Fun Facts About Doctor Orient and Doctor Strange

	Doctor Strange	Doctor Orient
Magical Powers	Sorcerer in command of cosmic forces	Telepathy, invokes angels, tantric & kundalini yoga
Cool Mystic Mansion	Sanctum Sanctorum	Converted family brownstone into groovy psychic yoga lab
Hot Girlfriend	Clea	Lady Sativa
Grey Streaks	Easily recognized by grey hair at temples	Easily recognized by single streak of grey hair
Sarcastic Manservant	Wong	Sardi

Groovy Marvel Mystics: Damien Helstorm

As I mentioned in my Ghost Rider post, Damien Hellstorm, aka The Son of Satan, got into some pretty groovy adventures back in the 1970's when he spun off into his own story.  He's been in and out of the Marvel spotlight for years, and even got his own (very brief) Hulu series before Disney start consolidating everything.  The craziest entry into the wide range of characterizations is without a doubt the world of Marvel Mystics spun out by Warren Ellis.

Hellstorm: Prince of Lies & Druid- Warren Ellis, one of the biggest innovators in comics, got into mainstream comics with a deeply dark take on the Son of Satan story, starting in issue 12.  The series didn’t last long, but he did get a short follow up run called Druid that plays with how dark and nasty the old Druids must have been.  Ellis also writes the Castlevania cartoon on Netflix (which I haven’t seen yet), but he’s one of several comics creators who has been in a “me too” scandal in the last year so I’m not sure where his career is going.

Modern

Ellis Era

Groovy Marvel Mystics: Ghost Rider

Earlier this year a friendly neighborhood tarot reader / hedge witch asked for some recommendations on Ghost Rider reads, based on her love of the Nick Cage films.  There are some AMAZING Ghost Rider books, and I sent her the guide below.

And away we go, Flameheads!

Way back in the 1970’s Marvel was a groovy comics publisher that pushed boundaries right after the Comics Code started cracking.  They jumped in with Ghost Rider, a chopper-riding stunt biker possessed by a demon, and pivoted quickly to Son of Satan, about a parapsychologist and occultist who may be the literal son of Satan.  The letter columns in Son of Satan are awesome.  It’s got Christians, Satanists, Wiccans, Witches, all sorts of devotions and philosophies arguing about what they see and educating fellow readers.

Here are some modern favorites:

Ghost Rider: Heaven’s On Fire- Two Ghost Riders, the Son of Satan, and a bunch of angels go to war to keep a group of occultists from recruiting the teenaged anti-Christ.  It’s big and nuts and one of my favorite series.  

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch- Danny Ketch, the brother of the original Ghost Rider, is trying to kick the “spirit of vengeance” habit but keeps on turning into a flaming skullhead.  Not sure about this one yet, I’m actually planning on reading this one tonight.  

Damnation & Ghost Rider: King of Hell- After the Devil merges Vegas and Hell, a bunch of Marvel magicians go to sort things out, and everything goes wrong.  By the end ***spoiler alert*** Johnny Blaze becomes King of Hell, and tries to keep sane while fighting devils below and heroes above. 

Down in the Bardo, Part I: Iron Fist #8, Buddhist Dante's Inferno

For nearly 20 years I bought $10 to $15 of comic books every week. Once that got me a fistful of comics, but no matter how well off I am I can't rationalize that the same amount of money now gets me perhaps two or three 22-page comics. Still I stop by a comics shop every few weeks and pick up something off of the new rack. This week it was Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #8, which turned out to be a Buddhist version of Dante's Inferno. Some of the smartest, most intellectually curious, and well read people I've ever met work in comics. Glad to see that trend continues, even if the business model is a wreck.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

I’ve joked with a number of people lately that my ultimate plan to fade away quietly into the shadows is not working too well.  Of late, I have been the star of a Youtube campaign that has 50,000+ views and written an article for the Elephant Journal that has had 3,500+ views in the first two days that it was published.  Shadows, indeed.

If I want to fade into the shadows and not draw attention, why do I do things that draw attention?  Blame these guys.

 

I grew up with these people as my role models.  People who went out to do what’s right because it’s right, not because they expected reward.  In many cases knew from the day they donned their mask that they were going out to defend a world that hated and feared them. 

With great power comes great responsibility.  Heck, with little power comes great responsibility.  Help where you can.  Spread some knowledge.  Make the world a better place.  Then retreat back to your mild mannered secret identity as soon as possible.