Apparently, Marvel attempted to recreate a J. Jonah Jameson-type reporter hellbent on exposing Doctor Strange.
Marvel has created an amazing feat in the form of Spiderman– Jameson rivalry. The sweet and sour bond that the duo share has received immense love and appreciation from fans and gained a lot of popularity. Since Peter Parker first appeared as the friendly neighborhood Spiderman, everyone had a mixed opinion about him. While some believed him to be a good-hearted soul, determined to help everyone, others believed that he had evil intentions and was secretly working as a villain.
There was only one person who had an absolute opinion about the hero. J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of The Daily Bugle (one of the largest newspapers in New York City), was absolutely sure from the start the young hero was in-fact a villain in disguise. Therefore, he was determined to take him down and waged a one-man war on the wall-crawling hero. He repeatedly covered the exploits of Spiderman and portrayed him as the problem. With the duo’s relationship being massively successful, Marvel once attempted to recreate the bond with a different hero and a different reporter. This new hero was none other than the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange and the reporter’s name was Jack Starrett.
The Reporter And The News
Just like J. Jonah Jameson, Jack Starrett is also the publisher of a renowned newspaper company, the New York Daily Globe. The name of Starrett’s newspaper has been inspired from real life from the famous newspaper The New York Post which focuses on popular and sensational news of the outside world. And just like J. Jonah Jameson, Starrett was also keen on ruining the reputation of dr. strange in the 45th issue of the Doctor Strange series. The issue features a series of horrible murders that took place near dr. Strange’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.
Noticing the link between the location of the murder and Stange’s residence, Starrett quickly seizes this opportunity and declares dr. Strange guilty. Seeing his name being dragged through the dirt, Strange gets infuriated and decides to pay Starrett a visit. Upon meeting him, Strange threatens to file lawsuits against him while demanding an answer for his actions. Surprisingly, popularity and profit along with a strong sense of justice were the lead causes that drove Starrett to put the blame on the hero. However, going further into the investigation, Starrett follows Strange and runs into a demonic attack which ultimately ends up in Strange saving his life.
This was a turning point in the story and we witness a change of heart for Starrett who starts to understand Strange’s good intentions after witnessing him in action. Starrett then gives up on defaming the hero and starts following other popular stories. The peaceful happy ending is something that never happened between Spidey and Jameson except the one time Jameson turned from exposing Spidey to exposing Black Widow. But that didn’t last long and after only 6 issues or so, Jameson was back to ruin Peter’s life. Let’s just hope this awkward relationship continues without causing much
