Who needs Mephisto when you have the Illuminati

I missed a very important Strange Occasion this week. Considering how much I like to go on about the connection between Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, you would think that the new issue of Amazing Spider-Man would be the first place I looked, especially since the One Moment in Time event is bound to involve magic on a universal scale. Of course, I didn’t even crack the cover when looking the other day. This proved to be a mistake as Doctor Strange has a fairly prominent role in this book.

I am sure you have heard of how there was going to be some sort of revelation about the Illuminati and some really horrible thing they did, even worse than what they did to the Hulk. This appears to be the start of it.

After Aunt May escapes death through the power of love (no, really), Mary Jane is attacked by a crony of the Kingpin and suffers a pretty nasty head wound. Who else but Doctor Strange to help heal her? Of course, Peter has an ulterior motive, and Strange knows it. They never outright say it in the comic, but I think the Deal with the Devil is about to be made, with Strange playing the role of Mephisto. Of course, Strange can’t do anything without consulting his peers in the Illuminati first, and we are left with this foreboding image:

I know that Doctor Strange fans in particular will love the astral Cloak of Levitation, and it makes me laugh that in all the things wrong with this situation that is the one I latched on to.

As an added bonus, both because I am doing a missed occasion and because I recently confessed my love of Deadpool, here is one from before I started Strange Occasions. It is from the background of the cover to Prelude to Deadpool Corps #4. Where else are you going to see Dormammu and the Doctor palling around at a go-kart race with Scarlet Witch and Man-Thing?