Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for Doctor Strange. I am a huge fan of Emma Rios’ art. I am almost guaranteed to be biased and enjoy this book. I’m going to remain 100% objective, though. Promise.
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Emma RiosA window-crashing, high-flying, globe-traveling, ghost-battling adventure from the earliest days of Doctor Strange’s training in the mystic arts! Part Indiana Jones, part Lord of the Rings, this brand new tale of how a selfish arrogant surgeon collided with a hot-headed martial artist to become the greatest team the mystic arts have ever seen! If only they can stop hitting each other and figure out how all this magic stuff works anyway… Also features DEFENDERS (2011) #1 by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson.
For the most part — and there’s no nice way to say this — Marvel’s Season One books are relatively pointless for regular comic fans. Anyone who has been to the cinema in the past decade “knows” the origin of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. Those of us who are fans of comics in general have heard these stories hashed and rehashed and rehashed beyond belief, to the point that we can recite them by heart. So when looking at the line, the only reason to really buy any of these books is if you’re a big fan of the creative team. There’s just nothing else really to it than that.
(Granted, that should always be your reason for buying a comic, but lets ignore that fact for a minute or two.)
With the case of Doctor Strange, however, his story is not one endlessly retold. There’s no Strange movie (well, a direct to DVD animated one, but I don’t think anyone saw it), he doesn’t have seven ongoings or a widespread associated cast. Strange appears in an ensemble book that was cancelled recently and, for the most part, appears as a guest character in other titles for an arc or two before going on his merry way. As fascinating a character as he is, there have only been three books of note in the last decade with his name on the cover, and all three have been minis. Doctor Strange needs some serious love.
That’s where the Season One graphic novel comes in. Putting the spotlight on Strange and his journey from typical self-righteous jerk to mystic healer, the book chronicles his journey from the moment he arrives at the sanctum of the Ancient One and introduces all of the primary elements about Strange’s history in slightly new ways: we meet Baron Mordo and Wong, get a glimpse of the Vishanti and even have mentions of Dormamu. The book ends up being a nice mix of the old and familiar into the new and unexpected as Strange is given his own version of a hero’s journey, and it’s safe to say that if you’ve never really had an interest in Doctor Strange before, this is great place to start.
The reason the book succeeds as much as it does is two-fold. The bigger and more obvious reason is that, unlike with other subjects of Season One books, Strange’s origin hasn’t been so overdone that it’s grown stale. His origin has certainly ben told and retold, but unlike the X-Men or Spider-Man, Strange’s origin is seemingly more flexible for a creative team to expand on it in an interesting fashion. Not only that, but this book unlike other Season One entries doesn’t really spend too much time on the already established; Strange’s accident has already happened when the book begins and we are simply shown those events in a splash page. Beyond that, it’s all new — the book acts as if it were Iron Man more than anything else, and that approach to an almost 50 year old character through this particular line is the best way to go about it.
Suffice it to say, Greg Pak’s script in this book is incredibly solid. Reappropriating one of his characters and reimagining Wong and Strange almost like Riggs and Murtaugh, this is a book full of kung fu and magic in a trek across the globe. There’s sharp character work with Strange’s arc from beginning to an end and he manages to fit a surprising amount into the script; most of the other Season One books have been so focused on reiterating past events that they fail to explore new ones, but Pak takes quite a few liberties that chart the book along at a breakneck pace. This does mean that a few corners seem to have been cut in a sequence or two (such as the introduction of Mordo) and certain scenes seem as if they were cut short for pacing purposes, but overall the book is very open both to old and new fans of the character.
Continued belowOf course, the major reason for that is the team of Emma Rios and Jordie Bellaire. Even if Pak’s script was terrible, the book would still be terrific thanks to the beautiful work done by Rios and Bellaire. Emma Rios’ hyper-kinetic lifework creates a vivid and action-packed world for the characters to move in, and her richly detailed scenery and representation of magic is fascinating and visually captivating. Add to that Bellaire’s rich colors and you have a dynamite pairing; Bellaire’s work wonderfully compliments Rios’, with colors that truly bring the lines to life, from color-coded sequences of magic to the devastating visage of the Vishanti. This is a pair that should always be working together, because their work goes together exceedingly well — like peanut butter and jelly, if peanut butter was magic and jelly was kung-fu.
If you’ve never been interested in Doctor Strange, this book seems like as good a place as any to get interested. The Season One initiative has been largely disappointing across the board if only because their hasn’t been a lot that felt new in any way, shape or form. Doctor Strange Season One, however, changes that for the most part; it’s an old story, sure, but it’s told in such a way where everything legitimately feels fresh and exciting. If this book is any indication that we’ll be seeing a Strange fill sometime soon, and it would seem that it might, this is certainly a great way to get Strange into the conscious mind of an unsuspecting public.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy (the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!)
And you get the first issue of Matt Fraction’s pretty awesome “Defenders” run. Seems like a good deal to me.
