The Scarlet Witch is now Sorcerer Supreme? Well that’s a turn-up for the books… but how? Well, Dr Doom nicked the title and powers from Dr Strange at the conclusion of a Marvel Event, then the next Marvel Event ended with Victor Von Doom sacrificing his life to revive goddaughter Valeria Richards after he – oops! – slaughtered her. After he died his tokens of power were destroyed by the Living Tribunal. Enter the Scarlet Witch, probably via the magical door she’s been using to help folk of late.
She says she’s protecting them, but the Vishanti – Dr Strange’s sometimes patron gods – reckon she has no business using Cloak and Eye.
Wanda routs the elder gods and we finally arrive at a cliffhanger which sees someone else stake a claim to be Sorcerer Supreme.
Maybe Marvel mythology has changed but I didn’t think the title was simply a matter of possessing mystical geegaws. Dr Strange was named Sorcerer Supreme after saving the world from Shuma-Gorath in a massive physical and emotional ordeal. Wanda, though, is singularly unwilling to listen to the Vishanti, she goes straight to fight mode.
After all she’s been through down the decades, the cycle of corruption, surely Wanda knows that if mystic talismans start whispering to you, offering their power, you think twice. Instead, in this debut issue from writer Steve Orlando and artist Bernard Chang, she’s making plans.
You may recognise some of the advisors in Wanda’s magic mirrors, they include sons Speed and Wiccan, mutant dreamer Somnus and former apprentice Amaranth. She listens to them all, but I don’t get the impression any of them could sway her to change her mind about, well, anything. Not even an ancient god.
Looking over Wanda’s shoulder is Clea, herself a veteran magic user. She’s back in her home Dark Dimension while hubby Stephen Strange is hanging out in Asgard. Which means there’s room at the inn – or rather, Sanctum Sanctorum, which Wanda decides goes with her new job.
You go, Wong!
So, lots going on in this debut issue, but I’ve buried the lede – Wanda Maximoff has a demon book in her belly!
Of course she does! Wanda’s writer through several years of mini-series now, Steve Orlando, is ever elevating Wanda’s power levels. I’ve complained previously that he writes her as too powerful, too confident – nothing fazes her, there’s no one she can’t beat. And now she’s even stronger, even more confident. Is pride leading to a fall? That’s what tends to happen to super-powerful women at Marvel, from Jean Grey to Carol Danvers, and Wanda’s been taken down a few times over the years… surely Orlando isn’t going there again. Also, he seems utterly smitten by her.
Which means we’re meant to be cheering on a pretty unsympathetic version of Wanda. Or at least an inconsistent one – in the Scarlet Witch series The Last Door was her passion, she lived to help the hopeless but, as seen in one of the pictures above, she is sooooo over it now something shinier has come along.
Almost as funny as Wanda’s belly blast is the Dread Dormammu’s new use of the classic Flames of the Faltine.
Get away from the groping gaze!
I’ve long been a fan of artist Bernard Chang, for his expansive layouts, sharp character work and intense action scenes, and we see all that here. I’m not keen on Wanda’s latest work outfit – Dr Strange’s Cloak of Levitation worn as a skirt looks awful, and her downtime dress is no better, with the Gypsy Queen ensemble looking like cosplay. There’s a similar Seventies Cher outfit towards the end of the issue, intricately coloured by the aptly named Ruth Redmond, who does a good job throughout of making the tones less drab than in many a Marvel book
My favourite page is the splash reveal of the Vishanti – there’s something about angry gods…
Cory Petit letters, so you can be assured the words look good, while the cover by Leirix is very… red. Also, nicely rendered, I actually prefer the artist’s Wanda-face to Chang’s, it looks classic where the interior Scarlet Witch looks far too young.
Speaking of Wanda’s nom de heroine, why isn’t this series – which may be a mini, or may be ongoing, which at Marvel these days means 10 issues – called Scarlet Witch: Sorcerer Supreme. Is the title going to be passed around various people? Or have Marvel simply lost faith in Wanda’s ability to sell a series on her own name.
What I want by the end of this series is a massive power reduction for Wanda. In this comic she’s apparently all-powerful, for the last 10 years she’s been massively magical, the 30 years before that had her sideline her mutant hex spheres – non-mutant based, it’s now claimed – in favour of very effective spells taught by Agatha Harkness. But those Silver Age hex spheres were so much more original and entertaining than controlled enchantments. She’d be weaker, humbler, but still a veteran heroine, better able to control those occasionally backfiring bad-luck spheres and the odd hex bolt.
This opener hasn’t grabbed me enough to want to buy each new edition as it comes out; I’m very much over Marvel’s habit of swapping powers and titles between characters – a couple of years ago, Dr Strange was Clea. I’ll rely on Marvel Unlimited.
The Scarlet Witch used to be one of my favourite characters. Someone save her.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 