After Stern's final issue, Peter B. Gillis took over as writer, with Chris Warner as penciler, for the final six issues before the series was canceled. I discussed those issues about five years ago, but in summary, Gillis presents a Stephen Strange who feels a distance growing between himself and the humanity he defends as Sorcerer Supreme.
Stephen keeps trying to catch up with friends and acquaintances he's not seen in a long time, and regretting that he's let those relationships lapse. But those regrets keep distracting him, leaving him either off his game when he encounters threats, or unaware of them until it's too late. His entire Sanctum is whisked away into space by some alien wizard while Stephen is trying to actually keep a date with Morgana Blessing for once.
The other side of that coin is Stephen struggles with whether it was the right thing to let those human connections fade, given his responsibilities. That the Sorcerer Supreme may need to think of the bigger picture, and if that means a few people die to some minor threat, it's acceptable as long as it lets Strange be prepared for something that endangers the entire world, or the entire dimension.
It almost feels like a step back for the character from where Stern had him. Stern's Strange wasn't unbeatable or invincible - Dracula put him on his heels, and he couldn't face Umar alone - but he seemed confident of his abilities. Aware of the risks of his actions, able to balance the sides of his life. But you could argue that the pursuit of knowledge is an ongoing process, and that Gillis is just showing that there's still more for Strange to learn, in many fields. That just because Stephen was able to handle those past threats, doesn't mean he can keep multiple balls in the air indefinitely. Sometimes even a Sorcerer Supreme can get overwhelmed.
Or you could look at it, that the way that Stern's Dr. Strange was occasionally a bit awkward or oblivious is because, as Gillis presents it, he's become distant from humanity. He doesn't notice women swooning over him because he's kind of forgotten that's even a thing. I'm not sure that would hold up, since Stern sent Strange into a funk after he and Clea parted ways, but it's another possible interpretation.
The series ends at issue 81, with Stephen choosing to defeat the immediate threat and save his friends, even at the risk of leaving himself undermanned against greater dangers in the future. Gillis would write Strange's next ongoing series, which started a year later, but only the first four issues before Dann and Roy Thomas took over as writer. That series would run for 90 issues, but I don't own any of it, so next week, we'll move on to graphic novels and mini-series.
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