Doctor Strange #2

[laughing_tree]

Comments

[remial]

I kinda like the idea of Steven having to learn to build doodads that mimic magic without actually using magic.

[thanekos]

This is good, but it feels like Waid's just cleaning up a ' wizard goes to space ' story he's had on the backburner and dropping it into the Marvel universe.

[jmacq1]

Maybe, but there are worse characters you could do that story with than Dr. Strange.

[malitia]

I can't get over the "I can't pronounce your name, so I'll just rename you" thing. 1) It's incredible assholery. 2) Strange could pronounce random strings of not even letters before, so it's bullshit.

[silverhammerman]

I just can't wrap my head around it. Did Waid write that panel with the intention of making Strange look like an impossibly condescending and smug jackass? Like, in this day and age, a shot of an older white man mocking someone's name for being difficult to pronounce and then immediately giving them a diminutive form as a nickname is the kind of thing that you write to establish that a character is a complete asshole. So is Strange supposed to be an asshole, or is Waid just tone deaf?

[laughing_tree]

I mean, it's not like she hadn't already been a smug jackass to him the entire issue.

[lordultimus]

Waid has a tendency to write "brilliant but insufferable" characters, so it wouldn't surprise me.

[mastermahan]

So Tony sent a powerless Stephen to a planet of hostile, aggressive, anti-magic aliens. Tony had been there before, so he should have known full well what the Gryndans were like.

He sent him in a ship that promptly plowed into an asteroid, and then never bothered checking on Stephen after he'd been out of contact for 73 days.

My question is this: why is Stark trying to kill Dr. Strange?

[cygnia]

There can only be ONE Awesome Facial Hair Bro!

[skjam]

It didn't work with Hulk, so Tony thought he'd try again.

[zylly]

Magic apparently not only has a price, but a billing department.

[sapphite]

This feels really dumb. Stephen's afraid these aliens are going to attack Earth, so he uses his one wish to seal them away instead of returning his ludicrously powerful magic abilities. Magical abilities that would have let him handle the problem himself instead of wishing it away, as well as resolving the entire reason he's in space to begin with.

And why is he worried about these aliens in the first place? Earth is protected by ridiculously powerful superheroes who've fought off numerous alien invasions. What makes these guys so fearsome?

[laughing_tree]

I think the key there is 'fought off.' Fought off isn't casually turned back. It still involves risk, it still involves possible collateral damage, it still involves innocents put in harm's way.

And I'm not sure what Strange would have been able to do if he'd wished his full power back. Even if he could single-handedly win against the entire planet, which I question, what's he going to do? Ground all their spaceships? Destroy all their weaponry? Even then, they could just *rebuild* after he's left.

[mesmiranda]

Stephen's afraid these aliens are going to attack Earth, so he uses his one wish to seal them away instead of returning his ludicrously powerful magic abilities.

Ah, but then, you see, the Gallifreyans Gryndans can figure out the seal and come back in case we ever need more villains. (Insert .gif of guy tapping his head with a knowing grin here.)

[mesmiranda]

"a former lover with snowy hair and eyes like starlight" awww, Clea. </3 Speaking of hair, Stephen is awfully well-groomed for 73 days in captivity. Shouldn't he have more than some light stubble, or do the Gryndans have soap and a razor to go with that nutrient pate?

[bruinsfan]

Stark probably has a standard grooming routine built into the flight suit to periodically clean the wearer up after benders.

[mesmiranda]

That would absolutely not surprise me about Tony Stark whatsoever.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I actually sorta like this. Curious to see more.

[bruinsfan]

My hope is that the magic deadening effect is payment coming due for that feat Strange pulled off resurrecting all the people who were killed in Las Vegas during Nazi Cap Takes Over the World No Matter How Many People Tell Spencer This Is a Really Bad Idea and what we're seeing is symbolic representations of whatever higher abstract entities like the Vishanti actually allowed him to do it. Not a literal "Accounts Receivable" department somewhere that has literal reports and files on every use of magic in the Marvel Universe, which is about the least mysterious and spiritual approach to the occult I can imagine.