Following yesterday’s teaser, Marvel Comics have announced a new ongoing series in March 2020 entitled “Strange Academy,” by writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos. According to the Associated Press, the comic book is set in a New Orleans school for students who have magic-based powers, with mystical Marvel mainstays like Doctor Strange, Brother Voodoo, and the Scarlet Witch teaching at the Strange Academy.
The New Orleans setting is influential in Young and Ramos’s development of the series. In the original pitch, Young planned to set “Strange Academy” in New York City, however, after celebrating his 40th birthday in New Orleans, Young decided to utilize the rich background New Orleans has with mysticism. He said, “It just kind of occured to me that there’s a nice history and folklore of magic and the mystic arts and the dark arts and things like that that kind of surround the mythos of New Orleans.”
At the heart of “Strange Academy” however, are the variety of characters, both new and old, and their coming-of-age stories as they navigate the school and their own paths in the Marvel Universe. At the center of the book are Emily Bright, Doyle Dormammu (the illegitimate son of Strange’s nemesis), and their cohort of new characters who come from Earth, Weirdworld, Asgard, the Dark Dimension, and beyond.
Young says the intention of “Strange Academy” is to “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’s kids running around mazes or kids at a magic school or people running around trying to survive a post-apocalyptic landscape.”
In addition to the press release, Marvel uploaded a video with Skottie Young promoting “Strange Academy” with interior art.
“Strange Academy” #1 is set to debut in March 2020.
