No man can truly know what happened at the beginning of all creation... but three men have gotten close. Closer than any other being, living or dead! Of the three men who ventured back, back, back into our past, only one came away whole and sane... and his name is DOCTOR STRANGE! Fifty-three years ago, the Sise-Neg Saga began! Much shorter than its sister, the Shuma-Gorath saga, which took up nine Marvel Premiere issues immediately before it, this still-sizeable story spoke of the Marvel universe's creation-- and how it was nearly subverted by one man with a plan. It's a time-traveling tale of peril in paradoxes, and I'm delighted to share it all with you today. To wit... let us begin!
This story comes immediately after the aforementioned Shuma-Gorath saga, which saw Dr. Strange destroying his mentor's physical form to stop an unspeakable evil from ending the world. Strange is still mourning his death, and it's clear that this extended stay in the desert is meant to be a form of grieving.
He also gained the title of Sorcerer Supreme in doing so, and such a weighty title demands plenty of introspection...
...which is also a convenient excuse for a quick recap! If you want the full details of what Strange is reminiscing on, here, I've storytimed them before: https://desuarchive.org/co/thread/153385992/#153385992
And, if you'd rather just read this story instead of digging into its predecessor, I'll kindly ask that you bump this thread to keep it alive!
Nine days in the desert without food or water is all it takes for Strange to forget that he's a wizard... for a minute or two, anyway.
Thankfully, it's not long enough for him to forget what exactly renting a car entails.
With the Ancient One gone, and the Sorcerer Supreme left without an apprentice, Strange wastes no time in appointing a successor and seeing that she's cared for. His immediate first thought after that... is to try and make amends with Mordo!
(If it seems like I'm making more mistakes than usual... you didn't see anything. I'm sick, lol. Still trying to storytime, though, because it isn't that bad and this is very enjoyable.)
Strange, being an American, doesn't think to question the veracity of a gypsy's statements... poor bastard. (Lucky, really, that he doesn't have to deal with them.)
I completely forgot that Mordo's crazy ex was in this story. I think she even shows up a few more times in other issues. Definitely not more than once or twice, but the fact that she even reappeared after this story at all is a surprise. Whenever writers want a gypsy sorceress, they usually just default to Margali Szardos. (Although... I guess Mordo's ex is just a hypnotist? I don't know-- it's left pretty vague here.)
That's right-- Mordo's castle is flying. Why not? It's an effective way to keep people from getting to you, apparently.
Thankfully, Mordo's ex doesn't stick around long...
Witnessing yet another death, arguably at his own hands, drives the grieving magician to fell the gargoyle with a single blow! (Nobody tell him what that life was doing to him before it was ended.)
(She's not actually dead, of course, but her importance to the story certainly is.)I think this might be the first example of Dr. Strange bending time. He does quite a bit of time travel throughout Englehart's run, as well as the earlier parts of Stern's, but I don't recall it ever playing much of a part in Ditko or Thomas's times.
The real story begins-- next issue! This one was necessary as build-up, but having read it now... you could arguably discard it and lose very little. There's some nice art, and it wraps up many loose ends, but it isn't too important to the overall story.
An odd cover. I want to say it's iconic, because I've seen it used and referred to far more than the other two covers in this arc, but it's never really brought up in the conversation of "great covers" and I can't really see what makes it so standout myself. Nonetheless, Brunner's art is as well-done as ever. Maybe that's enough.
Honestly, though, this splash is way better. The lighting alone is enough to elevate it above the cover without question; not to mention the title, the composition, and the colors...!
Another quick recap while Strange navigates the void beyond the void, time beyond time-- a not-quite-cosmos with abstract shapes and planets aplenty.
If the name sounds familiar, it should be noted that the Book of Cagliostro shares its name with a largely unrelated book in the Doctor Strange movie. Its role there is simply as a macguffin. Like Kaecillius, it may as well be something entirely different wearing an obscure name from the comics-- unlike Kaecillius, its time-related properties are at least implied by the (MCU) Ancient One's usage of it prolonging her lifespan significantly.The actual significance of this book in the comics is questionable nowadays. Time travel without endangering the future is, I think, part and parcel of any Marvel time travel now. Editing the past just splits off into a different timeline. I suppose the Book has some significance, in that it lets you go back in time and technically change your world without splintering it into another, but Dr. Strange himself doesn't need the book to do this a mere ~20 issues from now when he travels back to Revolutionary America. He could've just learned how to do that from the book, sure, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the book ever appearing in his ongoing again. (Not like it's been used much elsewhere...)
Turns out Mordo already figured out what Strange was going to tell him. And that's why this whole thing started in the first place! Oh boy. An omen of what's to come!
The journey through time and space begins in earnest here: in 18th-century Paris!
Finally, we meet Cagliostro..!
His blatant statement of his self-interest and needless aggression have shades of Ditko's many evil sorcerers, but Cagliostro isn't exactly comparable.
Hah, what a way to test if Strange is actually affecting time.
The ruse doesn't last long, and Mordo acts as Mordo does: rashly.
The way the pupil of the Eye here acts as a restraint against Mordo's throat is very cool. It is also genuinely funny when paired with the dialogue. "I hate you so much I'm going to defy an ancient artifact solely to spite you--" that's a truly impressive level of disdain.
And there he goes! Hints are given towards the *real* enemy in this whole affair, but his name is not spoken yet...
IT'S A PARADOX! But what could be causing it?
Cagliostro returns! For now. Somehow, from somewhere.
And the assault is two-pronged!
The cover is reenacted, with a twist!
>>155124442SPEAKING OF MESSING UP-- that's the wrong page!! And that was supposed to be spoilered! But I can't delete it now, because it's too old...Ah dear. My apologies. Take the page that was supposed to go in the old post instead. I'd delete the entire thread to redo this, but I can't do that either.Here's the commentary that was supposed to go along #13's page 18:Enter: SISE-NEG! His very name is a spoiler! We know from whence he came, we know where he may go-- but why? To become GOD, of course!
>>155124453I somehow managed to make the same mistake twice... here's the page that was supposed to end #12. And the commentary that was meant for the end of #13.Mordo, pond scum that he is, immediately greets this horrifying news... with all the eager servility of a brown-nosed drone.With him gone, and Sise-Neg set on his warpath, Strange is left alone... but determined!
Already, we reach the finale! The grandiosity of Strange's foe is depicted well here-- his dominion over all space-time all-but assured, according to the cover!This one will go in order, I promise. If you want to read the entire saga without my accidental spoilers, I'll link to it at the end of this. Sorry.
Unless Strange has any say in it, of course!
The trio are hurtled back into the past-- one very familiar to fans of standard fantasy, if that castle in the background is any indication!
A demonstration of Sise-Neg's power further proves his goal... and adds certainty to the setting!
Strange does his best to be the angel upon Sise-Neg's shoulder, but his own temper gets the best of him. Without a real answer to satisfy him, he takes matters into his own hands!
For those in doubt, the truth revealed: we've travelled back to King Arthur's time!
Strange's error gives Mordo an opportunity, and he takes full advantage!
The process repeats, and a rather infamous pair of cities appear next...Some, uh, interesting takes on morality from the final panel there. Maybe more excusable without knowing where exactly they are, but... interestingly aged, to say the least.
Ancient aliens in the streets of the fertile crescent? How Historic!
Sise-Neg displays his power while the sorcerers on his shoulders argue! It's honestly a wonder that Strange has any patience left for Mordo at this point. All he wanted to do was put this damned feud to rest...
The twin cities are revealed! The angel is disturbed once again! He really has the most rotten luck here. That, or Englehart was making a very bold statement on compassion without boundaries... in the SEVENTIES.
And, of course, any time travel into the ancient past *must* include dinosaurs. It's a rule of the universe.Sise-Neg grows stronger, as does his pet devil...
And, suddenly: Shuma-Gorath! He Who Sleeps But Shall Awake makes a quick cameo appearance, at the worst possible moment!
Things get darker still, as Strange's power begins to wane away...!
Thankfully, Sise-Neg finally sees reason-- through a little reframing of the situation!
Finally... the beginning of creation is reached!
And so... the world begins anew! Or-- returns to how it was? Paradoxes, paradoxes! Funny things, those are.Check out this art. I don't even know what to say. It's great, as always! The way Sise-Neg just melts off of the third panel, like a blurry face through a rainy window... it's good stuff.
With all that said and done... so ends the saga of Sise-Neg, this storytime, and the year of 1973! Strange and Mordo are returned to Earth, and humanity rejoices at the coming of a new dawn!I hope you enjoyed this story! It's certainly one of Marvel's more unique ones. Thank you for reading it along with me, even through the mistakes. If you're in search of more Strange, you can find plenty of it here:http://www.mediafire.com/download/araspaddej639ae/Doctor+Strange+Introductory+Package.zipThis link contains a multitude of Dr. Strange stories from his classic era, as well as a few newer ones, including the entirety of what I've shown here-- in its PROPER order! All of them should be in .cbz format, which can be easily accessed with any .cbz reader, and compressed into the .zip above! Give your thanks to another Strange Anon, from twelve years ago, for his efforts in compiling this kit and archiving it for us future anons to read!
If you're still in need of more Dr. Strange after that, I would recommend reading absolutely everything on this list (some of which is already contained in the aforementioned .zip; Strange Tales is not, and I would heavily recommend it as a starting point),as well as the entirety of Doctor Strange's second ongoing (Dr. Strange vol 2/1974/Master of the Mystic Arts); its first issue immediately follows the arc I've storytimed here, so I'd recommend it as an alternate starting point for anons wanting to continue from this thread onwards.There are a bunch of other, much nicher stories that I also want to shout out:>New Avengers (2013) Annual,>Strange Tales v3,>Marvel Fanfare #5, #6, #20, #21, #41, and #49,and Amazing Spider-Man Annuals #2 and #14 come to mind most quickly,while a substantial swathe of the first Defenders ongoing (primarily everything written by Englehart, Gerber, Wein, Kraft, and DeMatteis), including Marvel Feature #1-3 and every Giant-Size Defenders issue, are also great. Anything that Busiek wrote for them isn't bad either, but not as good as Gerber/Englehart/Kraft/DeMatteis were (and a fair amount of it won't make sense if you don't read Gerber first).None of this nicher stuff is required reading, but if you're in dire need of some good Strange I'd recommend all of it.There is a *lot* of good Dr. Strange out there. Almost everything from 1985 and before that includes him as a character is some level of good. Even some stories after the new millennium with him in it aren't terrible. I'm biased, of course-- he's my favorite cape by far-- but even by objective metrics, plenty of his ongoing issues have a fair amount of artistic merit. I'd heavily recommend them to any aspiring comic artist who wants to experiment with paneling or play with the format's strengths and limitations in general. With all that said... thank you for reading! May the Vishanti smile upon you!
>>155125299So how does Clea work in this situation if she isn't from Earth?
>>155125553Probably the same way she did when Earth was destroyed and recreated later on. She's on Earth, so she technically counts as part of Earth, so she's just as affected by that event as all the humans would be.
>>155125319Neat. Thanks, StrangeAnon!
Not bad.
bump
>>155125148that occult amulet is cool as shit
>>155124298>Sise-NegI've seen this name on and off and only now put together it's just geN-esiS backwards and split.
>>155127245Sissy Nag
>>155127245It's dumb.
>>155127245If you need a mystic name for your story, use any word or even your name, but backwards. Like Wizardry's Werdna
>>155129317>t.
>>155130403'kay
