Strange: The Doctor is Out
No longer Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, Stephen Strange must discover a new path to fulfillment and enlightenment. Unfortunately, that path leads through a bizarre, terrifying gauntlet of magical menaces - and if the former Master of the Mystic Arts is going to survive the journey, he'll need some assistance - in the form of a brand-new student! Collects Strange #1-4.
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“My hands are useless again… All these years… and I have learned nothing.”,
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Okay, when a Doctor Strange story opens with the good doctor himself at a baseball game and getting beaned in the mug with a baseball – thus spilling nachos and cheese all over his shirt – it really bodes well for the rest of the mini-series. And then, moments later, when Dr. Strange starts giving the ump the business (“Hey, ump! This your phone? ‘Cause it has three missed calls!”), well, I just started big-grinning. You hardly ever see this side of the Sorcerer Supreme.
Except, of course, he’s the Sorcerer Supreme… no more. For abuse of the dark arts, the title of “Master of the Mystic Arts” was stripped from Stephen Strange and bestowed on someone else (on Brother Voodoo, in the pages of the NEW AVENGERS). It’s a peculiarity, seeing Dr. Strange not throwing down with the mystic mojo, not invoking the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth or the Friggin’ Flames of Faltine (he actually doesn’t say the “Friggin’” part… but he should). This trade is pretty easy-breezy in tone, but veteran writer Mark Waid doesn’t dismiss how bummed out Strange is about his loss of power and status. Stephen’s goatee looks cowed.
STRANGE – THE DOCTOR IS OUT! may not be the most relevant Dr. Strange story ever, but it sure is fun and offers an interesting spin on the fallen mage. The trade collects issues #1-4 of this mini-series. It also comes with a four-paged Dr. Strange sketchbook by artist Emma Rios. His hands having once more betrayed him, Stephen Strange can now only work the most rudimentary of spells. Still trying to fight the good fight but now having to get his hands more dirty – he inadvertently takes on a new apprentice, the spoiled and pampered rich girl, Casey Kinmont. Actually when Casey begins exhibiting an aptitude for sorcery, Strange has no recourse but to take her under his wing.
In the course of four issues, they tangle with an assortment of demons, not all of whom happen to be fiendish and diabolical (the demon Larry, for example, is kinda cool). Mark Waid manages to work in a satire concerning children’s beauty pageants, as well as a smidge of sorcerous apocalypse. Waid also introduces a strong relationship between Strange and Casey. She comes to view him as a mentor and even a surrogate father. And for Strange, Casey provides welcome distraction from his profound demotion, and it helps that Casey soon enough becomes a likable character. I didn’t expect that emotional tug near the end there as the story unveils Casey’s jeopardy and dilemma. In this mini-series, we mostly regard Strange thru Casey’s eyes and this fresh perspective has the effect of humanizing the aloof enchanter. He just may have gotten too big for his britches, what with once having been hailed as the mightiest magician in the cosmos. Now he needs help just to properly position his fingers before a conjuring.
The visuals are arresting. Emma Rios’s manga-influenced art gives us clean lines and composition that catches the eye. My one issue is her depiction of the demonic baseball game. It’s very hard to follow the action. I had to work out that that was a dropped third strike which allowed Strange to run the bases (yes, Dr. Strange takes a turn at bat; I did say he’s had to get his hands dirty).
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|The Doctor for me is.. IN,
Just got this yesterday and I am so happy that Marvel has decided to continue on the good Doctor’s adventures after relinquishing his title to Brother Voodoo in the Avengers series.
This is a must read and collect for all Dr. Strange fans and it follows his life after being stripped of his title and how the taking of a new apprentice seems to make up for the damage that the Doctor has caused in his misuse of magic.
No Orb of Agamotto here but still enough magic and good writing as well as drawing to keep a fan coming back and hoping for more.
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