As Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange acts as the magical protector of the Earthly dimension and the primary practioner of the mystic arts. But when the Empirikal’s slaughter of all magic users across the dimensions reaches Earth, Strange may discover that magic can’t save him, this time.
Doctor Strange may have Doctor Voodoo, Daimon Hellstorm, Magik, the Scarlet Witch, Shaman, Talisman and others by his side in this fight, but with their magical abilities also removed, how helpful will they be?
Minor Crossover: The main story takes place in Doctor Strange’s own series, with two related optional one-shots. The previous three issues of Doctor Strange lead directly into this storyline and have been included as tie-ins.
Must Reads: Story arcs marked with a ✔are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT MARVEL NOW! (2015-2016) – Rise of the Empirikal
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Doctor Strange #3-5 (tie-in)
- Doctor Strange #6
- Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic #1
- Doctor Strange #7
- Deadpool: Last Days of Magic #1
- Doctor Strange #8-10
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| Title & Issue Number | Synopsis & First Appearances |
| Doctor Strange #3 (tie-in) | Central Park becomes infested with Een’Gawori – floating magic-eating slugs, which Doctor Strange returns to their native Fandazar Foo. While he’s there, Strange discovers someone is killing Sorcerers Supreme… |
| Doctor Strange #4 (tie-in) | At the Bar With No Doors, Doctor Strange tells his magical allies he’s discovered the bodies of 17 Sorcerers Supreme. He heads to the Temple of Watoomb which he finds drained of magic and is attacked by a machine that disrupts magic. The Empirikal are here. Back at the Sanctum Sanctorum, librarian Zelma Stanton watches as Strange’s books start dying… |
| Doctor Strange #5 (tie-in) | Wong heads to the Himalayas to unleash his Secret Disciples of Doctor Strange (also referred to as the Secret Defenders) on the Empirikal as they begin their attack on all sites of magical significance on Earth. Strange almost kills himself using Atlantean black magic to shut down the initial Empirikal attack, but they’re only getting started… |
| Doctor Strange #6[1/2] | Doctor Strange #6[1/2] Magical beings, places and artefacts across planet Earth fall prey to the Empirikul assault. Doctor Strange gives his all to fend off the Lord Imperator and save magic, but it’s not enough. The Imperator stands over Strange and rips his cloak apart… |
| Doctor Strange #6[2/2] | Around the world, even those who only use a small amount of magic fall after the death of magic. All magic is gone. |
| Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic #1 | The Empirikul’s Inquisitors hunt down magic users. El Médico Místico fends them off in New Mexico. Doctor Voodoo appears to die from the Eyebots blasts, but escapes using Pym Particles. Mahatma Doom & Professor Xu convince their cloned enemies to meditate rather than fight. In Hong Kong, the Wu – aka Detective Alice Gulliver, daughter of the August Wu of the Coral Shore – is about to arrest crimelord Dow Fat when Eyebots attack. They successfully clash with Count Kaoz in Egypt. Ultimately, all the mages are captured. |
| Title & Issue Number | Synopsis & First Appearances |
| Doctor Strange #7 | The Lord Imperator is revealed to be the son of Lord Hieronymus Hellgore of Tentacle Hill, a heretical otherdimensional scientist. His parents were killed by the Blood Monks of his realm for relying on technology rather than magic. The Monks intended taking the child for their master, Shuma-Gorath, but was saved by his father’s Eyebots instead. As an adult, the Lord Imperator swore vengeance on magic-users. In the present, the Inquisitor prepares to burn the captured magic users. Monako sacrifices his life to magically help Strange and his friends escape. When the Eyebots enter Strange’s houses, Zelma Stanton makes the mistake of escaping to the cellar… |
| Deadpool: Last Days of Magic #1 | Deadpool, Necromancer (Michael Hawthorne) & Doctor Voodoo head to Monster Metropolis when the Eyebots attack the underground city. Shiklah leads the inhabitants to the catacombs beneath Monster Metropolis while her husband faces the Lord Imperator’s Spell-Eater. Michael casts a spell to destroy the machine, but it consumes him too. With Michael gone, the ghost of Benjamin Franklin also departs while warning of dark days ahead for Deadpool. Daphne Plepler curses Deadpool for Michael’s death. |
| Doctor Strange #8 | Doctor Strange, Médico Místico, the Scarlet Witch & Talisman searche for magical artefacts, pursued by Witchfinder Wolves. Zelma Stanton and Wong escape the Eyebots with the last remaining books from the Sanctum Sanctorum. The Eyebots head into Strange’s cellar and are confronted by a monster made of pain and suffering… |
| Doctor Strange #9 | In Tibet, Doctor Strange and Doctor Voodoo obtain the skull of the Ancient One. In the Sanctum’s cellar, the Lord Imperator faces the creature. Strange arrives in the Himalayas and disbands the Secret Disciples of Doctor Strange that Wong assembled to give up their life force to keep the Sorcerer Supreme alive. Strange & his allies teleport in and assault the Eyebots with the few magical items they managed to locate.. |
| Doctor Strange #10 | Doctor Strange enters the Sanctum Sanctorum to face the Lord Imperator. Their fight is interrupted when Strange is introduced to his ‘son’ – the Thing in the Cellar made of years of his extracted magical pain. It agrees to help Doctor Strange and becomes his armour. Strange hurls the ground-up skull of the Ancient One at the Lord Imperator and punches him with magic. Wong’s Secret Disciples and the others Strange has helped magically absorb his pain, allowing him to win the fight and lock the Lord Imperator in the cellar. But the magic is still near-dead… |
| Title, Issue Number & Synopsis | Event / Crossover |
| Doctor Strange #11 (2016) The disbanding of the Secret Disciples of Doctor Strange in confirmed; Strange struggles with his lack of magic; Zelma Stanton finds the few spells in Strange’s library that still work while Strange begins accumulating spells again. | |
| Scarlet Witch #7 (2016) The Scarlet Witch and the Wu take down the Triads’ Dark Tongji. | |
| Doctor Strange Annual #1 (2016) Clea returns to undo the mystical bonds that still link her and Doctor Strange, even though they’re already divorced; Clea did defend the Dark Dimension from the Eyebots, but she doesn’t tell Strange this when he questions her absence during the war with the Empirikal. | |
| Doctor Strange/The Punisher: Magic Bullets #5 (2017) It’s revealed that the Empirikal found the Phantom Eagle’s magic plane in the Savage Land; the Eyebots attacked the Phantom Eagle, but his place escaped. | |
| Doctor Strange #12-16 (2016-2017) ‘The Thing in the Cellar’ returns, renaming itself Mister Misery and possessing Wong; Dormammu and Baron Mordo attempt to take advantage of Doctor Strange’s apparent weakness in an attempt to kill him; Strange begins rebuilding the Sanctum Sanctorum. | MARVEL NOW! |
| Doctor Strange #17-19 (2017) Doctor Strange frees Wong from Mister Misery’s control and absorbs the creature into himself; Strange later vomits Mister Misery into his toilet and he reconstitutes in the sewers. | |
| Deadpool #28-30 (2017) The ‘dark days’ Benjamin Franklin warns Deadpool about are likely the termination of his marriage to Shiklah and her marriage to Dracula; Benjamin Franklin’s ghost returns to inspire the citizens of Monster Metropolis and the Mercs for Money to overcome Dracula’s vampire horde. | TIL DEATH DO US… |
| Doctor Strange #20 (2017) Zelma Stanton becomes Doctor Strange’s disciple. | |
| Doctor Strange #381-385 (2018) Loki takes advantage of Doctor Strange’s reduced magical ability to steal his role of Sorcerer Supreme; Loki restores magic on Earth and returns to the title of Socrerer Supreme to Strange. | MARVEL LEGACY |
| Strange Academy Presents: The Death of Doctor Strange #1 (2022) Mister Misery hides in Calvin Morse’s jacket. | THE DEATH OF DOCTOR STRANGE |
| Strange Academy #11-12 (2021) Mister Misery possesses Calvin Morse; Despair overloads Mister Misery with all the suffering in existence to free Calvin; Despair devours Mister Misery. | |
| Strange Academy #13 (2022) The Imperator tries to convince Emily Bright to free him from the Sanctum Sanctorum’s cellar; instead, Emily grants the Imperator the Stone of Shackles so he can live a more peaceful imprisonment. |
Reading Order ©OmniverseComicsGuide 2023