A Halloween Visit to the Darker Corners of the Marvel Universe

Happy Halloween, everybody! Instead of a normal recommended reading, or a post of the kind you normally see, I thought I'd do something different. After thinking about Doctor Strange, I realized that while most corners of the Marvel Universe have been reawakened and retooled in recent years, the supernatural corner remains dormant. So, Dan and I sat down and came up with some ideas for ways for Marvel to do some new supernatural titles! It's a fun little trip into our brains, so don't get too scared!

Doctor Strange

As I stated when I talked about Doctor Strange earlier this week, Strange has had any number of reboots and new series, so coming at him from a new angle was tricky. But I got to thinking about the Ancient One, Strange's master, and the numerous apprentices Strange has taken over the years. So, what happened if Strange learned that, through some magical confluence, thirteen children were born, each with a different magical gift, and the balance of all magic would rest on whether or not they chose light or dark magic? With the kids now teenagers, Strange must race across the globe, gathering these kids and then training them, all the while competing with someone else, let's say Baron Mordo, to keep them on the side of the light. It's got a similar vibe to classic X-Men stories, only told from Xavier's point of view instead of the students, or Harry Potter from Dumbledore's perspective, clearly with Strange in the Xavier or Dumbledore role. It would introduce a group of new magical characters, characters who could be from any country, of any race, religion, or sexual orientation, meaning it works with so much of what Marvel has been doing to diversify their line. And Strange can team up with various other magical characters, like Doctor Voodoo, to help teach the kids different disciplines. Extra points for a convenient crossover with Uncanny X-Men, when one of Strange's team turns out to not only be magically gifted but a mutant, and Strange must work with his ex-apprentice, Magik, and team his kids up with the kids from the New Xavier School.

MI-13

OK, I know, I know. I'm a sucker for Pete Wisdom, and I would probably try to pitch a new book featuring Wisdom to Marvel in any way I could. But bear with me. Nearly all stories of MI-13 and Wisdom have had some magical angle, so we give the British spooky intel agency a new specific mission. With S.H.I.E.L.D. overwhelmed with all the supercriminals and terrorists, international magical items trafficking has skyrocketed, and Maria Hill goes to the experts: Pete Wisdom and MI-13. Now MI-13's goal is to shut down an international cartel that is selling, and in some cases handing out, magical items of incredible dark power. What exactly is their angle? And exactly who is the mastermind behind it? With a core team of Pete Wisdom, Spitfire, Black Knight, Union Jack, and Excalibur, there could be any number of supernatural heroes who could guest star. Blade's a little busy over in Mighty Avengers, but he could come back, as could Captain Britain and Megann, but I think Elsa Bloodstone, who is free since the end of Fearless Defenders, would make a good replacement for Blade as monster hunter extraordinaire. I'd also like to keep Alistair Stuart around, and reintroduce the original version of Romany Wisdom, the hippy magic user version, as she is both Pete's sister and Union Jack's ex, as the support team for the unit.

Dracula and the Legion of Monsters

When Mark Waid brought the Legion of Monsters back in Daredevil, he gave them a mission: track down and contain the dispersed pages of the Darkhold, the most evil books of magic in existence; picture the Marvel Universe version of the Necronomicon and you get the idea. So, when team leader Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night, discovers a page of the book that allows the possessor to control vampires, Jack and team hunt down the vampire of vampires, Dracula. And this is the Dracula of Tomb of Dracula, Doctor Strange, classic X-Men, and Captain Britiain and MI-13, the one designed by Gene Colan. He's no longer wearing red armor and wearing his hair all long and white; nope this Dracula has style. Russell uses the page, and Drac is now under his control. Well, sort of. Dracula can't turn on Russell and his team, but whatever they ask him to do, he can do in whatever way he sees fit, so it's a classic monkey's paw situation: use Dracula to track down more pages, but say one false word and he'll massacre everyone between him and the page. And Dracula is always scheming to come up with a way to get the page from Russell so he can be free and exact his revenge, giving a constant sense of tension to every issue.

Midnight Sons of Anarchy (working title only) 

Marvel relaunched Ghost Rider earlier this year with a new host for the Spirit of Vengeance, Robbie Reyes, who drives a black muscle car instead of a motorcycle. Frankly, I see a missed opportunity here. Because you know what’s cooler than one Ghost Rider? A gang of them. A Spirits of Vengeance series ran from 1992 to 1994, teaming up original-recipe Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze with Crystal Pepsi Ghost Rider Danny Ketch. I say revisit the series, uniting Blaze, Ketch, Reyes and the Alejandra and Vengeance characters, along with some new recruits, as a team of demon-possessed hotheads riding together, righting wrongs and whipping people with hellfire-covered chains. Yes, it would be a blatant rip-off of the popular FX series Sons of Anarchy, but that fruit’s hanging low for a reason.

Resurrect Gail Simone’s Night Nurse MAX series 

Years ago, Simone and artist Jill Thompson were developing a mature-readers series featuring the Night Nurse, a superhero health care worker and the sometimes girlfriend of Dr. Strange. The series was shelved in early 2002, and Simone went on to write Deadpool/Agent X. Brian Michael Bendis made the Night Nurse one of his pet quasi-Avengers in the 2000s, patching up anti-registration heroes in the pages of New Avengers as well as Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker’s Immortal Iron Fist. If nothing else, should a new Dr. Strange book comes out in time for the movie in 2016, I’d love for the Nurse to be a part of it.

House of Z 

Pretty sure this one hasn’t been leaked along with the kajillion other crossover redux teasers for next summer’s Secret Wars. Zombie Wanda Maximoff grunts “No more zombies” to avoid having her brains eaten by her brother, Zombie Pietro, and magically undoes the zombie virus for all but 198 of them. A restored humanity led by some of the company’s best supporting characters – Thunderbolt Ross, Pepper Potts, J. Jonah Jameson, Dum Dum Dugan, Foggy Nelson, etc. – must figure out how to live in a world destroyed by zombies. In so doing, humans become the hunters, and the zombies are chased across the country onto an island in the San Francisco Bay that the humans nuke without a second thought, because, as Ross tells Nelson, “Can’t destroy a world that’s already been destroyed.” In promotional materials, Marvel will act like they’re finally getting rid of all the zombies, as a red herring to distract those who’ve said Marvel’s done too many zombie stories. But the blast actually radiates the zombie virus and makes it airborne, creating a whole new batch. This sets up House of Z 2, in which the remaining humans scour the globe searching for Zombie Wanda, whom they failed to round up the first time around. 


Now, go out and enjoy Halloween!

Strange Days Indeed: Who is Doctor Strange?

Yesterday, Marvel Studios announced that Benedict Cumberbatch, best know for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC's Sherlock, had been cast as Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, Sorcerer Supreme. While this is a big announcement for some of us, Doctor Strange isn't exactly the biggest name in comics, probably better known than the Guardians of the Galaxy, less so than Iron Man. So, as a public service, here's some background on the good doctor, and a few stories you might want to check out.

My personal history with Doctor Strange begins, aside from an appearance in an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, where a lot of my history with Marvel characters does: with The Infinity Gauntlet. Strange was a principal character in the battle to stop Thanos and his god-like power, not just in the main mini-series but with crossovers into his own title. Strange would continue to have a large part in the sequel, The Infinity War, and a smaller roll in the final part of the trilogy, The Infinity Crusade.

Doctor Strange is a character with a long history, having first appeared in 1963 in Strange Tales #110 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. But unlike the other major Lee/Ditko creation, Spider-Man, Strange has had a hard time holding down a series. He has had no fewer than three ongoing series that have ended, plus runs in Marvel Premiere and numerous mini-series. This isn't to say he's a failure as a character; he is still mainstream comics best known magician and has been active even when not in his own title, as a supporting character or a member of the Defenders or the Avengers.

As origins go, Stephen Strange was one of the world's best surgeons, or if you asked him, the best. Arrogant and callous, Strange cared for no one but himself. But after a car accident cost him the use of his hands (in most versions of his origins, an accident caused by his own carelessness or drunkenness), Strange went on a quest to find a way to repair them. This finally led him into the Himalayas, where he met the Ancient One, a mystic who agreed to tutor Strange. Here he learned magic and selflessness, taking up the mantle of Master of the Mystic Arts, and eventually Sorcerer Supreme. It is Doctor Strange's duty to keep this dimension safe from incursions for Hell, The Dark Dimension, and any other plane of existence.

As power sets go, Strange's magic makes that kind of hard to classify. The rules of magic are a little hard to describe, as they are flexible to fit the story, so Strange can do pretty much anything. Usually there are lots of raybolts of energy, binding spells, and the like. He does fly using the Cloak of Levitation, and wields the Eye of Agamotto, the amulet at the neck of the cape, that allows for visions and truthseeing. Many of these powers he draws from the Vishanti, a triumvirate of extra dimensional beings, named Agamotto, Osthur, and Hoggoth,the last of which gives us Doctor Strange's signature comic book catchphrase, "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!" It might not be, "It's Clobberin' Time!" but I still think it beats, "Oh, my stars and garters!"

That's really all you need to know up front. One of the good things (and/or problems) about so many cancellations and new beginnings is that Doctor Strange is often returning with a mostly clean slate. The baggage is often discarded to provide a clean new start that will be the one that's a hit. That hasn't happened in recent years, but with a movie coming I'm sure we'll see it tried again. Strange does have certain key supporting characters and nemeses, though, and here's who they are,

Wong was introduced in the same issue as Doctor Strange, and has been Strange's manservant since that first appearance. Initially, he was simply the inscrutable Asian stereotype you couldn't get away with now, who had served the Ancient One as well as Strange, silent and always with a fortune cookie of wisdom. But over the years he has developed, and his backstory in some versions now involves him being a former student of the Ancient One as well, and besdies being a master martial artist, he is now more Strange's partner, friend, and aide rather than simply his servant.

The Ancient One is the master sorcerer who trained Strange. Sometimes portrayed as a smiling, Yoda like mentor, he is usually instead a hardass who will smack down Strange any time he gets too big for his britches, even returning from the other side to do it. He is not to be trifled with.

Clea is Doctor Strange's on again/off again love interest (they are currently off again). His wife at one point, she is the daughter of Umar and niece of Dormammu (both of whom we'll get to in a  minute), and is often fighting for the freedom of the people in her native Dark Dimension. She is a powerful sorceress herself, and has been Strange's apprentice.

Rintrah was another of Strange's apprentices and... oh, who am I kidding? We're never going to see Rintrah again. I just think the fact that he's a greenish minotaur is one of those great things that flies pretty much only in comics.

Baron Mordo is Doctor Strange's oldest foe. A fellow apprentice of the Ancient One, Mordo was corrupted by Dormammu, and tried to kill the Ancient One and steal his power. Strange interfered, and began a rivalry that lasts until today. He is Strange's opposite number.

The Dread Dormammu is an extradimensional demon who has designs to conquer Earth. He is constantly attempting to break the barriers between dimensions and bring an army of evil, or just his own form, onto our plane of existence, often using puppets like Mordo. This constantly draws him into conflict with Strange, and depending on who you ask, he might be Strange's arch-foe even more than Mordo.

Umar is the sister of Dormammu and the ruler of The Dark Dimension. A despot, she usually comes into conflict with Strange at the behest of Clea, her daughter, who tries to liberate the people from her rule.

If all those crazy characters and magic have drawn your interest and you want to learn more about Doctor Strange, here are some places to start.

Essential Doctor Strange Vol.1-4: Marvel's late and lamented line of big, black and white collections of classic comics has four volumes for Strange. The not only collect all the stories by Lee & Ditko, which include all sorts of great crazy art by Ditko, but stories from Steve Englehart, Roger Stern, and Jim Starlin. I only have one to three personally, and am on  my own quest to find a volume four.

Doctor Strange Vs. Dracula: The Montesi Formula: I've written about my love of Tomb of Dracula before, and this trade not only collects the crossover between Tomb and Doctor Strange, it also contains a later story where Doctor Strange is in a race against time to find the  Montesi Formula, the spell that will wipe out all vampires, before Dracula takes over the world. It's an exciting story, and a worthy successor to the original Tomb of Dracula series.

Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment: One of Marvel's original graphic novels, this volume not only is written by Roger Stern, one of the definitive Doctor Strange writers (I know some people go with Lee or Englehart but for my money, Stern is the best), but it features early art by Mike Mignola. After a sorcerer's duel to determine the world's best mage, the Doctors, Strange and Doom (best known as the Fantastic Four's archenemy, but a pretty good sorcerer in his own right), must make a trip to Hell to retrieve the soul of Doom's mother. Strange gets some really cool moments, but I have to say that Doom steals the show in his dealings with Mephisto.

Doctor Strange: The Oath: While not the most recent attempt to restart a Strange franchise, this is one that I feel like had the most potential. Written by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Y:The Last Man) and drawn stylishly by Marcos Martin, this is a story that draws comparisons between Strange's oath as a doctor and as a sorcerer. It does great things with the relationship between Strange and Wong, and gave Strange a new love interest, Night Nurse, the doctor to the superheroes.

Doctor Strange: Season One: A couple years back, Marvel created a line of graphic novel's called Season One, where their principal heroes got modern retellings of their origins. The volume for Doctor Strange, from creators Grek Pak and Emma Rios, was one of the highlights of that line. The story does a great job of fleshing out Strange's journey from selfish tool to superhero, builds a solid relationship between Strange and Wong, and adds mythologist Sofia Do Cosima (created by Pak for his Incredible Hulks) run on to Strange's cast. It's a globe trotting, action story with strong characters, and is a great place to start if you want to get a good sense of Doctor Strange.

Strange is also a regular member of the cast of New Avengers, so if you need your monthly dose, that's where you can head. I'm sure we'll be getting a new series for Strange before long, too, and I have some ideas of cool places that could go. Maybe there's a post in that soon... But until then, may the Vishanti protect you.

Recommended Reading for 10/12: Tomb of Dracula

After the Comics Code was loosened back in the 70s, comics companies were able to start using all the things that were forbidden to them under the more draconian edicts of the code; these are the ones that many believe were put in to shut down EC Comics, the parts that limited the use of classic monsters like werewolves, zombies, and vampires. While werewolves are by far my favorite monster (hopefully I'll get a piece on the history of the modern werewolf comic in before the month is out), the best of the 70s Marvel monster comics was definitely the one starring the vampire. Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's Tomb of Dracula is a gothic masterpiece of elaborate storytelling and great character.

Tomb of Dracula takes place in the present, which at the time was 1972, and the series follows the adventures of a reawakened Dracula and the band of vampire hunters who seek to destroy him. While the vampire hunters are given about as much page time as the Lord of the Undead, have no doubt this series is Dracula's first and foremost. His enemies come and go, but Dracula is the thing that holds the series together.

One of the most impressive aspects of Tomb of Dracula was the impressive runs by the creators. All seventy issues were pencilled by Gene Colan, master of light and shadow, who passed away recently. While the first six issues had different writers, with two each written by greats like Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Gardner Fox, with issue seven Marv Wolfman took over, and remained with the series until the end. This allowed Wolfman to build subplots that paid out not just over months but over the course of years, rewarding long time readers with appearances by allies and enemies of Dracula who had not appeared for long stretches of issues.

Dracula himself follows very much in the classic mold of the original Bram Stoker novel. Dracula is a smart, calculating, and suave monster. He spends the series killing and feeding as he needs and making his plans to rule the night and the world. He preys upon women mostly, seducing them and the feeding, but he is not above turning men to serve his evil needs, or to make them into new Renfields to serve his purposes in the day. This is no angsty vampire like we see in so much of pop culture now. Dracula is a killer and he revels in his own power and cruelty.

Over the course of the series, Wolfman has Dracula confront all manner of other supernatural threats. Not only does he confront such other Marvel supernatural luminaries as Dr. Strange and Werewolf by Night (another great series, but one that never quite reaches the heights of Tomb), he also introduces his own brain in a jar villain, Dr. Sun, a mad scientist who wants to use Dracula's power in his own bid to conquer the world, and who would show up in another Wolfman series, Nova. Other issues featured Dracula confronting haunted houses, zombies, spirits, demons, and cults. Dracula defeats them all.

Of course, with a series headlined by a villain, there are also always heroes for them to fight. There are various characters who pop in and out of the series, including bumbling writer Harold H. Harold, and the silent giant Taj Nital, but there are a few who make up the principal cast of hunters. Two are descendants of the cast from the original Stoker novel. Quincy Harker is the son of Jonathan and Mina Harker, the victims of Dracula's depredations. While old and wheelchair bound by the time of the series, Quincy's brilliant mind and never ending supply of gadgets makes him Dracula's most formidable foe.

The other heir to a name from the novel is Rachel Van Helsing, descendant of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. Rachel is possessed of a rage that gets her in over her head. Quincy is the rational one, Rachel is always charging in head first, with a bloodlust for the undead that almost equals that of Dracula for the living.

The final member of the regular cast of Tomb was Frank Drake. Frank was a descendant of Dracula himself who found out at the beginning of the series he was the heir to Castle Dracula. Frank was the one who inadvertently awakened Dracula to begin with, and it cost him the life o his fiance. Drake is the audience  perspective character, the one who gets to ask all the questions the reader would. He is not an experienced hunter, and while over the course of the series he learns to, he is never as dedicated as Rachel, never as full of rage. He is the most emotional, the most unsure of himself; in many ways, he is the most human.

There are two other character, though, who were introduced in the pages of Tomb of Dracula who became recurring characters and important characters around the Marvel Universe. One of those was Hannibal King, the vampire PI. In his first appearance, Tomb of Dracula #25, he is investigating vampires for a client, hunting the vampire who turned him, Deacon Frost. The whole issue is narrated in classic gumshoe fashion, from King's perspective, and it is not revealed he is a vampire until the last page. It's a great twist, and is one of my favorite issues of the series.

For those with a knowledge of the Marvel Universe, or maybe Marvel movies, the mention of Deacon Frost should tell you who the other character was, the most famous alum of Tomb of Dracula: Blade. Blade is, well, pretty much Blade. He is the Shaft of the vampire hunting crowd, with wooden knives and a no nonsense attitude. He recurs throughout the series, sometimes working with Harker's crew to hunt Dracula, sometimes fighting him on his own, and sometimes hunting other vampires. He eventually works with King to fight Deacon Frost, the man they both blame for their conditions.

While all seventy issues of Tomb are great, there are some highlights. Tomb of Dracula #32 is probably my favorite issue of the series. In it, a weakened Dracula decides to make his final run at Quincy Harker. Harker leads Dracula into a house that he has boobytrapped, and the king of vampires must make his way through a gauntlet of traps designed to destroy him. The issue is an intense battle between the two foes, and ends with what seems to be a definitive ending to their rivalry. It's a well orchestrated series of events, and is an exciting page turner.

Towards the end of the series, Dracula becomes the leader of a cult that mistakes him for the devil, and he takes one member to be his bride, a woman named Domini. She is the only person who is ever able to get any true human emotion out of Dracula over the course of the series, and through mystical ways they have a child, Janus. Janus grows quickly to adulthood, unnaturally so, and becomes an agent of heaven, an angel of sorts, whose life is dedicated to destroying his evil father. The story is notable for how clearly plotted and long form it is. This is around the same time as Chris Claremont was doing similar work on Uncanny X-Men, and was something different from what was done before. Even classic Marvel, with its lengthy subplots, treated the series as one or two or even three part stories connected by common characters. This was a novel spread over issues, with one long story. It seemed like Wolfman had an end point in mind and was working towards a planned endgame.

The final arc on the series was a sadly truncated one, but felt like it had potential to be one of the best. Dracula, made human again, was seeking a way to regain his powers while a new vampire, Torgo, had claimed his place as king of the vampires. Through the course of the series, Wolfman had found different ways to limit Dracula's power at times, but to see a truly human Dracula having to fight his way through legions that he once ruled was different. To see the ever confident Dracula in a position of weakness was jarring. In the end, of course, Dracula regains his powers and defeats Torgo, but the series had been cut two issues before it was originally supposed to, so the last issues were tightly packed and felt somewhat rushed. Still, it was exciting, and the series ended with one final confrontation between Dracula and Harker. The series was eventually continued in the Tomb of Dracula magazine, one of Marvel's black and white magazines, which are also good, but the series proper has a wonderful ending.

Aside from the engrossing stories, the art on Tomb of Dracula is something equally excellent. Gene Colan is a legend, one whose art plays beautifully with light and shadow. His Dracula moves in a swirl of cape through the night, almost part of it. He draws excellent creatures, monsters that ooze and snarl and send a chill up your spine. I read the entire Tomb of Dracula in Marvel's Essentials, and Colan's arts reproduces stunningly in black and white, with his heavy lines creating great contrast.

While Tomb of Dracula clearly takes place in the Marvel Universe, and has aspects of a superhero comic, it is at its heart a horror comic. The atmosphere is that of a gothic novel, with moors and monsters, and a protagonist who is not a hero. It's a series that reflects the coming of the anti-hero to Marvel, a series that is headlined by a character like Dracula served as a precursor the Wolverine and Punisher getting their own series. But none of those characters have the same dark charm as Dracula. While Dracula has starred in various comics since, none are quite as memorable as Tomb of Dracula.

The complete Tomb of Dracula is available in four Essential volumes, collecting the entire series as well as various tie-ins and the issues of the magazine. Marvel has also released four color trades collecting the first 32 issues.