Strange pushed out of body
Video clip “Heal the Body”
Geometric Magic
Geometric Magic
Doctor Strange Comics, Magic Energetics
Doctor Strange Comics, Dormammu
Doctor Strange
Omibus Vol. 1
REALM:
Doctor Strange of the Marvel Universe
CREATED BY:
Marvel Comics: Steve Ditko (original comic artist/creator) & Stan Lee (original comic writer)
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Scott Derrickson (director), Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill (writers)
FORMAT:
Comics, film, TV, video games
SETTING:
Contemporary Earth
STORY ARC:
After losing the use of his hands, an arrogant surgeon travels to the mountains of Asia, desperately seeking answers and healing. There he encounters a being known as the Ancient One who shows him there is much more to human experience than meets the eye. Eventually he joins the team of sorcerers/mystics protecting the planet from malevolent forces.
CHARACTERS:
Doctor Stephen Strange: surgeon, master mystic
The Ancient One: master mystic, mentor, Sorcerer Supreme
Karl Mordo: master mystic, student of The Ancient One, villain (comics)
Kaecilius: master mystic, disenchanted student of The Ancient One
Benedict Wong: master mystic, book and relic keeper, manservant to Doctor Strange (comics)
Dormammu: malevolent other-dimensional entity
BIG CONCEPTS:
The following points pertain to the film version of this story.
Spirit/Astral Body. The Ancient One quite dramatically demonstrates the astral form to Strange when she adeptly pushes him out of his physical form.
Energetic Geometry. The manipulation of energy is most often depicted as swirls of light, but the use of complicated geometric constructs to direct energy and events is richly illustrated with superb special effects.
Objects imbued with magical properties. The concept of objects holding energetic patterns which can be activated is an old one. Doctor Strange employs the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamotto, an amulet which can bend time.
Time manipulation. Using the Eye of Agamotto, Strange reverses time to save Wong and undo damage caused by Kaecilius, and then proceeds to trap himself in a time loop with Dormammu in the Dark Dimension to coerce the entity to leave Earth and take Kaecilius with him.
Other-dimensional entities involved with Earth. Dormammu is a malevolent, non-physical entity (portrayed as a reflection of Doctor Strange in the film and illustrated with flames and reptilian claws in the comics), summoned into this reality from the Dark Dimension.
REMARKS:
I’ve never been keen on Marvel super heroes nor interested in reading their comics. The American obsession with two-dimensional heroes who always defeat the one-dimensional bad guys makes me roll my eyes with despair.
So when Doctor Strange appeared in the theaters, I was quite neutral about going to see it with my family. Benedict Cumberbatch was the only factor that piqued my interest. Well, alright, the light coming out of his hands on the poster did look pretty cool.
The movie opened with some nefarious bad guys stealing a page from a magical tome and then we were swept into the everyday world of Stephen Strange, an arrogant prick totally enamored with the tiny box of 3d reality. You know the type – it makes up most of our society’s scientific “elite.”
After Strange lost the physical ability that fed his self-esteem, his desperate quest to recover his hands led him to the secret compound of the Ancient One who promptly sent him flying backward out of his body. I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement! It’s got to be one of the best moments in the history of film for its stunning, elegant impact (see clip above).
At that point, the film had my full attention. Was this really out of a Marvel comic book? I was grinningly surprised and the visual marvels just kept coming. Not only did the characters wield magical power, they did it with geometric formations, beautiful mandalas of light energy. I write about this stuff! I didn’t invent the concept by any means, but it’s rarely ever touched upon or embellished in systems of magic or scifi and I must say, it was brilliantly executed by all the special effects studios involved in the movie’s production.
The last surprise of the film was Strange’s confrontation with the monstrous baddie, Dormammu, and the sorcerer’s clever and courageous time loop snare to force an agreement with the entity in order to protect Earth. Not the first time we’ve seen a mega-powerful energy being that’s reptilian around the edges, nor will it be the last, with good reason.
All in all, when I walked out of the theater, I was well pleased with the Marvel creators as well as the superb actors and production teams. I just may have to do some digging into the comics to see whether those writers developed any other cool ideas and I’m certainly looking forward to the next installment of Doctor Strange in the Marvel movie lineup. Imagine that.
x
Images: Marvel Studios
Erin MacMichael is a visionary science fiction author and artist, creator of the T'nari Renegades series of novellas, novels, covers, and artwork. Her lifelong quest has been to explore past the boundaries of conventional thinking and figure out what really has transpired on this planet. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her marvelous offspring.
REALM: Doctor Strange of the Marvel Universe
CREATED BY:
Marvel Comics: Steve Ditko (original comic artist/creator) & Stan Lee (original comic writer)
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Scott Derrickson (director), Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill (writers)
FORMAT: Comics, film, TV, video games
SETTING: Contemporary Earth
STORY ARC:
After losing the use of his hands, an arrogant surgeon travels to the mountains of Asia, desperately seeking answers and healing. There he encounters a being known as the Ancient One who shows him there is much more to human experience than meets the eye. Eventually he joins the team of sorcerers/mystics protecting the planet from malevolent forces.
Strange pushed out of body
Video clip “Heal the Body”
CHARACTERS:
Doctor Stephen Strange: surgeon, master mystic
The Ancient One: master mystic, mentor, Sorcerer Supreme
Karl Mordo: master mystic, student of The Ancient One, villain (comics)
Kaecilius: master mystic, disenchanted student of The Ancient One
Benedict Wong: master mystic, book and relic keeper, manservant to Doctor Strange (comics)
Dormammu: malevolent other-dimensional entity
Doctor Strange Comics, Magic Energetics
Doctor Strange Comics, Dormammu
BIG CONCEPTS:
The following points pertain to the film version of this story.
Spirit/Astral Body. The Ancient One quite dramatically demonstrates the astral form to Strange when she adeptly pushes him out of his physical form.
Energetic Geometry. The manipulation of energy is most often depicted as swirls of light, but the use of complicated geometric constructs to direct energy and events is richly illustrated with superb special effects.
Objects imbued with magical properties. The concept of objects holding energetic patterns which can be activated is an old one. Doctor Strange employs the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamotto, an amulet which can bend time.
Time manipulation. Using the Eye of Agamotto, Strange reverses time to save Wong and undo damage caused by Kaecilius, and then proceeds to trap himself in a time loop with Dormammu in the Dark Dimension to coerce the entity to leave Earth and take Kaecilius with him.
Other-dimensional entities involved with Earth. Dormammu is a malevolent, non-physical entity (portrayed as a reflection of Doctor Strange in the film and illustrated with flames and reptilian claws in the comics), summoned into this reality from the Dark Dimension.
Geometric Magic
Geometric Magic
REMARKS:
I’ve never been keen on Marvel super heroes nor interested in reading their comics. The American obsession with two-dimensional heroes who always defeat the one-dimensional bad guys makes me roll my eyes with despair.
So when Doctor Strange appeared in the theaters, I was quite neutral about going to see it with my family. Benedict Cumberbatch was the only factor that piqued my interest. Well, alright, the light coming out of his hands on the poster did look pretty cool.
The movie opened with some nefarious bad guys stealing a page from a magical tome and then we were swept into the everyday world of Stephen Strange, an arrogant prick totally enamored with the tiny box of 3d reality. You know the type – it makes up most of our society’s scientific “elite.”
After Strange lost the physical ability that fed his self-esteem, his desperate quest to recover his hands led him to the secret compound of the Ancient One who promptly sent him flying backward out of his body. I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement! It’s got to be one of the best moments in the history of film for its stunning, elegant impact (see clip above).
At that point, the film had my full attention. Was this really out of a Marvel comic book? I was grinningly surprised and the visual marvels just kept coming. Not only did the characters wield magical power, they did it with geometric formations, beautiful mandalas of light energy. I write about this stuff! I didn’t invent the concept by any means, but it’s rarely ever touched upon or embellished in systems of magic or scifi and I must say, it was brilliantly executed by all the special effects studios involved in the movie’s production.
The last surprise of the film was Strange’s confrontation with the monstrous baddie, Dormammu, and the sorcerer’s clever and courageous time loop snare to force an agreement with the entity in order to protect Earth. Not the first time we’ve seen a mega-powerful energy being that’s reptilian around the edges, nor will it be the last, with good reason.
All in all, when I walked out of the theater, I was well pleased with the Marvel creators as well as the superb actors and production teams. I just may have to do some digging into the comics to see whether those writers developed any other cool ideas and I’m certainly looking forward to the next installment of Doctor Strange in the Marvel movie lineup. Imagine that.
Images: Marvel Studios
Doctor Strange
Omibus Vol. 1
Erin MacMichael is a visionary science fiction author and artist, creator of the T'nari Renegades series of novellas, novels, covers, and artwork. Her lifelong quest has been to explore past the boundaries of conventional thinking and figure out what really has transpired on this planet. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her marvelous offspring.
Erin MacMichael is a visionary science fiction author and artist, creator of the T'nari Renegades series of novellas, novels, covers, and artwork. Her lifelong quest has been to explore past the boundaries of conventional thinking and figure out what really has transpired on this planet. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her marvelous offspring.
0 Comments