You may have heard, but Spider-Man: No Way Home is poised to be kind of a big deal. The multiverse hopping mega movie has been hyped up for months, with rumors swirling about the return of virtually anyone who has ever had a major moment in the 2000s Spider-Man movie-verse! Whether you’re here for JK, Alfred, Willem, Tobey, Andrew, Jamie, or all of the above, we know No Way Home is set to deal with the fallout of Peter Parker’s double life revealed at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and that the Marvel multiverse is very much at the center of where the MCU is heading. [Read more…] about The Best Comics To Read Before Spider-Man: No Way Home!
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Alone Against Eternity Review!
Doctor Strange is a character who can be difficult to use in comics with wide reaching continuity. Sorcerer Supreme? Master of the Mystic Arts? Sounds like a walking, talking Deus ex Machina, able to step in and solve any problem important enough to warrant his attention. This collection of Doctor Strange comics from the 70s deals with these problems in two ways. One way is by giving him problems so far outside the scope of human problems that they pose a challenge for even a sorcerer supreme. The physical manifestation of eternity? Go for it. Satan? Here he comes. How about a collection of beings who’ve decided they should replace the stars in the sky, by becoming stars themselves? Lay it on me. High concept and over the top, the success rate is mixed, but when the stories land, do they ever.
And dealing with all these heady ideas and beautiful nonsense, that’s where the second point stands out. Throughout these stories, Stephen Strange is plagued with doubt, and, despite his powers, fear of his all too human fallibility. It would be easy to dismiss the sort of character who battles Eternity as just another cardboard cut-out, if they couldn’t understand the doubts of our eponymous hero. [Read more…] about Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Alone Against Eternity Review!
The Road to MCU Phase 4! Reading Companion For Every Movie & Show!
For the first time since Avengers: Endgame we know what the outline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will look like through 2021. In a blend of unmitigated excitement and reaction to 8 million requests for related reading orders (which I have for every Phase 4 movie outlined! Planning!), I’ve put together a reading companion for all of Phase 4.
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[Read more…] about The Road to MCU Phase 4! Reading Companion For Every Movie & Show!Dr. Strange Review!: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Origin Movies
I had a revelation reading Wild Cards, the George R.R. Martin co-edited superhero universe anthology, for the first time this past month. When new superhero stories are told with confidence, by effective and committed fans of the craft, it’s thrilling, exciting, and flat out FUN to learn where new characters come from, and to welcome them to this new universe you’re developing.
There’s a reason we fell for origin stories in the… origin… first place. Where we come from matters, establishing both motivation and character in the canonical carbonite template for all future character appearances. [Read more…] about Dr. Strange Review!: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Origin Movies
Where to Start With Doctor Strange Comics
Doctor Strange is perhaps the best example of an all-time Marvel great whose limited collected comics, strange Marvel Unlimited gaps, and general continuity obfuscation have kept the character in the dark for many comic book fans. If he’s not the leader in confusing comics paths, he’s certainly up there with the Silver Surfer and The X-Men.
As you might imagine, it has taken nearly all my mystical might, and a consultative visit to the domain of the Dread Dormammu himself, to put together a reading order for Dr. Strange comics! Enjoy the comics, and always remember: The Sorcerer Supreme sits silently inside his Sanctum Sanctorum, studiously (6 times fast). [Read more…] about Where to Start With Doctor Strange Comics