An Unimaginable Choice In Doctor Strange #19
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
A mother is driving home with her young son down a dark, wet, and winding road. A spirit manifests in front of her headlights, and it causes the mom flip her car. She’s alright, but her son is badly, potentially fatally, injured. Doctor Strange arrives to banish the spirit, but it disappears before he can do so. Now, it’s just Stephen, the mother, and the boy. The boy has a brain hemorrhage, and there’s no time to get him to a surgeon that could save him. That means it’s down to Stephen, and his hands are no longer fit for surgery. However, there are spells that could heal his hands, but they are profane and forbidden–but they’re also the only chance to save this child’s life.
Doctor Strange #19 finds Stephen Strange returning to the incident that took him off the path of the surgeon: his shattered hands. He has the chance to undo that damage, but it could cost him everything. It could also leave our dimension without a Sorcerer Supreme.
This comic finds Strange weighing the cost of saving one child against the repercussions of our universe being without a Sorcerer Supreme. Obviously, the cost is too high, but Doctor Strange couldn’t imagine letting the child die.
It’s a high-tension issue, and Mark Waid does a great job of walking the tightrope the story presents.
Jesus Saiz once again knocks it out of the park in the visual department. His texturing and detail work hasn’t ceased to blow me away. The design of many of the visuals is creative and memorable. His color work is atmospheric and absorbing to boot.
Doctor Strange #19 knocks it out of the park with another compelling issue for Stephen Strange. The safety of all existence is weighed against the life of a lone child, and the right decision is unimaginable. That story is coupled with brilliant artwork from Jesus Saiz, and it earns the comic a strong recommendation. Feel free to give it a read.
Doctor Strange #19 comes to us from writer Mark Waid, artist and cover artist Jesus Saiz, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, and variant cover artist Irina Nordsol.
Final Score: 8.5/10