OK, Steve Ditko hasn't had anything to do with Doctor Strange - or Marvel - in decades.
But, he is Doc's creator and as such, it should be to him that Doc entreats for mercy when he is being unduly massacred.
And as far as the signs and portents have shown, Brian Michael Bendis HAS and IS INDEED maiming Stephen Strange.
Continuing from my last post - which can be found [HERE] (dealing with the upcoming "ravamping, and re-writing" of all the magical rules in the Marvel Universe in the pages of New -new- Avengers # 2), a new insult has been added to the injuries with the release of solicit text for the newest issue: New Avengers # 3.
Here's the COVER art and solicit text for the issue:
Just make Wolverine the ultimate martial and mystical warrior and get it over with.And WHY is IRON FIST making spell gestures now?!?
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NEW AVENGERS #3
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Who is the true master of the mystic arts?
Well, it ain't Doctor Strange and it ain't Doctor Voodoo.
The bad news is he’s here and he is in charge. And he is gleefully ripping this dimension apart, piece by piece, in his search for relics of power.
How are the legacies of Iron Fist, Doctor Strange and Wolverine connected?
Find out here in this brand new eye-popper from Bendis and Immonen!
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Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Who is the true master of the mystic arts?
Well, it ain't Doctor Strange and it ain't Doctor Voodoo.
The bad news is he’s here and he is in charge. And he is gleefully ripping this dimension apart, piece by piece, in his search for relics of power.
How are the legacies of Iron Fist, Doctor Strange and Wolverine connected?
Find out here in this brand new eye-popper from Bendis and Immonen!
---
Fort your convenience, I'll paste them here:
-
"It's worse than we thought:
So, we not only downplay Stephen's abilities, but also the current Sorceror Supreme (bets on that being undone in this arc), not to mention tying the title to an extradimensional city (instead of Earth) and a completely non-magical mutant.
Can anyone actually see how this will end up working out for the better?"-
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Well, to be perfectly honest, I predicted the linking of Doctor Strange to Iron Fist as far back as New Avengers (the first "New" Avengers, not THIS New, NEW Avengers) # 34
Back when it became obvious that Strange's tenure was soon to end.
This scene from New Avengers # 34 laid it all out quite clearly.
Dr. Strange : Foreshadower SupremeNew Avengers # 34 (Brian Michael Bendis - words / Leinil Francis Yu - images)
So, at that moment, I saw the fall of Strange's run as Sorcerer Supreme as well as the eventual linking of his and Iron Fist's lineage.
Unlike commenter, DigiCom, I don't know if the mythical, mystical city of K'un L'un, homeland of the powers of the Iron Fist are what is being linked, BUT it most likely WILL involve the folding together of mystical places into one big landscape.
Sort of like the "9 Worlds" that Thor's Asgard encompasses.
What Wolverine has to do with any of it, is a bit baffling.
The text mentions the "legacies" of these characters, so perhaps it is that Wolvie had recently been linked to an immortal line of "Wolverine-guys" (starting with some immortal guy ROMULAS, and leading all the way to Wolverine's son; Daken).
Maybe that is a mystical thing, along with how Wolverine has to fight the Angel of Death every time he needs to "come back to life" from a major injury.
Sadly, it may just be that Marvel's powers-that-be determined that in order for anyone to give a crap about this magic overhaul would be if they included one of their cash-cows into the mix.
(And they didn't want it to be Spider-Man since he already had a poorly-received attempt at a magical-based origin during JMS' "Spider-Totem" storyline).
Heh... maybe there are clues somewhere in John Byrne's old NAMOR series from the 1990's.
There was an arc (mostly issues # 20 - 25) that dealt with Namor asking Doctor Strange to send him to K'un-L'un, where he would find the real Iron Fist (thus proving that the previously thought deceased Iron Fist was really a plant-man disguised as Danny Rand), and Doctor Strange then magically rescued them from being eaten by a race of angry plants, before Namor next headed off to further investigate the mystery - until he had to battle a plant-controlled Wolverine and the evil sorcerer; Master Kahn...
Hey. Don't laugh. That was the storyline.
It couldn't be any worse than what Bendis could be planning.
Honestly though, I'm still trying to reserve any real judgment until the issues actually come out, but while I do think that Doctor Strange WILL emerge at the other end as the ultimate mystic, the damage that may be being wreaked to the realms of magic is hard to ignore.
Luckily, this is fiction, and a good writer * can revert it all should this be a blunder.
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*(Y'know...basically anyone who ISN'T Brian Michael Bendis)
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"Tamam Shud!"
~P~
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7 comments:
Isn't Wolverine a ninja?
Maybe that's the connection?
All I'll say is, I wish I had your confidence in Bendis' writing.
But between the way he's downplayed Stephen's skills and almost completely ignored Danny's experinces in his own title, I don't like the chances.
Oh, and while Danny is doing a mystical gesture, Stephen is doing a gesture I've seen associated with martial arts.
See, this is why I wish bendis would just bugger off....
let's just hope Bucky doesn't emerge as the new sorcerer surpreme (*winks).
Question: when did this newer take on mysticism in the marvel universe begin? with bendis? or before him? is it a joe quesada thing? if anyone can (at least attempt to) answer that, I'd be grateful.
-mike
Byrne's Namor was SOOO good until the Master Khan storyline effectively tanked the whole thing in one fell swoop.
This is why I hate when they try to shove wolverine int everything!
samsallspark@hotmail.com
Yikes, Bendis' writing sucks in that Avengers page!
"...You know, mystically, because that IS the world we're talking about..."
What the hell?
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