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October 25, 2006
Doctor Strange Gay? We Say Thee Nay, Scott Hinze!
Scott Hinze's gaydar is seriously out of whack. On an otherwise very fine interview with Brian K. Vaughan at Fanboy Radio, Scott had the audacity to ask if Doctor Strange was gay. Now, Scott is usually a very fine interviewer, but let's just say that at times there are gaps in his knowledge of comic book history. Mr. Vaughan's reply was that Stephen Strange isn't necessarily gay, but he might swing both ways occassionally. Well, we've never seen any evidence of that. Look at the above panel from Dr. Strange Sorcerer Supreme #3 (1989) where the Enchantress goes to great lengths to seduce Doc!
Probably the first subtle mention of sex that I read in any comic as a youngster was Dr. Strange #1 in 1974 (Volume 2) by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner. There was this little sequence where Clea tells Doc she's interested in far more than magic tricks. That we could infer this action in-between panels from Clea pursing her lips up towards Doc shows you how desperate we were for superhero sex. It released all that pent-up frustration we had from looking at Clea's plum little ass in that leotard. As BKV also mentioned, Doc was one of the first superheroes to "live in sin" with his girlfriend, Clea. I thought that was so cool as a kid, I told my Mom I was gonna grow up to be just like Doc Strange. That's how also I met my first psychologist!
Roger Stern and Marshall Rogers made the sex a little more explicit in Dr. Strange #49, published in 1981. The splash page and the page after that had a mystical sequence of Doc and Clea travelling in their astral bodies. You see, Doctor Strange doesn't make love like ordinary mortals. He won't settle for just a boring old missionary position. Doc fucks the ladies with his mind as well!
On page 3, just in case we were inferring too much, Stern makes it clear through the dialogue that this was a sexual act--a tantric exercise as Doc puts it. Clea's very anxious to exercise more often and frequently, but it was probably the last time the couple made love. Because in that very same issue, Doc found another lover!
An ongoing subplot throughout the excellent Stern-Rogers run was a reporter named Morgana Blessing. Doc kept running into her during various battles, and every effort he made to wipe her memory clean of mystical events ultimately failed. Her attraction to Doc couldn't be denied, which enemies like Baron Mordo tried to exploit. My attraction couldn't be denied either, thanks to Marshall Rogers drawing Morgana with Barbeau* like proportions.
We found out that Morgana Blessing had been in love with Doctor Strange throughout many incaranations in time. During this sequence set in World War 2, Doc foils Baron Mordo's plans by kissing Morgana and letting love flow in an explosion of energy that defeated Dormammu! This led to a rather historic event: Doc and Clea splitting up after being a couple for over 10 years. Clea returned to the Dark Dimension to lead a rebel faction against Dormammu and Umar. Morgana became Doc's lover for several years, which ended when she wrote a tell-all book in Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #9 (1989).
There you have it, proof positive that Scott Hinze knows nothing about Doc's sexuality. Doc's gay? Only Matt Murdock surpasses Doctor Strange in racking up girlfriends. Nuff said.
* Shame on you, Warlock, for cross-referencing Adrienne Barbeau: Thanks for the Mammaries. Kid Flash, Ye Editor
Comments
Damn you, comic book cannon! You foiled me a-gain!
But seriously, can we spell "radio bit"? ;)
Posted by: HINZE | October 25, 2006 1:59 PM
I'll toss in a few MORE scenes to add to the proof that Doc is quite the ladies man.
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First of all...
Neither of you guys have read the Doctor Strange Graphic Novel: SHAMBALLA, have you?
It puts the "graphic" in graphic novel.
Here. Do yourself a favour and get it.
It's WONDERFUL.
Fully painted (before such a thing was common) and well written.
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Strange-Shamballa-M-Dematteis/dp/0871351668
Anyway...
In one scene, DOC basically splits himself into an army of himself and has a massive orgy with a harem of veiled women from India.
He also has a little internal monologue therein where he says something along the lines of:
"Once you boasted that no one woman would never be enough to satisfy you. It is time to test that boast, Stephen."
Then he splits himself for the giant shag-fest.
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ALSO, at the end of the Sorcerer Supreme run (the last couple of issues circa 1995 or so)
Doc goes back home to visit the house he grew up in, and meets a neighbor-lady (single mother) who asks him if he's gay (due to his clothes, flamboyant manner of speech and single Greenwich-Village lifestyle).
He laughs pretty loudly and then they proceed to have a relationship.
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There ARE other stories, but those 2 should do.
LMK if you need more or scans.
~P~
P-TOR
Posted by: SanctumSanctorumComix | October 27, 2006 10:14 AM
Hey, thanks a lot for those other two! I do have the Shamballa graphic novel, but I totally forgot what happened in that one. You've given me a good excuse to reread that.
I see the other time you mentioned, Doctor Strange 86 from 1996. Oh man...let's pound on Hinze some more!
Posted by: warlock | October 27, 2006 6:58 PM
Yeah, although he dresses in a manner that Liberace might have found too flamboyant, I'd have trouble naming a Marvel super hero who's been depicted as more demonstrably heterosexual than Dr. Strange. I think the closest the good Doctor would ever come to gayness is officiating at a commitment ceremony if another Marvel hero is revealed to follow an alternative lifestyle.
Posted by: Matt the Bruins fan | November 15, 2006 7:23 PM
