My, What Magical Fangs You Have!: Reviewing ‘Doctor Strange’ #15

Eternal darkness and hordes of vampires have claimed the Earth. Those who remain sure could use a doctor’s magical touch. Unfortunately for them, the vampire’s new leader had the same thought.

Picking up where Blood Hunt #1 left off, Doctor Strange #15 puts the title character and his wife Clea in a very precarious situation. All the pieces come together in this event tie-in story from Jed MacKay, Pasqual Ferry, Heather Moore, and Cory Petit.

As the issue itself states, if you haven’t read Blood Hunt #1, turn back now and do so. There are pretty big spoilers for that story and the whole event ahead.

Okay, now that the warning is out of the way, it’s time to dive into the big moments here.

So, at the end of that first issue of the bloody hunt, we found out that the new leader of the vampires orchestrating this attack is the Daywalker himself, Blade (Or is it? More on that at the end). We in fact get a repeat of that final scene from this book’s point of view, seeing Strange skewered and then turned by Blade.

Essentially the whole issue is about Blade taking Strange and the Montesi Formula (a spell used before that kills all vampires) off the table. His plan is that turning Strange will mean Clea won’t use the formula (since it would kill her love) and leaving her alive means this predicament will keep them from trying to find the Darkforce to even attempt the formula.

MacKay orchestrates the whole thing pretty smoothly, as the issue never feels confined or stagnant. In a sense, it’s a moment in time between the first and second issues of the event, written by MacKay, played out perfectly. These types of tie-ins, written by the event writer, don’t always work as precisely. Never a concern with MacKay.

Ferry and Moore have done such wonderful work on this series together. Really grabbing hold of the weird, fantastical, and rough energy that should be present for the world of the Stranges. Thiers is a world full of magic, monsters, demons, dark dimensions, and more. It should feel beyond what we regularly see, in reality.

Smooth slick action with rough edges is Ferry’s wheelhouse. Creating energetic kinetic displays that have a great wealth of depth and detail while feeling just slightly exaggerated. We can feel the characters as they fight across the pages, panels shifting and sliding so that the perspective feels so accurate.

Being inside means that the lighting and other aspects are pretty much similar from start to finish. Moore makes sure though to really play up the reflections and light cast by powers and other aspects, still allowing panels to feel unique and lively. Swirling shadows through it all, so that the heavy eerie tone never lessens. Backgrounds and setting colors that are very neutral and grounded surrounded by more vibrant powerful color palette choices. Playing into the superhero and fantasy aspects.

Similarly, those effects find a home within the lettering. As Petit taps into the same types of energy to give each voice a distinctive “sound” and feeling on the page. Character’s words pouring over us, hitting the right emotions and tonal range for the moment. Colors, bolds, and other modifiers make things a lot more fun visually but also bring their own punch up to the words and their personality.

Now that we’re at the end here, another warning. I’m about to speculate about the twist of this whole event, so tap out now if you don’t want that in your head.

Now, you might be saying, “But Scott, the twist was that it was Blade behind it all.”

Yes and no. Here is my theory and stick with me here.

So, back in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #11-12, the Brooklyn-based web-swinger teamed up with Blade and his daughter Bloodline in order to deal with a gluttonous vampire lord named R’ym’r. After fighting the vampire lord and his hordes, including the speedster vigilante Hightail who got turned, they managed to seal him away. Because he cannot be destroyed.

This was not the final beat of this story. In the recent Web Of Spider-Man #1 one-shot (meant to set up upcoming stories) we had a follow-up. A bunch of vampires show up and Miles recognizes they are of R’ym’r’s horde, and he and Hightail deal with it. At the end, we see a vampire stealing away with the statue that was holding R’ym’r within.

That was a lot of backstory, to get to my theory. Which is that R’ym’r not only escaped but took over and is possessing Blade and using his body as a vessel to accomplish his goals. Gives him an with to the heroes, also a fierce daywalking body, and the means to accomplish his goals. I came to this point based on things “Blade” says in this issue. Talking about ancient Atlantis, and how he has been planning for this moment for “thousands of years.”

Sounds more like an eternal Vampire lord than a daywalking vampire killer we know hasn’t been around more than decades.

Also gives Marvel that nice “get out of jail free” card to absolve Blade of all the death that is happening at his direction and hands. Rather than them having to write a whole other event or story line to retcon things later. Kind of tidy if you think about it.

Anyway, Doctor Strange #15 is now available from Marvel Comics.