| Comic Review | A.C. Hall |
Doctor
Strange:
The Oath Issue #1 (of 5)
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Marcos Martin
Inker: Alvaro Lopez
Plot: Doctor Strange is hovering between life and
death after being shot by a burglar. His servant Wong takes
him to “The Night Nurse”, a doctor who specializes in
helping injured superheroes. Doctor Strange, via his astral
projection, assists the Night Nurse and tells her more about
what is going on.
Review: Doctor Strange is a popular character who,
for one reason or another, has never really been able to
sustain an ongoing series. Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme is
instead relegated to guest roles in other comics. A few
years ago, J. Michael Straczynski and Brandon Peterson
revisited the origin of Doctor Strange in a mini-series. The
book started out strong, but had trouble keeping its
audience towards the end. When I heard about this new Doctor
Strange mini-series I was pretty excited. Strange is a truly
unique character, something that’s hard to say these days.
When I finally got my hands on this comic, I definitely had
high hopes.
The book itself is full of fun ideas. From the opening scene
in the superhero doctor waiting room to the interaction
between Strange and his servant Wong, I was truly enjoying
myself. Brian K. Vaughan isn’t always my favorite writer.
Sometimes I love his stuff and other times I find myself
being less than enthused about it. However, this comic shows
that Vaughan knows something that a lot of other writers
don’t right now. He knows how to write a fun comic. After
Civil War this and Infinite Crisis/One Year Later that, I
can’t tell you how refreshing I found it to just read a fun
and well put together comic book. Doctor Strange comes off
exactly as he should, like a strange outsider who was more
wrapped up in the world of magic than the real world around
him.
Marcos Martin, like Vaughan, is an inspired choice for this
book. His art, while not as detailed as most comic art, fits
perfectly with this story. It’s fun and easy on the eyes and
does a great job of telling the story. The colors in the
book are a bit muted and add to the overall charm and
appealing feel of the art.
This was a terrific first issue and one that I definitely
think you should pick up. If you’re like me and burnt out on
all the tie-ins and mega events, I’m sure you’ll really
enjoy this self contained mini-series.
Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.
