Meet Marvel's first new character of 2022: Lyra Bloodstone

Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone #1 excerpt
Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone #1 excerpt (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The death of Doctor Strange has left a power vacuum inside the Marvel Universe, as the various spells he enacted to protect the Earth from magical threats fell when he did in Death of Doctor Strange #1. Since then, heroes like the Avengers and Spider-Man have attempted to step up and bridge the gap, but in January 2022 we're getting a surprise: Elsa Bloodstone.

Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone #1 cover (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

In January 12's Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone one-shot by writer Tini Howard and artist Ig Guara, Elsa is stepping up to fend off magical invaders - but to do it, she'll need to find a way to work with her villainous brother Cullen, who described himself in Avengers Undercover #2 as "a cold-blooded weapons expert who hates people and periodically transforms into a ten-ton indestructible man-eating soul beast."

"Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone is a must-read for Bloodstone fans, and a great introduction to the family for curious readers," Howard tells Newsarama. "There's even a mysterious new family member you'll get to meet right along with Elsa and Cullen, as the death of Doctor Strange breaks pacts all over the cosmos..."

Newsarama has confirmed that the "mysterious new family member" is a previously unknown sister named Lyra Bloodstone, who will make her debut in Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone. 

CHeck out this preview of Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone, and the first appearance of Lyra:

The Bloodstone family business has been monster-hunting going back to the prehistoric era, but until now Elsa and Cullen were the only two Bloodstone left alive. So the question becomes, who is she - and more importantly where has she been that even Elsa and Cullen didn't know of her existence?

David Nakayama has drawn the primary cover to Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone #1, with variant covers coming from Maria Wolf and Ig Guara (a design variant). Check them out here:

Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone #1 goes on sale on January 12.

Elsa Bloodstone joins a pool of potential successors as Earth's next Sorcerer Supreme. 

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)

Read more
Gold Tiger battles a hoard of zombies.
New Wakandan hero Gold Tiger is the latest to join Marvel's New Champions
Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #12
Gwen Stacy and Loki team-up for a cosmic adventure in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #12
The New Thunderbolts leaping into action
Marvel's New Thunderbolts* comic steals the MCU's asterisk, and the reason why is just as big of a mystery
Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood #1
Spider-Hulk, Spider-Prowler, Count Parker, and more are the latest Spider-Man variants as the Spider-Verse and Venomverse prepare to go to war
Dark Gwenpool slashing someone's head off
The original Gwen Stacy is coming back as Dark Gwenpool, a violent, Deadpool-esque mercenary with "Weapon-X abilities"
Phoenix #12
Jean Grey's "miraculous return" will solve an X-Men mystery that's been lingering for over 30 years
Latest in Comics
New Champions #4
Meet Gold Tiger, the young Wakandan hero whose origin will be revealed in New Champions #4
Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
DC June 2025 solicitations: 10 must-have comics to pre-order this month
Batman and the Jason Todd Robin leap into action.
Sweet Tooth creator Jeff Lemire revisits the early days of Batman's second Robin, Jason Todd
Marvel Rivals: Ignite #1
Marvel Rivals goes manga in a new comic from Peach Momoko and three other Japanese artists that reveals several new in-game costumes
Fantastic Four #30
Thanks to Doctor Doom, Ben Grimm is no longer the Thing and his kids don't even recognize him in Fantastic Four #30
Witcher comics Geralt
"Something for true collectors": CD Projekt CEO shares his nostalgia for the "super retro" Witcher comics that are coming out in English for the first time
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says