Bring Back The Magic With ‘Doctor Strange: The End’ #1
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Doctor Strange struggles with an artificial intelligence hologram now living in the Sanctum Sanctorum. He wants to know if he can teach her magic to no avail. While Stephen struggles, a crew of thugs arrives to rob him. During the fight, the eternal flame memorializing Wong is extinguished. Magic is withering on the branch without any new practitioners and Doctor Strange must go on one last adventure to reignite magic in the world. He will need some companions on this journey though and Strange’s friends can only be found in a graveyard.
Doctor Strange: The End #1 brings us Doctor Strange as the sole remaining magical practitioner on Earth. Without new sorcerers, wizards, witches, and other magic-wielders, magic is dying. This also means that Strange has no friends left and he’s left at the mercy of the new technological world.
It’s a comic that’s equal parts sad and funny. Strange still talks to his old friends as he carries them to his destination and his dialogue is entertaining. Of course, it’s also quite tragic since no one is left to accompany the Sorcerer Supreme on this adventure.
The ending provides a good and light-hearted twist, with another magic-user coming back to take up the mantle for Doctor Strange.
Filipe Andrade brings a quirky art style to the book which adds to the humor of the book. It helps keep the mood lighter and keeps the book from falling into melancholy. Chris O’Halloran gives the book an enticing color treatment with some paler shades contrasted by heavier dark colors.
Doctor Strange: The End #1 is an entertaining read and keeps a much lighter tone than most of the other The End one-shots from Marvel. We get to watch Strange put everything on the line to save magic one last time and give the world a new mystical champion. This and Venom: The End may very well be the best of these comics so far, though there is still time for Captain America: The End to take the crown. This one gets a recommendation. Feel free to give it a read.
Doctor Strange: The End #1 comes to us from writer Leah William, artist Filipe Andrade, color artist Chris O’Halloran, letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles, cover artist Rahzzah, and variant cover artist Filipe Andrade.
Final Score: 8.5/10
