Warning: spoilers ahead for Strange Academy #12!
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange villain Mister Misery is revealed to still be alive, having possessed one of the Sorcerer Supreme's students, Calvin Morse. While Calvin's classmates are doing all that they can to save him, the Academy's Mindless Ones offer their in the fight, which is where a discovery is made about their true nature in the Marvel Universe.
In Doctor Strange #12 from writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos, Calvin Morse's supernatural jacket was revealed to actually be Mister Misery, the monstrous entity created by Doctor Strange to pay the toll for his magic. Feeding off of Calvin's despair and seeking more to consume, Misery completely possessed Calvin and began to attack the academy, leading to Calvin's fellow classmates scrambling for a plan to try and save their friend. However, the Mindless One set to work defending the school as well, and it was here that Dormammu's true darkness is revealed.
As Mister Misery began feeding off the Mindless Ones, it was revealed that they're not actually soulless. Apparently, the longstanding drones of Dormamu and his Dark Dimension still possess a wellspring of terrible torment and despair, existing as a massive buffet for Mister Misery in this new issue. However, this is a fairly dark revelation in the grander scope of the Marvel Universe at large. For example, Dormammu is currently attacking the cosmos in 'The Last Annihilation,' keeping the Guardians of the Galaxy incredibly busy by sending wave after wave of his Mindless Ones to corrupt and conquer the galaxy.
The fact that a being comprised of misery is surprised by the levels of torment and despair the Mindless Ones possess is tragically dark. Despite the vast majority having no choice but to follow Dormammu's commands, the Mindless Ones are beings of despair, meaning they aren't emotionless drones as has long been implied. While past comics have gone as far as to show Mindless Ones with empty thought balloons to communicate their lack of sentience, it turns out that their awareness is merely buried deep within them. The sheer number of the creatures Dormammu has unleashed makes this so much worse - what fans thought of as an army of automatons are instead a suffering legion kept in bondage.
This new discovery about Doctor Strange's chief nemesis makes Dormammu much darker than he already was, which is saying something. Thankfully, the issue ends with the students and Mindless Ones overloading Mister Misery with so much torment and despair that he is forced to release Calvin before being consumed himself by Dessy (who is likewise a demonic being full of torment and despair). But despite this victory, Dormammu's army of Mindless Ones continues to spill into the galaxy, and now fans know that while Doctor Strange has been able to stop the Lord of the Dark Dimension harming humanity, that hasn't done anything to fix the unyielding torment of his legion of following.
