DC Just Confirmed Who Their Version of Doctor Strange Is, And It’s Not Who You Think

Marvel and DC Comics announcing that they were finally going to start doing crossovers again was huge news, and it’s led to some pretty amazing books. Marvel’s Deadpool/Batman was a cool crossover comic, with an entertaining main story and some great back-ups from the House of Ideas’ best. Batman/Deadpool was the DC one, and it is fantastic. The main story is much better than Marvel one (although when you have one written by Grant Morrison and the other by Zeb Wells, it’s easy to pick which is going to be better), and it has some spectacular back-ups, including one that finally puts to rest the question of who’s DC’s Sorcerer Supreme is.

There are numerous candidates in the DC Universe for who could be Doctor Strange’s colleague, and the one chosen is obviously pretty surprising: John Constantine. While John has always been a popular character, he’s not the first person anyone would think of when it comes to who DC’s head magician is. However, even when you compare him to some of the other magical bigwigs from DC, it makes sense. The others are great magical heroes, but he’s the one who fits the job title better than any of the others.

John Constantine Is Always at the Forefront of Magic, Even if It Doesn’t Seem that Way

John Constantine has always been one of comics’ top horror heroes, and he’s earned one of the most negative reputations because of the way he does his work. John isn’t about mastering all the magic so he has a spell for anything; John is all about outsmarting the forces of darkness and making the hard choices. If you look at the history of the Justice League, there’s two magical heroes who seem like they would be better candidates for DC”s Sorcerer Supreme: Zatanna and Doctor Fate.

They are both magical heroes in the Doctor Strange mold. Both of them use big, flashy magic spells and fight it out with the forces of evil. They have mastered numerous kinds of magic and wear costumes. Fate even has his own magical base full of spell books, and carries several objects of power. It seems like whenever there’s a magical kerfuffle, they’re involved. However, even taking into account how much sense it makes that they could be DC’s Sorcerer Supreme, John Constantine is the one who does the hardest work.

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The Sorcerer Supreme isn’t just the most powerful magic user around, they’re also the one who protects the mundane world from threats from other dimensions. Constantine is the one who does that. Even going back to his first appearance in “American Gothic”, one of DC’s best ’80s comics, he’s recruiting people to stop the personification of nothing to protect the universe. If you look at Books of Magic, he brings together the Trenchcoat Brigade to decide Tim’s fate (also, every magical villain backs off instead of fighting him, showing how feared he is in the magic community). Hellblazer saw him dealing with numerous threats from other dimensions, and he’s been integral to Justice League Dark.

John is the one who does the job. Sure, Zatanna and Doctor Fate do their part, but even they run when Constantine comes a-calling. He’s not only the main protector of the mundane world, he’s also the leader. He’s the one who hears about the threats first and he’s the one who brings the others together. He’s always right there, at the forefront, which is a huge part of being Sorcerer Supreme; “supreme” doesn’t just mean the most powerful, it means the leader. John Constantine is the chief defender of the world from the worst magical threats and he’s the leader of the magic users.

John Constantine Is an Excellent Sorcerer Supreme

Batman/Deadpool #1 is an amazing comic. Its main story is one of the best things I’ve read all year, and the Doctor Strange/John Constantine story is basically perfect. It even goes out of its way to illustrate the difference between the horror sides of DC and Marvel, making the argument that Marvel horror comics are silly and childish, while DC ones are more serious. While this idea was almost certainly meant to be tongue in cheek, there is some truth to it, which is why it seems so weird for John Constantine to be DC’s Sorcerer Supreme — he;s the poster boy for DC horror comics. However, the more you look at it, the more sense it makes.

John is a powerful magic user; he’s mastered the ins and outs of the magic of his universe. He’s the one who stands between the everyday world and those magical predators that would devour reality. He’s usually one of the first to spot a threat coming, and if he can’t deal with it on his own, he always brings in others to help. All three of these are requisites to being the Sorcerer Supreme, and he fits them all better than anyone else. John Constantine doesn’t look the part, but he’s the guy you want in the lead of magical situations, just like Doctor Strange.

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