The Deadly Aim of--Mr. Rasputin!

Most of the time when we come across practitioners of the mystic arts in comics, they're focused on matters beyond their day-to-day lives--contacting other-dimensional beings, amassing greater power, planning world conquest--maybe all of the above. Not many of them use their knowledge in more mortal pursuits, like extortion or blackmail--which leaves the field wide open for a man like Mr. Rasputin, who's making quite a name for himself in international circles:

By accounts, the first Rasputin, while having great influence in the Russian monarchy, worked behind the scenes and didn't harbor aspirations to rule--but Mr. Rasputin clearly considers his ancestry deprived in that respect. And so, using his skills in hypnosis and mysticism, he's well on his way to becoming the perfect terrorist.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before his activities in the occult drew the attention of the Master of the Mystic Arts:

Rasputin puts up a good fight against Strange, all things considered, but it doesn't take him long to realize what he's up against. So he resorts to a weapon which it turns out Strange is ill-prepared against:

It's surprising that we don't see more Dr. Strange foes packing heat, just to be on the safe side. A gun seems to, you'll excuse the expression, work like a charm against him. In this instance, only Strange's quick thinking keeps him from being plugged by another round:

And so, laid up in a hospital bed, Strange has little recourse but to return to Rasputin in his astral form. Unfortunately, Rasputin has taken the liberty of setting up shop in Strange's Greenwich Village sanctum, thereby increasing his threat:

We shouldn't count Strange out yet, though in his current state his options are limited. But even using his cloak of levitation and his mystic eye, Strange finds that Rasputin is a formidable foe:

You have to hand it to Strange--deprived of his physical body and on his way to imprisonment in another dimension, he still is able to keep his cloak in the fight. And its relentless grip finally swings this conflict in his favor.

I don't know what jail Rasputin is currently languishing in--but, thanks to Clea, Strange's disciple for a time, his essence gets a new lease on life when she attempts a spell to give the Valkyrie a little background on the three heavyweights who founded the Defenders. But Strange discovers her efforts too late:

And so the Hulk, the Sub-Mariner, and Strange all find themselves reliving warped versions of events from their pasts. Unfortunately, like Namor and his Nazi foes, Strange finds his fellow denizen to be armed, and all too familiar:

Rasputin's aim and determination seem as deadly as ever. But help is on the way:

The three are able to make it back safely. As for Clea, it's a safe bet she was put in front of a blackboard with a piece of chalk, where she'd begin to write "I Will Not Attempt Spells On My Own Anymore EVER" 1000 times.  We can only hope she doesn't start fooling around with handguns.