The Vengeance of Salomé--Sorceress Supreme!

 

Having dealt with the mysteries of two body-and-soul analogs of Dr. Strange which were created to carry out specific earthly tasks for him during his self-exile from our dimension--"Vincent Stevens," the body, designed to impersonate Strange and handle his personal and business affairs... and "Strange," the soul, tasked with continuing to gather Earth-based mystical artifacts and deliver them to the doctor for use in his ongoing work--the true Dr. Strange prepares to face the ancient Sorceress Supreme named Salomé, whose ambush left Strange no choice but to retreat in order to forge a new source of magic for himself, having abandoned his reliance on other-dimensional mystical beings after being forced to reject the Vishanti's demand for aid in the imminent, cosmic War of the Seven Spheres.

As for Salomé, she's been doing a little forging of her own--in this case, an alliance with the Vishanti in order to penetrate Strange's new sanctum, where Sister Nil, a former threat but now Strange's "ward" and scribe, delays her while Strange is engaged with his two doppelgangers. Even so, Strange keeps tabs on her progress, even as his taunts and those of Nil chafe at her frustration and incense her to no end.

Yet Salomé's luck changes when she gains entry to a crucial part of Strange's work with Gaian-based magick--and though Strange has not been able to recover the power he expected to gain from the dissolution of Stevens and "Strange," he nevertheless intends to meet the challenge of this sorceress head-on.

Not that Salomé is any stranger to intimidation, herself--nor is she exactly inexperienced in tactics, and ruthlessness. But thanks in part to Nil's intervention, Strange sees an opportunity to distract Salomé from her plan--providing he can continue provoking her, which meets with success up to a point. Despite Strange's taunts, Salomé is no novice at sorcery--and she has the presence of mind to realize that regaining the advantage against her foe lies in depriving him of his previous infection of her own dark magick.

Yet in enacting her strategy, we see the moment come for Strange when he is at last free to embrace the power which his forge was designed to deliver--and Salomé finds herself the only victim of her plan, banished to the non-dimension of nihility.

Cryptic final words from Salomé, to be sure. But this is Strange's moment, one that heralds a new direction for himself and a sharp pivot from the Dr. Strange whose mystic calls to the likes of Hoggoth, Munnopor, Cytorrak, and yes, the Vishanti are now presumably a thing of the past. But before he sets out on that new course, there is one last goodbye to be shared before Strange resumes a life, and a way of life, too long delayed.

The transition to this new look and magic, however, would be followed by yet another with the later arrival of writer Warren Ellis, who arranged for Strange to eventually fulfill his obligation to fight in the Seven Spheres War, a commitment which lasted for a millennium. As for the loose end of Salomé's parting words, since nothing came of them we might assume they were just an effort to save her own skin by sowing doubt in Strange's mind. The door, of course, has been left open for a writer to prove otherwise.