HOW TO FIX: Doctor Strange

[davek]

I have always been a fan of Doctor Strange as a character, but rarely the comic itself. There's something about the idea of a egotistical "man of science" humbled, then transformed into a "man of beliefs" (if you want to call the mystic arts as such.) But Doctor Strange as a series rarely performs well.

Here are the problems, as I see them (feel free to add your own.):

1. The Big Red S Conundrum (my term) - The producers of Smallville were on record as saying that once Tom Welling put on the Big Red S in "Smallville" (and of course punched time and space to fix continuity problems), the story of Superman as they saw it was over, because there's nothing to top becoming the Man of Steel. Dr. Strange suffers from a similar problem. Once the character obtained "Sorceror Supreme", it's really difficult to throw a nasty enough challenge to create an interesting plot. I was really want to see a New Avengers/Mighty Avengers throwdown that included a true slobberknocker between Strange and Sentry, considering the godlike powers both wield. It leaves Strange having to fight demi-god like creatures which works to an extent, but lends to problem #2...

2. Personal Disconnect - I have to admit, I'm kind of a thug in my own way. I don't really get into Kirby's Fourth World as much as others, mostly because it goes into realms and concepts that go beyond my humble ape-man understanding. Because of that, the complex mechanisms within the grand chess game of Highfather and Darkseid ultimately don't affect me as much with a personal stake. I don't feel a kinship with the characters. Dr. Strange fighting the Mindless Ones in the Dread Dimension means little to me, until I realize that the Mindless Ones would make their way to our realm eventually. Now this isn't to say it can't happen and I as a reader can't feel that personal stake (my favorite series of last year was Annihilation), but I felt a personal closeness to Richard Rider as the window into what was a massive, high-stake cosmic situation.

3. The Pirates Code of Magic - I call it this, because they don't really seem to be laws. More like guidelines that can bend as the writers see fit (*cough* One More Day *cough*) and no matter what certain figures in the Marvel Editorial foodchain like to believe, once you start breaking the internal logic of what you're framing the story around, the reader starts subscribing more frequently to Problem #2. It doesn't matter if *I* as a reader understand all the mechanisms, as long as I understand there is a math at work. You may disagree, but I can wrap my mind around DC's internal logic to magic, even when they pull a massive reset, the balance between Chaos and Order, especially. Some purists don't care for the current story arc in Captain Marvel where Freddie Freeman is competing to regather the powers of the Gods, but I think the arc has managed to breathe new vitality into the series without foregoing the previous history in the background - Shazam's dead (being a thousand years old will do that, ask George Burns), Batson's the new keeper of the Rock of Eternity, and Freeman has to compete against both the namesakes of the powers and a competing baddie. Works in my book, and you didn't you need to involve an inferna ex machina to do it.

So based off that, this is how I would fix it...

1. Give the good doctor a Watson. - Assuming the Night Nurse is not a Skrull, (which is a fair suspicion for any character these days, including Stacy B.) , imagine NN spending the night, well, day with Stephen when she says, "I think I want to be more a part of your life." Stephen protests, citing she isn't ready for what he sees on a day-to-day basis. She claims she's seen men and women with their arms ripped out of their sockets, eyes melted out with phase-o-rifles, she thinks she can handle it. Now you can solve #2 by putting an everyperson into the world of Doctor Strange, (not unlike Robin serves as the audience when Batman explains the detective process), and potentially make her an unbeliever. Make her a Scully, in fact - a woman of medical science now faced with the world of mystic arts, not unlike what Strange had to experience in his first year in the training process. She's not unlike his own pupil of sorts.

2. Lock the rules down. This is actually much easier to do once Solution #1 is in play, because Dr. Strange can provide the exposition of what the rules are, and thus, the reader now knows them.

3. Give him back the Achilles Heel. The character was created because his hands were irreparably injured, but that comes up so rarely when it's really an important story point. Here's a man who can bend the rules of our dimension and yet his hands may tremble so badly, he can't tie his shoes. That isn't to say he should be weak or infirm, but by having his hands "acting up", it gives his "Scully" more to do than just waiting for her turn to be the Victim of the Week. It could even help set up #1 - Wong notices Strange's hands are getting worse, he goes to NN to convince her to help Strange's worsening problem without letting him know (remember, this is a man who's got a pride the size of Tony Stark.)

4. Give Him the Number to Danny Rand's Lawyer One of the best scenes when Iron Fist was revitalized as a character was the confrontation between Tony Stark and Rand's lawyer, absolutely nullifying the Registration Act requirements by indicating Rand already had his hands registered as "deadly weapons", and thus Stark could kiss his legal pucker. BANG! And like that, the character is free to go wherever without screwing up anybody's plotlines. Strange should have a similar confrontation that allows him to go about his business. How about this - Stark goes to Strange, admits Brother Voodoo is nowhere near his caliber so he offers a deal. Completely under the radar, no file whatsoever without requiring him selling off a piece of Spiderman's past to the devil. (Sorry, wrong meeting.) The caveat is, Stark can use Strange as a special consultant for the stuff waaaay out of his league. (Which dovetails nicely into #5...)

5. Up the long-term dread. If Strange is facing off against beings that have existed for millenia, I have some serious issues that they would opt for a full-frontal blast vs. blast sort of skirmish against the Sorceror Supreme. Rather, their plan would be long-term, insidious and absolutely foreign to us in their long-term logic. Buy some Lovecraft, it's a good primer. Talk with Ed Brubaker, he can give a class on long-term plotting. Imagine an X-Files of the occult where there is a dark plot at work that slowly works its full details across time.

It could be set it up like this, Tony does the deal thing of #4, and gives Strange an extra bonus - he'll personally fund a hospital or two. Then he gives him a sealed envelope, telling him to think about it. Strange takes it back, NN asks about the meeting, Strange gives the recap, NN appeals to Stephen's hippocratic oath or whatever and finally he opens the envelope. Inside are 8x10 photos of something nasty and infernal, leaking into children's wards or something. Strange and NN go to the ward, Strange tells her not to touch anything... she does... and she gets a weird mark. NN asks what it means, and Strange says, "I.... don't know." BANG - now NN is headlong in it [Solution #1], Strange has a personal stake in the long term and has a mystery to solve [Solutions #2 and 5], we feel connected, and the characters are rooted (to an extent) in what we know.

Feel free to add your own thoughts, but I think it could work nicely. It certainly would be nice to have the magical arts of the Marvel Universe tightened down, and this would be a great way of doing this while bringing back one of the more interesting characters to the forefront, not unlike Captain America did with SHIELD, Iron Fist did with the Martial Arts, and Annihilation did with the cosmic characters.

[Beta Ray Bill Cosby]

2. Lock the rules down. This is actually much easier to do once Solution #1 is in play, because Dr. Strange can provide the exposition of what the rules are, and thus, the reader now knows them.

I've never cared for magicians in superhero comics, because 'magic' is a way to give them every power possible. In a medium where characters are often defined by their abilities a character who can cast any spell at any time becomes incredibly powerful, and actually incredibly bland.

I agree that they should say 'here's what magic can and can't do', and furthermore 'within the scope of magic here's what doctor strange (or zatana, or whoever) can and can't do.'

but they won't because the magician is too juicy a hook for writers who need a given power at a given point.

[davek]

Sure, it's totally deus ex machina but it doesn't have to be. They don't even have to explain it to me as a reader, just convince me there is an internal logic. John Constantine proves this - I have no true understanding of how magic works in the Hellblazer paradigm, but I always believe there are things he can do and he can't (e.g. cure his own cancer.). Thus, I believe the character more.

[MOSDEF]

i really liked the idea of dr. strange also, but i thinks it damn near impossible to set limitations on him and his powers, since he can do absolutely anything(except stop a plane from falling out of the air). with each writer strange gets or with a new story arc, the writers will have their own vision and story for dr. strange. like with wolverine, some artsit and writers depict his healing factor as small to medium stuff, with others his whole body was burned off and he healed from a skeleton in like 10.8 minutes. so unless marvel itself, sets a same standard for any of its heroes and villains, i think its impossible. the idea of the night nurse hangin around with strange is cool also, he could explain things a bit to her and us the readers. but im glad strange is not around right now, marvel needs to figure something out with him.

[MaximusRift]

I agree with your points, davek.  I also think that there should be a few more "magic" characters out there to complement Strange. A supporting cast, if you will. Maybe even an apprentice?

i really liked the idea of dr. strange also, but i thinks it damn near impossible to set limitations on him and his powers, since he can do absolutely anything(except stop a plane from falling out of the air). with each writer strange gets or with a new story arc, the writers will have their own vision and story for dr. strange. like with wolverine, some artsit and writers depict his healing factor as small to medium stuff, with others his whole body was burned off and he healed from a skeleton in like 10.8 minutes. so unless marvel itself, sets a same standard for any of its heroes and villains, i think its impossible.

Rules.  Now THERE is an idea I can get behind of (Especially in the so-called "realistic" Marvel U), but don't see it happening in the Joe Q Era of Marvel Comic.

Also, to implement the "Rules", you'd need a "Crisis" of sorts to change the universe to the new system or readers will just be confused when the "rules" come up.

[Stacy B.]

Rules.  Now THERE is an idea I can get behind of (Especially in the so-called "realistic" Marvel U), but don't see it happening in the Joe Q Era of Marvel Comic.

Also, to implement the "Rules", you'd need a "Crisis" of sorts to change the universe to the new system or readers will just be confused when the "rules" come up.

But, wasn't the MYSTIC ARCANA series supposed to do something with rules? I read (and reviewed - http://thecomicstew.wordpress.com/category/marvel-tarot/ ) the book MARVEL TAROT sand thought that it was a step in the right direction and had some promise. There was one line in particular that caught my attention...

[Beta Ray Bill Cosby]

are you reading, Marvel Comics?

RULES FOR MAGIC!

the people have spoken

(all four of us)

[davek]

Heck, just have the Ancient One appeare like Moses and say ,"There are to many so-called magic-users, here are the new rules that they have to abide by to practice, otherwise it just won't work."

Not a bad little idea for Dr. Strange to enact, really. Wouldn't that be appropo for the Sorceror Supreme to do? Going back to my original thoughts, Dr. Strange's power level really makes him a 900lb. gorilla in terms of normal plot development. So why not give him something meaty - rewrite the rules of magic.