Random Back Issues #16 - Dr. Strange #81

Oh, well then that makes Stephen's back getting torn open by a spell while he's trying to fight in a minotaur's body all worthwhile.

Up today, we've got the last issue of Dr. Strange's second ongoing solo book. All his magical items - except the Eye of Agamotto and his Cloak of Levitation (just back from the tailor) - were swiped by a sorcerer from another galaxy entirely. Along with the Sanctum Sanctorum. And Wong, and Topaz. As an added bonus, Stephen's body was trashed a couple of issues ago, and isn't ready for a big-time mystical showdown. For the time being, he's piloting Rintrah's body instead. Even that caused problems, because his secretary Sara offered to let him use her, and he turned her down in favor of the minotaur he barely knew

The fight's going pretty well at first, until Urthona remembers he has hostages. He does something to Wong's face off-panel, which throws Stephen off his game enough for Urthona to bust out the Book of the Darkhold and unleash all the demons Strange banished when he destroyed all vampires in his last throwdown with Dracula.

Strange can't get his shit together until Rintrah astral projects out of his own body (meaning it's down to Stephen to protect it) and into Stephen's, so he can try and free Topaz and Wong. Topaz is more fixated on getting the remainder of her soul, which is in the jar he smashes at her feet. Which also somehow frees her? Pure soul magic, that's what it was!

Gillis had been playing up the idea of Stephen feeling torn in his role as Sorcerer Supreme. He felt distant from humanity except as an abstract concept. It kept coming down to whether to save individuals, and leave himself vulnerable, or focus on the bigger, long-term picture. Here, that manifests in what it will take to win this battle, and whether it's worth winning. Stephen chooses to focus on winning the fight and protecting the people here and now. He'll worry about the consequences of trashing his entire arsenal later.

Considering he had the Orb of Agamotto again by the time Acts of Vengeance rolled around a couple of years from now, I'm guessing he found a workaround to that problem. I haven't read much of his series that followed this, other than knowing Rintrah stuck around as his apprentice for a few years. I don't know if there was any fallout with Sara, or if this was Gillis' way of writing her out of the cast. Don't know what happened with Topaz, either, or if Urthona ever came back for a rematch.

[Longbox #3, 156th comic, Dr. Strange (vol. 2) #81, by Peter B. Gillis (writer), Chris Warner (penciler), Randy Emberlin (inker), Bob Sharen (colorist), Many Hands (letterer)]