Make Mine Marvel: Looking Back at “Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird”

Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital comics subscription service, is once again offering all fans free access to some of Marvel’s most iconic stories from recent years, including now-classic Marvel Comics events and critically acclaimed runs featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and more.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a look back at these classic stories and maybe help you decide whether or not you would like to check them out. Our next series reacquaints us with the Sorcerer Supreme and gives us a look into his life like never before.

Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird

Doctor Strange is Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme and he has been protecting our dimension using magic against all kinds of mystical threats for many years. He never imagined however that he would one day have to protect magic itself. But that’s exactly what’s happening in “The Way of the Weird.”

The story arc gives us a look into the day-to-day life of Stephen Strange like we’ve never seen before. He witnessed all kinds of various spiritual creates on different planes that normal people could never see. Most of them are harmless, but some are not. The ones that are not harmless, he deals with.

Strang has been trained to deal with these things using magic however. So what happens when a new mysterious threat arrives and starts to remove magic from existence? Strange and the other magic-wielders will need to find a new way to fight, and fast. Because, on top of this new threat, all those years of using magic are taking a toll on Strange. Every punch comes with a cost.

“The Way of the Weird” is certainly true to its name. Of course, anytime you read a Doctor Strange comic you expect it to be a little, well, strange. This one takes things to a new level though, with Strange battling interdimensional, magic-eating slugs, mind maggots who grew in the head of a girl from the Bronx and all kinds of other bizarre creatures.

If you’re a fan of the magic side of Marvel comics though, you’ll love this arc. Strange isn’t in this fight alone. In fact, he heads to a magic bar called The Bar with No Doors (which should absolutely be turned into a real attraction somewhere) where he meets with some other very powerful fan-favorites.

It’s also a very fun series. Not only is each issue packed with all kinds of action, you also get to see a lot of Strange’s personality. The egotistical magical doctor really lets loose in this one, and I don’t just mean when his astral form is running naked from the aforementioned slugs through Central Park. Plus, there’s all kinds of fun magic stuff seen through the eyes of a normal person for the first time, which is always good for a laugh or two.

Fair warning though, the series that is currently available for free ends with a huge cliffhanger. If you’re looking to take advantage of these free comics, you should know that you will absolutely be left wanting more at the end of this five-comic arc. Of course, if you are a Marvel Unlimited subscriber, that won’t be a problem for you.

You can read “Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird” for free now. And be sure to check back as we look back the rest of these classic Marvel Comics stories over the next several weeks.

Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."