In this series we spotlight comic book stories that are likely best left forgotten. Here is an archive of past installments.

Today we take a look at how Doctor Strange temporarily got a new origin that was seemingly "inspired" by Neo's origin from the Matrix.

As I've detailed in the past, I think Doctor Strange has one of the greatest origins of all-time.

Here is what Steve Ditko and Stan Lee came up with for Strange...

First, you very quickly establish a damaged guy and slowly give him both a quest and a chance at redemption...

And then you have Mordo use magic to keep Strange from warning the Ancient One, forcing Strange to make a heroic choice...

Amazing work.

So when J. Michael Straczynski announced plans to do a new origin for Strange, I was skeptical, but I figured, eh, who knows, maybe it'll be good. It was not.

Read on to see how Straczynski basically just gave Strange Neo's origin from The Matrix...

First off, a quick refresher on Neo from the Matrix.

So Neo is a hacker who learns from the mysterious Morpheus that he is living a lie, that the world around him is really just a computer program created by some bad guys. Neo agrees to join Morpheus, as well as Morpheus' agent, Trinity. Trinity and Neo flirt over whether he is really "the one," the person who is prophesied to be able to transcend the computer program ("the matrix"). In the end, after some doubts over whether he really IS "the one," Neo proves himself to Trinity and Morpheus by accepting his destiny. The ability to mess with the matrix is demonstrated by slow motion fighting.

Okay, on to Strange, which was written by Straczynski and Samm Barnes and was drawn by Brandon Peterson.

Stephen Strange was doing charity work in Tibet (where he meets a young man named Wong) but eventually gives up his charitable goals to become a rich and famous doctor. He then gets into a skiing accident that ruins his hands. He then spends his whole fortune trying to find a cure for his hand injury. He eventually meets Clea, an agent for "The Ancient One," who reveals to Stephen that Stephen was chosen a long time ago...

After the meeting, Stephen can now see the world for what it is...

He meets up again with Clea (who has dark hair in the comics just like Trinity in the Matrix)...

As they discuss things, his best friend comes to visit Stephen, and we learn that his friend is really an agent of evil...

Yes, there is even slow motion fighting in the comic!

So Stephen and Clea escape and Stephen agrees to be taught by the Ancient One. But then the Ancient One's servant, Baron Mordo, betrays his master to the Dread Dormammu. Stephen and Clea fight back and she tells him that she DOES believe that he is "the one" (they even say "the one" in the comic!)...

and then Stephen embraces his destiny as "the one"...

So they defeat the bad guys and then Clea takes the Ancient One away to heal, leaving Stephen and Wong to take up residency in New York and thus, Doctor Strange is born...

Now, in general, the mini-series isn't a bad comic book story, exactly. I like Brandon Peterson's artwork and the story wasn't BAD. However, even forgetting just how oddly similar it is to the Matrix, how does it improve on Ditko and Lee's origin at ALL? How does it make it better for Strange to be DESTINED to be the Sorcecror Supreme versus him deciding it on his own as an example of a flawed man becoming a great man? Similarly, why does Strange need to have his edges worn down? How does it help the story for Stephen to be a charitable, nice guy right from the beginning and not a jerk who changes his stripes? Doesn't the latter present a more compelling story than the former?

I just don't think that the new origin improves on the old one at all, so I am glad that other writers pretty much ignored this new origin wholesale.

If you have a suggestion for a comic book plot that is best off forgotten, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com.