What if Doctor Strange were a disciple of Dormammu?
7:30 am 8 November 2016
What If? (1977-1984) #18 - Peter Gillis, Tom Sutton, I. Watanabe
This went along a strange, new path, giving readers a Doctor Strange they had never seen. Dormammu uses Mordo to attain Doctor Strange as a disciple early on, which is the only time he could have manipulated Strange. Strange is obsessed with power and wealth, with healing his hands, and it is easy enough to convince him to become Dormammu's disciple when Dormammu has the power to heal Strange's hands. Furthermore, it is pointed out that The Ancient One could have healed Strange, but didn't. Why not? It's a question that has no easy answer, because the journey to discovering his own true power lies in his hands not being healed and him not going back to the same selfish and smug life he led before. I was filled with an equal measure of pity and disgust for Strange: he was so easily deceived and so early fled back to his early, easy life. He wasn't the same man, not at all, and he was worse off for this fact.

He thought he was happy, but he found true pleasure in helping and serving others as the Sorcerer Supreme. He never had true friends, true connections, until he devoted his life to saving others. He never had an ounce of compassion until he himself was brought low.

I can't see him being the same at the end of this, even though it shows him his true path in the end. He wasn't brought to the same depths of despair, he wasn't forced to slowly and painfully relearn a craft, wasn't taught to dedicate his life to truly helping others in this, and that saddens me. I felt hollow and sad most of this issue, and it hit home how much I care for Strange as he is.

The ending felt particularly hollow, as it glossed over a lot: will he be quite as empathetic and compassionate? Will he find his true calling as the Sorcerer Supreme? Will he succeed, and find the fulfillment and happiness that his counterpart, the one I'm familiar with, knows?

I found I was more interested in this than anything else, and all these questions were unanswered. I enjoyed the journey more than I didn't, even when I was saddened. This really made me feel for the character, so three stars seems to be where I'm left by this. ( )