Doctor Strange #385 - Marvel Comics

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 385, April 2018

Considering that Donny Cates’ “Loki: Sorcerer Supreme” storyline significantly relies upon the presence of the Sentry in order for Stephen Strange to be able to match mystic arts with the God of Mischief, it probably came as little surprise to some of this comic’s 26,774 readers that the all-powerful evil imprisoned within the Sanctum Sanctorum is actually Robert Reynolds’ “dark opposite”, the Void. But whilst the presence of “the black and destructive counterforce” undeniably makes for a somewhat sense-shattering conclusion to the American author’s long-winded narrative, the simplistic ease with which Loki, the former “preeminent surgeon” and “arguably the most powerful of all heroes” defeats it smacks of this title’s writer mismanaging the plot’s pacing quite significantly.

For starters, having unleased a force supposedly “capable of destroying the Earth, if not the entire universe”, it disconcertingly takes this publication’s three heroes less time to batter the Void back inside its sealed room than it does Thor’s step-brother to later explain to Strange just why he duped the magic user into believing that the Vishanti had robbed him of his title. Indeed, the titular character appears to be in far more danger of being killed by a murderously enraged “Golden Guardian of the Good” than he does from the evil psyche of the Sentry, and probably would have been if not for Loki’s protective spells sparing the man from the bone-breaking fury of the angry New Avenger; “You told me we had to protect the world! I didn’t know we’d have to protect it from you. I trusted you, Stephen.”

Of course, all this pulse-pounding pugilism and carousel of theatrical spell-casting is soon disconcertingly diminished by Laufeyson’s revelation that “there… never was a tournament” for Doctor Strange to lose, and that he had apparently simply weaved the illusion so as to make the Master of the Mystic Arts better prepared for the War of the Realms, “Hell on Earth”, the gathering of the Infinity Stones and the Final Host.” This grand-sounding motivation momentarily appears disconcertingly credible, considering the Agent of Asgard has just “used the Exile of Singhsoon to consolidate Midgard’s magic into myself so I could jump-start the Dragon Lines." Yet such an explanation is soon disappointingly dispelled and clouded in doubt by a dubious Sorcerer Supreme and Loki’s abrupt departure...

Writer: Donny Cates, Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire

Doctor Strange #384 - Marvel Comics

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 384, March 2018

As cataclysmic confrontations go, it is probably likely that Stephen Strange’s all-out attack upon the God of Mischief in Issue Three Hundred And Eighty Four of “Doctor Strange” didn’t quite excite the comic’s 25,652 strong audience in January 2018 as much as its writer Donny Cates would have hoped. Indeed, as battles between two of the Marvel Universe’s greatest magic users go, this penultimate instalment to the American author’s “Loki: Sorcerer Supreme” storyline arguably lacks much in way of either pulse-pounding mystic pugilism or sense-shattering spells; “I have shown remarkable patience with you. But I have a limit. And you are dancing rather precariously on its edge right now.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that this twenty-page periodical isn’t entirely devoid of entertainment, with the veterinarian’s nonchalant transmutation of the entire Dimension Blood, “ancestral nesting realm of the cancerous Vampa Cambra Warriors”, into a rolling green landscape filled full of cute bouncing bunnies debatably being worth this publication’s cover price alone. But even such other notable moments like the titular character bringing the Lord of all Liars’ floating Sanctum Sanctorum crashing down to the ground with nothing more than a hand gesture, or unexpectedly dropping the deity from a great height, seemingly lack the phenomenal dynamism many of this book’s readers probably expected from such a titanic tussle and instead apparently play out like something out of a bog-standard ‘fight-by-numbers’ script.

Perhaps this battle’s biggest disappointment though, is that it is brought to an abrupt halt two-thirds through the magazine by Zelma Stanton’s miraculous ability to rob both combatants of their ability to “cast any magical spells” for “the next three minutes” simply by angrily uttering the words “Vrak Par Hensargin!” Just how a former librarian from the Bronx is able to reduce both the Master of the Mystic Arts and Thor’s half-brother to so vulnerable a state that neither “can so much as wish on a lucky penny” smacks of Cates desperately scrambling around for a reason as to how Loki could unsuspectingly force the “unbelievable hack” to release the Void when the “second-rate sorcerer” is being powered by the Sentry and Yggdrasil.

Fortunately, despite its potentially poor penmanship, Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s storyboards do at least prove predominantly pleasing to the eye, especially when the Spanish artist depicts Stephen Strange’s wonderfully-humorous facial horror at having been robbed of his magical spells whilst still in close proximity to the fuming Asgardian god. In addition, the Hugo Award-nominee provides a nice nod to this comic’s co-creator, Steve Ditko, by pencilling “DITKO” on the arm of the construct seen “on the panel that features Strange and Loki exiting the Dark Dimension.”

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR STRANGE" No. 384 by Mike Del Mundo

Doctor Strange #383 - Marvel Comics

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 383, April 2018

Having literally upended Marvel’s entire magical universe just two short editions earlier with Loki Laufeyson’s shock replacement of this comic’s titular character as the Sorcerer Supreme, Donny Cates’ opening to Issue Three Hundred And Eighty Three of “Doctor Strange” probably had its 23,021 readers on the edge of their seats due to his narrative finally promising to explain just how the God of Mischief managed to defeat the former “preeminent surgeon” during “The Tournament”. However, rather than provide any sort of sense-shattering contest between the two mystics, the former sequential artist at the Savannah College of Art and Design instead disappointingly shows a victorious Stephen being stripped of his appointment simply upon the whim of the Vishanti because they suddenly feel “that a mortal can no longer fulfil the role…”

Indeed, this third instalment to the author’s “Loki: Sorcerer Supreme” storyline somewhat ludicrously presents Thor’s mischievous step-brother as being an uninvited spectator of the event, who, having first bewilderingly unplugged himself from his personal stereo, actually also challenges the “trio of supernatural, god-like entities” regarding their nonsensical decision. Understandably, a furious Master of the Mystic Arts, made all the angrier when the triumvirate imply that the troubled Jotunn will face some considerable dangers in the days ahead, voices his outrage at being so disrespectfully cast aside after all he has done to protect the realm, and with hindsight it is perhaps arguably easy to see just why this comic’s circulation was declining at its time of publication, if the book’s loyal fan-base felt Cates’ penmanship was disparaging them in a similar fashion…

Alas, little of what follows this massive anti-climax, including the substitution of “Flashback Artist” Niko Henrichon with Gabriel Hernandez Walta, makes for a compelling read until near the twenty-page periodical’s end when Doctor Strange challenges the mighty Asgardian leader Cul Borson, brother of Odin, so as to gain “access to an almost unlimited well” of magic, and brings the all-mighty Sentry with him “in case things went sideways.” The subsequent clash of arms as Robert Reynolds literally flings himself into the midst of a heavily-armoured horde of warriors is impressively palpable, and beautifully contrasts with a truly touching scene moments later when the humble sorcerer somewhat tearfully tenders Yggdrasil the corpse of his friend, Bats, so as to win the World Tree’s favour; “I can offer you a very, very good boy… Please… I don’t have anything else…”

Writer: Donny Cates, and Artists: Gabriel Hernandez Walta & Niko Henrichon