Review: The Mystic Hands Of Doctor Strange #1
The magazine-inspired cover to "The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange" is a great indicator of what's inside this "super issue". Four black and white stories centered around Marvel's "Master of Magic", each with a distinctive flavor, yet altogether embracing the mysticism of the pulp days. Turns out it's four bucks well spent, a revealing approach to one of Marvel's coolest characters and the universe around him that's only slightly joking with its campy offer of "More Thrills".
The Doctor's first bout is an empowered character piece wherein he faces off against a doctor of a different kind, a devil-dealing psychologist fully immersed in some seventies cult craziness. For an insignificant figure developed in 22 pages, the doctor's adversary manages to create a strong foil that forces Doctor Strange to not only display his magical prowess but question his morality; We're even able to glean something of his assistant Clea. Frazer Irving's artwork works clearly with the black-and-white presentation, though it looks as if it was originally intended for a colored print.
"Melancholia" is the most forgettable of the tales, as it also explores the moral extent of the doctor's powers, but on a more internal scale. It lacks a sense of implication, instead it offers an interesting tour of the Sanctum Sanctorum, andsome interesting yet muddled depictions of a tortured inner psyche. The story here is average and ineffectual.
Ted McKeever's "So This is How it Feels" manages to throw in some fun into an otherwise sober collection, despite the darker visual take. It offers a quick action fix, a simple battle against a misshapen beast, but with an ethereal zen-spitting hobo to offer philosophical repose amid the energy blasts. While this tale features the same weightlessness as the previous outing, it balances moral lessons with the mystical element to ensure that the story reaches its vapid conclusion in an engaging way.
The last installment is a prose piece, a short story that relies mostly on the doctor's introspection. While the previous tales used their writing to explore his observations and leave the mystical aspects for the artwork, Mike Carey's story works because of how it deals with its abstract matter. It's set in Stephen Strange's earlier outings onto the astral plane, with wording that captures his novice fascination with the occult. Instead of an all-powerful Sorcerer Supreme, the reader is treated to a scared and overpowered man who has to process, alongside us, just how these strange new beings could be. Any more than the two included sketches would have taken away from the vivid sense of loss found within the words.
Though the issue would've benefited from a greater sense of cohesion among the stories, it presents an homage to the older days through the variability found within. The stories immerse themselves in the Doctor Strange universe in different degrees; They make references to Nightmare and Dormammu; One requires Wang and Clea, another finds him alone in an alleyway. The issue as a single piece is an excellent introduction to the uninitiated, and appeals to all tastes at one point or another. Highly recommended.
Rubber Justice
Posted to Review on 12 March 2010
· Comments (1)
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I was a little iffy on this when reading about it but your description of the first and last stories really, really sold me on it. I am really looking forward to it!