Keywords: doctor strange; multiverse of madness; marvel; disney+
A selection of Doctor Strange’s most terrifying stories to date!
You do not become the Supreme Sorcerer by playing pranks at children’s birthday parties. Rather than that, you must regularly confront the most heinous dangers conceivable. And you get to do it all over again as a reward. Though he has not spent his whole Super Hero career as the Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, Doctor Stephen Strange has seen his share of diabolical demons and frightful ghouls—all in the service of keeping reality intact and functioning smoothly!
Doctor Strange’s most perilous encounters, from this or the next realm, are chronicled in these comic tales on Marvel Unlimited.
SAGA OF SHUMA AND GORATH
Doctor Strange has faced a variety of terrible monsters focused on conquest and enslavement throughout the years. Shuma-Gorath, who originated in a realm diametrically opposed to Strange’s, made the leap and fed on the Sorcerer Supreme in MARVEL PREMIERE (1972) #10. Strange had not yet assumed the title, though, and Shuma-Gorath sought for the Ancient One, his master. Strange’s own anguish was utilized as a means of torment by the monster.
Shuma-Gorath forced Strange to experience being buried alive, replete with dirt filling his lungs, prior to unveiling his monstrous appearance. Strange shifted the battleground within the Ancient One’s mind after witnessing the being’s real strength. There, the monster forced the wizard to confront his greatest adversaries, revealing their one-eyed, tentacled form in the process. Strange understood that he would have to do a heinous crime to defeat his adversary, one that almost drove him to quit wizardry entirely.
Shuma-Gorath claims New York in MIGHTY AVENGERS (2013) #2.
Strange thwarted the evil god’s efforts at dominion and has since battled him several times. During the catastrophe of INFINITY, Ebony Maw gained control of Strange and used him to return Shuma-Gorath to this dimension. As shown in MIGHTY AVENGERS (2013) #2-3, the assault drew together a new band of heroes who collaborated to vanquish the creature!
DRAMA IN DRACULA’S DARKHOLD
For generations, Dracula has been skulking about the Marvel Universe. He reawakened in the present day in TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) and wreaked havoc on the globe from there. As seen in DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) #14, Stephen Strange has previously faced the bloodsucker and almost escaped. However, in issues #59–62, the vampire king reappeared to wreak havoc on the Sorcerer Supreme—and on the whole planet. This time, Dracula wanted to employ not only his own might, but also that of the Darkhold, an ancient book of terrible sorcery.
Strange discovered a magic hidden in the Darkhold called the Montesi Formula that may rid the world of vampires after a botched effort to take the tome from Avengers Mansion! To carry out the spell, he enlisted the assistance of Wong, Hannibal King, Frank Drake, and Blade in locating the book in its new hiding place: Baron Mordo’s castle! Strange sent the vampire to another dimension during a bloodcurdling combat in this reality, giving the others time to develop the Montesi Formula. The warriors reappeared just in time for those gathering to succeed in eliminating vampires from the planet…but only temporarily, since the spell was subsequently reversed.
THE UNUSUAL SIMULACRUM
What could be more unsettling than confronting an evil version of yourself? Particularly one who believes you are the imposter! Strange departed the continuing Infinity War at Captain America’s orders and returned to Earth alongside magical friends the Scarlet Witch, Doctor Druid, Agatha Harkness, and Shaman of Alpha Flight in DOCTOR STRANGE, SORCERER SUPREME (1988) #46-47. They saw an unsettling scenario, as the majority of the world’s population had been frozen in place by Adam Warlock’s malevolent future counterpart, the Magus. While examining the wreckage, the mystical team learned a much more horrifying truth: Magus intended to destroy the whole world and replace it with his own warped version of reality! They got some assistance from Sleepwalker, but he remained silent as the heroes came under attack by a tiny army of demons intent on tearing them apart. That was nothing in comparison to a masked Strange emulating his (short) Super Hero appearance. This “sinister Strange” kidnapped and aggressively tormented the heroes. The entity, dubbed Necromancer, explained his origins and their connection to Counter-Earth. Although our hero eventually defeated this wicked doppelganger, the struggle is still fresh in Strange’s thoughts. A living memorial to what could have been.
ENTRANCE TO NIGHTMARE
Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen met as juvenile runaways and became friends when they were both compelled to take drugs that activated their superhuman abilities. Johnson, as the crime-fighting pair Cloak and Dagger, have the ability to construct portals into the Darkforce Dimension, while Bowen possesses the ability to produce blades of light. Dagger once utilized her abilities to assist Cloak in overcoming the growing darkness he was experiencing from inside, which was compounded by the interdimensional evil Nightmare. Cloak requested a consultation with Doctor Strange, but the Master of the Mystic Arts had prepared a spell to fool the world into believing he had been assassinated by the Beyonder.
In STRANGE TALES (1987) #7, the young heroes discovered Strange, only to have a massive hand emerge from Tyrone’s robe and drag everyone there into Nightmare’s world! As he had done several times before, the villain sought to destroy Strange while outlining how he intended to remake the world in his image. Cloak lost control of his Darkforce abilities during the subsequent struggle, and Dagger tried her best to assist him with her own. Eventually, light consumed the darkness, but you’ll have to read the issue to learn how!
SUCCESS AND TORMENT
Doctor Victor Von Doom was already an extremely formidable force to contend with as a genius-level megalomaniac with the resources of an entire country at his disposal. However, he is a skilled sorcerer! As revealed in the famous Original Graphic Novel DOCTOR STRANGE & DOCTOR DOOM: TRIUMPH AND TORMENT, Doom delved further into the magical realm after the accident that left him disfigured and compelled him to wear his metal mask. When the Aged Genghis convened a gathering of the world’s foremost sorcerers, Doom and Doctor Strange attended. Doom requested aid in his mission to rescue his mother Cynthia’s soul from Mephisto after demonstrating his magical prowess. Cynthia was a high-level wizard herself who struck a bargain with the devil to establish her people as Latveria’s ruler before passing away when Victor was a baby. Strange flew to the devil world with Doom to assist in reclaiming Cynthia’s essence. Once there, the pair encountered a variety of monsters and creatures, none more deadly or cunning than Mephisto himself. Far more terrifying than the adversaries are the decisions that our two protagonists are forced to make when the devil gives them their hearts’ desires. When you will see as you read this one, it lives up to its name completely.
WHAT APPALLS YOU, STEPHEN?
The title refers to a fortune cookie that Strange likes during a nice meal alone. He returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum and discovered Wong was gone. He sought him out to the Temple of Ganesha, where Wong had previously trained as a warrior monk. His study led him to another another world, this one inhabited by zombie oarsmen, monstrous sea serpents, and maybe the most terrifying denizen of all, the life-absorbing Electra. Not only did she seem to be in charge of everything there, but also of the gleaming metropolis of Ditkopolis (named in tribute to classic creator Steve Ditko). In return for Wong’s safety, Stephen agrees to assist Electra. She stated that her father had awarded her sister Celeste his power, which resulted in the city’s gradual demise. She desired the assistance of the Sorcerer Supreme in transferring that power to her. Strange learnt more about the sisters and how a fallen angel came between them while he was there. Though Ditkopolis and its environs were rife with grotesqueries, the most heinous of all came from a person desperate for undeserved adoration and power. Even when confronted with the obvious reality, Electra refused to accept it and lashed out, wishing to drag everyone into the gaping vacuum with her.
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