{"id":552,"date":"2015-10-09T23:30:55","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T03:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=552"},"modified":"2015-10-08T07:18:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T11:18:07","slug":"the-high-cost-of-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=552","title":{"rendered":"The High Cost of Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

One the most interesting things about the recent reboot the Big Two have just completed is the reestablishment of their premiere magicians in new, ongoing monthly series.\u00a0 More interesting is how the ad copy reads when the books are solicited in Previews.\u00a0 The description of each rebooted title included a common theme, expressed in almost the exact same words \u2013 the idea that the use of magic comes with a cost.<\/p>\n

The quote that Marvel offers in their online description of the new Doctor Strange series<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Doc_Strange_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Who do you call when things are coming out of your dreams and trying to kill you? Or when your daughter is cursing in Latin and walking like a spider? Or when your dog keeps screaming at you to strangle your neighbors? Doctor Strange, of course. He’s the only person standing between us and the forces of darkness, but has he been paying his tab? Every act of magic has a cost and Jason Aaron (THOR, ORIGINAL SIN) and Chris Bachalo (UNCANNY X-MEN) are going to put Stephen Strange through hell to even the scales.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Marvel Comics Description for Doctor Strange (2015)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Similar phrasing was used in the solicitation for the New 52 reboot of Constantine the Hellblazer<\/em> and that sentiment has been at least spoken of in the new book.\u00a0 Below is a single panel from issue #4, in which a drunken Constantine, haunted by both ghosts of his memory and real ghosts from his past, reflects on a time as a young man where he had a special relationship with a young girl who he had pulled into his magical lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\"John_Constantine_4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The interesting question to consider is why should the relaunches of both of these titles go out of their way to emphasize that magic has a cost?\u00a0 The answer lies in the observation that magic as a storytelling device is a disaster waiting to happen<\/a>.\u00a0 All too often, the use of magic, unless used sparingly, becomes an unworkable deus ex machina<\/em>.\u00a0 Since neither of these series can \u2018use magic sparingly\u2019,\u00a0 another mechanism must be sought in the form of a \u2018cost\u2019 or \u2018price\u2019 that limits magic use and codifies its rules.<\/p>\n

One need only look at the turbulent publication history of these two characters to see the pattern that indicates that portraying them as unfettered users of magic causes problems and that they work better as characters the less that they actually appear.<\/p>\n

Consider first the twisted publication history of Stephen Strange.\u00a0 In the roughly 50 years since his introduction in Strange Tales as a main character, no less than seven separate titles have been devoted to him as the lead (Strange Tales<\/em> (1951), Doctor Strange<\/em> (1968), Marvel Premiere<\/em> (1972), Doctor Strange<\/em> (1974), Strange Tales<\/em> (1987), Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme<\/em> (1988), Doctor Strange<\/em> (1999)).\u00a0 In each of these short-lived runs, he\u2019s been redesigned and rebooted.\u00a0 He\u2019s been portrayed variously as a reserved and aloof conjurer with the self-control of a Tibetan monk, a masked-crusader complete with super-hero poses and accompanying melodrama, an emotionally conflicted soul with a gnawing darkness at its root, and an aimless womanizer with insecurities a mile long.\u00a0 His most memorable stories have more to do with him as a bystander, witnessing the grandeur of the universe (e.g.<\/em> Eternity & the Living Tribunal from Strange Tales (1951)<\/em>, the Sise-Neg story from Marvel Premiere<\/em>, or the psychedelic brush with Death in the Doctor Strange (1973)<\/em>) than they do with him as the lead.<\/p>\n

The publication history of John Constantine has done better, at least in terms of the number of books.\u00a0 His tally is only three (Hellblazer (1988), Constantine (2013), and Constantine: The Hellblazer (2015)<\/em>), although he\u2019s actually on pace to have as many restarts when adjusting for the fact that he\u2019s only been around since 1985.\u00a0 In addition, the recent television series Constantine, failed to find an audience and was cancelled after 13 episodes.<\/p>\n

What makes magic appealing in small doses but unappealing as the main course centers on what magic actually represents.\u00a0 While there is no exact, universal characterization, magic, as used in literature, tends to embody the certain vaguely facets in the human existence:<\/p>\n