While Doctor Strange is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, he still has his weaknesses - and none other than Stan Lee himself revealed the Sorcerer Supreme's strangest flaw. The magician regularly butts heads with otherworldly creatures and multiversal threats such as Nightmare and Dormammu. But in Stan Lee Meets Doctor Strange, Doctor Strange meets his most fearsome foe: crippling debt.
The Stan Lee Meets...series is a comedy series about the adventures of Marvel's most famous writer as he travels throughout the universe, meeting his creations and embarking on (very) tongue-in-cheek adventures. Stan Lee Meets the Silver Surfer involves Galactus sending Lee on a mission to stop the Surfer's rampant philosophical musings during the heat of battle. Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man contains a pages-long diatribe from Peter Parker to his creator concerning his endless misery and difficulties in being the world-famous webslinger.
Doctor Strange's tale begins in a similar fashion, with Stan Lee paying a visit to his friend at the famous Sanctum Sanctorum. Lee is stunned to find a gift shop inside the sanctum, complete with merchandise and a sign charging guests money for guided tours, incantations, and other magical spells. When he finally finds Strange upstairs, the Sorcerer Supreme is levitating and filing his taxes. The changing economy has hit Strange particularly hard. "Prices keep going up. Rent, gasoline, amulets. And don't even ask what it costs to dry-clean a Cloak of Levitation."
Strange's money troubles endanger more than his spacious living space. As the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange must periodically leave his body to enter the Astral Plane - but when Wong has tickets to the Yankees game, Strange must hire a rent-a-cop to guard his physical body from magical enemies. Thus, if Strange doesn't pay his bodyguard, he could be left vulnerable and actually die.
Little would Stan Lee know that just two years after the publication of the comic, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis would economically impact many, including those living in New York City. Stephen Strange is a medical doctor, but his duties as the Sorcerer Supreme usually keep him from practicing on a regular basis - which also cuts him off from his primary source of income. Doctor Strange, far from being massively powerful, is exactly like the rest of us - highly susceptible to the ever-rising costs of living.