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FeepingCreature said on July 17th, 2013 at 9:25 am

We can assume that Stephen has not been pressured or forced into retirement, because if so, Future!Stephen would know about it. So the fact that he finds this particular future has to be caused by something neither Stephen knows. Can you travel to a time, meditatively, where you are dead? If not, maybe this is just selection bias.

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Will "scifantasy" Frank said on July 17th, 2013 at 9:45 am

He speaks with his daughter on the phone every day, and he dotes on his grandchildren.

Indrani, I gather.

this is your beautiful house and your beautiful life

Is this whole comic going to just be a series of talking heads?

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FredSeton said on July 17th, 2013 at 10:17 am

I just want you to know that “Reasons Why I Should Write Doctor Strange” never fails to cheer me up when I’m feeling miserable.

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The question here is whether Future Strange reveals as much as he can to Present Strange, or holds back everything he can.

Obviously he doesn’t tell him everything in this pitch, since he refuses to name his successor (and there’s a good chance he made sure his successor knows about this event, so whoever they are doesn’t accidentally drop by), but that still leaves a lot of room for obfuscating or revealing things. Both approaches give reasons for Present Strange to be suspicious, since too much information seems like a good way to guarantee this future, while no information makes whoever may be responsible appear to be bluffing. And of course, there’s the issue that the longer Present Strange stays in this future, the more things could be going to hell in the present, since being stuck in a possible future that then collapses seems like a good attempt at killing a Sorcerer Supreme….

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El Acordeonachi said on July 17th, 2013 at 12:08 pm

You know what, outside of whenever Kurt Busiek does new Astro City I stopped reading comics years ago. Add to that I was a DC/Wildstorm guy through and through. But I would read your Dr. Strange.

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by Agomotto (?sp?) i want to read that book!

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Tales to Enrage: and there’s a good chance he made sure his successor knows about this event, so whoever they are doesn’t accidentally drop by

Future Stephen is prepared for this. “Hello, Past Stephen. Won’t you take a seat? Also, today is the summer solstice before our 63rd birthday. Remember that. Have some of this tea I made for you earlier this morning.”

And the overall idea reminds me of the backstory of the Odysseus one: “Hello, Past Odysseus. Won’t you take a seat? Also, today is the summer solstice before our 63rd birthday. Remember that. Have some of this ouzo I pulled out for you earlier this morning.”

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As always lovely writing, except I’ve slightly ruined it for myself by reading Dr Strange’s lines in my head with Dr Orpheus’s voice.

“If this be reaaaal… and let us assUME! for the moment that it isssss… since I think I am quite tangible– then we accept that THIS! IS ! UNLIIIIIIIKELY!” *fist in the air, lightning bolts*

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Johnathan said on July 17th, 2013 at 2:23 pm

I was already happy and then you made me happier.

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Slideways said on July 17th, 2013 at 3:30 pm

I’m assuming it ends with Stephen realising that he must give up his blissful future to avoid a horrible one even further down the line caused by whoever wants him out of the way? Kind of like what happens to John Constantine in the draft of Twilight of the Gods, only deliberately engineered to take Strange out of the game rather than just being the kind of stuff the universe reserves for Constantine.

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Gareth Wilson said on July 17th, 2013 at 3:41 pm

I notice that Future Stephen isn’t shown doing any magic. Answering questions about it, yes, but not actually doing it. So maybe he can’t anymore, and this might provide an explanation.

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I read “Sneak Preview,” and I got my hopes up that we would actually see more than just one of these little glimpses. These “I Should Write” bits are like looking at the best goddamn cake in the world, and only being able to lick some of the frosting.

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You know, I don’t quite buy the whole “Sorceror Supremes don’t retire” part of this pitch.

The part about the job having a very high mortality rate, yes, that makes perfect sense. But you know what else the job also features? Truly, fucking… VAST amounts of trauma and mental anguish.

Now, you don’t get to be Sorceror Supreme by not being mentally resilient and highly stable. But it seems like the job would also have a pretty high incidence of “you know what? I’m through. I’m OUT. That was one too many fucking trips to the Nightmare Dimension for me, thank you. Do you know there’s now a part of my brain that I have to magically segregate from the rest of it because if I don’t, I’m literally incapable of sleeping anymore? Fuck this. Staff? Broken. Tools? Drowned. If anyone wants me, I’ll be in Boca, developing a truly amazing drinking problem and hitting on divorcees with low expectations.”

And then they fuck off and stop taking calls.

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I think the presumption is that people like that end up as Sorcerers Demi-Supreme. The SS is not the lone guardian of an entire realm, there are other people out there doing good and fighting off the bad things. But by the same token there is only ever one SS, because the SS is a job with such very high requirements. The SS is chosen, it’s not a choice, and the powers that do the choosing are rather picky.

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Sean D. Martin said on July 17th, 2013 at 6:42 pm

ALWAYS a thrill to wander by the site and see and entry with a “Reason Why I Should Write” banner.

It’s been too long.

Legion made it to 50. Come on. At least 5 more of Strange! And soon!!

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HonestObserver said on July 17th, 2013 at 7:00 pm

So he becomes the Benedict XVI of Sorcerer Supremes?

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I kind of agree with the people who say forced retirements by the Sorcerer Supreme should happen plenty.

And of course just because he’s retired at the moment what’s to stop him from being unretired by a situation

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Thanx for the pleasant surprise. The timing is funny. I just recently finished reading the four Essential Dr. Strange trades and had just reread all of your WISWDR just a few weeks ago.

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Damn, man. Just damn.

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MonkeyWithTypewriter said on July 18th, 2013 at 7:37 am

First thing I thought of-maybe it’s not an enemy. Maybe it’s a FRIEND. Somebody decided that yes, Stephen has been through a lot, and why don’t we reward him? So they get their hands on an Infinity Gauntlet or some super-science gizmo or something and decided to change the nature of things. That would be a lot tougher-it’s not malevolent, and you have to fight someone who loves you.

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Good work. Possibly stealing as an RPG adventure hook. Again.

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Patrick Rawley said on July 18th, 2013 at 12:00 pm

What if Stephen did it to himself?

A lazy route is that the new SS is the Baddie and is controlling the events.

Also, time travel makes my head hurt.

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This is absolutely the best thing that happened to me today. Thank you.

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I’ve had an idea for a while that could involve Dr Strange or a ton of other magic user. Both DC and Marvel have a Nightmare character. A monster who wants to take over dreams. Well, what i there was a second Nightmare. One who just wants to do his job and doesn’t care about causing suffering or misery, the other is actually some nightmare version of that guy

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Alex Jay Berman said on July 23rd, 2013 at 1:58 am

Here’s my issue with the conceit: No; Sorceror Supremes don’t retire. Either they fall (and forsee that fall, taking steps to groom a replacement)…

… or they go bad. And a replacement must arise to Protect SpaceMagickTime (if spacetime is the fabric of the universe, then magick is the stitching. Or the sewing machine. Or, even–scariest case scenario–the seamstress). I mean, how many times can someone, who must needs possess enough of an ego to command the forces of the universe (and be comfortable with thinking of him- or herself as “the Supreme”), save the universe without anyone acknowledging, being grateful, et cetera.

Too, not every SS is Stevie Strange, holed up in his deco Bleecker street manse, with an extradimensional hottie and a manservant. Some have been itinerants. Hermits. Monks. Loons.
Not all that very conducive to pronounced and prolonged sanity.

Really, we should be shocked that Strange has stayed this sane for this long.

(Another thing: Just how old IS Stephen Strange? In objective time, he’s been at this game for twenty years at the most. SUBjective time? Who can even guess? How many years spent battling foes between ticks of the clock?)

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American Hawkman said on July 24th, 2013 at 10:07 am

I’ll note that exactly how long Stephen’s been doing this stuff is a question with some contradictory answers. He’s met a high school girlfriend and a woman from his surgeon days in his own title, and neither appeared noticeably older than him, but at the same time, Stern had him active as a sorcerer at least 50 years ago in Lost Generation. YMMV, I suppose.

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Beware Of Geek said on July 24th, 2013 at 12:27 pm

Why shouldn’t Strange retire?

In the last century, society has changed more drastically than in the millennium before. Who is to say that magic hasn’t changed as well?

It’s perfectly reasonable, I’d think, that Stephen may feel that while he has the power and the skill to be Sorcerer Supreme, he’s just too old-fashioned to deal with the new world that has arisen.

For example, what if the lower planes had their own equivalent of an “Arab Spring”, leading to several major threats simply not existing anymore….

I can see it now:

Nightmare, replaced by either Danielle Moonstar (with Hela’s support) or his son Trauma.

Dormammu finally deposed, with Noble Kale acting as regent. (Umar retires to a tropical sub-dimension with S’ym 😉 )

The Hell-Lords find a new sheriff in town, one Patrick Walker-Hellstrom (a.k.a The Hellwalker), who keeps them from being more than minor nuisances.

OTOH, Kid Blackheart keeps throwing wild parties on the Astral Plane, annoying the Vishanti to no end, and an MIT Student just did an OCR upload of the Pnakotic Gospels. Now Facebook has become sentient, and is trying to Unlike reality…

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Gabe Meadow said on October 14th, 2013 at 7:22 pm

All interesting ideas. I had my own, after going over and puzzling out the meaning of that last line. Clearly, if someone really wanted this good future to happen – and for malign purposes – what would they gain from it?

Well, the fact that Stephen is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme may be all that matters for their plot to succeed. Someone clearly much less experienced and untested for the role is a different kettle of fish.

Or perhaps, it’s not even about Strange at all, save as the means to the end. Our mysterious new Sorceror Supreme clearly came as a surprise, and they aren’t expected to be nice good people.

Dr. Doom might very well have been tapped, and set up in this future for Mysterious Baddie (TM) to get their way. Or Doom himself might be behind it, to ensure he gets the title and the power.

Just maybe though… his retirement, Dr. Strange taking up home and tai-chi, it’s the knockdown effects… new heroes taking over as their parents depart….. fixing the problem is a lot harder when it’s not all about you…

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Matt the Bruins fan said on March 23rd, 2015 at 4:48 pm

Note that we definitely know of at least one retired former Sorcerer Supreme, the Aged Ghengis. Presumably his senility is what forced him to step down. I’ve also read that Merlin (who was still alive and manipulating people last time I checked) was at least the de facto Sorcerer Supreme in the 6th century A.D., though he may never have inherited the official title, Eye of Agamotto, etc.

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Piranhtachew said on June 7th, 2018 at 10:51 pm

Admit it, the next Sorcerer Supreme is Rex.

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