#eye of agamotto

[wopfedra]

Not me thinking about how Green had always been the colour associated with Time in the Marvel Universe since the beginning :)

[rei-ismyname]

Uncanny X-Men #7 - RAID ON GRAYMALKIN

Last week in X-Men #8 we saw the Alaskan team kick off the raid with overwhelming force and speed. It wasn't until the last page that we found out the Uncanny X-Men are there too. We knew it was coming, but we hadn't seen it - and it came at the worst time, of course. Spoilers, naturally.

Good question, Scott. Not a very convincing answer. Bizarre threat

Editorial has been hyping an ideological divide between Rogue and Cyclops, but it hasn't been shown on page in any meaningful way. Light tension? Sure, but nothing that justified the divide. Since it's been promised to us since issue #1, part of my analysis will focus on how well that's achieved. I have a great deal of respect for for the called shot - announcing a bold change ahead of time - but it's risky because you need to stick the landing perfectly. The two leaders did talk on the phone before the raid, which is good to see, but I have to say both positions feel bizarre and out of character. Scott is a planner - one of the best, and I can buy him asking Rogue to sit out if they weren't going to work together - but he lead with that proposal and the reason makes little sense. This is going to be perceived as a war regardless - they're using DEMONS lol. They're attacking a for-profit prison implicitly backed by the government. The O.N.E is showing up to Alaska very soon, I promise you.

His second argument is better- that two teams, one with no plan and a bunch of kids to look after - doing a jailbreak at the same time is going to cause bloodshed. Rogue's pivot to talking about love is a bit confusing. Maybe it's meant to make Scott look cold and Rogue warm?

Scott asks the question that I've been dying to know the answer to 'have I let you down?/what's the problem?' Rogue's answer - that they were waiting for him to step up - makes me wonder if there's information that hasn't been revealed. Stepping up is what he's been doing, so unless there's something else it makes Rogue look capricious and a little selfish. That can work for certain characters, but Rogue is meant to be the heroic leader. Scott's argument boils down to his team being better equipped for the mission and when Rogue asks 'how do we get in without dyin?' (once they're in the bushes outside Graymalkin) it's hard to argue the point. At worst Scott is being blunt and a little rude, but he is being respectful and talking to her as an equal. He values her opinion.

Tempers are high, of course, but Simone is not selling Rogue as a leader to me. Nor have we seen a difference in ideology besides Scott wanting to shut the prison down and Rogue just wanting her teammates back. One of these positions is not very heroic but either way they're not finding common ground.

We get a replay of key moments from X-Men #8, taking up a little too much space. Uncanny has a habit of not trusting readers to put the dots together themselves. The new information from the recap is the phone call and this exchange about Cyclops' nickname. I'm not sure I buy him objecting to being called Slim, but if that's how Simone wants to use page space, that's her prerogative. I think it's meant to be funny, along with the self-aware 'I was never fun.' A wink at how he's perceived.

We get a refresher on how awful Warden Ellis is, which is necessary, as she's the closest thing this event has to an antagonist. She seems a little flatter than she's been presented so far - I know nothing of the why of her mutant hatred. Maybe that's not going to matter as it's just a big ol' mutant punch-up, if so what's the point of having her around, spending so much time with her?

Rogue initially is against the kids coming along but it doesn't take much to convince her. Let's look at it as a collaborative style of leadership. Chekhov's Eye of Agamotto makes itself very useful again and serves as a way to teleport the whole crew to Graymalkin (except Ember.) It definitely looks cool and gets them from A to B quickly. The only comment I have on its narrative function is that it highlights the complete lack of plan. Rogue's caption says she knows Scott is right, so what's the deal?

Seriously, I'd expect Logan to point out the risk here. Not sure Rogue has earned that blind trust.

Calico is honestly the star of the issue, refusing to sign the affidavit from last issue and declining a lift - instead choosing to walk to her family. She has a moment when she hears her mother's voice and admits she's scared. After the suddenness of her self acceptance in Uncanny #6 it's a canny choice to centre her. Calico turns around and summons Ember, her horse, who did not come with the rest of the team. She powers up for war and breaks through one of the walls. It's a great character moment for her as she has no idea her team is here. Calico being able to teleport (?) Ember 1400 miles is wild - this girl is powerful.

It's also a very fortunate moment for Rogue's squad as they now have a way in without dying, but why are they even in this position in the first place? I feel like I'm being asked to pick a side but not given a reason to. I hope they both prosper, but it's looking like the Uncanny X-Men should have stayed home.

About halfway through the book we pick up where X-Men #8 left off - Rogue had just knocked out Fred Dukes/The Blob and delivered a one liner. Turns out Scurvy, the Graymalkin telepath, is under orders to 'make them angry.' That complicates why exactly this fight kicks off - Logan told Ransom not to attack unless Scott touched his temple, so when Scott uses his comm it's on. To Logan's credit he picks up on that and tries to deescalate. As you can see Scott doesn't need to touch his temple to use optic blasts.

Psychic suggestion plus a simple mistake definitely muddles what's been sold as a fight with ideological stakes. Obviously there's still room for that, but so far it's looking like an uninspired superhero punch-up as we've seen many times before. Temper/Idie unloads on former Headmaster and advocate Wolverine, calling him a traitor. I'm always down for callbacks to her justified feelings about how Krakoa treated her, but Scurvy's influence casts doubt on whether we should take it seriously.

None of these faces look angry at all.

The conflict escalates with a couple of beats that made me scratch my head. There's story elements I don't like and there's those I think don't work narratively or in service of the characters. These panels are both. Rogue takes issue with Scott 'smackin kids around' as if he isn't defending himself non-lethally and Rogue didn't bring children to a high stakes fight. Rogue has also fought these kids based off a misunderstanding and didn't just stand there getting beat down.

We could blame Scurvy's influence for this, but nobody seems all that angry. Maybe the kids, but they're Rogue's responsibility. Kurt is decidedly the opposite of angry as he teleports Psylocke elsewhere, for fear she'd murder someone. He's quite polite, even, so if I'm being generous Scurvy is just generally messing with their emotions. I'm not sure if he's meant to be a threat or not. He can clearly affect people, but he doesn't seem that troublesome - certainly not the guy who was matching brains with Chuck in The Infinity Comics. I don't buy Kurt believing Kwannon would kill any of them even a little bit.

Deathdream and Magik shape up for a hell battle, but there's not enough space for more than an introduction. Logan isn't fighting back, which is cool. It's positive to see him being cool-headed. Rogue has Cyclops by the throat but jokes on her because he's into that shit. The Juggernaut turns the tables and breaks the fight up by plowing through many a wall.

You were not 'doin so good.' This is a failure of leadership and risking everyone's lives. Scott was right, y'all should have stayed home.

Ellis continues to be the worst, though the lens she views mutants through has narrowed significantly. She's been dishing out violence willy-nilly and doesn't seem to care about her own side being hurt. She's all over the place character-wise, but narratively she introduces more threats in the form of the Wolfpack - those robo dogs we saw killing Colossus in Harvey X's vision.

This wall in particular gets both of their attention, as they speculate on who's in the fallout shelter. Rogue's captions are not a good look for her, but maybe we can chalk it up to Scurvy? I doubt it, frankly. The rift between the two leaders is very thin right now to the point that I feel there has to be more coming. I want both books to do well and I especially want Uncanny to develop a thesis + Rogue as a leader. Petty and irrational are not Rogue's flaws, she's better than this and I'd like to see it.

They agree to a truce and we get a bunch of cliffhangers.

- The Wolfpack and the 3 trustees, Blob, Siryn and Wild Child. Fred is as verbose as we've seen him this era and his ultimatum could be read several ways. The dogs seem to be behaving, even following the trustees I assume. Still, a very difficult situation to navigate. You can't punch your way out of someone who wants to stay.

- Rogue wants to crack the cell open and Cyclops questions whether they should. It's definitely a valid question, even if it's just 'do we want to do this before winning the battle?' Solicits have been promising a feud over 'the uncertain legacy of Charles Xavier' since the beginning - this is a logical place to kick that off. I look forward to seeing how it's handled over the next two issues and beyond. Chuck's legacy is rife with dramatic and ideological elements to disagree over and discuss. Logan and Scott should definitely have strong feelings.

- The feud between the two leaders/teams. Rogue says this isn't over, though I'm not satisfied with her reasons or characterisation. It feels one-sided to me, even moreso than the Cyclops vs whoever rifts of the past. It hasn't called back to their history either in any significant way, and there is a lot to use there. I doubt we'll get that though - this era is very back to basics and continuity-light - which is only a big deal if you care about continuity a lot.

I wasn't sure where else to put this - Jubilee and Beast get some prison drama moments and manage to fight back once they hear the ruckus. Jubes picks the locks on her chains and makes mayhem and Beast recovers from his vicious beating very quickly to deliver his own. Jubilee especially needs the page time though it does make the Graymalkin prison look incompetent.

I'm sure they'll put up a better fight in the next two event issues but I'm wary of there being enough space for all these plot elements. Raid on Graymalkin has 40 pages left, even less if they recap at the start of every issue. Uncanny X-Men #7 had some cool moments but put the brakes on the momentum built in X-Men #8. Doing a mini crossover this early is a very bold choice - it remains to be seen if that's going to pay off for Uncanny. We got to know Calico better and saw some fist pumping growth but her fellow Outliers remain thinly characterised. Nightcrawler is suffering similarly too, it'd be nice to know why he's here and what he thinks about anything. His bizarre fear of murder by Psylocke is weak.

The artwork is beautiful as always, even making a drab prison pop. It's doing some heavy lifting for a book that's not sweating the details in favour of looking cool. On its own this issue is a bit of a flop and the conflict feels unserious, but there's still room to turn it around by introducing STAKES. A 4 issue event is difficult to get right in the best of circumstances, here's hoping all this setup leads to higher stakes and a shakeup of the status quo.

[calf-artist]

Blorbovember Day 6: Memory

I have very fond memories of discussing Biblical parallels in Marvel movies with a good friend. Doctor Strange was one we discussed a lot.

Super in love with the hair on this one. :]

[browsethestacks]

Press Photo - Eye Of Agamotto's Norm Harris

Caption

A COLORFUL WORLD - The colorful, comic superheroes covering the wall are considered friends by Norm Harris, proprietor of State Street's Eye of Agamotto. The Eye is a refuge for devotees of four-colored, action-packed frames of fantasy. (News photo by Larry E. Wright)

Ann Arbor News, September 17, 1978

[canadianhottmess]

Can we talk about how judgmental the Eye of Agamotto looked this issue

[alroma1]

That Eye kinda gives Berserk vibes...

[beczito]

DAY 7 - Doctor Strange

[jasposeyblog]

My acquisition of Doctor Strange sketch cover by @philjimeneznyc

[doctorstrangereview]

0019: Strange Tales #127

Cover Date: December 1964 On-Sale Date: September 8, 1964

For such a significant story, Doc has little real estate on the cover this month. However, it's nice little postage stamp depicting the battle. Clea occupies the center of the splash page with the question "Who is the mystery girl in the diabolical dimension?" It doesn't get answered. We won't even know her name for another year and a half. Her origin will take another decade. On with the show!

We begin with a brief recap of last month's story. This is like the recap of a 60s Doctor Who episode where it was too difficult to edit in the end of the previous episode so they just acted it out all over again and it was a bit different. Dormie gives Doc some time to reconsider being blasted to atoms. Doc takes a stroll. Just as we find out that Doc's cloak can stand up all by its lonesome, Clea reappears to once again plead that Doc not face Dormie. She has a mysterious warning for Doc.

Clea conjures a floating portal to a mystery danger and, ignoring his stranger danger instincts, Doc follows her. Here we're introduced to a concept that will haunt the Marvel Universe on and off for decades to come! We meet The Mindless Ones! These creatures do nothing but fight 24/7. Of course we don't know if The Dark Dimension has a 24-hour day or a 7-day week so maybe they rest every so often. They're basically big, gray, rock-like creatures with Cyclops' eye-beam. And Clea plops them right in the middle of all this. We know this because Doc needs to rescue the two of them when they get too close.

Clea explains that these creatures are held behind a barrier erected by Dormie eons ago and is the only thing that keeps them from overrunning the rest of the dimension. Now, Clea's level of power and accomplishment hasn't been well defined until recently. Here she is able to conjure a portal that breaches this supposedly impenetrable barrier with relative ease. When things get to hot in Mindless Ones land, they scoot behind the barrier with no issues whatsoever. How are they able to get back and forth so easily?

Clea pleads that Doc must not defeat Dormie as she disappears into what looks like an icing sleeve. What the hell was Ditko thinking? This presents Doc with a moral quandary. Defeating Dormie may doom all the inhabitants of this dimension, but if he doesn't, Earth may be doomed. Seems it wasn't much of a quandary. In the next world balloon he decides "Earth it is!" Dormie summons him something that looks like The Rolling Stones logo on acid.

Entering Dormie's throne room, (maybe, everything here is constantly shifting so it's hard to tell) we see where Clea went. She is Dormie's prisoner. She's imprisoned in crystal and chains in one panel and only in chains in the next. This is some Suspiria level dream logic here! "WTF, Dormie?! She was trying to stop the fight!" yells Doc. "Tough!" he replies. "I'm gonna kill you while she watches and them I'm gonna kill her!"

The battle begins and Ditko draws some whacky stuff indeed!

The Ancient One is spying on them the whole time.

Dormie has the upper hand as he presses Doc who is realizing it's only a matter of time before he goes down. Clea thinks that she's doomed no matter what. Out comes Chekov's gun. Remember that important barrier we saw earlier? The one that was conjured by one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse? {That Clea seemed to pop around with impunity?) Yeah, that one. Well Dormie is throwing so much power at Doc it begins to weaken. Uh oh!

And suddenly they are literally inches away from Clea.

Ditko's sense of distance is questionable at time. Dormie turns away from the battle to erect an emergency barrier, but it's not enough. Doc must use the All-Purpose Amulet to bolster the Dread One. It works! It's followed by a literal fist-shaking moment.

Doc extracts two promises from Dormie. And always remember the order of these promises! First, he has to leave Clea alone. Second, he has to leave Earth alone. That's right! Earth came in second! Dormie agrees, begrudgingly. He follows this up with more fist shaking and what amounts to "I'll get you yet, my pretty!" We get a sense of why Doc put Clea first. He invites her to come back with him. Is love or lust in the air? Has Clea excited Doc's loins? That's a story for the future.

Doc reappears in The Ancient One's pad. He's not in his throne. "Where, o where could he have gone?" muses Doc. He's floating nearby. "WTF? How are you doing this, you frail old dude?" It turns out Dormie put a spell on the old dude that was broken when Doc 'beat' him. And, like a member of an Oprah audience, Doc wins a prize. Well, two prizes actually.

"Do me a favor and drag that big, heavy chest over here, would you?" "Can't you do it? You've got all these newly restored powers now." "Oh, all right." The chest opens and out float a pair of objects. Doc gets his now familiar cloak of levitation and All-Purpose Amulet upgrade. The cloak is yellow in it's first appearance. Fortunately it's yellow only in these couple of panels. It'll turn red next issue and then it's familiar red with gold trim in a few more months. The Ancient One congratulates Doc who leaves. While he was teleported there, the old dude, with his increased power is gonna make his favorite student walk the thousands of miles back home. The he thinks something about unbearable loneliness. Maybe shouldn't have made Doc walk!

An satisfying conclusion to last month's story, but I think it was just a little less exciting. Fortunately Ditko didn't make this a nine-page battle and made an interesting resolution to a dilemma that keeps both worlds intact and has far reaching implications for Doc's story and the entire Marvel Universe for years to come. Lee and Ditko probably didn't realize how entrenched Dormammu would become to the Marvel story, but I'm glad they created him. Dormie's story will get better and richer with each appearance.

[ghostedshe3p]

And here are the last 2 💪

I love how all of them have some kind of cloak on. Makes me feel like I need one to complete the INTJ look

Anyway, here are all of them together as a big happy family😍😍😍😍😍

I thought I was being creative with poses and realized that Tivan and Zemo are basically identical and I wanted to kms

Hhhhh whatever , hope y’all like em ;p

INFJs next, tell me if you have suggestions for who I should do next (MBTIs that is)

[dwcmarshalarts]

Masdeer of the Mystic Arts. At least, one variant of him...

Art for a friend by DWC Marshal Arts

[a-victorian-girl]

Pandora has released a new Doctor Strange Eye of Agamotto bracelet charm as part of the new MARVEL X PANDORA collection ✨

Shared via X

You can get it here

[newblvotg]

[elanguagearts]

Drew a comic

[mckiwi]

Just got the Power Stone. Now I only have two more (reality and mind) to go

[askthesorcerersupreme]

I have the eye

That’s not the true Eye of Agamotto. For one, I’ve protected it for years so I would recognize it, and two… we no longer have the Time Stone. Try again.

@bishopaskblog