Marvel Team-Up #21 (May 1974)

Back in October 2017, I took a look at the main story of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 (December 1965). It depicted the first battle between the tag team of Doctor Strange and Spider-Man battling the rogue sorcerer Xandu. In that blog entry, I pointed out that this story would be followed up on over the years, the stories creating a decades long-spanning saga that turned Xandu from a one-off cosmos conqueror into a more tragic villain. 

I thought it would be fun to take a look at one of the follow-ups to the Annual. As such, the comic we're looking at here is the first of the follow-up stories. This is Marvel Team-Up #21!

The cover is a Gil Kane, Frank Giacoia, Mike Espocito, and Danny Crespi piece. I love this cover. This is what the Amazing Spider-Man Annual I looked at in 2017 should have been more like! You have Xandu looming over a starscape, puppeteering Spider-Man and Doctor Strange into fighting each other. It's an exciting-looking cover.

"The Spider and the Sorcerer!"
Writer: Len Wein
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inkers: Frank Giacoia, Dave Hunt
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Dave Hunt
Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor-in-Chief: Roy Thomas 

The story begins in New York City, the city so nice they named it twice.

Peter Parker, the Original Spider-Man, is swinging on patrol when he sees a group of men about to accost and rob a man in a suit. He manages to send the robbers running. The would-be thieves make a run for it.

The mysterious suit-wearing man is very grateful to our hero. In fact, he wants to do the Wall-Crawler a favor. All Petey has to do is look into his eyes...

“He also owes me twenty bucks!”

Yup, it's Xandu, having somehow regained his memories after Strange erased them. Now that he has the Webhead under his hypnotic power, he gives the Wisecraking Wall-Crawler a mission: Retrieve the Crystal of Kadavus, a jewel that looks like a skull. Doctor Strange has the Crystal in his possession in his Sanctum Sanctorum. Huh. So, the Crystal of Kadavus is a jewel that looks like a skull. Maybe they should go bother Indiana Jones. He has experience with crystal skulls.

He hypnotically convinces Spider-Man that Strange is one of his most vicious enemies and then sends him off to Strange's home. Speaking of Strange, what's he doing right now? Well, he's enjoying a good book.

“Ahhh, I do enjoy a good Clive Cussler yarn…”

He then decides to meditate on what he has read. After all, he needs to put plenty of thought into his review of the book on his blog. I'm joking. The book was written by the Ancient One, Strange's old mentor, and he needs to meditate on what he has learned from it. As he does so, the hypnotized Spider-Man arrives. He carefully sneaks his way through the Sanctum Santorum. However, even though Spider-Man's powerset would make him an excellent ninja, he is not a ninja. As shown when he accidentally knocks over an urn. 

This gets Strange's attention, and he goes to check it out.

He is happy when he sees it is just Spidey. After all, he considers our man a friend. This is clearly just a nice social visit to hang out and talk shop, right?

Exactly. Strange is unaware Spider-Man is under Xandu's power. The two end up fighting in the Sanctorum. Unlike Strange, who is only trying to subdue the Wall-Crawler so he can figure out what is going on, Spider-Man is fighting harder. He managed to KO the Sorcerer Supreme with the move known as Stone Statue to the Head.

With that, Spider-Man is able to retrieve the Crystal of Kadavus and get it to Xandu. So, why did he need the Crystal? Well, it allowed him to restore the Wand of Watoomb.

“Magic. Better than Gorilla Glue!”

So, the Crystal of Kadavus is something for fixing mystical items? Does that mean Kadavus was some kind of mystical repairman?

Anyway, there still is one question: How did Xandu get his memories back after the events of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2? Well, luckily in the tradition of villains talking a lot, Xandu is happy to explain how.

It turns out just before Strange cast his memory-erasing spell on Xandu in the Annual, Xandu sent his memories into the ether, causing them to erase the spell. And since he still ended up as an amnesiac anyway, Strange thought his spell worked. 

Xandu wandered around as a catatonic homeless man, until his floating memories returned to him. He then reveals to Spider-Man that he isn't just after the Wand to conquer the world: He wants to save a life.

Yeah, there is someone he wants to save.

Using magic to make boobs bigger was not the best idea.

Her name was Melinda Morrison. Xandu met her when he was a younger man, new to the mystic arts. He adored Melinda very much, and presumably she felt the same way towards him. One day, the two attempted a magical ritual. Said ritual went awry, causing a bolt of mystical energy to hit Melinda. She ended up in a trance resembling death. Try as he might, Xandu could not wake her. He put her in a special chamber to protect her body while he searched for a cure. For years he looked, desperately trying to find anything, but he had no such luck.

He then learned of the Wand of Watoomb. He thought the artifact could wake Melinda up. And now he plans to kill Spider-Man. The Webhead helped foil him in the past, and Xandu will not let that happen again. Thankfully for Marvel's mascot, Doctor Strange arrives. Xandu, realizing that Strange has the "home field advantage" in this dimension (being the Sorcerer Supreme of it and all), transports them to another dimension. 

Here, Xandu is almighty. He's also gotten much bigger and has a black beard. Strange and Spidey try to take on the mad magician, but Xandu shows himself capable of shrugging off Stephen's magics and Peter's webs. To show off his power, Xandu makes them into literal puppets.

“Dance, puppets! Dance for the crowd!”

Strange has one last trump card. He casts a spell that he may not be able to reverse, but it's the only shot he's got. While plays around with the two heroes, Xandu causes Spider-Man's arms to be pointed at his face. Seeing an opportunity, Peter takes it.

Peter Parker found himself wondering what was in those brownies he ate…

Somebody gave Peter a magic stat. Yup, Strange caused himself and Peter to switch powers. Spider-Man is now a magician! Strange gives Xandu a blast of webbing to the face...which really makes no sense. At this time, Peter's webs were artificial, fired from mechanical web-shooters. He did briefly get organic webshooters for a while, but that would be in the future. I guess you could say the same for Peter being able to use Strange's magics, but I think in the Marvel Universe, anyone can use magic with time and training. Peter winds up a ball of mystical force...and the pitch...

“UP YOURS, NOLAN RYAN!”

AND IT'S GOOD! XANDU GETS A MAGIC BALL TO THE FACE!

This causes Xandu to drop the Wand of Watoomb, and he shrinks down to his normal size. Not so big now, ain't you buddy? Strange then gives him a spider-powered Mighty Punch, and then tosses the Wand deep into the dimension, where not even Xandu could find it. The three return to their home dimension (and Strange undoes the power-swap). Xandu laments that now that the Wand is lost, he can't wake Melinda. Strange offers to take a look at Melinda and see if he can help. Xandu takes the two heroes to Melinda's chamber. Strange looks Melinda's body over...and he has some bad news.

Melinda is dead. She's not in a trance, she is just...dead. Yeah. Melinda Morrison is no more. She has ceased to be. She has joined the choir invisible. She is an ex-Melinda. Strange can do many things, but even he can't bring the dead back to life. Xandu...takes it well.

“Man, Xandu sounds weird when he cries…”

The story ends with Strange and Spidey leaving Xandu at Melinda's chamber, the crying sorcerer babbling that what Strange said can't be true. Melinda can't be dead. There has to be a way to wake her...

I admit, I enjoyed this little comic. It was a fun little team-up adventure. I did think the power-swap was a bit goofy, mainly because of Strange suddenly being able to use Spidey's webbing. I would have thought it neat for Strange to demonstrate his other powers, like his Spider-Sense. And I admit, Spidey being able to use magic was kind of cool.    

The only real criticism I have of Sal Buscema's art here is that his take on Xandu's dimension didn't have that psychedelic feel that Steve Ditko would have provided.   

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Trailer, My Thoughts

Fate is a funny thing. Yesterday, I reviewed a Doctor Strange comic in honor of Strange's upcoming second solo movie: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And back in December, I gave my thoughts on the movie's teaser trailer that appeared after Spider-Man: No Way Home. And now? A trailer has dropped. Let's look at the trailer for the MCU's 28th movie, and let the Multiverse of Madness be unleashed!

WAKE UP, STRANGE! 

That's a lot of stairs...

And here we go!

...maybe you shouldn't eat that anchovy and mustard pizza before bed, Steve. I know you think it's tasty, but that stuff will break your brain.

I imagine that's going to be the lesson Strange will learn in this movie.

Aaaaand the Multiverse is on a bender.

Hey, more of that wedding from the teaser. Maybe that's an alternate version of Strange...

So, the Vision was studying the Multiverse, huh? That's interesting. I wonder if he left some notes behind or something? Was he aware of it thanks to the Infinity Stone in his head?

Oh my God, that's Rintrah! 

The big green bull! That's Rintrah! Rintrah was an ally and student of Strange's in the 80s and 90s. He first appeared in Doctor Strange #80 (September 1986). I first learned of him thanks to the Infinity Gauntlet story. I love when the MCU gives lesser known and obscure characters spotlight.

Man, this new version of the Twilight Zone is weeeeird....

"Doctor Stephen Strange, you are under arrest for indecently exposing the Multiverse. That's some serious stuff."

Those guard robots look like Ultron. 

This doesn't look like the TVA. Maybe they updated their aesthetic since Loki?

Mah God...that's Patrick Stewart's voice. His voice is rather distinct. I know fans have theorized that he's reprised his role as Professor X. The theory does make sense. After all, multiversal shenanigans in No Way Home led to a whole bunch of surprise returns, and it does make a convenient way to bring in the X-Men movies. And from there, it can be assumed that this room Strange goes to is a way to introduce the Illuminati. Both Strange and Xavier were members of that group. Not to mention in that brief shot, it looks like one of those people in the seats is in a wheelchair. But trailers can deceive, so I'm going to wait until something official confirms this.

Are those dinosaurs?!

...this movie is going to break some minds, huh?

Isn't that the dark Strange from What If?

I've heard theories that the glowing figure that attacks Wanda is Monica Rambeau or Nova. I thought it may be Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch.

Don't you just hate it when you're enjoying a nice day in the city, and then a tentacle monster with a big eyeball shows up and starts throwing buses? This is a Tuesday in the MCU.

Callback to WandaVision!

...Wanda ain't wrong. She ain't wrong there. I hope she doesn't go all bad guy. I mean, I can get why, but I hope that doesn't happen.

Looks like Mordo might be trying to break Strange's cuffs...or it was an accident.

You know after this whole thing, Wong is going to give Strange the same treatment Homer likes to give Bart.

Well, I am hyped. I am officially hyped. I am so hyped for this movie! I cannot wait to watch this movie! It looks like it's going to be a real mindbender!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated and boosted! See you next time!

Doctor Strange #76 (April 1986)

In recent years, Doctor Strange's profile has been heavily raised thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With his second movie on its way, I figured that in honor of it, I'd take a look at a Doctor Strange story. I figured that this story would be a good one, as it shows one thing: Doctor Strange may be one of the mightiest mystical defenders of the Marvel Universe...but even he can't save everyone. You'll see what I mean when we look at Doctor Strange #76!

The cover is a Chris Warner and Terry Austin piece. It's pretty awesome, depicting Strange at the mercy of the villain of this story. One detail I like is the shadows on the snake-headed woman's face. Even though she has a pretty face, the shadows show she has a much more sinister side, appropriate for the story.

"What Song the Sirens Sang!"
Writer: Peter B. Gillis
Pencilers: Mark Badger (breakdowns), Chris Warner
Inker: Randy Emberlin
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins in a realm very much unlike our own. A realm that is not unreachable to death. And death stalks the ruler of this realm.

Page 28, Full page

No, this isn't a gorgon. Her name is Iuriale (I pronounce it Yur-ee-ale), and her time is short. She has found someone on Earth that will be her salvation: Darryl Berenson. Berenson is a practicing surgeon. She sees him use his skills to save a man's life...and he tells the patient's wife to talk to her insurer. They're not great about their payments to him. Berenson kind of mirrors another man we may know...

(Hmmm)

Iuriale reaches out to him with her power. Her power is only sensed by him, sensed as a siren song. A song that only touches his ears. The song guides the surgeon, and tempts him with promises of love, wealth, power...meaning. The song leads Berenson to a bookstore where he buys a spellbook. Because in the Marvel Universe, you can buy copies of potentially dangerous mystical tomes in your local Barnes and Noble.

(shrug)

Darryl heads home to his loving wife Patricia. The narration establishes that despite his seemingly happy perfect life, Darryl himself feels...empty. It's like nothing matters. It's all pointless. All except...the book. The book will grant him life again. The book will make him feel like he matters again.

Page 31, Panel 9

So, it's clear that there's some dark magic involved. How is Strange going to get involved? Well, it's here we join our man Strange alongside some of his allies at the time: his faithful manservant Wong, his then-secretary and business manager Sara Wolfe...and the empath known only as Topaz. 

Page 32, Panel 1

Last issue, Strange had rescued her from Hell, basically. She was a past ally of Jack Russell, the original Werewolf by Night. It was an encounter with the devilish Mephisto and the vampire king Dracula in Tomb of Dracula #62-64 that led her to being trapped in "Hell" in the first place. 

In the process of escaping, part of her soul has been taken from her. This took away her empathic abilities and has affected her ability to process emotions properly...and will eventually lead her to insanity.

It's here that Patricia Berenson comes to the Sanctum, seeking Strange's help. Darryl's up and pulled a vanishing act. Strange wonders why she doesn't tell the police about this. She takes him to her home, saying that Darryl had envied Strange for getting out of the hectic life of a surgeon. As for why she came to him and not the cops, well...

Page 35, Panel 6

Yeah. Weird pink vines everywhere. Anyone who has watched an episode of Law and Order or any of its bazillion spin-offs would clearly know this is no ordinary missing persons case. Heck, this is the Marvel Universe. A missing person case could literally turn into a fight for the fate of the universe.

Strange eyes a pentagram in the center of the room. In the center of it is a photo of Darryl and Patricia at their wedding. He notes that the frame of the picture is wooden...as it's the source of the vines. Using the Eye of Agamotto, Strange discovers a piece of burnt parchment. He magically reconstructs the parchment...and he's very disturbed by what is written on it.

Strange destroys the parchment and Strange goes for a flight. He's familiar with that particular spell. He first learned of the spell during his time as an apprentice to the Ancient One, but he dared not chant it because, basically...everything may go kablooie.

Like that. Strange realizes that the spell must be performed underground. He seeks out the deepest hole in New York and heads there. It's here our man finds Berenson, about to complete the spell.

Page 39, Panel 3

Strange screams at him not to finish the enchantment, but Berenson does. He manages to summon Iuriale.

Page 40, Panel 1

Strange engages the gorgon cosplayer in mystical combat. Spells are flying! The fate of the world is at stake! Another Tuesday in the life of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme! Iuriale wants to suck the life force out of Berenson. Driven by his obsession with feeling whole, the surgeon shanks Strange with a broken bottle. Iuriale restrains Strange with some snakes, and then takes Berenson's hand.

Page 44, Panel 2

That's not a tattoo. That's a mouth. Iuriale tries to get Stange to back off by telling him this is what they both want. She wants his life, and Berenson is willing to give it. The thing is...Berenson will die if he completes the ritual...and she's done this before. She has lured many mortals to their death to feed herself. She truly doesn't care about Berenson at all. He's only food to her.

Strange gets his second wind and banishes her from the realm. Berenson is furious. She was beautiful, colorful, his one escape from the cold gray dead world he felt trapped in. Strange reminds him that he still has a wife that loves him. He still has a practice. As such, he still is needed in this world, and he still has value and worth. But Darryl thinks no one understands his lonliness. As the night starts to give way to the day, Strange takes Darryl to the police and heads back to his Sanctorum. After he fixes up his shoulder wound with a bit of old-fashioned bandages, gauze, and antiseptic, he goes to see Patricia...only to see her distraught and being comforted by Sara.

It turns out that as the police were taking him to the hospital, Darryl Berenson grabbed one of their guns and shot himself in the stomach. He died in pain, his last word being "Iuriale". 

This was a good comic. A tragic one-shot tale. One thing I liked was that Berenson in a way was a parallel to Strange himself. Both were arrogant men, brilliant surgeons. But whereas Strange found a higher purpose and meaning in protecting this realm from mystical threats, Berenson let himself get consumed by his feelings of emptiness. Maybe if things were different, Strange himself would have ended up like Berenson. Berenson is a man who had everything. A successful practice, a loving wife, a seemingly perfect life, if he himself came off as a bit cold. But that doesn't change the fact that he felt like he had nothing going for him. That there was no joy in his life.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Teaser, My Thoughts

The Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe marches on! Fresh off the success of a certain Web-Head's latest cinematic adventure, the MCU heads towards its 28th film! Benedict Cumberbatch once more dons the Cloak of Levitation as Doctor Strange heads towards the Multiverse of Madness! The road to this film has been paved with the miniseries WandaVision and Loki, as well as the first Doctor Strange film and Spider-Man: No Way Home, this latest offering promises to be Marvel's first horror movie. Let's look at the teaser!

Turns out the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: Endgame may have messed up the Multiverse more than we thought.

Isn't that one of Strange's watches from the first movie?

"Awwww, great! This dimension is drunk!"

Strange is getting married!

Oh hai, America!

Wong really hates his life right now.

I always liked that they altered the Marvel logo for these teasers to make them fit each character. And this is an awesome twist on that. 

It's nice to see Wanda's found herself a hobby since her self-exile in WandaVision. And I can imagine her flipping through the Darkhold at the end of WandaVision is how she learned of the Multiverse.

They ain't in Kansas anymore...

Oh hey, Baron Mordo! I can imagine he had been out hunting magicians since the first Doctor Strange movie. Was he Dusted?

I have heard theories about Wanda going evil in this movie. There is precedence in the comics, after all. I can see why, but I honestly hope that doesn't happen. Wanda's been through a lot.

"I summon SNAKEHANDS!" 

I have heard some say that tentacle thing is Shuma-Gorath, but in the comics, Shuma can be much bigger...and is green.

Ooh, magic sawblade. Awesome.

"This is Doctor Strange on drugs. Any questions?" He gets real dark when he has cocaine in his system.

Well, I'm a Marvel fan, so you bet I am excited for this movie! I love that the MCU has gotten to the point where they can just say "Heck with it, let's get friggin' weird!" I cannot wait! Heck, I'm not a fan of horror films, and I want to see this!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Saty safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccination and booster! See you next time!

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer #2, My Thoughts

The mighty Marvel Cinematic universe is marching on! Back in August, I looked at the teaser trailer for the MCU's upcoming 27th film, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Yeah, the MCU has almost gotten 30 films under its belt. Incredible. Well anyway, a new trailer is out! Let's take a look!

"I watched it all fall away...like spiders in the rain."

That was...a bit unnecessarily risky, Pete.

Nice work, Pete. This is your fault, man.

Well, he is technically a Peter Parker, Doc. So...close enough?

Heh heh, now that you think about it, Otto Octavius is a funny name. Although to be fair, "Octavius" is an actual name in Latin.

Wait...is that Spidey suit based on the silver Spider-Armor?

If it is, that's AWESOME!

What do you want them to do, Strange? Rip the villain's mask off and reveal it was the land developer?

That makes sense...almost. In Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus sacrificed his life to stop his machine because Spider-Man got...through to his humanity...ah. But I can see him being the most willing to help MCU Spidey based on this. And I don't think Sandman died at the end of Spider-Man 3.

Don't try to steal Strange's box, Pete. He's mastered the Soul Punch.

I like that Electro looks like Electro. Even pays a nod to his star-shaped mask!

I get the impression that a major battle will take place at the Statue of Liberty.

...The Night MJ Died?

Strange's statement could mean anything. It might mean Peter may get some help...

Wong is so going to kill Strange for this.

Well, I was already excited for this movie, but this trailer has only gotten me more hyped. I have to admit, it is a clever way to give Spider-Man a battle with the Sinister Six, using the Multiverse that has been popping up in MCU stuff lately, like in Loki and the upcoming Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Having Strange involved here does make sense here. I can imagine there are some surprises this film still has for us, and they're being kept close to the vest. That's a good thing. I want to be surprised. 

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!