Scott Derrickson out as director of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness!

'Doctor Strange 2' Director Scott Derrickson Drops Out [Variety]

Director Scott Derrickson Has Left 'Doctor Strange 2' [Vulture]

Why Did Scott Derrickson Leave Doctor Strange 2? Marvel Fans Dig Up Past Tweets For Hints

Tweet: Derrickson will stay on as Executive Producer

Given how well he did with Doctor Strange- and not knowing his replacement nor seeing the final product- this feels like terrible news right now. The main theories re: "creative differences": Derrickson wanted to go in a riskier, darker, full-on horror direction (which had most Doc fans drooling in anticipation) while Disney wants PG-13- or being forced to shoehorn Disney+ shows like WandaVision.

Marvel Reportedly Eyeing Two Horror Directors For Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Jade Halley Bartlett To Write 'Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness' [IMDb]

Surprise New Characters Will Debut In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness [Dr. Strange visiting a number of alternate universes on his journey through the multiverse: is that how they get the Fox properties like X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four into the MCU?!]

Backstage: UK casting call!: "After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Dr. Stephen Strange continues his research on the Time Stone. But an old friend-turned-enemy [Mordo?] puts an end to his plans and causes Strange to unleash unspeakable evil."

WandaVision Ties Directly Into 'Doctor Strange 2' [with lots of Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch in the movie- and possibly be the villain?]

Murphy's Multiverse Rumors:

Nightmare is the villain of WandaVision

Benedict Cumberbatch will be on set for the last week of filming for WandaVision [Doc to appear in the series?]

[14 January 02020]

Marvel's March 02020 solicits include new series Strange Academy; Dr. Druid

STRANGE ACADEMY #1
SKOTTIE YOUNG (W) HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT VARIANT COVER BY TBA
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
VARIANT COVER BY JEROME OPENA
A SORCERER SCHOOL FOR THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!
The Marvel Universe has mysteriously changed in such an alarming way that Doctor Strange has done what he's avoided for decades; he's opened a school for young sorcerers. Young people from around the world with aptitude in magic have been brought together in New Orleans to study the Mystic Arts under Strange, Brother Voodoo, the Ancient One, the Scarlet Witch, Magik, Hellstrom and ALL your favorite Marvel magicians. But with all the new magical threats, is it too late?!
40 PGS./Rated T $4.99

DR. STRANGE #4
MARK WAID (W) KEV WALKER (A)
Cover by PHIL NOTO
The return of Dr. Druid!
What has brought Doctor Strange's fellow sorcerer back from the dead, and has he truly renounced all magic as he claims?
Or is something more sinister brewing in the halls of the McCarthy Medical Institute? 32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

SAVAGE AVENGERS #11
GERRY DUGGAN (W) BUTCH GUICE (A)
Cover by VALERIO GIANGIORDANO
The horrific secret of Kulan Gath's power is revealed. Steel yourself, True Believers, this one is a bummer for the ages.
Plus, Dr. Strange & Elektra did what last night?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory $3.99

Elektra And Doctor Strange Hook Up In Savage Avengers

Also: MARVELS X #3 (OF 6), GHOST RIDER #6.

Also: TAROT #4 (OF 4)
ALAN DAVIS (W) PAUL RENAUD (A/C)
Variant Cover by ALAN DAVIS
VARIANT COVER BY STEPHEN MOONEY
Merged into a single amalgamated band, the combined heroes of the amalgamated Avengers and Defenders race against the clock to put everything right- as the final card begins to turn.
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

Also: Out 5 Feb: Savage Avengers: Doctor Strange Enlists Magik's Help In Issue #0

Solicit: The looming threat of Kulan Gath reunites Dr. Strange and Magik on Krakoa. The fate of the world will rest in what they discover. Re-presenting a pair of classics, UNCANNY X-MEN 190 & 191 by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr, in the context of a great new sequence illustrated by the impeccable Greg Smallwood.

[12 January 02020]

Stan Lee would have had his 97th birthday today! [Wikipedia]

Update: Kim O'Connor: "Still just absolutely blown away by how Marvel has built the myth of this man to obscure its long history of exploiting creators. The most important and lucrative character in the Marvel Universe by a mile."

[28 December 02019]

Brian Hibbs Tilting at Windmills: A Leak, A Rosetta Stone, And One Path Forward [a leaked Diamond document reveals a peek into the size and dynamics of the Direct Market for Marvel Comics]

[15 December 02019]

The Decade Comic Book Nerds Became Our Cultural Overlords [observing the fan backlash against Martin Scorsese's "the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not cinema" comment: fans of Rambo may have always seen Scorsese as an out-of-touch snob egghead, but unlike before, fans of today demand that Rambo be treated in the same art-breath as The Killing Fields; superhero movies can make you cry too!; Scorsese in no way threatens superhero dollars the way superheroes threaten indie-art-movies; "the response to Scorsese is a populist groundswell in service of the status quo, of corporations, and of power. In the case of Marvel Stans vs. Marty it's the expression of a vestigial inferiority complex and hypersensitivity to gatekeeping left over from the days when the culture at large couldn't look at anything comics-related that wasn't Maus or Watchmen without making jokes about Adam West's tights, but functionally it's a mass movement rising up to defend a Goliath against the impertinence of a David."]

Alan Moore: "Primarily, mass-market superhero movies seem to be abetting an audience who do not wish to relinquish their grip on (a) their relatively reassuring childhoods, or (b) the relatively reassuring 20th century... The superheroes themselves- largely written and drawn by creators who have never stood up for their own rights against the companies that employ them, much less the rights of a Jack Kirby or Jerry Siegel or Joe Schuster... are still very much white supremacist dreams... I think that a good argument can be made for D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation as the first American superhero movie, and the point of origin for all those capes and masks."

[14 December 02019]

Marvel TV Division Folded Into Studio Unit, Layoffs Expected [the wall between Marvel's film and TV units knocked down; the new Disney+ TV shows are under Feige/films; Marvel's Netflix shows, now ended to stop giving content to a competitor, were under Loeb/TV]

Marvel Comics Closes Its New York Office And Moves... [A Few Hundred Meters] East

[13 December 02019]

Out 11 Dec: Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #1 [Preview]

It looks like Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality will have a lot of Doctor Strange and his accoutrements [including Hobgoblin in Eye and Cloak casting the Crimson Bands] [cover to #3 with Spidey in Eye and Cloak]

A "President Electro" story (what Neilalien calls it when they mix and mashup and What-If and Earth-X the characters in different combinations because no one wants to create new IP/characters under work-for-hire) but #1 was enjoyed

Update: Positive review: ComicBookMovie.com

Update: Also out 11 Dec: A Cancerverse version of Doctor Strange is the bad guy in Annihilation-Scourge: Beta Ray Bill

Neilalien does not know much about the Cancerverse.

[12 December 02019]

Rene Auberjonois, 'Star Trek' [Odo] And 'Boston Legal' Actor, Dies At 79

'Star Trek' Writer Dorothy Catherine 'D.C.' Fontana Dies At 80

[11 December 02019]

Hulk Hogan Versus Marvel Comics: The Fight For His Name

Marvel Comics And The Money They Made Off Hulk Hogan

[10 December 02019]

Marvel teases a Doctor-Strange-related magical-school comic coming in March?

Update: Or an election?

[4 December 02019]

Out tomorrow 4 Dec: Sword Master #6 [preview]

Sword Master #5 [was out 6 Nov] and #6 involve Dr. Strange and Baron Mordo with Doc covers

What the heck is Sword Master? Part of a Marvel bid to build its brand in East Asia with Chinese partnerships, creators, and characters

Marvel Launches Sword Master And Aero Comics In July By Greg Pak

Marvel Talks Bringing New Heroes Aero And Sword Master Into The Comics

Chinese state news: Chinese Internet giant NetEase [Nasdaq: NTES] has reached a deal with Disney to publish 12 Marvel comics on NetEase's comic platform 163.com (including what looks like Sorcerers Supreme); the deal will also see new Chinese superheroes created to join the Marvel Universe

An Interview With Greg Pak About Marvel's New All-Asian Superhero Team 'Agents of Atlas' [Luna Snow and Crescent and Io, original Korean superheroes created for the Marvel Future Fight game... Aero and Sword Master, original Chinese super heroes created with NetEase for Chinese webcomics... the great Filipino artist Leinil Yu and I co-created Wave, Marvel's new Filipina super hero [with] water-based powers... "Oh, and just to clarify, Wong isn't in this particular story. But someday..."]

Out tomorrow 4 Dec: Savage Avengers #8 [preview]

Savage Avengers has been involving Kulan Gath, many magical- and Doc-themed elements, "the Third Eye of Agamotto", Shuma-Gorath; Doc appeared in #7 [was out 6 Nov]

What the heck is Savage Avengers? A Marvel-license-reacquired Conan The Barbarian in the in-canon modern-day 616 Marvel Universe somehow (Avengers: No Road Home stranded him in the Savage Land) with stabby team Wolverine, Venom, Punisher, Elektra, and Brother Voodoo (Darth Vader to join soon? /s)

Conan The Barbarian Will Star In A New Avengers Comic Series

Out 13 Nov: Marvel Tales: Doctor Strange [reprints only]

[3 December 02019]

Marvel's February 02020 solicits include a Strange/Doom/Conan team-up vs. Kulan Gath

DR. STRANGE #3
MARK WAID (W) KEV WALKER (A)
Cover by PHIL NOTO
VARIANT COVER BY KEV WALKER
Tattoo removal isn't in a surgeon's job description, but when one man's heavy metal tattoos begin coming to life Doctor Strange will have to make an exception!
With the clock ticking down rapidly, will Doctor Strange be able to save his patient- or himself?
Find out as Doctor Strange gets drawn into the diagnosis- literally!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

TAROT #3 (of 4)
ALAN DAVIS (W) PAUL RENAUD (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY ALAN DAVIS
VARIANT COVER BY KEVIN NOWLAN
As the chaos and madness continues to spread, the Avengers and the Defenders find themselves confronted by the most unlikely characters in Marvel history! Would you believe- THE UNBELIEVABLES?
40 PGS./Rated T+ $4.99

SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN: ALIEN REALITY #3 (OF 5)
PETER DAVID (W) GREG LAND (A/C) [Cover]
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
VARIANT COVER BY ALEX SAVIUK
GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO
VARIANT COVER BY GERARDO SANDOVAL
CONNECTING CHINESE NEW YEAR VARIANT COVER (2 of 3) BY JIE YUAN
PETER PARKER: THE SPIDER SUPREME?!
After reliving one of the most horrible moments of his life, Peter Parker turns to one of his oldest allies for a magical helping hand. Don't miss the next history-shaking adventure of Peter David and Greg Land's landmark SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN Series!
32 PGS./Rated T $3.99

SAVAGE AVENGERS #10
GERRY DUGGAN (W) PATCH ZIRCHER (A)
Cover by Valerio Giangiordano
Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom and Conan the Barbarian set out to kill Kulan Gath before he grows stronger! The team-up you never knew you couldn't live without concludes. We hope you'll be okay.
32 PGS./Parental Advisory $3.99

SAVAGE AVENGERS #0: "The looming threat of Kulan Gath reunites Dr. Strange and Magik on Krakoa. The fate of the world will rest in what they discover. Re-presenting a pair of classics, UNCANNY X-MEN 190 & 191 by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr, in the context of a great new sequence"

FANTASTIC FOUR: GRIMM NOIR #1: "What is Dr. Strange's nemesis D'Spayre doing on Yancy Street?"

DITKO IS... STRANGE! KING-SIZE HC
Collecting material from STRANGE TALES (1951) #110-111 and #114-146.
328 PGS./All Ages $100.00

[2 December 02019]

Marvel's January 02020 solicits include Doctor Strange: The End, Alan Davis Avengers/Defenders

DR. STRANGE #2
MARK WAID (W) KEV WALKER (A)
Cover by MAX FIUMARA
Variant Cover by MIKE HUDDLESTON
MARVELS X VARIANT COVER BY OLIVIER VATINE
Enter: The Wrecker... of reality!
After being beaten, broken and at the end of his rope, how will Strange keep the Wrecker from tearing apart reality?
Plus, a familiar face from Strange's past makes a surprise return!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

DOCTOR STRANGE: THE END #1
LEAH WILLIAMS (W) FILIPE ANDRADE (A)
Cover by RAHZZAH
Variant cover by FILIPE ANDRADE
THE FINAL DOCTOR STRANGE STORY!
The Sorcerer Supreme makes his final journey through a cyberpunk sprawl that forgot about magic! Reteaming the critically-acclaimed creative team of LEAH WILLIAMS (GWENPOOL STRIKES BACK) and FILIPE ANDRADE (ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: IMMORTAL HULK)!
40 PGS./ONE SHOT/Rated T+ $4.99

TAROT #1 and #2 (OF 4) by Alan Davis!
Tarot: Alan Davis Pens Marvel's Next Avengers/Defenders Story

JESSICA JONES #2 (OF 6)
After being brutally attacked in her office, Jessica turns to Doctor Strange to help her find the target. But he may discover more than Jessica bargained for...

SAVAGE AVENGERS #9
GERRY DUGGAN (W) PATCH ZIRCHER (A)
Cover by Valerio Giangiordano
The Quest to Kill Kulan Gath Part 1
Folks, we won't mince words. Kulan Gath has got to go. If Conan The Barbarian, Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom can't do it, then it can't be done. Plus, what is the fate of Kulan Gath's guest, Doctor Voodoo?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory $3.99

SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN: ALIEN REALITY #2 (OF 5)
"GUEST STARRING DOCTOR STRANGE!"

VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER #7 "teams up with Marvel's Mightiest Medics to save the life of the ultimate patient- Death herself!" [Doc shown on cover]

[1 December 02019]

Tom Spurgeon, beloved Comics Reporter, has died; respected journalist, historian, and advocate for art; age 50

Comics Reporter website

Update: Douglas Wolk [obit]

Update: The Comics Journal [obit]

The Comics Journal [links]

Bleeding Cool [links]

Comic Book Resources [obit]

Progressive Ruin

Update: High-Low

Updating: More links as found...

Just some of the many kindnesses Comics Reporter showed Neilalien over the years:

21 Things I Like About Dr. Strange

Neilalien Retires From Near-Daily Blogging After 11 Years

[14 November 02019]

Steve Ditko would have had his 92nd birthday today! [Wikipedia]

[2 November 02019]

Out today 30 Oct: Doctor Strange Annual #1

Update: This Annual's back-up story reveals that it is part of Wong's bloodline's duties and abilities to use a secret spell to assassinate Sorcerer Supremes who turn evil [Slayer Supreme: If Doctor Strange Turns Evil, [SPOILER] Must Kill Him]

[30 October 02019]

Out today 2 Oct: Doctor Strange #20 [series finale]

[2 October 02019]

New York Comic-Con is this weekend 3-6 Oct!

New York Comic Con [0]2019: Dates, Tickets, Schedule, Panels, And News [Den Of Geek]

The Insanely Big After-Party List Of New York Comic Con [0]2019 [Bleeding Cool]

[1 October 02019]

DITKO: A Play Honoring The Spider-Man Co-Creator Hits NYC This October

Lenny Schwartz To Tribute Comic Book Legend Steve Ditko

Steve Ditko Play Coming To New York For NYCC Tie-In Dates

At Theaterlab in NYC, for two nights only, 1-2 October 02019, 7:30 PM, $15 advance, $20 at door [Tickets]

Kim O'Connor: "Steve Ditko dying sure did unleash a wave of projects that would have absolutely horrified Steve Ditko"

[21 September 02019]

Marvel Launches "Doctor Strange: Surgeon Supreme" By Waid And Walker

Marvel December 02019 solicits include new Doctor Strange series, Annihilation Scourge event, and many Strange appearances

DR. STRANGE #1
Mark Waid (W) Kev Walker (A)
Cover by Phil Noto
Variant Cover by INHYUK LEE
Hidden Gem Wraparound Variant Cover by Frank Miller
VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
VARIANT COVER BY GERARDO ZAFFINO
The impossible has happened! Doctor Strange's hands have been healed, restoring his surgical skills- but now he's being torn between his obligations as the Sorcerer Supreme and as a neurosurgeon. And when he's forced to choose which vows to uphold, who suffers most for it? After all, magic always has a cost... Be here for a brand new era of magic... and horror from Mark Waid (HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE) and Kev Walker (BLACK PANTHER)!
32 PGS./Rated T+ $3.99

Doctor Strange also billed in: SAVAGE AVENGERS #8, VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER #6, MAGNIFICENT MS. MARVEL #10, and SWORD MASTER #6.

Out 11 Sept: Doctor Strange #19

Doctor Strange Just Got A Huge, Non-Magical Upgrade- At A Terrible Cost

Out 1 Oct: Doctor Strange SteelBook 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray [exclusively at Best Buy]

[20 September 02019]