The Death of Doctor Strange—Being murdered doesn’t stop the Sorcerer Supreme
Doctor Strange isn’t going to let Hercule Poirot investigate his death. There is only one person Doctor Strange trusts to solve his murder and it’s Doctor Strange. Hubris or preparation?
If there is one thing you can expect from Doctor Strange, it strange and unusual stories. It’s right there in the name, Strange.
The Death of Doctor Strange mixes the serious with the outlandish and absurd.
It all starts with a knock at the door. Innocent enough. Except who is going to knocking on the door of 177A Bleecker Street. You can bet it’s not Deliveroo.
Doctor Strange opens the door and recognizes the visitor. It’s all over before it’s even begun. Doctor Strange is dead.
Everyone is shocked because this isn’t a trick this is for real. Doctor Strange has been killed and his attacker has removed his hands. As a consequence, the killer has removed the source of Doctor Strange’s power and his very soul.
When Doctor Strange’s friends (and enemy in the form of Mordo Baron) arrive to mourn his passing (Mordo isn’t happy because he has been denied the opportunity of killing Strange), a truly Strange event occurs. Doctor Strange arrives with a “Zounds”.
Except this is not Doctor Strange back from the dead. This is Doctor Strange’s contingency plan. We take for granted that characters like Batman have plans and are prepared. And sure, Doctor Strange flies by the seat of his pants (and with the cloak of levitation). He also puts a great of time into learning and practicing his spells.
We forget that in order to become the Sorcerer Supreme involves a lot of study and a great deal of preparation. When Doctor Strange calls upon the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth or the Fangs of Farallah, it might sound like he is just making it up, but he’s not. His spells are from his study of ancient texts. So it stands to reason, he has some plans in place.
In the instance of his death, Doctor Strange has taken seven days out of his life and held them in reserve should he be killed. Which, given Doctor Strange’s occupation as the Sorcerer Supreme, seems like a fair bet.
While investigating your own death might seem like it would be the focus of your attention, especially if you only have one week to do it, bigger problems are on the horizon. And is the crucial reason we can consider Doctor Strange’s approach to his own death to be more than hubris (such a great word for extreme arrogance—you remember you learnt it while studying Shakespeare but never got to use it again).
Doctor Strange knows that if he is the victim of foul deeds, it is going to have significance beyond his murder. And he isn’t wrong. Magical beings from other dimensions have begun appearing on Earth. They are arriving as fugitives and making themselves at home.
It is an invasion? It might look like it, but it is actually being seeking asylum. Seeking protection from the Sorcerer Supreme. Three magical entities are wiping out magical beings. Or more specifically, they are harvesting the magic of other beings to feed the Peregrine Child.
Think about them like heralds of Galactus, expect there are three of them. The are called the Three Mothers. And they are pretty unstoppable. And unlike Galactus, the Peregrine Child has an unquenchable hunger for magic.
What should we remember?
1. You might be the cause of problems, but once they arrive on your doorstep, they are yours to solve.
2. It’s never to early to start anticipating those problems. We might not be the Sorcerer Supreme able to put aside a week of our live to solve problems. But we can make sure we have a little money put aside and make time to solve problems.
If you want to learn how Doctor Strange solves his own murder and saves the world from the Peregrine Child, check out Jed MacKay’s Death of Doctor Strange (this is a paid affiliate link and as an Amazon Associate I will earn a small income from qualifying purchases, but won’t cost you any more).