Alright, now I know you're a long-time Doctor Strange fan, as am I, and
while Gene "The Dean" Colan is my all-time favorite artist (no one was
better at drawing Doctor Strange himself, or Clea) I still think that not
even the mighty Gene could touch the sheer surreality and the brilliant
magical mystery worlds that Ditko created. The issues of Strange Tales that
spring to mind quickest here are #138 (the first appearence of Eternity) and
#139-141 (the absolutely brilliant battle with Dormammu "Pincers of Power"
issues, reprinted in the 1975 version of Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles
and in the 1994 Doctor Strange Classics). Anyone who has ever read these
books know exactly what surreality and magical wonder I'm talking about.
Move over Gene, let Ditko show you how it's done!

Now understand, I'm not asking for this comic to "go back in time" I'm
interested in seeing new exciting things done with the good doctor, which is
precicely why I'm suggesting new creators. I adore the Roger Ster/Paul Smith
run from around 1985 and I love the glorious Lee/Thomas/Colan/Palmer issues
of the late 60's and early 70's, but what I'm interested in seeing, just
like yourself, is something new.

But your new is in direct opposition to my new.

And to be honest, I would rather see no Dr. Strange comic on the shelf than
see a ruined one.

Dr. Strange had a mask in the late 60's, true, when Marvel was hoping to
sell more issues by making him more of a traditional superhero. And yes, it
was the same mask you were thinking of. But you might not be aware of this,
but Dr. Strange did have another mask. Given to him in 1993 by Faust scribe
David Quinn and artist Melvin Ruby. Oh sure it was the goo-baby "Strange"
who had the mask, but it re-masked the character just the same as the 60's
issues did. And for the same reason. To sell Doctor Strange to comic readers
who are only interested in your basic, run-of-the-mill superhero fare. Check
out Doctor Strange, Socerer Supreme #60-74 for the gory (and gooey) details.
Quinn, whom I spoke with at the Chicago Comic Con that year laughed about it
and told me it was a superhero costume and Hulk and X-Factor crossovers that
Marvel thought they wanted, and that's exactly what they got. But if you
think they were Doctor Strange, wellll ... too bad. Pathetic "Dark Hero"
make-over part one.

#75 featured one of the saddest and ugliest things one can imagine. David
Quinn followed hot on the heels of one of the worst Marvel re-makes ever
with something *worse*. You may have read these, and you may have actually
enjoyed them, but I don't see how you could have. The long-haired, John
Lennon glasses wearing *young man* that Doctor Strange was transformed into
will forever be the Clone Saga of Doctor Strange comics. Ditko must have
been gagging on that one. In the hopes of increasing circulation through
desperate and un-needed "vertigo-ization" of Doctor Strange, the comic's
hero had been thoroughly and quite profoundly raped. According to a text
page in Night Music (Rebel Studios, also written by David Quinn) David Quinn
apparently did not have this ending in mind after the whole "Last Rites"
storyline, but higher-ups asked for it, and they got it.

And we all "got it."

The "real" Doctor Strange returns in #80 of the same series, except this
time his cloak of levitation is a rain coat and the "golden doiley" costume
is certainly better than what we've seen recently, but generally quite
unplesant to the eye. I like Doctor Strange and I like Doctor Who, but I
don't like them dressing up like each other.

The problem I have with these changes isn't that I don't want anything to
change in the comics I read, but that they all dilute from the character of
Doctor Strange. And a gothic wiccan Strange who looks all spooky is, in my
mind, a huge dilution.

Doctor Strange is the sexiest man in the Marvel Universe, no doubt about it.
He is mysterious and classy and noble and wise, and he should remain so.
Give him black eye-liner and long greasy hair and you are just missing the
point. That's not who Doctor Strange is. Maybe Marvel is afraid that their
characters might end up being over the age of 30, so they bend over
backwards to make the characters just out of highschool again, but Doctor
Strange is an old man. He was older than Peter Parker is in the current
Spideys now before he had his car accident. Why would he go "goth?" I'm not
Strange's age and I'm certainly not going to dress up like a mime or some
"scarey person" just so kids will think I'm cool. Why should he? Give the
man a little dignity for the Ancient One's sake!

As far as your thought that today's readers wouldn't appreciate the
Ditko-esque "trip-worlds" and little sheild-thingies, I disagree. They were
unique, exciting and yes, "magical" when I first saaw them and they still
are today. Greatness never goes out of style. In order to get Dr Strange to
be picked up by new readers it has to be done well. You think Frank Miller's
Sin City comic wasn't about the most out-of-style comic when it first came
out? Hard boiled detective and mystery comics were "dead," but look at them
now. They're everywhere. Why did Sin City do so well? Both because it was
Frank Miller and because it was good. Look at Brian Micheal Bendis' Jinx and
Torso comics, they're damn good, and Bendis sees some damn good sales
because of it. Don't pander to what the readers might be buying today
because it's "hot", give us kick ass comics. If Doctor Strange was the best
comic on the market it would sell, simple formula I know, but look how well
it's worked for the recent run on Daredevil, despite extreme lateness. The
character didn't have to go through some radical transformation to sell
books, it just had to be good. Good comics sell, maybe not as well as bad
comics do sometimes, but I'd take a good Doctor Strange over "Hot" Doctor
Strange anytime.

As far as the artists I suggested, Brendan McCarthy is currently working on
visual design for the next Road Warrior movie, so he's not going to be doing
any Doctor Strange for a long time, but regardless, I'm sure there are
others who could do the kind of work required to make Doctor Strange great
again without ruining the charcter, did the Inhumans book need a lot of
character re-design, did the Avengers? And if you think the Inhumans were a
"hot property" before the recent series your dead wrong, people are buying
that title because it's damn good and that's it. People like Marvel's
characters and we want to see them written and drawn well, not re-vamped.
Build it and they will come.

-Slippy  
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In article <3810C6B4.EE18B...@basketballmail.com>, 'Jay'