October is finally here, and while this installment of Into The Weird is not horror-themed, there are certainly some elements on horror contained within. If you haven’t sampled Episode 36 yet you can find it on Apple Podcasts here, or on Spotify here. It’s also available on dozens of other pod-catchers; just throwing that out there.
Billy and I had a blast discussing issues 9 & 10 of Doctor Strange Volume 2, because they featured a plethora of Stephen’s greatest foes. Not only are Dormammu, Umar, Baron Mordo, and Nightmare represented, but even Eternity shows up with Armageddon on his mind. It’s a chiaroscuro of craziness as the creative team of Steve Englehart and Gene Colan bring us that unique brand of marvel Bronze Age madness. Here are some choice images from the issues below, along with our Recommendations of Ragaddor. Enjoy!
Gil Kane and Dan Adkins did the cover. Their well-endowed Clea makes even Power Girl look tame! Seriously though, that’s not what the Sorcerous Siren should look like, but I’m being fastidious here. The rest of the art is fairly generic.After doing some spelunking in Mother Earth’s crevices, Dormammu decides to take a stroll in the sunshine. Special Note: Englehart uses the words FLUNKIE and JUNKIE in adjoining panels. Why is this significant? I don’t have a clue! But it’s fun to read!Big D rips into some hikers and tourists, Kaiju style! Guess he’s been waiting years for this, and he’s making the most of every moment. Oh, the humanity.Betrayel is in the wings as Umar leeches her brother’s power. The Aged Genghis is having the time of his life oggling the Mistress of The Dark revenging herself after millenia of sibling rivalry.Flashback alert! Umar and Orini hook up, and hey presto! Clea is conceived.Clea initiates the plan to free Gaea while Stephen sorcerously distracts Umar. Linking the minds of all living creatures, Gaea, the Doc, and Clea manage to destroy Dormammu (albeit temporarily) and the vanquished Umar is shepherded by Orini back to the Dark Dimension. Gaea rewards Stephen and Clea by formally ADOPTING them.Another humdrum cover by Gil Kane.Fantastic opening slash page by Gene Colan.The Madness of Mordo disturbs Stephen’s mystical house guests.Clea gets randy, but Stephen pulls his ‘Master to Disciple’ card on her. Armageddon looms, as the very heavens seem to plunge to Earth.Behold… Eternity!Employing the powers of the Eye of Agamotto, Stephen rises to Eternity’s level for an urgent bit of cosmic chit-chat. Eternity breaks the bad news without employing a bedside manner. The fate of Earth and the threat of Eternity will commence in a fantastic story called SHADOWPLAY. Don’t miss it, True Believers.
That wraps up our main discussion. But that’s not all! We still have…
Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUN
The Recommendations of Ragaddor!
BILLY’s
HERMAN’s
Thanks for tuning in and reading the blog, weird legionnaires. Look for more Halloween-centric episodes and posts later this month as Shocktober2021 continues. 🎃😈💀
Into The Weird 