The opening makes it seem that Strange has been abducted; and his Cloak of Levitation stolen. But I should have recognized his 'abductor.' From 1987, Doctor Strange #81, "The Tongues of Men and Angels...!" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Chris Warner, inks by Randy Emberlin.
Alien sorcerer Urthona has not only stolen Strange's Santum Sanctorum--the entire building!--and the mystical objects within; he's also kidnapped Wong and Topaz. Wong faces this bravely, while Topaz is having a rougher time: half of her soul had been taken from her, and there it was, on a table not ten feet away. The good Doctor follows into deep space, and has two unexpected allies: Mr. Fantastic, who loans him the Skrull saucer he'd had for years; and Rintrah, who had been delivering the repaired Cloak of Levitation but joins the quest. He was an alien mystic, who looked like a big, green, bull man; but was generally just as nice as could be. Injured, Strange spends most of the issue in Rintrah's body, while Rintrah switches to Strange's later.
Strange fights hard, even when Wong is sacrificed by Urthona to cast "the dark blood-hunger of the night!" Rintah, in Strange's body, frees Topaz's soul, making her whole once more. Before Urthona can use another stolen power, Strange destroys all of the stolen objects--including the Book of the Vishanti and the Orb of Agamotto, and the Darkhold! Strange tells Urthona he's beaten, but he flees with the indestructible Darkhold, claiming "you have broken the bonds on a hundred darknesses by your victory!" Even though Wong wasn't really dead, this hardly feels like a victory to the battered Strange, but Topaz tries to console him.
Topaz had been a supporting character in Werewolf by Night, and I thought she had lost her soul (or part of it) in that book; so that was a long-dangling plot thread. Dr. Strange would next appear in Strange Tales, splitting that title with Cloak and Dagger, then getting a new book in 1988: Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Rintrah would be Strange's apprentice for most of that, until DS,SS #51, when he would be killed off, or at least written out. He had only gotten cuddlier and nicer over that time, and I think a push to make the book more edgy was coming.
1 comment:
They killed him off huh? Makes sense since that's an all-too commonly used story trope. I was introduced to him from the "Return of the Defenders" Dr. Strange annual and he seemed nice. I wonder why no one else has bothered to bring him back, especially Waid. I bet Grant Morrison might if he was writing the book.
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