George R.R. Martin: Multiverse of Madness “woke the sleeping Marvel fanboy in me”

Earlier this year, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took dimension-hopping within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to new levels of wackiness. It was an action-packed ride from beginning to end, blending together action, hero and old-fashioned super heroics. In his latest blog post, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin finally caught up to the rest of the Marvel faithful and raved about it.

Martin has always been a fan of superheroes, even writing a couple of stories about them himself. He is the co-editor of Wild Cards, an anthology series of superhero stories. In his youth, he was a self-declared Marvel fanboy, with his favorite character being Doctor Stephen Strange. “And this version of Dr. Strange, slipping through portals into surreal dimensions full of floaty things and alternate realities, was the Doctor I fell in love with, way way way back when world was young (and so was I),” he wrote.

He especially liked that post-credits scene. “They even gave us CLEA! I love Clea!” Martin declares that Multiverse of Madness “woke the sleeping Marvel fanboy in me, and that was a joy.”

George R.R. Martin remembers attending the first-ever Comic-Con

These days, Comic-Con events are all the rage. They pop up everywhere, attracting some of the biggest names in geek culture and featuring some of the best cosplays you’ll ever see. Comic-Cons date all the way back to 1964, and funnily enough, 15-year-old George R.R. Martin was in attendance at the very first.

What was it like? Well, it didn’t feature all the bells and whistles they have today:

"Seeing this movie brought back a cherished memory, of the day I attended the world’s first comicon, in 1964 in Greenwich Village.  I was fifteen years old.   The whole con was held in one small room in some sort of union hall, with hucksters selling old comics from cardboard boxes along one wall, and the speakers at a podium in the front."

Despite the quaintness of the event, some big names from the comics industry turned up. “Fabulous Flo Steinberg turned up.. and so did Steve Ditko,” Martin wrote. “It might well have been the only comicon he ever attended… but I got to talk to him, and tell him how much I loved his art. Especially on Dr. Strange. Ditko was reserved, maybe a bit shy, but genial enough.”

Throughout his career, Ditko worked comics featuring some of the most popular superheroes of all time, but he and Martin had something in common. “He told me that Dr. Strange was his favorite as well. Yes, even more than Spider-Man.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently streaming on Disney+. Later this month, George R.R. Martin will attend the House of the Dragon panel at SDCC!

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