Doctor Strange #2

TITLE: Doctor Strange #2

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1974

COVER PRICE: $0.25

18 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

I love me some good Doctor Strange. Unfortunately, for as long as he's been around there's been a lot more chaff than wheat. Luckily for us, that Randomizer gave us a heaping helping of the good stuff. This was Doctor Strange's first self-titled series, and the first couple of dozen issues are some of my favorites.

The icing on the cake? The first half a dozen of those featured some truly epic art by Frank Brunner. There are three people that tackled the good doctor, that in my opinion are the holy trinity of Doctor Strange artists. Steve Ditko set the stage for Doc and his world in the Silver Age. Frank Brunner then came on and amped things up for the Bronze Age. And for the Modern Age, it doesn't get any better than Jackson Guice. That right there is about all you need as far as Doctor Strange is concerned.

The best of the crop from the 70's run are the issues that verged on the trippy. This issue falls squarely in that category as Doc is trapped in the Orb of Agamotto, fighting for his astral life while his body lies mortally wounded in the real world. The main protagonist for this particular story is the less than threatening Silver Dagger, but he's sidelined for the most part, as Strange desperately searches for a way out of the Orb.

Let's not waste any more time talking about it, and read it already...

A Separate Reality

• Co-Plotters: Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner
• Author: Steve Englehart
• Artist: Frank Brunner
• Inker: Dick Giordano
• Colorist: Frank Brunner
• Lettering: John Costanza
• Editor: Roy Thomas

And for those of you coming in late to the party, here's a recap of what happened last issue, right on page one.

So maybe the Silver Dagger stabbed him in the back instead of beheading him, but the dramatization is for the benefit of Clea who was taken prisoner by Silver Dagger last issue. It's his hope that seeing her beloved mistreated in this fashion, will break her spirit. Clea may be new to the realm of sorcery, but she's no dummy. She knows that if anyone can defeat the Silver Dagger, it's Doctor Strange.

Speaking of Doctor Strange, let's check in with him within the realm of the Orb of Agamotto.

Yikes...a winged, soul sucking space worm! Good thing Clea can't see this, as her confidence in Stephen would be sorely tested as his soul gets sucked up and swallowed whole.

What she doesn't know, is that Doc is about to get some help from some unlikely allies. First among them? The Silver Surfer.

So while the Surfer thinks he has arrived too late to save another victim of the Soul-Eater, what he doesn't realize is that the victim was Doctor Strange. Even without a mortal body, he is far from defenseless. Attacking the central nervous system of the creature, he manages to get himself vomited back to what passes for reality inside the orb.

Curiously, the Surfer does not recognize Doctor Strange. Since they've been team mates for the last two years, that can only mean that the Orb is pulling images from Doc's mind and making them manifest in its realm to interact with him. Their first task? Find his body, which has decided to go on a bit of a walkabout after having the soul sucked from it by the Soul Eater.

Following it's rambling footprints, they trail the mortal shell to a strange castle. What's even stranger is what they find inside the castle.

All right all you heroes, it's time to get crazy drunk on some off the Hulk's tea. And you don't turn down a cup of Hulk's tea, as that would make him angry...and you wouldn't like him very much when he's angry.

Reunited with his body, Doctor Strange is willing to throw caution to the wind and not only refuse Hulk's tea, but decides to leave the party early as well. Bad move, Doc.

Doctor Strange manages a spell or two of obfuscation that has the Defenders attacking phantom versions of himself. That leaves them wide open for a whammy of a spell that knocks 'em all unconscious, right as the Soul-Eater returns.

Luckily for Doctor Strange, not all of orb-created manifestations were quite as reactionary. With the help of the Silver Surfer and Valkyrie, they deduce that the Soul-Eater will keep on coming as Doc is the only one in the orb with an actual soul. To save himself, he must confront death itself at the center of the orb. Only then will he be able to free himself and return to the mortal world to save his beloved Clea.

With Valkyrie's winged horse as his guide, Doctor Strange closes out the issue heading right for the center of the Orb of Agamotto...sure of himself, and his actions, for the first time in a long time.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

First and foremost, never turn down tea with the Hulk. If he doesn't get his regular dose of caffeine, look out!

Do you think he favors green tea or gray? I guess it depends on what his skin color at the time is. Do they have red tea?

Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner craft a well done tale, putting Doctor Strange through a series of challenges where he must use his mind in a world where the reality is a warped version of his memories. It allows just the right amount of trippyness, while giving him plenty of foes to battle, both familiar and bizarre.

I always love a good Doctor Strange story where he's essentially fighting himself, or manifestations pulled from his consciousness or powers, and this one doesn't disappoint. The use of the Defenders as visualizations of the superhero world as seen through the twisted lens of the Orb is the perfect meta-commentary on the team itself. Strange, bizarre, and seemingly thrown together at random with nothing but a vague sense of camaraderie (or Hulk's tea) holding them together.

Frank Brunner's artwork is just as good as I remember, truly shining when he gets to let loose with dimensions and perspective inside the surreal world of the Orb. It's a shame that we only got five or six issues with him on the art, but it's a testament to his talent that they loom so large in my memory.

All in all, this was a heckuva book and definitely one of the highlights of the Bronze Age. I only wish that they could capture this sense of what makes a good Doctor Strange story and apply it to today's Doctor Strange.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• As always, there's only one place to go for all your other Doctor Strange internet ramblings...Neilalien
• Or if The Defender's are your-- ahem --cup of tea, you need to go to The Defender's Fansite.

Comic Book Review: Fantastic Four (Vol. 2) #6

TITLE: Fantastic Four (Vol. 2) #6

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: April 1997

COVER PRICE: $1.95

23 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER: Heroes Reborn was a linewide concept that I remember enjoying. Of the four titles that participated, I remember enjoying The Fantastic Four the most. I'm sure it was mostly due to Jim Lee's pencils, as the scripting was a little rough. I even remember enjoying the Liefeld titles too, although more in the way that you enjoy a good train wreck when you're not actually driving the train.

The only other thing I remember, is that I recall they had Reed Richards and Dr. Doom working together in the same think tank from the beginning. I always liked that idea. For all I know that's the way it was in the 616 universe as well, as I've never read any of the classic Lee/Kirby 104 issue run.

All right, enough rambling. Let's get to it.

"Retribution"

• Plot & Pencils: Jim Lee
• Script: Brandon Choi
• Inks: Scott Williams & JD
• Colors: Joe Chiodo & Martin Jimenez
• Computer Colors: Wildstorm FX
• Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/DL
• Editor: Mike Heisler
• Editor in Chief: Bob Harras

We open up with Alicia Masters being stood up for a date with Ben.

By the way, the Silver Surfer called...he wants his shirt back.

...and his lingerie.

Ben is obviously away on a mission with the Fantastic Four, which we get to on the very next page.

The big bad for this storyline is the Super Skrull. This isn't your Secret Invasion style Skrull, as Jim Lee has buffed him up to Hulk like proportions. He's also made him look a little more monstrous, which suits his style pretty good. The one re-imagining that I like is that they gave him the Power Cosmic.

How did that happen, you may ask? Lee and Choi definitely adopt the adage that "every issue is some body's first issue" as they break down in four panels everything that's happened up to this point.

When was the last time you read a modern comic book that spelled everything out so linearly.

I love how each different character takes a part of the recap as well. That's choreography that would make some musicals jealous. On a side note, I understand why the Torch's dialogue balloon is red and orange, but why is the Black Panther's dialogue colored blue?

The Super Skrull starts to take on both The Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom at the same time in a nice two-page spread. Doom talks a big game about regaining the cosmic power that he claims is rightfully his, only to have Super Skrull overload Doom's circuits, putting him out of commission.

The Skrull does the typical villain bloviating and explains to Reed that this is about revenge against the Silver Surfer and Galactus, who were responsible for the destruction of the Skrull homeworld. No big redesign on either the Surfer or Galactus...if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Over the course of the next few pages the Thing, the Human Torch, and the Black Panther keep the Super Skrull distracted while a revived Dr. Doom and Reed come up with a plan to steal back the Cosmic Power. This involves using Black Panther as bait and channeling the Power Cosmic through one of Sue's invisible tubes back into the Silver Surfer.

I wonder if he's pissed because the Super Skrull stole his Power Cosmic or because Alicia Masters stole his shirt?

The Silver Surfer and the Super Skrull have their tete-a-tete, which abruptly begins to destroy Castle Doom. Doom explains that the reactor core is going to blow, and I quote...

I must do what I can to salvage the reactor core. But should a single innocent Latverian die today...I will hold you and the other members of the Fantastic Four personally responsible!

So what does Reed do? Does he push Doom aside and fix the reactor core single-handily? Hell, does he already have it fixed? No, he just makes his body into a slide for the rest of the FF to escape the castle on.

It wouldn't even be that lame of him, if he didn't say this just two panels later...

I doubt that even Victor could have [shut down the reactor core] so quickly.

It's revealed a couple of panels after that that the Surfer was the one who used his powers to seal the reactor, but it's good to know that Reed is there in a pinch when you need him.

Right Reed? Dr. Richards?

Anyone?

Johnny? Ben..?

Oh, that's right...Ben had a date. I forgot.

On to the next story...

"Industrial Revoluton Prologue"

• Story: Scott Lobdell
• Pencils: Brett Booth
• Inks: Tom McWeeney

The second story in this issue picks up with Doom after the destruction of his castle. One of his Doombots interrupts him with some important news.

Apparently the Avengers and their mansion have been destroyed...You think Marvel would have known better than to give the editorial reins over to Rob Liefeld and his studio.

Doom soon discovers that it is the Hulk that is responsible for the destruction of Avengers Mansion. He uses "the world's most advanced computers" to deconstruct the image of the Hulk and is shocked to see the Hulk is none other than one of his old Atomic Knights of the Round Table compatriots, Bruce Banner.

So shocked is he, that he inexplicably does his best C-3PO imitation..."We're doomed!"

We then get a brief history of the Atomic Knights, specifically focusing on Victor and Bruce's disagreements about the proper use of gamma radiation. This was one of the few things I actually remembered about this run, and the idea that Victor, Reed, Bruce and Tony Stark were part of the same think tank was a novel idea, I thought.

One thing I didn't remember, was the addition of Rebel O'Reilly. Who the heck is Rebel O'Reilly? Google is no help, so I guess I'll have to do some more reading to find out.

The prologue ends with some villainous laughter from Doom, as he plans to watch his former allies tear each other apart, leaving the world ripe for him to take over.

SO WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Visually, the book holds up quite well to today's standards. This was Jim Lee at the height of his popularity, and if anything he has just gotten better.

Storywise, it's a little light. Everything from the previous five issues gets wrapped up in half of this issue. The scripting is a little rough, and I question some actions now and again...but this was Jim Lee re-imagining the Marvel Universe, so for all I know he nailed it exactly like he wanted to.

Overall, I still have some fondness for this Marvel event. Am I going to pull the rest of the issues out and reread them? Eh, probably not...but if the randomizer ever pulls another Heroes Reborn issue to be reviewed, you can bet I'll look forward to it.

Related links for your surfing pleasure

• Marvel's official Heroes Reborn website
  
  

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics