A Cavalcade Of Sorcerous Stories In Doctor Strange #400
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Ancient One himself, Yao of Kamir-Taj, has arrived at Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum seeking aid and tutelage from Stephen. The Ancient One delivers a story of a mysterious man and sadistic demon extracting all mystic knowledge from Yao’s skull. Stephen Strange offers his aid to his former master, but he is just as interested in discerning the identity of the man who ripped all the magic from his mind.
In the second tale, Doctor Strange is summoned to help a little boy entranced by a gem and victimized by bullies.
In the third story, we travel back to when Stephen Strange first arrived at Shamballa to learn at the feet of the Ancient One.
In the final yarn, Nightmare is assailed by night terrors of his own.
Doctor Strange #10 is also the 400th issue of the series to have been printed. It’s quite a milestone issue, and it touches upon various parts of Strange’s life as well as his duties, from the Earth-shattering to the minute.
The “main” story involving the return of the Ancient One, has an interesting hook. Strange’s magical debts are being called in by the gods he invokes, and the price is being levied against those he cares about.
The second tale is a nice and uplifting tale about compassion. The third shows the strange yet coherent logic of the Ancient One. The final one is an entertaining little vignette about Stephen Strange being the thing even demons fear.
Mark Waid’s stories gel really well here, and his Doctor Strange is solidified as one of Marvel’s better currently-running titles.
A murderer’s row of immensely talented artists ply their talent to this one too. Jesus Saiz, Kevin Nowlan, Butch Guice, and Daniel Acuna are great artists and show that ability in this book. Saiz captures the mystical aspect, Nowlan balances caricature and surrealism, Guice grounds it all quite well, and Acuna injects a bit of surrealism and texturing too. Tom Palmer has a gorgeous spread towards the end as well. The colors, from Saiz, Jim Campbell, Carlos Lopez, and Acuna are phenomenal too.
Doctor Strange #10 is another stellar outing for Mark Waid, Jesus Saiz, and the team. It’s a solid celebration of the Sorcerer Supreme with impeccable visuals. This one is definitely worth a recommendation, and I suggest giving it a read.
Doctor Strange #10 comes to us from writer Mark Waid, artists Jesus Saiz, Kevin Nowlan with Jim Campbell, Butch Guice with Carlos Lopez, Tom Palmer, and Daniel Acuna, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, cover artist Jesus Saiz, and variant cover artists Kevin Nowlan, Frank Miller with Matthew Wilson, Joe Quesada with Richard Isanove, and Will Sliney with Frank D’Armata.
