Legendary creator Denny O'Neil has died; credited with Julie Schwartz and Neal Adams for creating the "Dark Knight" modern version of Batman; namer of Optimus Prime; age 81 of natural causes
He wrote Doctor Strange in Strange Tales #145-149.
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PURPLE GEMSLegendary creator Denny O'Neil has died; credited with Julie Schwartz and Neal Adams for creating the "Dark Knight" modern version of Batman; namer of Optimus Prime; age 81 of natural causes He wrote Doctor Strange in Strange Tales #145-149.
'Doctor Strange 2' Pushed Back Four Months To March 2022 Covid-19-caused production delays have pushed the entire MCU Phase 4 release schedule back Now 'Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness' will be released only six weeks apart from Thor: Love And Thunder But still no projections when MCU filming/production can resume But WandaVision has finished shooting- great! and Disney+ needs content- but unfortunately they can't show it too far ahead of 'Doctor Strange 2' since they're related Rumors persist: With its "multiverse" premise (or at least title), 'Doctor Strange 2' is the perfect vehicle for introducing the Disney-acquired-from-Fox properties like X-Men and Fantastic Four into the MCU "Roger Wardell" rumor tweets: Doctor Strange 2 will lead to Midnight Sons. Nightmare IS NOT a villain of the movie.
Marvel Reveals Updated Release Schedule July 8th: Doctor Strange #5 and Strange Academy #2 Update: Also July 8th: Ghost Rider #7 [Dr. Strange was in #6, out 11 March] July 29th: Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #5
Brian Hibbs: Tilting at Windmills #279: The Plague Diaries- How Comics Retailing Moves Forward [a retailer shares his current reality; how do we reopen?- with an unaffordable print-product "catch-up" dump? with print comics that have already been released digitally? with fans who have had the weekly habit nuked out of them due to the virus shutdown?; Marvel/DC tease "digital only" and "trade only" and play Russian roulette with the print Direct Market; the DM amortizes the production costs and lowers prices of digital and trades for viability in other book markets; no one outside of the DM can sell fragile expensive atomized singles- no more newsstand market; "one of the very first questions that was asked by AT&T when they had their first post-takeover meeting at DC, in the pre-plague past, was 'Why are we still printing these?'"] Your latest "a single-issue-based brick-mortar Direct Market is not long for this world" essay, coronavirus-finally-making-it-a-reality edition [note: the two biggest Diamond accounts are mail order/online] Haven't seen one of these in a while: Your latest "the anthology format will save comics" essay [but having the content available first digitally a-la-carte style kills it before it starts]
Doctor Strange: Five Story Retcons That Fans Liked (And Five That They Hated)
FANS LOVED: The Fate of Casey Kinmont
Collected COVID-19/coronavirus links as found; updating: Alt Free Comic Day will be streaming live to Facebook, Twitch, and Youtube on Fri-Sat 1-2 May with panels and AMAs [CBR] San Diego Comic-Con [0]2020 Is Canceled [io9 4/17/20]
Marvel Comics Halves Its Staff Due To COVID-19
[CBR 4/25/20]
Diamond Announces May 20th Return Of New Single-Issue Comics [Beat 4/28/20] 'This Is Beyond The Great Depression': Will Comic Books Survive Coronavirus? [Guardian UK 4/20/20] Diamond's Steve Geppi Dishes: 'I Don't Think You Can Destroy The Industry In Two Months.' [Beat 4/29/20] [restaurants will never get back the meals, but a comic shop can still sell Batman #92 and its debut of new Joker-babe Punchline]
DC had, no longer has, the option to buy Diamond [neat comics history item resolved; why newsstands don't work; the fateful decision, when paper prices went up, to reduce the number of comic-book pages rather than raise prices, turning magazines into floppies]
Shocker: DC Announces Return To Shipping Comics For April 27th With Alternative Distributors [Beat 4/17/20] Why DC Didn't Wait For Diamond To Begin Shipping New Comics [CBR 4/27/20] Retailers Have Poor Reaction To DC's New Distribution Plan [Beat 4/20/20] Initial Retailer Reaction To DC Distribution Plan Is Mixed [Newsarama 4/17/20] Retailers, with stores under virus shutdown orders, and loyal to Diamond, mostly balk at DC plan to skirt Diamond's own virus shutdown and distribute "a tiny slate of garbage" comics via Midtown Comics and DCBS, "two already large mail order retailers who most brick and mortar stores see as direct competition" Alan Gill Boycotts New DC Comics Distributors In Favour Of Diamond [Bleeding Cool 4/23/20] Brian Hibbs Holds Jim Lee Responsible For DC Distribution Decision [Bleeding Cool 4/18/20] Art In Quarantine: Gary Groth [Fantagraphics 4/28/20]
Comic book shops, already precarious, looking vulnerable in our new virus world Collected COVID-19/coronavirus links as found; updating: Diamond Halts Shipments Of All New Comics Due To Coronavirus Pandemic [CBR 3/23/20] Diamond CEO Steve Geppi Addresses Coronavirus Effect On Distribution Diamond Allows Stores To Pause Accounts During Coronavirus Shutdown [CBR 3/18/20] Free Comic Book Day [0]2020 Postponed [was to be Saturday May 2nd] Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: Support Your Local Comic Shop During The COVID-19 Crisis Comic Book Retailer COVID-19 Relief Fund Launched On GoFundMe [GoFundMe] [Newsarama 3/19/20] AKA Morgan Twitter thread of comic shops world-wide that offer mail subscription services Marvel Offering Deep Discounts On Comics To Help Retailers Through Coronavirus [Newsarama 3/20/20] BOOM! Studios Announces Full Returnability And More Retailer COVID-19 Relief Programs [CBR 3/23/20] Dark Horse Makes All Comics Returnable For Three Months, Reduces Schedule [Bleeding Cool 3/25/20] Final Crisis? Diamond Comic Distributors Halts Shipments Of New Comics In Response To COVID-19 Shutdowns [Forbes 3/24/20] Comics Retailers Are Facing A Catastrophe- And Here Are Some Steps We Can Take To Help Avoid It [Beat 3/23/20] Comics Retailers React To Diamond Ceasing Shipments Of New Comics [Beat 3/24/20] Comics Pros React To The Diamond Comic Shutdown [CBR 3/24/20] Here's What Comic Book Stores Are Doing To Help Combat Covid-19 [curbside service; local delivery] [Gizmodo 3/18/20] Fan Conventions Are Being Postponed Amid Covid-19 Concerns- But Comic-Con Is Still A Go [Washington Post 3/13/20] Comic Con Spaces Being Repurposed Over Coronavirus Pandemic [Javits, home of NYCC, now a 2,000-bed hospital] [Bleeding Cool 3/24/20] Brian Hibbs: "I am going to REMEMBER who stood up for the kinds of relief a closed-by-government store NEEDS (Image, Boom!, Dynamite, ETC) and REMEMBER who hasn't (Marvel, DC, Diamond)." [Facebook post 3/22/20] The State Of The Comics Industry Under Coronavirus- On Tuesday [publisher and retailer closings expected; bookstores have already closed; Marvel and DC creators still working; big comics printer shut down; any move to get comics out digitally is stuck, seen as hurting the direct market shops; working around Diamond?; creator wallets haven't factored in surprise returnability on their creator-owned titles; Marvel/DC or other major crossover/event/combination seen as a savior move] [Bleeding Cool 3/24/20] Virus tags on comics news sites: [Comic Book Resources] [Bleeding Cool] [Comics Beat] Retailer Mike Sterling has been blogging about his store and the virus
Today marks TWENTY YEARS of comic book/Doctor Strange/Steve Ditko/weblog goodies from Neilalien at this website! Excelsior!
Marvel's April 02020 and May 02020 solicits include Dr. Strange, Savage Avengers, Strange Academy; big Empyre event
DR. STRANGE #5
DR. STRANGE #6
SAVAGE AVENGERS #12
SAVAGE AVENGERS #13
STRANGE ACADEMY #2
STRANGE ACADEMY #3 "Empyre": Marvel's next big event: Kree-Skrull hybrid Hulkling unites the two alien races and invades Earth. Mostly an Avengers/Fantastic Four event, with the usual slew of tie-ins. Marvel can't win with Neilalien: If he's not lamenting Doc's exclusion from the big Marvel events, he's breathing relief-sighs when Doc fans and collectors are spared his inclusion from crappy-sounding money grabs.
Updating: Tracking recent Dr. Strange appearances; adding braindumps/reviews/links/more as time permits...
Update: Out 12 Feb: Doctor Strange (Surgeon Supreme) #3
The new series is basically business as usual- which is fine considering that's not as bad as whatever absurd medical procedural Neilalien was picturing/dreading when "Surgeon" was announced. 'Doc in a hospital' makes a lot more sense than the 'Doc in outer space' that started the previous series. Neilalien doesn't mind if Doc's a House-like consultant on weirder medical mysteries, or if that's the jumping-off point for stories, in the way Superman gets the jump on situations by being a reporter. It should have been that way all along. But still- the fewer comic panels in the hospital, about the hospital, the paperwork in the hospital, surgeries without a magickal aspect, etc., probably the better. We don't read Doctor Strange comics for that. Dr. Druid's re-appearance is welcome, but desperately needs something more here to distinguish himself from Baron Mordo. Non-standard-for-Doc villain Wrecker was enjoyed here in an 'Acts of Vengeance' way. The 'mystic forge'/'Sanctum Machina'- Neilalien's still not convinced re: Doc using weapons- but it's about time that Doc's reached a high-enough D&D level to finally make magic items. Someone in the campaign has to be making all these purple gems and sling rings and swords +1! But who would even know the forge exists already to steal something from it? Still undecided about Doc restoring his hands. Aren't the car-crash-damaged hands akin to his Uncle Ben or Bruce Wayne's parents- they can't come back from the dead or the motivation to dress up is weakened. One could argue Doc was very reckless to risk this dimension's protection to save one child. There's maybe only two story payoffs for restoring the hands: Doc gains new abilities, perhaps he can cast new spells that require more intricate movements- or the other shoe drops- perhaps he gets problematically arrogant again.
Update: Out 12 Feb: Savage Avengers #10
Enjoying! Neilalien's favorite book right now. This Conan/Strange/Doom team-up versus evil sorcerer Kulan Gath is a great hot mess. Fun crazy page-turning action and interaction among all four of them. Doom saves a mortally-poisoned Strange by putting him inside a suit of armor sent from orbit in the best Doctor-Strange-transformed final splash page since Dr. StrangeZom in World War Hulk #3. Doctor Strange Just Became... The Infamous Iron Man?
Out 5 Feb: Savage Avengers #0 All this issue does is contrast just how dense Claremont X-Men comics were with just how much less than that we get for our comics buck these days.
Out 29 Jan: Doctor Strange: The End This story did nothing for Neilalien. He enjoyed the What If Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme? one-shot from this same creative team more. Doctor Strange: The End Reveals The Fate Of Marvel's Magical World
Out 29 Jan: Tarot #2
Positive review at AIPT ["the kind of Avengers/Defenders book that'll make you go back to your long boxes thirsty for more... Alan Davis has solidified himself as one of the greatest Marvel Comics creators ever"] Enjoying! Neilalien has almost always liked Alan Davis's story and design sensibilties- and he's loving that apparently Davis is just doing any old-school characterizations, costumes, combinations, etc., here that he damn-well wants. Did NOT like that Avengers Mansion is home to mystical artifacts Doctor Strange does not know about. Neilalien has often mused that the alchemist Diablo would have made a good Dr. Strange villain. And Oberfuhrer Okkulte would make an excellent Dr. Strange villain!
Update: Out 12 Feb: Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #3
Enjoying! Peter David writing; clean crisp Greg Land art. Good Doc and Spidey team-ups always have a "children of Ditko" charm, contrasting their powers and personalities. Lots of magical goodies here- Baron Mordo too. A bummer that Doc is powerless in this tableau, but the story kind of requires it, and at least he hasn't been useless. Spidey not only outruns the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak that Hobgoblin casts- he also redirects them onto the caster! Neilalien is always wary of seeing the Bands trifled with, easily cast, easily broken, easily outrun- but maybe Hobgobby's not skilled with magic enough yet, the Bands do have a "seeking/lasso" element to them, and not sure what different spell could have been used here to be avoided/redirected, so it's fine. It appeared for an issue that one of Neilalien's biggest pet peeves was going to manifest- Spidey was about to learn Doctor Strange's decades-long hard-fought magickal skills in five minutes- but they ended up training in Kamar-Taj for a year where time doesn't pass, and only defensive spells.
Out 19 Feb: Valkyrie: Jane Foster #8
Warning: Neilalien triggered: Not a fan of Dr. Strange during this run. One big thrill: seeing Mordo's Minions again- Kaecilius, Adria, and Demonicus- and freed from their Purple Gem prison from Doctor Strange #56. [+4!] Hope to see them active in Doc's rogues' gallery going forward. And maybe Doc's clothes and pimp hat in #4. [+1] But his watch is slow? [-1] Astral form with the Cloak? [-1] Didn't mind the Minions looking good via having the element of surprise and getting power-ups in the Purple Dimension. The Sorcerer Supreme the Aunt-May prop to be rescued? [meh] Doc enjoying his restored hands with card tricks. [cute] We get Night Nurse back (love her haircut) [+1], as part of the Mighty Medics, but her and Doc are on the outs? [likely, but boo] Knowing Yazz? [-1] Blurting out like a novice, "What am I seeing?" [-1] Excalibur being rashly right when Doc advised caution instead? [-1] The Sorcerer Supreme punked by a guy with a taser stick? [-2] The canvases show how Death has touched each of them- something more creative could have been done instead of having Doc's canvas be nothingness-blank because he's seen the death of reality. [-2] Shouldn't Doc's canvas be more soul-crushingly full than anyone else's then, rather than empty? Perhaps Doc having faced the Test of Death and how he doesn't age should have been mentioned somewhere in this close interaction with Death (at least Doc wasn't shown with a "death ball" via Valkyr-Eyes). Liked the philosophical ending with the Death of Death convinced to not let this plane go Cancerverse. [+1] Except for opening Death's gate, Doc does nothing. [-2] And continuing in #8: Doc does nothing against the monsters; can't contain them; Valkyrie 'advising' Doc not to do something magickal? [-1] The monsters are an ancient magic of a sort he's not familiar with (complete with sad face)? [-1] Calling Thor "Sparkles"? [-1]
Out 29 Jan: Jessica Jones (Blind Spot) #2 [this is a digital comic from 02018 getting a paper-print run] Didn't need this Jessica-Jones-verse douchebag version of Doctor Strange. The Snakes fit in wonderfully though, naturally.
Magnificent Ms. Marvel #9, #10, #12 Not much for Doc fans. Doc cameos in his new role as mostly-mundane surgeon. Might as well be Night Nurse here.
Out 15 Jan: Ruins Of Ravencroft: Sabretooth has a flashback-glimpse of Shuma-Gorath
Scott Derrickson out as director of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness! Update: Sam Raimi In Talks To Direct 'Doctor Strange 2' '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?] Update: Brother Voodoo to make MCU debut in 'Doctor Strange 2' 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?] Update: Emily Blunt met with Marvel Studios for a Clea role?
Marvel's March 02020 solicits include new series Strange Academy; Dr. Druid
STRANGE ACADEMY #1
DR. STRANGE #4
SAVAGE AVENGERS #11 Elektra And Doctor Strange Hook Up In Savage Avengers Also: MARVELS X #3 (OF 6), GHOST RIDER #6.
Also: TAROT #4 (OF 4)
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.
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."
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]
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."
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
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
Cancerverse?
Rene Auberjonois, 'Star Trek' [Odo] And 'Boston Legal' Actor, Dies At 79 'Star Trek' Writer Dorothy Catherine 'D.C.' Fontana Dies At 80
Hulk Hogan Versus Marvel Comics: The Fight For His Name
Marvel teases a Doctor-Strange-related magical-school comic coming in March? Update: Or an election?
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]
Marvel's February 02020 solicits include a Strange/Doom/Conan team-up vs. Kulan Gath
DR. STRANGE #3
TAROT #3 (of 4)
SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN: ALIEN REALITY #3 (OF 5)
SAVAGE AVENGERS #10 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
Marvel's January 02020 solicits include Doctor Strange: The End, Alan Davis Avengers/Defenders
DR. STRANGE #2
DOCTOR STRANGE: THE END #1
TAROT #1 and #2 (OF 4) by Alan Davis!
JESSICA JONES #2 (OF 6)
SAVAGE AVENGERS #9
SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN: ALIEN REALITY #2 (OF 5) 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]
Tom Spurgeon, beloved Comics Reporter, has died; respected journalist, historian, and advocate for art; age 50 Update: Douglas Wolk [obit] Update: The Comics Journal [obit] The Comics Journal [links] Bleeding Cool [links] Comic Book Resources [obit] 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
Steve Ditko would have had his 92nd birthday today! [Wikipedia]
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