Writer: Mark Waid / Pencillers: Jesús Saiz with Javier Pina, Andreas Guinaldo / Pencillers: (10th Anniversary Stories) Kevin Nowlan, Jim Campbell, Butch Guice, Carlos Lopez, Daniel Acuna, Tom Palmer / Inkers: Pina, JP Mayer, Andy Owens, Roberto Poggi, Keith Champagne / Colour Artists: Saiz, Rachelle Rosenberg, Brian Reber, Campbell, Andrew Crossley, Lopez / Letterer: Cory Petit / Collects: Doctor Strange (2018) #1-#11 / TP / Marvel Comics
Review by Paul Dunne
1st April 2024 (Released: 20th December 2023)
The Pitch: Earth's Sorcerer Supreme goes intergalactic! When Stephen Strange loses his mastery of the mystic arts, Tony Stark offers a twenty-first-century solution: Search for new magic in outer space! Bizarre new spells, allies, and enemies await Strange beyond the stars as he uncovers corners and secrets of the Marvel Universe never before witnessed! But he's a little out of his element traveling the galaxy - and it shows! Before long, Strange finds himself powerless, friendless, and the prisoner of a hostile civilization. Thankfully, a new companion can lend a hand when the Super-Skrull swings by, wielding the Time Stone! But what shocking surprise is waiting for Stephen back on Earth? It's time to gear up, get serious, and build a new arsenal - because Doctor Strange has become his own worst enemy!
Of all the comic characters I dip in and out of, Doctor Strange is the one that I always regret not keeping up with, largely because whenever I read collections like this, they have a great writer on board and excellent artists doing excellent work. Dropping in like the Silver Surfer on a house on Bleeker Street to borrow a book and a cup of sugar, I find myself catching what will probably turn out to be one of the best collections all year. It starts like these things always do, with Strange flamboyant collar-deep in another dimension trying to defeat X'Axal, an elder God. I don't want to give it away, but the Doc wins this one, closing the portal opening that X'Axal was using to enter our world and doing so with his usual, arrogant flair. Seven years later, we're given a reason for that scene to exist. For every arrogance deserves comeuppance and Doctor Strange is about to be served his. Stephen Strange is about to get sick, after a fashion, as his powers begin to wax and wane, diminishing to a concerning degree, eventually fading altogether. So he does what all Marvel heroes do when there's a problem no solution on Earth can fix: he heads to space! Contacting facial hair bro Tony Stark, Strange is given a spacecraft and heads out to the great beyond, hoping to relearn magic from distant worlds. It's a great set-up and I'll be honest, it's not the one I expected when I picked up the book.
There are shades of the Alan Moore story 'The Jungle Line', which I'm sure most of you would have read in the 'Whatever Happened to The Man Of Tomorrow' collection. In that, Superman is exposed to an ancient Kryptonian fauna and begins to lose his powers, and eventually, his mind. Waid writes with that same fable-esque poetry Moore employed in a way that I'm pretty sure isn't an accident. Not crying rip-off here, just pointing out that one master can lean on another and that note of recognition can be a great pleasure for the reader. Waid puts Strange in the one place he doesn't like and isn't used to being: on the back foot as he voyages to unknown planets and meets aliens. One criticism (or one of many) you could make of the good Doctor is that his bedside manner is atrocious, full of his own talent and ability as he is, Strange is not one to hide his light under a bushel. Although his initial brush with powerlessness is a humbling experience, Strange can never really be humble and his arrogance is soon landing him in hot water with the locals on some distant planet as he turns up and practically demands to be shown their magic. Finding himself cast down to the level of slave for the rulers of an alien race, you get the sense that the worst thing about all this for Strange isn't the fact that he lost his mojo. It's the fact that had to ask for help and now is humiliated and treated as a serf. This might feel like just like desserts for the man who has everything and made the lives of nurses and fellow doctors hell as well as being the Avenger most likely to make any other hero raise their eyebrows at as he hogged the limelight, and yes, he was probably rude to wait-staff at restaurants too, but... You feel a little sorry for him, ya know?
Once he's Prisoner we get to the heart of the run: Strange meets Kanna, an Arcaneologist, who like Stephen is searching the stars for magic and magical objects. Waid really cranks things up a gear with this. In lesser hands, there would have been a supplication to the great Marvel guest appearance gods and we would have had Strange meet the Guardians of the Galaxy. But Waid keeps it low-key and although there are some recognisable House of Ideas touchstones, they're six degrees removed from the usual Marvel spot-the-hero stuff. We are reminded in each chapter that this is a journey into the unknown for its characters. Waid is so well versed in the comics lore of both Marvel and the distinguished completion, that he remixes and references, but knows to make the book its own thing. His pool is a little culturally deeper, pulling in Indiana Jones with Kanna's ever so slightly unauthorised quest for magical objects. She might just be one of the better inventions in the Marvel Universe of the last couple of decades. A confident, slightly corrupt, yet not morally bankrupt, intelligent figure, whose not immune to Stranger's charms but retains her sense of self, even as Stephen loses his. Together, they make new magicks and face intergalactic wars. There's is not a romance written in the stars though and you'll have to read the book to find out why. The second half of the volume is about coming home and eventually discovering just how much that home means to you, whether it's in the Milky Way or on Bleeker Street. Waid can do sentimental with the best of 'em and imbue it with meaning, something he showcases here.
Saiz's Cassaday-like figures cut a striking confident stride across the panels. The luminosity of his colours is just lovely to look at, reminding us a little of Alex Ross, although the perspective here is Stranger's somewhat exalted one, not the on-the-street photojournalist. One could never label this a 'street level' book as it plots courses to distant galaxies. But Saiz keeps familiar lines, humanoid figures, and relatable action in the panels. Pina and Guinaldo give us a more speedy, never-stop-moving feel to their sections of the book. They want to push the urgency once Strange is streetside again, dealing with a hero’s worst enemy: himself. Inkers JP Mayer, Andy Owens, Robert Poggi, and Keith Champagne all delineate Pina and Guinaldo's art nicely, adding some fine linework to images. We get terrific colour palettes across all the stories, with high-quality work being done by Rachelle Rosenberg, Brian Reber, Jim Campbell, Andrew Crossley, and Carlos Lopez. They accentuate that bright, summer blockbuster 'Marvel look' wonderfully. As a bonus, this volume is also rounded out by a host of Anniversary stories with art by Kevin Nolan & Jim Campbell, Butch Guice & Carlos Lopez, and Daniel Acuna, along with a gorgeous spread by Tom Palmer. Lastly, one of lettering's MVPs, Cory Petit of VC, handles all the lettering work on the book, giving us a consistent sound and feel throughout. There’s not much else to say except... I probably need to check out Doctor Strange books more often!
Doctor Strange by Mark Waid is available now. Buy Marvel Comics here.