By Ian T. Wilson
Rating: G (suitable for all audiences)
Word Count: 285
Summary: a brief biography of Marvel’s Doctor Strange
Good afternoon, good people of the internet and welcome to another installment of Superhero Sundays. I’m Ian Wilson. Today, I want to talk about a character who has grown very popular of late, but was virtually unknown before; Dr. Stephen Strange.
The Movie Doctor Strange is actually pretty close to the comics as far as Doctor Strange’s origin. He was a self-centered egotistical MD, until a car accident severed the nerves in his hands, causing constant tremors. He can no longer perform medicine. He exhausted his funds attempting to cure himself, to no success. He heard about a mystical place in the Himalayas called Kamar-Taj, where people could be healed. In this last ditch effort Stephen Strange used the last of his funds to go to the Himalayas to find Kamar-Taj. When he finally found Kamar-Taj he was turned away by the Ancient One because he didn’t like his attitude. Those mystic types really don’t appreciate arrogance. Finally, Stephen Strange managed to earn the Ancient One’s trust by exposing a plot by the magician Mordo to kill him. The Ancient One took Stephen Strange on as his apprentice. Eventually, Doctor Strange became Sorcerer Supreme, taking residence in the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Doctor Strange is a master of the magic arts. He sees himself as another type of doctor. The universe is filled various beings that can infect humans and feed on our spiritual energy. Doctor Strange’s job is to “disinfect” us; he sends those creatures back to the dimensions where they belong. He also fights off magical threats, such as Dormammu.
Doctor Strange was created by Steve Ditco, with help from Stan Lee, and appeared in Strange Tales #110 in 1963.
Until the Marvel movie came out, I don’t think I’d even heard of Doctor Strange before, but I’m glad I did. Thank you for sharing Doctor Strange’s history! It’s nice to see that the character’s history in the comics is so close to the modern cinematic presentation. (There was a Doctor Strange movie that came out in 1978… which is rather… um… special. ^_^;;)
For the record, I knew about Doctor Strange before the movie from my brother playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance and I liked him. When the casting was announced I thought it was a terrible choice. But now I think he’s great.