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Strange #1
Mark Waid is one of the most popular writers in comics today. among his many credits are memorable runs on DC‘s The brave & The bold and Flash, and Marvel‘s fantastic four and Captain America. Currently, he’s one of the writers on remarkable Spider-Man and he’s the Editor-In-Chief at Boom! Studios where he writes new adventures of Pixar’s The Incredibles as well as several creator-owned books. This month, he chronicles the new adventures of Stephen Strange, formerly Dr. Strange, in Marvel’s Strange. Westfield’s Roger Ash recently got in touch with Waid to learn more about this mini-series.
Westfield: What about the character of Stephen strange appeals to you?
Mark Waid: That he’s a thinker. A learner. A man who’s dedicated his life to personal betterment, only to have had to start again at the bottom more than once and rebuild himself. That makes him one of the deepest, richest characters in the marvel Universe.
Westfield: What can you say about the strange mini-series and the characters who will be appearing in it?
Waid: So far, we’re trying to stay away from Stephen Strange’s old nemeses and get into some new, slightly less cosmic threats. The main thrust of the series is that it’s told from the point of view of Stephen’s newest student, a young, somewhat nerdy woman who knows nothing about him and isn’t sure she even believes in the magic he represents. Plus, to her and to our eyes, he’s not exactly at the top of his game anymore; he’s a little broken-down, a little more unpredictable.
Westfield: You’re working with artist Emma Rios on the book. What can you tell us about your collaboration with her?
Waid: She’s a colossal talent. I first took notice of her at Boom!, where my managing editor, Matt Gagnon, had found Emma to illustrate the excellent mini-series Hexed written by Michael Alan Nelson (collection on-sale now!). once she was on Marvel’s radar, I knew we couldn’t hold her down at Boom! for long, so I did the next best thing – I pulled a few strings and made a few requests to make sure I got to work with her! She’s phenomenal, she really is; a student of Steve Ditko with a very modern, very appealing style. and she’s not easily creeped out by some of the horror in this series; in fact, looking at her character designs, I suspect she’s got quite the dark side to her!
Westfield: are there any other projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention?
Waid: Irredeemable is still going strong at Boom!, and next month sees the debut of The Unknown, volume Two: The Devil Made Flesh!
Westfield: any closing comments?
Waid: just that I’m having a ball writing Stephen Strange. I keep wanting to call him “Doctor,” but in this series… the doctor is Out!
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Strange #1
