CBR: Mark Waid Gets "Strange"

[CBR News]

Stephen Strange may no longer be the Sorcerer Supreme, but he's not done fighting supernatural evil. CBR speaks with Mark Waid about the new mini-series, "Strange," which kicks off the next stage of the good doctor's mystical career.


Full article here.

[Expletive Deleted]

This thread was posted a little prematurely, but the article's now up.

Enjoy!

[mdg1]

Three questions:

1. Why couldn't this story have been told with him as Sorceror Supreme?
2. Why the "dark secret" if the whole idea was to tell a story of Strange without the burden of responsibility?
3. Why do I get the feeling Waid's thought more about Claire's personality than Steven's?

[raskal66]

The premise sounds and looks promising. The price will determine if I buy it.

[worstblogever]

Mark Waid? Great guy to have on a book like this. He's a master of continuity many forget. There's stuff he can tie-in to Dr. Strange from... well, live he ever existed.

I'm in.

[nightw1ng]

I'm confused as to how even though Stephen lost the "Sorceror Supreme" title, he also lost a lot of his mystical might. I thought the title brought with it respect and responsibility, not power. Did he also lose his connection to all those mystical beings he called upon when chanting spells? Aren't there tons of spells he could do without calling upon a higher power? There are plenty of powerful magic users out there who don't have the knowledge, talismans, or connections that Stephen has. I hope Mark Waid clears that up.

[classicgmer]

The premise sounds and looks promising. The price will determine if I buy it.

Pretty much all of Marvel' mini/limited series are $3.99 these days and I'm guessing thats not gonna change anytime soon so don't hold your breath for waiting anything less


Not trying to be snarky or anything but thats just the way Marvel is doing it now a days.

[StoneGold]

I'm confused as to how even though Stephen lost the "Sorceror Supreme" title, he also lost a lot of his mystical might. I thought the title brought with it respect and responsibility, not power. Did he also lose his connection to all those mystical beings he called upon when chanting spells? Aren't there tons of spells he could do without calling upon a higher power? There are plenty of powerful magic users out there who don't have the knowledge, talismans, or connections that Stephen has. I hope Mark Waid clears that up.

This isn't the first time Steve's lost the mantle and had a power reduction. No title, no backing by the Vishanti, which is really what the title represents anyway. Part of the problem is that Steve is so reliant on the Vishanti backing, it's so a part of his basic powerset, that without it, he's significantly less than. He can get power from other sources, but the other sources tend to be more stingy.

[HeckBoy]

I'm confused as to how even though Stephen lost the "Sorceror Supreme" title, he also lost a lot of his mystical might. I thought the title brought with it respect and responsibility, not power. Did he also lose his connection to all those mystical beings he called upon when chanting spells? Aren't there tons of spells he could do without calling upon a higher power? There are plenty of powerful magic users out there who don't have the knowledge, talismans, or connections that Stephen has. I hope Mark Waid clears that up.

That was exactly what I was wondering too. Seems weird that he would lose a lot of power by losing the title. I mean, IIRC, I guess he'd have to surrender mystical artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto and his Cloak and books of magic (stuff that weren't necessarily his to begin with), but I wouldn't think those items (well, maybe the Eye) would provide such a source of great power so as to weaken him that much.

|EDIT| Just saw that StoneGold explained things before my post ended up getting posted (frickin' internet connection). Anyway, that makes sense I guess. Hopefully he learns to conduct magical energy from other sources if only to bring something new to the table. Also, I hope he ditches the billowly sleeves and blouse now and sticks with the suit (or really, just anything subtler and more "chic")

[Stephen Sanders]

I'm looking forward to this. I hope it sells pretty good.

[Elder5]

I have to say I love the art. I'm a long time Strange fan, since the original Defenders, and this has me pretty excited.

[berk]

The Doctor Who references made by Waid and the interviewer left me with the impression that the entire motivation behind the new apprentice is to give Strange a young female 'companion', just like that other Doctor. Generally not too encouraged by what I've heard about this so far.

[dkostus]

When the art for this first came out, I was kind of hoping the brunnette was a poorly drawn Nico Minoru... why not take on one of the established young magic users as an apprentice? And what the hell ever happened to Ian McKnee? Hopefully with all the new magic stuff coming up, some of these characters start to pop up as well.

Also, I thought that there was another time when Strange rejected the Vishanti, and so he tied his powers into something else...

[StoneGold]

When the art for this first came out, I was kind of hoping the brunnette was a poorly drawn Nico Minoru... why not take on one of the established young magic users as an apprentice? And what the hell ever happened to Ian McKnee? Hopefully with all the new magic stuff coming up, some of these characters start to pop up as well.

Also, I thought that there was another time when Strange rejected the Vishanti, and so he tied his powers into something else...

I was referencing that earlier. He was making deals with other entities as he went along, but the powers weren't quite as omnipotent.

[raskal66]

Pretty much all of Marvel' mini/limited series are $3.99 these days and I'm guessing thats not gonna change anytime soon so don't hold your breath for waiting anything less


Not trying to be snarky or anything but thats just the way Marvel is doing it now a days.

No worries, I don't take it as snarky. I don't buy the book at that price, but your comment is true so I can't possibly take offense to it and still be honest with myself. If it shows up on a clearance rack, I'll pick it up. It certainly has a good enough premise for clearance or a more respectable cover price purchase but for $3.99 it needs a graphic make out session with a Ms. Marvel look alike using real models instead of drawings at least once per issue. Okay, this is Doctor Strange so a Night Nurse look alike will do for purposes of continuity.