With Krakoa occupying all of Charles Xavier’s time, there’s currently a shortage of schools for gifted youngsters in the Marvel Universe. That’s about to change, though, as Marvel has announced Strange Academy, a new ongoing series from writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos. The series will focus on the students and teachers at a New Orleans-based school for magic opened by Stephen Strange.
According to Marvel, a pair of new characters, Emily Bright and Doyle Dormammu, will be at the center of the new series, which will also feature familiar magic-based Marvel characters like Magik, Brother Voodoo, and Scarlet Witch as instructors at the school. The premise has a very Harry Potter feel to it, and in a statement Young alludes to that series, as well as The Maze Runner, without naming them outright:
“What we’re really trying to do is tell those classic coming of age stories that we’ve seen in so many other properties or other projects out there in the world whether it be TV or film or novels or comics,” Young told the AP. “Whether it’s kids running around mazes or kids at a magic school or people running around trying to survive a post-apocalyptic landscape.”
Marvel has also produced a trailer video for the series, featuring Young talking about the title and showing off some of Ramos’s interior art for the series:
For as much as it sounds like it owes to Harry Potter, Strange Academy also reminds me of a cross between DC’s cult hit Gotham Academy series and Tiny Toon Adventures, with classic characters acting as instructors for a new generation of characters.
Check out a few preview pages for the series, as well as the full text of Marvel’s announcement, below. Strange Academy #1 is due out in comic shops and digitally in March 2020.
New York, NY – December 5, 2019 – Through its history, the Marvel Universe has seen magic rise and fall to warp minds, control the future, and even destroy the very fabric of reality. Now, magic has changed and is more powerful – and dangerous – than ever, and Doctor Strange is forced to do what he’s avoided for decades: he’s opened a school for young sorcerers…but as they will soon learn, magic always comes at a cost. Welcome to STRANGE ACADEMY!
Announced by the Associated Press, STRANGE ACADEMY will launch this March as a new ongoing series helmed by best-selling comic book veterans: Eisner Award-winning writer Skottie Young (Deadpool, Rocket Raccoon) and critically acclaimed artist Humberto Ramos (Amazing Spider-Man, Champions). The new series will bring together a whole new class of students from Earth, Weirdworld, Asgard, the Dark Dimension, and beyond to learn how to control their gifts in the Mystic Arts under Doctor Strange, Brother Voodoo, The Ancient One, Scarlet Witch, Magik, Hellstrom, and all of Marvel’s most iconic magicians. But with a new threat looming on the horizon, is it too late?
“What we’re really trying to do is tell those classic coming of age stories that we’ve seen in so many other properties or other projects out there in the world whether it be TV or film or novels or comics,” Young told the AP. “Whether it’s kids running around mazes or kids at a magic school or people running around trying to survive a post-apocalyptic landscape.”
“Over a year ago, I was driving Skottie down from the airport in Mexico, and out of the blue, he asked me what I wanted to do after working on Spider-Man,” said Ramos. “He began to pitch me on an incredible project for the rest of the weekend…and I’m excited to now say that project is STRANGE ACADEMY! Like all great stories, they all start with an idea…and this idea blew me away. We can’t share too much yet, but if you stick around, you’ll get to experience magic like you’ve never seen before in the Marvel Universe. Welcome to Strange Academy! Man, I love the first day of school!”
STRANGE ACADEMY will center on Emily Bright (a girl who discovered magical powers since birth), Doyle Dormammu (the illegitimate son of the Dark Dimension’s ruler), and their new classmates as mysteries begin to unfold not just for the students at the school, but for the entire Marvel Universe. With a new cast rooted in Marvel’s history and fan-favorite characters, this series will be the perfect introduction for both fans just diving into comics and for fans who have been following Marvel for years.
Set in the mystical backdrop of New Orleans, The Big Easy will play a pivotal role in STRANGE ACADEMY with its rich local culture and innate magic of the French Quarter, the Bayou, the Swamps, and more. To capture the essence of STRANGE ACADEMY, Young and Ramos conducted their research firsthand.
“There’s a nice history and folklore about magic and the mystic arts and the dark arts and things like that that kind of surround the mythos of New Orleans,” said Young. “Having just gone there myself for my 40th, I thought that would be a great place to set it.”
For more information about STRANGE ACADEMY, check out the video below and stay tuned at Marvel.com for more updates!
Cant wait for this series but wait for this series I’m so psyched but who is the Asgardian plus I hope ither magic marvel chatacters show up like Black Crow Ian McNee Agatha Harkness and her relative Abigail Harkness plus Kyllian Boddicker aka Wildpride and his nature magic with elemental tattoos like earth water air fire light electricity and magnetism.
It’s sad Marvel has forgotten that the school concept was originally the X-Men’s main concept (the school for gifted youngsters). The X-Men school was more meaningful, had more depth: mutants are hated, inexperienced in their powers, have had trauma. But then Marvel gave the school concept to the Avengers and now this. These days, Marvel’s main concepts are interchangeable, they’re diluted and lost their meaning.
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