COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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What If? 40 Modern
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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3834942004
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Owner:
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ottodidact
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
The Watcher posits the question of what if Dr. Strange had never become Master of the Mystic Arts. He revisits the origin of Dr. Strange in which he had been a talented but arrogant surgeon who sustained nerve damage in his hands and sought out the assistance of The Ancient One to cure him but decides to instead become The Ancient One’s disciple after helping warn him of Baron Mordo’s treacherous plot to smite him.
In the alternate version, Stephen Strange suffers the same fate but instead of becoming The Ancient One’s disciple, he instead passively observes The Ancient One’s teaching and returns home to teach after feeling enlightened. Baron Mordo meanwhile moves into the Greenwich Village mansion that would have been used by Dr. Strange, despite a sense of unease from Wong, and proceeds to battle the forces of evil over a number of months, eventually being summoned by The Ancient One to battle Dormammu. He enters the Dark Dimension and encounters Clea who he forces to help him and eventually encounters Dormammu who he works with to battle the Mindless Ones. Mordo’s aid forces Dormammu to abide by a vow that prevents him warring against Mordo and The Ancient One awards Mordo with the Cloak of Levitation traditionally worn by Dr. Strange.
Clea feels uneasy and seeks to probe why and is encountered by Umar, Dormammu’s sister, who helps guide her probe. Stephen has meanwhile been suffering sleepless nights due to recurring nightmares and is unable to get any help from modern medicine. Dormammu seeks to destroy Baron Mordo and imbues Cyrus Black with powers but he is humiliated by Mordo who calls out Dormammu for his failure. He subsequently speaks of a sinister plan to an unnamed figure to deal with Dr. Strange due to his potential to become something more. Dr. Strange, continuing to suffer frequent nightmares, takes the bait and seeks out Mordo’s assistance at the Bleeker Street mansion to help with his nightmares. Mordo enters Strange’s dream where he encounters the entity Nightmare and then betrays and traps Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange seeks to understand why he’s been targeted and Nightmare reveals to him his potential power. He eventually frees himself from the trap and fights his way through the Dark Dimension before Clea arrives to help return to his dimension.
Baron Mordo is meanwhile preparing to do battle with Dormammu and appears to be defeated by him when they fight, to the dismay of The Ancient One, but is revealed to have only sent a simulacrum of himself. Dormammu proceeds to attack The Ancient One who succumbs to the attack while Mordo continues his scheming with Nightmare. Nightmare soon realizes that Strange has escaped their trap and Mordo leaves to attack him. Dr. Strange, thinking Mordo has killed Clea, withstands the attack and counters, surprising Mordo with his power.
Nightmare confronts Dormammu on Earth where they agree to an alliance but Strange is sucked through a portal and manages to banish them back to their own dimensions but the exertion is costly. Clea finds Dr. Strange after his attack and he appears to die but is ultimately seen speaking with The Ancient One who suggests his death was real but only a passage and that he will be his new disciple. (description by marvel.fandom.com)
"What If Dr. Strange Had Never Become Master of the Mystic Arts?" Script by Peter Gillis, pencils by Jackson (Butch) Guice, inks by Guice and Sam Grainger. Guest starring Clea, Dormammu, Baron Mordo, and Nightmare. Michael Golden cover. Cover price $1.00. (description by mycomicshop.com)
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