Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz send the Sorcerer Supreme to space!

From Marvel:

This June, writer Mark Waid and artist Jesus Saiz are set for a journey across the universe in DOCTOR STRANGE #1!

The Eye of Agamotto is closed! Doctor Stephen Strange has lost his connection to the Earth’s arcane power, and he can’t wait to recover while nightmares press against the seams of our reality. Tony Stark offers a 21st-century solution: when astral travel fails, try astronautical travel. Enter Doctor Strange: Space-Explorer Supreme!

Different spells, allies, and enemies—new and old—await Strange beyond the stars, along with corners and secrets of the Marvel Universe, seen here for the first time! Space is endless, but time is short. After years of threats, Stephen’s bill for magic-use is coming due—who will come to collect?!

“I’ve been a Strange fan forever, but I’ve never been lucky enough to write an extended run featuring the good doctor. Along with editor Nick Lowe, we’ve come up with some new and very unexpected places to take Stephen Strange in the Marvel Universe—starting with the stars. When Strange’s magic suddenly exhausts itself, he’ll have to travel off-earth to recharge his batteries,” teases Waid, “Let’s hope he survives the trip.”

And Jesus Saiz shares a similar excitement for the extraordinary adventures to come: “Working on this book is an absolute delight. I’ve always enjoyed depicting bizarre characters in fantastic settings much more than portraying the real world, and in that sense this comic really delivers! I don’t like to use photographic references, as you need to do when you are drawing a particular car, weapon, or specific New York street. I prefer to draw with inspiration directly from my head, and Doctor Strange is the perfect book for that!”

The artist continues, “If I have to think about the biggest challenge while working on this book, it’d probably be giving all the different aliens and worlds a distinctive, interesting look. For inspiration, I try to have my eyes very open, because you never know where the could come from. It could be a fashion photo, an undersea creature, or a Bosch painting…everything can give you a silhouette, or a color scheme, or something to start working with. I only try to avoid actual science-fiction images because I want this book to look as fresh as possible.”

“And you know, Mark is simply fantastic,” says Saiz, “I love how, even when he writes the most crazy, outrageous, fantastic scenes, he never loses touch with the characters or the story he is telling. And he really gives you the most wonderful stuff to draw! We’re only getting started with this, and I believe we are both really trying to create a story that nobody will ever forget. We’re taking Doctor Strange from his lowest and giving him a new life, new goals. He’ll have to learn everything again to emerge a better man, a new leader. If he survives this ordeal, that is!”

Read DOCTOR STRANGE #1, by Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz, on June 6!

Source: Marvel

Commentary: Even though I have been reading comics for 25 years, I only got into DOCTOR STRANGE real heavy a few years ago with Jason Aaron And Chris Bachalo came on board.  There is no real reason for that, I've just always been more into SPIDER-MAN and X-MEN than the rest of the Marvel universe.  Any comic I had ever read with Doctor Strange I had enjoyed, and my wife is one of the biggest classic DEFENDERS fans you will ever meet.  But for some reason, that never really led me to pick up DOCTOR STRANGE on a regular basis. 

I was curious where Waid was going to turn up since he's not doing CAPTAIN AMERICA.  Waid and Saiz should be a great team on DOCTOR STRANGE.  I love the idea of giving it a more cosmic perspective.  All the DOCTOR STRANGE comics I've read in recent years have basically been set on Earth, and I was always a huge fan of Marvel's cosmic scene.  I definitely will be buying this series. 

So far, Fresh Start has had a lot more hits than misses for me.  I was pretty skeptical of ANOTHER MARVEL RELAUNCH, but as long as they are putting out quality books like this, it's real hard for me to complain too much.  That said, so far, we have not had a single "legacy" character announced as getting their own book other than the new Wasp sharing a mini-series with Scott Lang.  I am hoping that changes.  I really like characters like Miles Morales, Amadeus Cho, Kamala Khan, and Laura Kinney.  Marvel going back to all their classic characters without doing something with their newer characters seems like a huge mistake for me.