Let's go back a few months first, shall we?
When the release of a new DEFENDERS series was announced back in July of this year, I blogged favorably [HERE] about the promise of this new volume of the title. Sure, I wasn't won over 100%, but I was more than willing to give all benefit of the doubt to Matt Fraction to deliver something worthwhile.
However, after reading the 4 page preview, those doubts are now growing, and the benefit of my good nature is starting to wane.
Well, "starting" isn't all that accurate.
Even in that original announcement blog post, I showed some dislike over the looser art style that artist-team of Terry and Rachel Dodson were putting forth for the promo materials and initial cover art. I hoped it would be of better quality when it all came to press, but I did state that it didn't seem that was going to be so. (The jury is still out on that one.)
Also, readers of my Twitter feed will know that yesterday I tweeted about my disdain over Marvel's producing 5 covers (yes, that means 4 variant covers) for DEFENDERS # 1.
*UPDATE: There were 6 COVERS! (5 VARIANTS!!!) - GAH!
This multiple cover B.S. is getting to be worse than it ever was in the dreaded boom-and-bust 1990's.
At least THEN there was a thriving economy. Now, we are still mired in the worst economic environment since the Great Depression, and comics cost $4.00 cover price. No telling how much of a price gouging retailers will put on "rare" variants.
So, for Marvel (and any other publisher) to be trying to pull this kind of predatory practice smacks of all that is wrong with the "anything to get a buck" mentality of corporations. (Hey! Let's start the "Occupy Marvel" movement.)
Just for the sake of complete transparency, here's my tweet:
"SanctumBlog So. DEFENDERS # 1 will have 5 covers!? This is getting worse than the 1990's. But there was economic BOOM then. F#@% YOU, Marvel. Seriously."
Anyway, Marvel's greedy practices of nerd-fleecing are not the point of this particular post.
What IS the point of the matter is this brief, but totally uncharacteristic portrayal of Stephen Strange, wherein he is shown to have just bedded a young grad-student, taking advantage of the young lady, who had basically contacted him to help her with her thesis on occult something-or-other, out of her probable respect and fan-worship of his status as head mystic of the M.U.
Bad form, Stephen.
Is that his place or hers? And is she wearing CLEA leggings? Was there some role-playing going on?
OK. So she IS pretty hot.
Sexy, smart, nerdy girls just DO IT for me, okay?
And she's into magick (with a "k"), so she's also a little on the goth side of the street. I'd fall for her too.
A point could be made that she is of legal age, and as such, is not an improper sexual partner. Even for the far older Strange (seriously, according to Marvel's OFFICIAL bio of him, he was born in 1930). However, she came to him in his capacity as a role-model and more experienced scholar of mystic lore. Any kind of activity such as this scene shows is a serious breach of trust on his part.
As she also points out, in a morning-after accusation, that no matter how much he may be able to help her, Stephen Strange's taking advantage of this young, eager "groupie" has hurt her far more.
Oddly enough, Strange then allows himself to ruminate upon the dalliance as something both moreso and less-than anything more than just a night of sex.
"What he wanted most wasn't on the menu"
In one narrative breath, Stephen Strange admits to a deep longing for the girl, the admission that she was "just" a girl (and thus, a toss-away hook-up), and the admission that perhaps his indiscretion was due to the deep human fear of dying alone.
What-the-WHAT?!?
In what previous scenario has Stephen Strange ever shown an inclination for ANY of those three thoughts?!? With perhaps the exclusion of the "height-of-his-own-hubris", "pre-nerve-damaging-career-ending-accident" years as a surgeon, Stephen Strange has always been on the opposite end of the spectrum of each of those beliefs.
NONE of this makes any sense to anyone who has read the character for more than a few issues (of non-Bendis-era stories), and as of the time of this writing, this is taken from a 4-page preview of DEFENDERS vol4 # 1 and as such, I have no way of knowing what the explanation for such a poor piece of character assassination might be.
Either, this new Stephen Strange is a by-product of a new "laid-back" acceptance of his no longer being the Sorcerer Supreme, and his own willingness to try "living" like one of us regular folks, or it is a detrimental by-product of the ill-effect caused by the baddie of the story (NUL, the WorldBreaker - last seen possessing the HULK in Fear Itself) - OR - worse still... is a by-product of Marvel editorial and yet another Marvel writer just not understanding the character and/or history of Doctor Stephen Strange (and possibly trying to "Peter Parker" him a bit to appeal to the younger demographic).
I can only hope that my 2nd theory is the accurate one, and that the reality-twisting, despair-raising events being caused by Nul, that are being portrayed in the first two pages of the preview are indeed what has caused Strange to take leave of his senses and abuse his position as a respected and learned man in order to get some hot-college-girl action.
Am I a prude who is against seeing Doctor Strange get some "strange" (the slang term for sex with an otherwise unknown partner)? No.
I'm not offended by the sex. Nope. Give him Night Nurse or Clea, or Sister Nil or someone that makes SENSE... but this? It just seems "beneath" him (sorry, that is not meant to be a euphemism or double-entendre'. If I wanted to make one of those I'd have noted that having the much older Strange on top of the younger girl would make it an "Improper FRACTION" - and thus play up writer Matt Fraction's name).
In fact, I have posted a long list of every known instance of Stephen Strange's loves and hook-ups and it shows the character to have had a fairly consistent pattern of sexual growth and activity, against which that this particular liaison just fails to be justified.
Sadly, I have to add this incident to that list.
You can check out all of Strange's other loves, lusts and hook-ups there - [HERE].
Now, I will say that right after the panels that I have shown, in the same diner scene, Doctor Strange uses a little rudimentary divination spell to try to determine what kind of event is on the horizon. I appreciate the practical magick. Small, subtle uses of the craft can be excellent touches (it doesn't always have to be the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak, y'know). That was where the 4 page preview ended - and so I have no way of knowing - for sure - how this will all play out and if any of my theories will come into play and if my fear of Strange's being mishandled in the series has any merit, or if Matt Fraction will indeed pull off an interesting, odd and different Stephen Strange - for good or ill.
Go and check out the preview for yourself [HERE] (since the CBR preview was an exclusive for them, and as such, I do not wish to usurp their position by showing more than a brief portion of the pages).
Then come back and check out that thorough and complete history of all of Stephen Strange's assorted romances. Presented to you in order of their appearances IN HIS LIFE (not in publication history) - [HERE].
Posts
22 comments:
Amen, brother. Then there's the line, "A bottle of wine, the start of another . . . " Most writers don't pay much attention to Doc's problems with the bottle after his accident, but this is more evidence of poor handling of the character and weak grasp on its history.
As a side note, I'd just like to thank you for your blogging. As a Dr. Strange fan of more than three decades, I've derived a great deal of enjoyment over the past several years from the musings of both Neilalien and yourself. For those of us who remember the glory days of the Sorceror Supreme, we appreciate your dedication to the good doctor. Keep the Flames of the Faltine burning.
I don't know, man.
This still doesn't put me off anywhere near as much as the fact that this Defenders lineup puts far too much weight behind the notion that "you've got to have the Big Four," my single most hated popular misconception about the Defenders. The whole Big Four is practically there, with just another "Hulk Family" member standing in for the original.
Whenever someone seems to focused on the importance of the Big Four to the Defenders I am very suspicious as to whether they get the group at all.
The Defenders are always best with one or two reps from the Big Four, and three or four (or more) second-stringers at the Val-Patsy-Birdnose level.
Add me to the double-you tee eff crowd. Granted, it's always seemed odd to me that a distinguished older gentleman like Stephen isn't dating someone, but random hookups are more in line with the man he used to be than the man he is now.
And taking advantage of a student, doing nothing to ease the awkwardness of the 'morning after,' and then telling himself she was 'just a girl'? That's nothing like him. Doc has always been classier than that.
**This is too long, so I'm splitting it into two posts.**
Thanks for the great post, Ptor. After reading it, I checked out the entire preview.
I agree with H: the random hookup is more like the man he used to be. And the man he used to be might very well have taken advantage of a student, doing nothing to ease the awkwardness, and dismissing her disrespectfully. And the man he used to be might have gotten lit on wine, too.
It could be that Fraction is setting up a new version of the old story, where Doc has lost his way and must work his way back on track again, on a personal as well as magickal level.
But my cynicism after the Bendis years, and things that Fraction himself has hinted at in interviews, seems to indicate that it's more likely that he's setting up Doctor Strange to be an American version of one of the Vertigo Trenchcoat Brigade, with more of an emphasis on martial arts action and practical magic, like the divination on the newspaper in the diner.
While I agree with you, Ptor, that it's a nice touch, I fear that it's more a foreshadowing of the level at which magic will be approached than an enrichment of the treatment of Doc's magic overall.
And oh, btw...
I thought that Doc was Master of the MYSTIC Arts. I loved the stories in the early 70's that emphasized Strange's mystic journeys. It seems that the spiritual aspects of the Doc's magic have been ignored by writers for a long time now, and Fraction appears to be continuing that trend.
That is probably a marketing decision based on the current tech-loving secular zeitgeist dominant in modern culture, though. It's probably seen as a quaint holdover from the hippie-trippy 60s. Still, I miss it. I miss it a lot. It would be wonderful to see that angle come back into play with the character, but I doubt very much that it will, given current conditions at Marvel. They're going to make a street-level, movie-ready superhero type out of him, I fear.
Stephen Strange challenged Death itself and won a limited form of conditional immortality. He spoke with Eternity, gazed deeply and fearlessly into the truth of his own flawed humanity and witnessed the fires of Creation. It has been established over and over that he does not fear death at all, and has a very philosophical attitude about it. So I agree with you, Ptor, that it's jarring to see him neurotically fretting about it in that scene. I, like you, hope it's only the result of the confusion caused by Nul, and I guess we're going to have to wait a month to find out for sure. Again, sadly, I have my doubts of a positive outcome here.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT POST
My first reaction to the morning-after scene was negative, and it still is. My reasons for this are the same as those articulated so well in your post, Ptor, and in the other comments posted here so far.
However, I feel compelled to point out that, strictly speaking, shagging a student is NOT out of character for Doctor Strange. After all, his student Clea was also his lover, and she's his longest-lasting relationship in continuity.
I always felt uncomfortable with that relationship, actually, though I know it was largely a reflection of the time period in which it was portrayed. More than a violation of the dynamic of teacher-student, it seemed to me an abuse of the guru-disciple relationship. She should have been his apprentice or his lover, but not both. It seemed exploitative and vaguely squicky, like the scene that Fraction wrote.
Granted, later writers did progress poor Clea beyond the "Yes, Master", I Dream of Jeannie phase. But even *she* became uncomfortable with the messed-up power dynamic, the basic inequality on which their relationship was based. And when she finally grew the female equivalent of a pair and went to run her own dimension I was glad. No matter how good she got at magic, Clea would never be a good as Stephen. That's acceptable in guru-disciple, teacher-student configuration, but it's highly problematic in a more intimate relationship.
Anyway, I know that's not a prevailing view, that Clea was a fan favorite, and I have no problems with the character herself, especially the later, more kick-ass interpretations. Just my 2 cents, IMHO and FWIW. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
It may be relevant to point out that I am female, and that may color my view somewhat. :-)
Thanks again, Ptor, for being online and giving us Strange fans a forum for discussing our favorite characters. I really appreciate you, and what you share with us.
I second everything Arachne has said, with the proviso that Clea wasn't exactly a wilting flower or a blushing innocent (is there not a string of posts labeled "Clea loves sex" on this very blog?) The sexual part of their relationship seemed more than consensual, and initiated as often by her as by him. Even in this scene, which I'm pretty sure is his room, the wild disarray of... everything... suggests that the evening's entertainment was fun, at the time. (I'm not sure why, but Strange's bed has purple sheets in every depiction.)
But yeah, any sex with a severe power imbalance between the parties is wrong, no matter how enthusiastic the other person may be. One of them (both, in this case) will regret it. I fear Fraction has gone the Bendis route and decided Stephen needs something to repent of before the story starts.
H, yes, I agree, it has been well-established that Clea loves sex! And there was never a question of consensual participation. Still, any sexual involvement is, at best, a complication of the master-student relationship and at worst a perversion of it. As you said, the power differential was one that both characters came to regret in time, and it was probably what broke them up for good. (Well, "for good" in comics meaning until the next time a writer wants to bring her back, that is).
Some of my "squicky feelings" about Strange and Clea also lie in the way she was often portrayed, in the early stories, as a wide-eyed, child-like nymphet. The "Watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat, Master!" scene is a perfect reflection of what I'm talking about here, and I found it the opposite of charming. The way she was drawn as wide-eyed, like a child, with the tight yoga clothes or diaphanous nothings of dresses (such as in one of the Marvel Fanfare issues, where she looks almost prepubescent). And in actuality, although she looked anywhere between a well-developed 13 and 25 depending on the artist, she was much older than Doctor Strange, apparently.
But again, I realize that all this is very much a reflection of the time period in which the stories were written, and writers did treat her better, over the years, so I've tried to overcome that initial revulsion based on my first introduction to the character. Still, I guess first impressions really do matter after all. If you read the issues when they came out, it wouldn't have had that effect, I'm sure, but from the hindsight vantage of decades, it looks very regressive.
And I don't know why Doctor Strange has to repent of anything (except maybe his random hookup with the grad student, and that's more a matter of regret than repentance). It was Bendis who portrayed the growing weakness of the character, and Fraction is free to ignore all that if he likes, just as Bendis ignored all prior characterizations of Doc.
What really disappoints me about that preview is I was so hoping that Fraction was going to re-empower the Doc after the constant humiliations and humblings of the Bendis treatment. It looks like he's going to follow along in those very questionable tracks.
Fraction has given another interview since. Here's a tasty paragraph.
'Just imagine three days in a car with James Spader. It's that "you're not from around here" feeling. He's a metric dude in a standard world. He's silently judging you constantly because he knows more than you. Silver Surfer, meanwhile... talk about a guy who's not from around here. When we first meet him, he's a field of snow. He's a guy who has watched countless planets get annihilated. That has to do something to you. He feels like Marvel's Dr. Manhattan. He doesn't see sh*t the way we see sh*t. You can tell yourself that you just need to get amongst the people and rediscover your humanity, but it's never going to happen. You're gone. They're all gone. There's not a moral person in that room, and as the team grows, it remains that way. They're damaged people, and it's like therapy.'
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/11/07/matt-fraction-defenders-interview/
I'm thinking this could be very good or very bad. Bendis gives our good Doctor a certain dignity -- when Spider Man is bantering with half the team, Strange is standing silent, keeping above the fray, like an adult. But becoming the "Magic Avenger" has tamed Strange more than is good for him. He's supposed to have one foot in a world that would wreck your brain if you even tried to contemplate it. An eerie Strange, a spooky Strange -- that could be delicious. A Strange with a character flaw other than 'Oh, it's all my fault, and I've lost everything and I'll never cope, and I'll never be all right again' -- that also could be quite nice. But making sexuality his character flaw, casting him as someone who can't be attracted to an equal? Nooooooooo.
But give the colorist credit for Strange's grey eyes. First time in a long time they haven't been blue.
I'm inclined to give Matt Fraction the benefit of the doubt since I think he's a great writer and has been a good caretaker of Marvel's characters over the years. That said, he is definitely writing in a post-Bendis world and trying to maintain that continuity, so this rendition may not be to everyone's liking.
As for the hook up with the grad student, I just assumed that she was Clea in disguise. Between her oddly extreme reaction to the night of passion, the familiar leggings, and the fact that Dr. Strange speaks of being haunted by her lingering presence, it seems like there's something more at work here.
I guess we'll find out in due course.
Sadly, I am short for time and can't comment at length as I would like, BUT...
I WILL reply (but it is gonna be long anyway, so... I'll break it up into several comments)
I had to toss into the discussion the fact that CLEA was Strange's lover FIRST, and then he started teaching her.
It is less of an impropriety because of that sequence of events.
It is less of a teacher (master) with a student (submissive) and more of a couple with whom one is teaching the other some skill at which the first is proficient.
I liken it more to having a guy who is a guitarist (the world's GREATEST guitarist), and whose girlfriend wants to learn (as she has some latent talents), and so he teaches her a little here and there, but because of their intimacy, the lessons never really progress as far along or as seriously as if she were a stranger - paying for lessons.
Instead, the couple have little moments of bonding over the lessons before things get a bit more intimate and the natural progression gets horizontal in short order.
(part 2)
I never really saw it as an "I dream of Jeanie" type of thing (and even THAT, while a similar dynamic, was more along the lines of she just wanted to do anything she could to make him happy - and not just "Mr. Happy"). Major Nelson never demanded ANYTHING from her. In fact, he would constantly strive for her NOT to go out of her way - and as the relationship progressed (to where he could trust her not to make an elephant appear in the NASA rumpus room) would encourage her to stand up and be as independent as possible.
Strange and Clea were sort of like that, but he always failed to let her grow - instead trying to protect her from the things that he fought, the life she wished to share.
Sure, when I was quite a bit younger, the whole Clea lover/pupil thing kinda bugged me, but only because I didn't have the life experience to see it as for what it was.
Lovers first.
Teacher/pupil afterwards.
Does that excuse Strange from overstepping the boundries with Clea in respect to an impropriety?
Yes. I really think it does.
It MIGHT be a "guy" P.O.V. - whereas a woman might not be able to compartmentalize the two roles into being separate facets of the same relationship.
I don't know.
However, it does NOT excuse him from being a rather poor teacher for her.
Clea never really seemed to grow all that much as a mystic because he was always trying to protect and shelter her - because he saw her as a relationship FIRST, and as an able-bodied adept second.
(part 3)
So she was guilty of some level of "Jeanie"ism and HE was guilty of playing "knight in shining armor" trying to protect and rescue the fair (helpless) damsel.
Each fell into tropes - made so by writers who didn't think young boy comic readers would want to bother reading about their favorite sorcerer playing school-house with "the girlfriend".
They wanted to see him shoot mystic zaps, without the girl mucking things up, and that's what the writers gave them.
I have never really missed Clea after her departure.
Few writers ever really handled her properly.
Maybe Roger Stern did her the most justice, but only AFTER he missed the point of the relationship as well.
It is well known that he got rid of her because he didn't like the "Yes master" sexual dynamic, instead allowing her to leave and grow in personal and mystic strength while away from Strange's influence.
But, sadly, he didn't really see it the way that I do.
And that isn't his (or any reader's) fault, BECAUSE no writer ever really explained it properly.
It was always seen as Strange tutoring his lover and it was treated as a serious educational exercise.
Truly, it was SUPPOSED to be.
But to try to do that just sets up the inherent flaw in that thinking.
It is just wrong to try it.
There is a balance of power that gets upset drastically if she is TRULY his student, and not just a significant other who is learning his "profession".
But, I ask you, what of couples who work together in the same business and one is a boss and the other is an"underling" of some capacity?
While a sticky prospect, and one rife with landmines and pitfalls, it CAN work.
All it takes is two people who are strong in their resolve to not allow it to jeopardize their relationship, or if the one can successfully avoid being an "@$$hole boss" to the other.
Still, I'd imagine that couples in that work/marriage dynamic might tend to have a higher percentage of divorces than not.
Realistically, it is a numbers game.
(part 4)
As for this little hook-up with the GRAD STUDENT, there is no way that it was excusable.
On any level.
She came to him in a "teach me" capacity, and he allowed it to progress to an intimate level.
Even if she WERE to have been "begging" for it (not saying that she was), or if she let her "star-struckness" (is that a word?) to try to entice him, there is no way that Strange should have (or, at any other time in his written history even WOULD HAVE) allowed it to overstep the level of proper decorum.
Hell, with the total screw up that occurred from his LAST "pupil" (Casey Kinmont, anyone? Most likely DEAD or in some otherdimensional HELL?) the last thing that Strange should be doing is teaching ANYTHING of magic to another young girl.
(At least, not one who isn't in some dire need of instruction because she may be about to go all "Scarlet Witch" or something.)
OK.
Gotta go.
Sorry for the babel.
~P~
Still, as I wrote in my blog post (and my twitterings), I think the whole hook-up and Strange's uncharacteristic thoughts of lustful longings and dying alone are a by-product of NUL's walking the Earth, and the weird negative effect it is having on the world.
Or at least... I hope that's it.
~P~
The Dying alone is a misstep, I think it would have been truer of Strange to ponder in a weak moment the fear of everyone else dying and leaving him alone.
After all he's not going to age any further than his early forties, he can astral project and he knows there's an afterlife. His death when and if it ever occurs isn't a great problem.
Steven.
Just an aside. I was never keen, indeed even as a teenage boy they felt a bit off, of those one page posters of Dr Strange, legs astride and braced his arms spread and conjuring the powers. And where was Clea? why as a submissive slave girl at his feet of course.
Steven.
Steven,
Not sure if you're writing from UK, where there may be original (unseen by US readers) material, but in all my years, I don't think I've seen any (or if so, many) instances of DOC standing with Clea at his feet.
The ONLY one I can think of off-hand is the cover of Doctor Strange : Sorcerer Supreme # 5.
I may be blanking on them though, so if you know of others, let me know.
Thanks.
Very good posts, all of them, and thank you, Ptor, for your measured response.
I still would like to point out that, in the example you offer, the guy teaching his girlfriend guitar isn't usually addressed as "Master" by said girlfriend, unless they're into another kind of scene.
Strange and Clea were trying more for a guru-disciple dynamic than that of teacher-student, as well. That makes it even more problematic. It would be like the Ancient One banging his adepts and disciples. Unprofessional and counterproductive at best, a disaster at worst. It was a little more serious, and a different thing entirely, than someone teaching a girlfriend a few chords and tablature. They may have been lovers first, but after the determination was made to take Clea on as a disciple, Strange would have been well-advised to end their intimate relationship. Ah, well, we all make mistakes, and one of the great appeals of the Doc as a character (at least for me) is his struggle to overcome his human frailties and push himself beyond his own limitations.
The "I Dream of Jeannie" comparison was more in reference to the way she dressed and the male wish-fulfillment fantasies (or, at least, the writer-du-jour's fantasies) than to the actual program.
But we basically agree--for Strange to have done what he did with that grad student was wrong, and unless Fraction pulls off something really brilliant, it just won't wash with me.
And I seem to remember more than one image of Clea kneeling at Strange's feet in a comic image, but I'll have to go look and see.
Hey, maybe they were into the whole BDSM scene, in which case, it would make some kind of weird sense...the sub usually calls the dom "master", after all. ;-) At the time the comics in question were written, such "kinkiness" would have to be highly suggestive and implicit, whereas today they would probably just make it explicit.
Which begs the question: how much is this "sexing-up" of the Doc a response to the wild success of DC's 52 relaunch, and the "sluttification" of characters like Catwoman and Starfire? It does make one wonder, despite their denials, just how much of what each major comics publisher writes/produces is an attempt to compete with the other.
I know there are a couple images (mostly of the flashback/cover/overview kind) that have Clea kneeling while Strange is standing, but they typically involve her in bonds with Doc facing off with Dormammu. It still has a large whiff of 'war-prize' about it, but it's not the helpless leg-clinging damsel you might be imagining.
I could be convinced (it was this site that convinced me, actually) that if ever Doc met his match, it was Clea. How would a long-term relationship with a normal human go? She couldn't understand the worlds he walks in. Never mind that he would simply outlive her -- he'll never age past his mid-forties, and she'll get older and older and finally die. Clea has a lifespan in the centuries. She could outgrow him, and sadly I think she eventually did. There's a comment in the Bendis "Illuminati" series (yeah, yeah, I know, the B word) where Strange laments "What percentage of yourself can you give that's enough for a woman?" Obviously us distaffers (that's me and you, Arachne) see the flaw at once. Percentage? What 'part' of yourself is enough? Oh Stephen, you've gone wrong immediately. It has to be the whole. All of you. She'll give you back what she doesn't need, but it's her job to decide how much. I don't think Doc can ever, ever give the whole of himself away, and once Clea realized that, she did the brave thing and left him.
I think he really loved, and still does love, Clea. But if love is what he wants, he's got to change.
On a perhaps unrelated note, Fraction commented on 'expect a cameo' in Defenders 1, and it was related in some way to Strange and relationships. Could it be Clea herself?
As a rabid Defenders fan I am so fucking happy that I stopped reading Disney years ago. None of this is happening to the non-team I love.
As for Strange- letting a superhero hater write him is retarded. And this is the second time Disney have done it after Bendis.
Strange conquered all normal human / new york hack writer fear of death in circa 1972 when he had the mystic Ankh conferred upon him as a brand on his third eye.
But why would they worry with little details and continuity like that?
Argh.
Just a late-in-the-game comment:
Perhaps my guitar-player analogy isn't the best.
I should have said "Martial Artist".
THEN, the G.F./student would "have to" call him "master" or whatever the proper term is for a student learning in a dojo.
It would also lead to more "physical" activities during their practice bouts, since after a few throws and pins to the mat would get the sexual juices flowing.
But, that only came to me now that I re-read everyone's awesome replies.
But. again... I am not truly defending that practice or the impropriety it presents.
Just trying to make sense of it.
Thanks, All!
I actually read one of your other posts about Stephen's loves. I found this one disturbing at
least at this time (It would make more sense when
he was an actual doctor or after his car accident).
Doctor Strange has gone beyond and more, but sometimes he is still a man. But that doesn't excuse the writers to do anything they want with a character (like this). They could have put in Clea (as one of the earlier commenters said) or Night Nurse. However there would have been issues.
I would have rather have Stephen ponder about his
decisions overall rather than his lifespan.
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