In every installment of “If I Pass This Way Again,” we look at odd comic book plot points that were rarely (sometimes NEVER!) mentioned again after they were first introduced.
This time around, we look at the little-referenced (perhaps NEVER referenced) revelation regarding Doctor Strange's fateful car accident!
Doctor Strange's origin was revealed by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in “Strange Tales” #115…
That origin has remained mostly untouched for decades, but there was a very notable change made to it in “Doctor Strange” #85 (by J.M. DeMatteis, Pascual Ferry and Kevin Sutherland), where we learned that the Ancient One had a prophecy that Stephen Strange would one day become his successor, so this pissed off Baron Mordo, so he apparently tormented young Stephen Strange for years…
This eventually drove Strange so upset that he tried to kill himself that fateful night!!
I really don't like this change, as I'm not a fan of “chosen one” origins in general, but Doctor Strange in particular has that great, “Jerk pulled himself up out of jerkdom to become a hero” angle that is lost when you know that he was destined to be the Ancient One's successor all along. It also makes Baron Mordo's reaction to Strange back in “Strange Tales” #115 odd. Plus, not for nothing, but if Strange was so desperate to kill himself, why did he stop when the car accident didn't do the trick?
This change to the origin is not necessarily an “Abandoned an' Forsaked” thing, but it has been dropped by later writers, which I think is for the best.
If there are any other plot ideas that were brought up but then ignored by later writers, feel free to suggest them to me at brianc@cbr.com!
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