Cover: Humberto Ramos

Strange Academy #3

Nov 2020 · Marvel · 3.99 USD

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About this Issue

Strange Academy #3 is the book that sharpens the emotional and narrative spine of the entire Strange Academy series: it delivers the first cameo appearance of the Hollow, the ancient order of tree-like magical zealots who become the series' central antagonistic force, and it uses Doyle Dormammu's fortune-reading in New Orleans to plant the long-burning fuse of his dark destiny — a vision of him destroying the Academy and standing over a fallen classmate — that the creative team would pay off across multiple subsequent arcs. More broadly, the issue establishes the series' coming-of-age DNA by centering a young character who carries the literal essence of one of Marvel's most feared villains, yet reads as an awkward, good-natured teenager, forcing readers to reckon with the tension between lineage and identity. That character work, rooted in a single prophetic sequence in this issue, became the thematic engine of the whole Strange Academy run through its Finals volume and beyond.

writer Skottie Young · artist, inker Humberto Ramos · colorist Edgar Delgado · letterer VC's Clayton Cowles · cover Humberto Ramos

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $5

CGC 9.8 · 498 in census $105

CGC 9.6 · 54 in census $20

CGC 9.4 · 21 in census $20*

CGC 9.2 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 3 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The Strange Academy series was conceived when writer Skottie Young pitched the concept to artist Humberto Ramos during a conversation in Mexico, with Young drawing explicitly on his affection for coming-of-age ensemble stories and singling out Generation X (1994) as a touchstone. The New Orleans setting was chosen after Young brought Marvel's editorial team — executive editor Nick Lowe and assistant editors Danny Khazem and Kathleen Wisneski — on a research trip through the French Quarter, including visits to a Voodoo museum and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, all of which fed directly into the series' visual and tonal identity. Issue #3, released September 30, 2020 (with a November 2020 cover date), was pencilled, inked, and cover-drawn by Ramos, colored by Edgar Delgado, and lettered by Clayton Cowles — the same tight core team that handled the entire Volume 1 run.

Trivia · 8 facts

Released September 30, 2020 (cover-dated November 2020); written by Skottie Young, art and cover by Humberto Ramos, colors by Edgar Delgado, letters by Clayton Cowles.
Contains the first cameo (unnamed) appearance of the Hollow — an ancient order of magical zealots resembling anthropomorphic trees — whose full team appearance followed one issue later in Strange Academy #4.
Doyle Dormammu, the illegitimate/infused son of Dormammu (first introduced in Strange Academy #1), receives a fortune-reading in New Orleans that shows a vision of him destroying the Academy, with a dead classmate and his fellow students under attack — the pivotal foreshadowing that drives his entire character arc through the series.
Doyle Dormammu was created by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos, debuting in Strange Academy #1 (March 2020); this issue is his second full appearance and the first issue to meaningfully develop his internal conflict between his demonic heritage and his own identity.
The issue features first appearances of supporting character Ms. Hazel and marks the continued ensemble appearances of the full Strange Academy student body introduced in issue #1, including Emily Bright, Shaylee Moonpeddle, Zoe Laveau, German Aguilar, Gus, Toth, Dessy, the Brorson twins, and Calvin Morse.
Dormammu and Nightmare appear in this issue only as visions or hallucinations — neither is physically present — underscoring how the series uses horror-inflected imagery within what is otherwise a coming-of-age school story.
The series was connected to Marvel's broader mystical publishing line from launch, with preview pages appearing in Thor #2, Ravencroft #1, Doctor Strange #2, and Avengers #30 in January 2020.
A Strange Academy TV series was reported in development for Disney+ as of December 2024, which raises the narrative significance of character-defining issues like #3 for potential screen adaptation groundwork.