Best of "What If...?": #13

Volume 2 #83 (1996)
What if Daredevil was the disciple of Doctor Strange?

Written by Ian Edginton and Mike Baron
Drawn by Rafael Kayanan

Years ago, surgeon Stephen Strange wrecked his car and ruined his hands. Hoping that he might be healed, he sought out not the Ancient One but the Chaste, and he learned from them arts martial rather than mystical.

Years ago, teenager Matt Murdock lost first his sight and then his father. When he located this troubled youth, Strange found both his first pupil and his final patient.

Tonight, Strange descends upon a high-rise rooftop amidst a shower of shuriken. The ninja clan known as the Hand have lured the doctor out of his dojo.

“My hands, which used to operate on human flesh with the greatest delicacy, are now fit only for killing. [They] have been broken and reset, broken and reset. So I use them to break this Hand… to atone for a sin I can never outlive… as long as he lives.”

“He” is Daredevil: Strange’s greatest disciple become his greatest enemy…

Best of "What If...?": #23

Volume 1 #40 (1983)
What if Dr Strange had never become Master of the Mystic Arts?

Written by Peter Gillis
Drawn by Butch Guice

Prior to the debut of modern superheroes, our planet had but one great protector: the legendary Ancient One. For years, this wizened mage groomed a man named Mordo to succeed him as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. One day, however, a more promising pupil named Stephen Strange arrived on the Ancient One’s doorstep.

Despite his efforts to the contrary, Mordo shortly found his inheritance snatched away from him. But if he had proved himself worthy to the Ancient One sooner, Mordo might have secured his place such that none could have unseated him.

In a universe not so different from our own, Mordo accomplishes this and more, in time growing so confident that he decides to hunt the Ancient One’s most powerful nemesis: the dread Dormammu. Aware that he shall never surmount the Lord of Chaos in a battle of mystical might, Mordo defeats Dormammu by a trick.

“Begone, wretch! You have earned your world’s freedom-- but also my undying hatred! BEWARE!”

Although Dormammu promises never again to invade Earth’s dimension, he places no limits on the pawns that he might deploy in order to exact revenge. One such unwitting ally just so happens to be Stephen Strange…