Monday, January 11, 2016

Doctor Strange #4

   Not everyone likes stories about magicians, and I think that's because the rules are pretty fuzzy.

   If the hero can just pull a spell out of his back pocket, it's difficult to find an opponent that can actually challenge him or her.

   Despite that, I've long been a fan of Doctor Strange (though, like all long-running characters, he's had good stories and bad ones).

   I think the original concept by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko managed to develop its own odd internal logic and a great cosmic sense of wonder - and the best writers to follow tapped into that as well (Thomas and Colan, Englehart and Brunner, Stern and Rogers, and the other ones I'm forgetting to mention).

   Now the Doc's being managed by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, and they're carefully establishing their own weird magical world, with rules that are certainly odd - but make sense (as much as a book like this can make sense).

   It helps that they're building a massive storyline, bringing a menace that threatens not only Dr. Strange, but the existence of magic entirely (not to mention all the other magic-based characters who make guest appearances in this series).

   Throw in some amazing, over-the-top art and a great sense of humor and you have a strong start to the new adventures of Doctor Strange, and another strong addition to the terrific creative teams who have left their mark on this one-of-a-kind hero.

Grade: A-

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