Fri Oct 21, 2016
It is perhaps fitting that the first comic randomly selected to serve as a review post is a Doctor Strange comic, since I have long adored the character. (I used to have more comics featuring Doctor Strange than any other, but I’ve since collected far more Green Lantern-related comics … so expect a few of those to make appearances.)
The cover, shown below, is suitably interesting: Baron Blood has thrown(?) or is otherwise causing Doctor Strange to be flung upside-down through the night sky, off of some jungle or forest cliff, with a large, full moon illuminating everything from the background. Baron Blood has some seriously long underarm wings here, like he learned about Batman’s cape or something.
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme, issue 016
So, this issue, titled “Love and Haiti…” (classic Marvel pun?). There’s a lot to love: Roy Thomas (partially) on writing duties. A cast that includes Morbius, Marie LaVeau the “Voodoo Queen,” Baron Blood, and Brother Voodoo. It is, unfortunately, the middle point of a five-issue arc, so there’s some backstory to catch up readers, but other details are left unstated–although I never felt like I was really lost at any point. This issue (from 1990) is well before the era of plot decompression for the sake of publishing an eventual TPB collection.
The art by Jackson Guice seems very “workhorse” in comparison to the early ‘90s Image style explosion, but I appreciate it now in a way that I don’t think I could have at age 9 (not that I owned it then–I think I picked up this issue in a lot of Doctor Strange comics around 2001). Stephen Strange looks like an older doctor. Poses seem relatively realistic, save for when characters/phenomena suggest they shouldn’t be (like someone floating upside-down).
Awkward moment: during a fight with vampires–in an alley in Port-au-Prince, of course–Morgana Blessing calls out both to “Mr. Drumm” and “Dr. Morbius” … poor Brother Voodoo getting no credit for his educational credentials until he took up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.
Awesome moment: Dracula making a phone call in order to set up an attack on an enemy. This is easily the best dialogue of the issue (the panel art is similarly wonderful):
Dracula: “I want you to set a trap for my accursed descendant, Frank Drake, upon his arrival in Brazil. You will be richly rewarded.”
Danny Summers: “You bet your bat I will, Drac! Danny Summers don’t do nothin’ for nothin’!”
As I reread this issue, I found myself really annoyed that Baron Blood, despite having an absolutely fantastic character name, has a pretty weak schtick–or, at least, they really play up his weaknesses in this issue. If he changed up his costume’s color scheme, he might seem more intimidating. If he seemed like more of a mastermind, he might seem more dangerous. I honestly don’t know: has Baron Blood ever been the big threat in a horror-oriented story?
Also, I think Doctor Strange casts a total of three spells in this issue, and none of them really plays up the surreal trip that Ditko originally demonstrated could (and should) be at the center of Marvel’s arcane/occult aesthetic.
Anyway, with luck my future reviews will become more coherent.