

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Large variant cover regime, more grotesque than usual, and definitely not even needed in this case- we want Tradd Moore covers

The art might be a bit too "Beatles/Yellow Submarine" for Neilalien's tastes, but definitely appreciating the creativity, and sticking around to see where it leads...

- -

Also out recently:

Defenders: Beyond #5 finale
Strange Academy: Finals #2
Midnight Suns #3

Update: Avengers #62 [out 9 Nov], with a story focusing on that 1,000,000 BC version of Agamotto, very much just a re-skinned Doctor Strange; "to be continued in Avengers Assemble Alpha #1" [out 30 Nov]; Avengers vs. the 1,000,000 BC Avengers in the distant past (as any Marvel team-up must properly start, with the heroes fighting each other); against the Multiversal Masters of Evil and Mephisto, plotting to end Earth-616 in its crib, but the Earths are merely the fruit and the devil wants the whole garden; "the capstone to Jason Aaron's era on Avengers"; interesting item re: Doom Supreme has maimed countless Sorcerer Supreme versions: if a Strange he takes their Ditko hands, if a Clea he takes their Doc-lovin' hearts, and if an Agamotto he takes their eyes, naturally--

[30 November 02022]

- -

You Aren't Ready For How Good Marvel's New Doctor Strange Comic Looks [preview and lovenote re: Tradd Moore's Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #1, out 23 Nov]

[19 November 02022]

- -

Kevin Conroy, The Voice Of Batman, Dies At 66 [CBR obit]

Kevin Conroy, Who Gave Batman A Definitive Voice In Animated Projects, Dead At 66 [Rolling Stone obit]

Batman: The Animated Series' Kevin Conroy Remains The Definitive Batman

Wikipedia: [Kevin Conroy] [Batman: The Animated Series]

[11 November 02022]

- -

How The Writers Of Dr. Strange And Dracula Agreed To Kill Off Each Other's Characters [Comic Book Legends Revealed]

[10 November 02022]

- -

Steve Ditko would have had his 95th birthday today! [Wikipedia]

[2 November 02022]

- -

Strange #7 was out 26 October!

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Variant cover regime; liking the Luciano Vecchio

A lovenote to the love of Stephen and Clea. But they can't touch [insert eyes welling up emoji here]!... They battle a revenant Goliath. More info is revealed about the Blasphemy Cartel- and how Clea is a wild card for them, while their files on Doc are measured in tons. The path back to the living for Doc is elucidated- if he ends the revenant disrespect for Death.

Also out: Midnight Suns #1-2

(Didn't it used to be "Sons"?)

Magik is on the team, along with Blade, Wolverine, Spirit Rider (a time-tossed Ghost Rider and previous Sorcerer Supreme), Runaway Nico Minoru/Sister Grimm (but without her Staff), Zoe Laveau (undead Strange Academy student and a descendant of Doc foe Marie), and Agatha Harkness (the elderly comics one; not the MCU one; although we do see a younger version in a flashback to 1428). A world-wide mystical vision shows Zombie Zoe bringing on the apocalypse- which brings them together- along with a Dr. Doom attack to deal with the girl his own way. More bad-ass Clea appears- and deals with the girl her own way- banishing the Suns to the Dark Dimension.

Doctor Strange's Successor Proves She's Basically Already A Supervillain

Warrior-mage Sorcerer Supreme Clea has been a bad-ass, has alienated the X-Men, banished the Midnight Suns, even Death can't tell her what to do, etc. How will it resolve? Our culture's track record of writing strong women characters without the heel turn, without them "going insane" can be spotty (thinking of Dany in Game of Thrones, Scarlet Witch in the MCU, etc.)? We shall see...

[30 October 02022]

- -

Marvel Comics December 02022 solicits include:

STRANGE #9
JED MACKAY (W)
MARCELO FERREIRA (A)
Cover by Lee Garbett
Variant Cover by MARK CHIARELLO
STEPHEN STRANGE IS ALIVE!
Clea is finally reunited with her husband, Stephen. But it's a bittersweet reunion, as the Blasphemy Cartel unleash their deadliest weapon yet... What is it? More like WHO is it?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE #2 (OF 4)
TRADD MOORE (W)
TRADD MOORE (A/C)
Variant Cover by IAN BERTRAM
Variant Cover by JAMES HARREN
Doctor Strange joins forces with an all-new set of mystical heroes! But the treacherous Knights of the Body mean to make corpses of them all! BEWARE! What fresh terror awaits our heroes in the masked city of Sanc Nistos? A red river runs through the barbed bowels of the Body Machine, and all we have to hold onto are fragments and fearful chances!
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

STRANGE ACADEMY: FINALS #3
DOCTOR STRANGE EPIC COLLECTION: NIGHTMARE ON BLEECKER STREET TPB
Collecting DOCTOR STRANGE, SORCERER SUPREME #48-61 and ANNUAL #3; MORBIUS: THE LIVING VAMPIRE (1992) #9; and material from MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (1988) #146 and MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #12, and #14.

[10 October 02022]

- -

Strange #6 was out 21 September!

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

A good month for Wong. He's getting "Everybody loves Wong!" props in the She-Hulk TV series this month (and possibly getting laid), and now this love-note solo story in Strange #6 where he gets help from Bats, Black Widow, Jean Grey, the Bar With No Doors, etc.

Wong's memory page includes:

  • The brain tumor pills from The Oath #1
  • "Kiss Me" Xaos/Imei from Sorcerer Supreme #88
  • Urthona's face ripper from Doctor Strange #81 [thanks Ryszard!]
  • Update: A retconned first meeting with Doc in early blue cloak and first Eye in which Doc tells Wong not to call him "Master"? Wong called Doc "Master" for decades. Also, the blue cloak's cowl did not have points like the Cloak of Levitation (hat cowl tip Sanctum).

It is revealed that the Blasphemy Cartel is a remnant of W.A.N.D. after S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. Who the fuck, right? You'll need to go deep into your Doctor Strange long boxes for this one: a Thunderbolts Annual with a Doc cover/appearance that wasn't even really Doc. The Fandom Wiki is a comicblogger's best friend, for both info discovery and not needing to write everything ourselves:

Jed MacKay is bringing it with both creative new ideas, and easter eggs for the long-time fans. Great stuff. But for Neilalien, there is still some meta-bummitude that this good stuff is being used in service of the 'Doc is dead' trope. The toys are being used without Doc present. When do we simply get a run of great Doc stories again, like Roger Stern's run, without Doc absent, dying, getting depowered, getting deconstructed, getting blasted into space, etc.?

[25 September 02022]

- -

New York Comic-Con is 6-9 October 02022!

[Panels] [Exhibitors] [Artist Alley]

[Health & Safety: face coverings indoors required; vaccination/negative test proof not required]

[Reddit: NYCC]

[Reddit NYCC Party Thread] [Some NYCC parties via who is using Eventbrite for their tickets]

Update: Artist Alley Etiquette: "As long as you are not the guy with the rolling luggage case filled with comics to sign, you should be good."

Update: Manga Wins New York Comic Con 2022

The dominant presence of manga and anime-related exhibitors at this year's New York Comic Con, held October 6-9 at the Javits Center, was a big change from the years before the pandemic. Upon entering New York Comic Con 2022, the overall impression was that manga, anime and Japanese pop culture are now overwhelmingly embraced by American fans and have claimed their place in North American popular culture... The other notable trend at NYCC 2022 is the growth of webtoons, including comics content originally from Korea and China, and original comics created by a wave of international creators featured on such mobile comics platforms such as Webtoon, Tapas Media, Manta, Lezhin, and Tappytoon.

[24 September 02022]

- -

Iconic Avengers, X-Men Artist Tom Palmer Dies At 80

Tom Palmer [Wikipedia]

Marvel Wiki: [Tom Palmer] [791 comics inked by Tom Palmer]

I walk in the door and pencil [an] issue of Doctor Strange - first job I ever penciled. At the time, I thought I did a good job, but really it was a stinker. It wasn't up to par. I went back two weeks later to get the next issue, and they said, "No, we're getting someone else to pencil it; would you like to ink it?"

Doctor Strange #171 was the issue he drew. A bit stiff, but doesn't seem like a total stinker.

"Palmer is widely considered the definitive inker for Gene Colan, whose use of grey textures made his pencils notoriously difficult to ink in a way that did them justice." Palmer inked many Colan issues of Doctor Strange.

[28 August 02022]

- -

Marvel Comics November 02022 solicits include Tradd Moore's Fall Sunrise

DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE #1 (OF 4)
TRADD MOORE (W/A)
Wraparound Cover by TRADD MOORE
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
Variant cover by Daniel Warren Johnson
Variant cover by David Mack
FROM THE MIND OF TRADD MOORE!
Doctor Strange awakens alone in a distant world not his own. Lost of purpose and surrounded by danger, the wandering sorcerer must explore this land of blades and mystery to unravel arcane secrets and escape the deadly horrors that lie in wait! From the fantastical mind of creator Tradd Moore (SILVER SURFER: BLACK) comes a Strange story like you've never seen!
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

STRANGE #8
JED MACKAY (W)
MARCELO FERREIRA (A)
Cover by Lee Garbett
VARIANT COVER BY GREG LAND
WHO ARE THE BLASPHEMY CARTEL?
The secrets of the Cartel are revealed, and it comes from the unlikeliest of sources! Will this be the help Clea needs to bring peace to her adopted realm? Or will this be too much for the Sorcerer Supreme to handle?
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

STRANGE ACADEMY: FINALS #2
SKOTTIE YOUNG (W)
HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
Trading Card Variant Cover by Dustin Weaver
X-TREME MARVEL VARIANT COVER BY DAVID BALDEON
The students still in Strange Academy have their biggest challenge yet!
Plus, our heroes finally get a lead on Gaslamp and their missing friend.
But now they have to face the most terrifying villain STRANGE ACADEMY has introduced!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

MARVEL STUDIOS' DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS: THE ART OF THE MOVIE HC
Written by JESS HARROLD
Doctor Strange, with the help of allies both old and new, must traverse the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to protect a powerful young girl from a deadly, determined and deranged adversary! Continuing their popular ART OF series of movie tie-in books, Marvel Studios presents another blockbuster achievement! Featuring exclusive concept artwork and in-depth interviews with the creative team, this deluxe volume provides insider details about the making of the highly anticipated film! 224 PGS./All Ages $60.00
ISBN: 978-1-302-94587-9
Trim size: 11-5/16 x 9-3/8

Also: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME: THE ART OF THE MOVIE HC
DEFENDERS EPIC COLLECTION: THE DAY OF THE DEFENDERS TPB

[27 August 02022]

- -

Strange #5 out 17 Aug

Comic Book Round Up collected reviews

Spoiler time is up: Harvestman is wonderfully big-revealed to be our favorite ne'er-do-well Stephen Strange! As predicted by some all along: in issue #1 page 1 Harvestman is shown with blue eyes; he "doth protests too much" to Clea not to resurrect Doc. It's a relief to see Doc "active"- in Death's "employ" as her Sorcerer Supreme and charged with ending the revenant threat- but the toys are not yet back in the status-quo box of Doc back among the living and free. We shall see.

'Strange' Writer Jed MacKay Breaks Down Doctor Strange's Return

[26 August 02022]

- -

- -