Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Doctor Strange #1
Marvel Comics
Aaron, Bachalo & Townsend
Marvel launches "Doctor Strange" with an over-sized, five dollar first issue. The comic book is a character-driven story that allows readers to get a glimpse at the character from the ground floor. The book doesn't necessarily launch into any big plot. It sort of introduces Strange to the reader and gives a light introduction to some supporting characters. The artwork is a good companion to the slower story. The comic is an okay read but doesn't jump out from the pack at this point.
Aaron relies heavily on caption boxes to give the reader Strange's thoughts on his current life while peppering in some pieces of his past. The style lends itself to a lot of sarcasm and while this helps to keep the pace quicker, the humor makes the character come across as a Tony Stark clone. When the first issue opens with Strange interacting with a "female" and the fallout from that interaction I couldn't help think this is basically Tony Stark with magic.
The idea in this comic book that may tickle the reader's interest is that using magic comes at a cost. A sacrifice must be made to use the magic with any sort of effect. Other magic users are introduced as well, such as Doctor Voodoo, to help Strange discuss this idea with like-minds. The interaction is layered with a lot of jabs at each other and a ton of sarcasm. I found this to be off-putting because the premise loses its chance of tension or higher importance. It sort of comes across as ho-hum gotta kill something for the magic to work.
The story works well in one area because it has Strange interact with a regular person and a demon that seems to be attached to her. This idea that he can serve someone regular and not just deal with super-powers is good, but also that he needs to work a little bit to solve the mystery. Aaron is showing some promise with this setup.
The artwork is good but it can be better. The comic has two aspects to it and they bleed into each other too much artistically. The scenes in other dimensions or dealing with demons is shown in the same vain, pencil and coloring-wise, as the regular, day-to-day life of Strange. I felt it made the comic too confusing during scene shifts. I'm not suggesting a radically different style, but even if the book had a slightly different shading I think it would have helped the story along better. The artwork is adequate in support of the slower story Aaron presents.
"Doctor Strange" launches with an average first offering. Strange is characterized too much like Tony Stark with his sarcasm and woman-chasing antics. The comic hatches an interesting plot near the end of the comic that might allow Strange to interact more with the commoner and use some detective skills along the way. The artwork doesn't do much to segment the radically different scene shifts in this comic book, but provides a decent look when dealing with Strange's day-to-day life. The comic book is worth a look if you want a character-driven story. If the characterization becomes more unique and the idea of magic coming at a price comes to the forefront then this book could be a winner. This title will be worth keeping track of down the road.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
