A Dog Called God — Reviewing ‘Doctor Strange’ #17

Once upon a time, Doctor Stephen Strange gained a faithful hound named Bats who sadly passed away after fighting Loki. Enchanted so that his barks were turned to English, Bats came back as a ghost to remain at his loving master’s side. Because Bats is a good boy.

Such a good boy that he (and Baron Mordo) are the only things standing between the possessed vampire Strange and Wong in Doctor Strange #17. A tale of stories, dogs, gods, and demons from Jed MacKay, Pasqual Ferry, Heather Moore, and Cory Petit.

If solicits seem to be true and the following issue is really the final issue of this series, I’m going to miss it greatly. I mean, where else do you get a story where the stories of early humanity and dogs lead to a magical God of Dogs beefing up a ghostly basset hound to fight a vampire/ghost combo? If you’ve read a comic like that before, please point me to it because I need to see it. Because this was just fantastic.

MacKay is a great writer, and really, it’s these right off the off-ramp from big time characters that shine the most under his care. Where he can really spread his wings, pull out obscure canon, and enact great character change and growth. Rather than the bigger titles where at times there might be a bit more editorial or other higher observation to fit the proverbial square peg into a square hole. These stories are more like octagonal pegs fitting smoothly into similar holes.

Doctor Strange lost his body in the opening issue of Blood Hunt, and MacKay (the writer of that event) easily tackles that plot point here. A space where he had been setting this up all along, allowing the issue to wrap up numerous plot lines at once. Talk about solid planning and execution right there. All without it feeling like the series got short-changed or that something got left out of the event (since astral Strange is fully doing things there).

Books can be given life by almost any artist; the flavor will just change with that artistic change. This series has worked with different artists, but by golly was it really born perfectly for Ferry. His light, slightly rough, sharp, and fantastical style is built for stories like this. Able to give us a world that feels tangibly real to our senses while never shying away from the supernatural or outlandish elements. Blending them together smoothly.

Emotions and personality burst powerfully from every figure, as they glide through the pages. Plenty of focus and depth on every page, framing allows each space to breathe and feel unique. Moore’s color palette choices help with this perfectly.

A lot of colder color choices here are in play, keeping the darker spooky undertones of this particular story. Draining a lot of the usual vivid colors of the space, before allowing them to burst back. Especailly on the pages that are full of magic, spells, and outside of the Earthly realm. Godly beings and vampiric demons are given their own auras, everything swirling in synch from start to finish.

All those same energies bleed through what Petit does lettering wise. Allowing voices to be loud and clear, with their own distinct little flashes. Pulling all the right levers to change how it all looks or feels, so that readers hear it smoothly in their minds the whole time.

Doctor Strange #17 is now available from Marvel Comics.