Strange #4
Bill Gladman on the issue
I love surprises. And this week the comic I enjoyed the most really surprised me. When I was looking at the books I was taking home this afternoon all bets on the one book I would enjoy the best was on Haunted #5...or possibly Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5. And those books did not fail to impress. They were very good.
But issue #4 of Strange which wraps up a four issue limited series written by Mark Waid and illustrated by relative unknown artist Emma Rios came out of nowhere to steal the top spot away from those other two books at the last moment possible.
I've been a Doctor Strange fan for a very long time, but to be honest never much of a Mark Waid fan. Yeah I liked Kingdom Come, but not as much as everybody else in the world. I also enjoyed his Captain America run, some of his Fantastic Four stuff and his run on Ka-Zar, but I think his best work has been on Irredeemable from Boom Studios. And I collected this series (Strange) for the character, not the writer.
Sure, Waid has a well deserved reputation for being a solid writer, but I didn't think I was going to get anything that really floored me. And for the most part I was right. This four issue series slowly built up momentum and takes place right after Doctor Strange was forced to vacate the position of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme due to injuries he suffered to his hands during the conclusion of World War Hulk. The story introduces a new character, a young girl, named Casey. Strange initially gets involved with Casey as he is forced to request her help in beating back demons determined to steal her grandfather's soul.
Things don't go exactly as planned. And Casey and Strange would again cross paths, each adventure getting more and more out of control as the story really seemed to sort of wander all over the place. Each issue is worth reading, but it just seemed to be missing something. That coupled with the art, which is catered to a much younger demographic than the one I fall into, just didn't really overly impress me.
Then comes issue #4. Everything from the previous three issues suddenly becomes very important details in a conclusion of a story that Waid had spun into a nice little circle. Even the art had grown on me a lot by the time I read this book. But the real clincher was that Waid went for a very solid conclusion that was in the opposite direction than where I thought he was going to go. He fooled me. Caught me off guard with a very anti-"Hollywood" ending that stunned me and impressed me at the same time.
I was over enjoyed to actually see Doctor Strange actually "operate" on a patient again, and what an important patient this was. Plus I got to see the return of a very classic Doc. Strange villain, Silver Dagger.
Ultimately I ended up with a book that made me say the word "wow" out loud. An intelligent, well written tale of self sacrifice for the larger good and a story that looks as though it may be the beginning of something even greater.
Don't just take my word for it...check it out yourself. But don't just run out to your LCS and pick up issue #4...pick up the entire series. Enjoy the slow, steady build up and wrap your imagination around a mystical and very moving tale that proves that "magic is everywhere."
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Writer: Mark Waid
Art: Emma Rios
Cover: Tomm Coker
Publisher: Marvel Comics
In order to save a handful of lives, the powerless Stephen Strange has made a decision that will doom far more--and he has no way to undo it. The price Strange and his new apprentice will pay to set things right is incalculable--and will leave Stephen Strange forever changed! Rated T
PRICE: $3.99
IN STORES: February 10, 2010
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