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Vortex Corp and Comic Con Africa are proud to announce the second edition of VX Art Tournament – the largest digital art tournament in Africa! With the same ambition of celebrating African digital artists, for 2021 we aim to touch even more talent across the continent and globe through our 100% digital experience. 

The official call out is September 1st – 22nd, 2021 and the Top 10 winners will be revealed on October 23, 2021. The tournament is open to African artists, at home and abroad with no specifications on skill level. The submissions must be delivered in a timely manner, contain original artwork, and free of plagiarism. 

The theme this year is “RESILIENCE.” 

During each round of the tournament, the selected qualifiers must successfully complete their task and win over the judges, in order to move onto the next round. And the Top 20 qualifiers will need to create a new piece of artwork, based on a theme chosen by judges for the final decision on WHO WILL HOLD THE GOLDEN PEN! These judging sessions will be live on Facebook and YouTube.

The top prizes include an all-expense trip to Comic-Con South Africa, commissioned contracts, cash prizes, tablets, and software. 

It will be moderated by Bill Masuku, a Nommo Award-nominated comic book artist and writer from Harare, Zimbabwe. Creator of comics: Razor-Man, Welcome to Dead World, and Captain South Africa as well as the author of the Misfortunism book series. 

And this round of judges are from all sectors of the art and media industry: Shawna Mills (Story Artist, Marvel, Lucas Films); Lemi Ghariokwu ( Veteran Artist, Fela Kuti Music Artworks); Andy Cung (Story Artist, Netflix, Cartoon Network); Rodrigo Lorenzo (Illustrator, Boom!); and Jamie Broadnax (Founder, Black Girl Nerds). 

Vortex Corp. is a creative content and entertainment company from the heart of Africa, Nigeria, exporting African culture through visual artistry. They an integration of creative expressions which deliver high quality entertainment through comics, animation, and interactive media bridging the gap between art and technology via digital media 

Comic-Con Africa organizes events showcasing comic books and science fiction/fantasy related film, television, and similar popular arts. These exhibitions often feature a larger range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres, including animation, toys, gadgets, clothing, collectable card games, etc. 

For more on the submission guidelines visit HERE 

After much waiting (and even a very public leak) the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer has arrived. The action-packed first look at the new status quo for Spidey features a ton of villains, Easter eggs, and even some multiversal magic. But we’re here to talk about the strangest part of the trailer… Doctor Strange. We all knew he’d be playing a part in Peter’s third MCU movie, but his role is an unexpected one. Not only does Strange agree to do some dangerous magic for Peter’s personal gain, but he also creates the multiverse. It’s a lot to comprehend and it left us with one overwhelming question: was that really Doctor Strange?

Why are We Suspicious of Stephen Strange?

Marvel Studios

Let’s break it down. After Mysterio exposed Peter as Spider-Man at the end of Far From Home, the teenager’s life has been turned upside down. He’s Public Enemy #1 just like J. Jonah Jameson always wanted. Everywhere he goes he’s photographed and chased. He’s under suspicion for the murder of Mysterio and is generally having a really tough time. So he does what any teenager who knows a wizard would do: asks the wizard to fix it for him. While it seems like something Strange would never do, he embraces the idea with an unexpected aplomb. That’s just one of many things that got us thinking.

Strange is usually a serious fellow with a respect for magic that belies his arrogance. But here we find him lounging in sweats in an icy and snow-covered Sanctum Sanctorum. Naturally, that’s also very suspicious… and not only that, but the Sorcerer Supreme seems very… silly? He immediately agrees to help Peter with an out-of-character wink. “Don’t cast that spell,” Wong warns him sternly. “It’s too dangerous.”

Strange says okay, and then takes Peter straight to his weird basement to cast it anyway. There, Strange does a spell that makes everyone in the world forget Peter is Spider-Man. But Peter suddenly realizes that means MJ, Ned, and his Aunt May too. Despite the fact he’s the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange seems to struggle with Peter’s indecision and the spell goes wrong, creating the multiverse. Great job, Steve!

All of this seems incredibly out of character—add that to the fact we see Stephen pushing Peter’s soul out of his body later in the trailer—so we’re proposing that Stephen might not be Stephen at all… But if that’s the case, who is posing as Stephen, and why??

Let’s Start With the Obvious… a Skrull

Ubisoft

Look, with Secret Invasion on the way we have to put this out there as an option. Not only because the Skrulls are known shapeshifters and exist in the MCU already, but also because Spider-Man: Far From Home established that Nick Fury had been using Skrulls in place of himself while he was on vacation. So there’s already precedent for heroes utilizing their new alien allies as decoys when needed. The question is, though: could a Skrull actually use magic?

In the comics, Super-Skrulls are an elite force of Skrulls who’ve been adapted using science and magic to have superpowers themselves. This has allowed the aliens to take the place of some of Earth’s most famous heroes while also being undetectable. So if the Super-Skrulls are already on Earth, perhaps one has taken Stephen’s place?

Skrulls can range from evil missionaries to clumsy tricksters. And while whoever this is ends up causing a multiversal incident, it seems like that’s more of an accident than intentional. Maybe a Skrull with the ability to practice magic was helping Strange by pretending to be him. Or it could be that he’s been replaced by one without his knowledge while he’s out hunting Wanda. Either way, it would explain Stephen’s strange demeanor and his lack of finesse when casting Peter’s magic spell.

The More Realistic Option Is Someone Strange Chose (or Created) Himself

Marvel Comics

If we’re thinking of the most likely options, we can look back at Stephen Strange’s comic book history. Over the years the Sorcerer Supreme has often created duplicates of himself to distract villains. This spell—the Images of Ikkon—goes as far back as 1965’s Strange Tales #130. We’ve seen him do something similar during his battle with Thanos in Infinity War and against Dormammu in his first movie. So there’s a chance that Strange created a functioning duplicate here, one who’s stopping New York from seeming vulnerable while Strange is off on his mission. Though that would be quite a leap from a simple duplication spell. But Strange is incredibly powerful in the MCU so we’re not writing this one off yet.

In the comics, when Strange is off-world others would sometimes take on the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme in his stead. Although they wouldn’t take on his appearance, a version of that could be happening here. Let’s not forget the Sanctum Sanctorum’s perpetual state of winter in the trailer, which leads us to another option.

In the Marvel Universe, Canada’s most powerful magic user is Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen A.K.A. Shaman of Alpha Flight. Hailing from Calgary, Shaman is no stranger to the cold; perhaps he even prefers it. That could explain why the Sanctum is covered with frost and snow. If Shaman is impersonating Doctor Strange while the Sorcerer Supreme is off saving reality, Wong may have offered to let Shaman truly make himself at home. That might also explain why Wong tells Strange off when Peter asks him to do the spell. It’s something that doesn’t fit in with their usual banter.

Some Other Nefarious Villain Is Impersonating Strange for Their Own Gain

Marvel Comics

Because digging into weird comics history is fun, we’re also going to point out that villains LOVE to impersonate Doctor Strange. And when we say LOVE, we’re not exaggerating. Here are just a few of the bad guys who have pretended to be Stephen: Baron Mordo, Asmodeus, Rintrah, Blackheart, and Oberoth’m’gozz. Heck, even the X-Men hero Magik once pretended to be Doctor Strange. The big connector here is they are all magic characters, and it’s unlikely to be any of these except maybe Baron Mordo, although he seemed a lot less fun in Doctor Strange. It’s just important to note how often Stephen gets impersonated by other people. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot.

The Outlier—But Name You Likely Thought of First—Mephisto

Marvel Comics

Eagle-eyed comic book fans likely recognized this setup from the much-maligned One More Day / Brand New Day / One Moment in Time series of Spider-Man stories. In One More Day, Peter and Mary Jane make a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May’s life. The price they pay is that they give up their love, meaning they were never married, which plays out in Brand New Day.

During One Moment in Time, it’s also revealed that Peter made a deal with Doctor Strange to make people forget that he was Spider-Man at all. Those similarities mean that many fans might be thinking Mephisto is finally making his MCU debut in the guise of Strange. But we think that’s just another big red herring. Seeing as the MCU has Mephisto-baited us before, this seems like an outlier rather than the most likely of options.

Whatever the truth we’ll be here theorizing ’til  Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17.

Featured Image: Marvel Studios

The post Was That Really Doctor Strange in the SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Trailer? appeared first on Nerdist.

For reasons scientists might never fully understand, the most anticipated pop culture moment of the year is not a TV show nor a movie. It’s not even some new album or iPhone. It’s just a promo. One fans have been begging for and asking about. And now it has arrived. The Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer is finally—officially—here. It’s everything fans of the webbed-slinger have wanted. Almost everything that is. Because this “strange” trailer has unabashedly introduced the Multiverse to the MCU. But Marvel and Sony seem to be holding back some of the film’s greatest secrets for the next trailer. Because we still think some previous Peter Parkers might show up.

What’s a young hero with a blown cover suspected of murder to do? We would have guessed move to Europe and become Night Monkey. But it turns out Tom Holland’s despondent Peter will turn to Doctor Strange. (Stephen to those he saved the universe with… even if it definitely is weird.)

The Sorcerer Supreme’s ill-advised spell giving back Peter his secrecy will come with some major catches though. His loved ones who know he’s Spider-Man will forget about his superhero identity. Oh, and a crack in the Multiverse will open, unleashing villains from other dimensions (a.k.a. other live-action Spider-Man movies). Oops.

Sony/Marvel Studios

Okay, that spell was objectively bad for Stephen Strange, Peter Parker, their world, and every hero in the MCU. But, major counterpoint, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, baaabaaaay! So is Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin! Give it to us. Then give us all the other actors who have played Spider-Man villains. The more the merrier. You have infinite universes to work with, bring them all back. Yes, that includes Paul Giamatti’s Rhino.

Of course, the more Spider villains you have the more Spider-Mans you need. Will we get them in the next trailer or have to wait for the movie? We don’t know. We just know the next promo for this film is now the most anticipated pop culture moment of the year.

Spider-Man: No Way Home comes to theaters on December 17, 2021.

The post SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Trailer Enters the Multiverse appeared first on Nerdist.

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