Reviews

Doctor Strange, Volume 2: The Last Days of Magic by Jason Aaron

michaelgreenreads's review

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3.0

 Body horror! Interdimensional wizards! Random Marvel appearances! Vol 2 much, much better story wise! 

bluehairedlibrarian's review against another edition

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funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Of the four volumes I read, this one is my favorite with all the supporting characters coming out to help Strange defeat the Empirikul. I enjoyed seeing the other mystical people even though many of them seem like racial stereotypes that Marvel should probably really work on modernizing. I felt the conclusion of this arc was very satisfying and the art continues to be bonkers fun with a lot of bright colors and kinetic action.

nightshadelibrary's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

gliszczyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

filipmagnus's review against another edition

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2.0

This wonderous, ponderous review was originally published over at The Grimoire Reliquary.

I’ve always enjoyed Jason Aaron’s work. He’s a talented scribe and his Thor runs are some of my favourite Marvel works in the past decade–despite not having read that work’s conclusion in the face of War of the Realms. Catching up on his Doctor Strange run seemed a no-brainer after I spied a somewhat mangled copy of The Last Days of Magic at my local library. Since I never say no to a mangled copy of anything, I checked it out immediately, expecting nothing less than moderate amounts of entertainment.

If only it were so.

There is fun to be had, certainly, but it comes in the weirdest moments: Scarlet Witch with a shotgun (she is a mutant, and a mystic, but surely her magic operates by different rules than Stephen’s?), a creepy Lovecraftian agony monster that Stephen and Wang have been keeping in the dungeon; how quickly my excitement turned to bitter, bitter disappointment, the further I read into this.

I do not like Strange’s voice. That’s wholly subjective, a matter of preference–but I’ve grown fond of a wiser, more experienced Master of the Mystic Arts.

I do not like magic here. It’s boring and not magical, and I don’t care enough to get why mutants are affected by the lack of it, too.

I don’t like the art much, either. Chris Bachalo’s art is a massive hit or miss for me. Perhaps as long as a decade back he did a tremendous run on one of the flagship X-titles at the time (I want to say…X-Men Legacy?), which appealed to me; here, I am often lost and struggling to piece together what is going on. A lot of it has to do with colouring, I think–issues 6-9 are a clusterfuck but whoever coloured issue 10 gets Fil’s No-Prize of the Month.

I borrowed this one from the library; when I returned it, they had the third volume…I have shackled myself to this Strange, Strange man and freedom is little more than a delirious hope at the farthest edges of my mind.

Disappointing. If you see a ruffled copy at *your* local library, know that it is a trap.

But do support your libraries, they need it.

And here’s a terrible joke I came up with, to celebrate this comic book:

A wizard and a scientist dude walk into a bar.
Wanna see a magic trick, asks the wizard.
Haha, wizzerd go brrr, says the Empirikul scientist guy. Then he bashes the wizard’s brains in.

I have a YouTube channel where I talk about books an' stuff: https://www.youtube.com/c/FilipMagnus/videos

thecommonswings's review against another edition

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4.0

See this is what I want from mainstream superhero comics: ludicrous ideas, punchy art (and by god, Bachalo is fantastic for that - and the interludes work really well as a contrast with very different styles) and a big silly idea at the centre. Doctor Strange usually fights in other, mad, Ditko inspired dimensions but Aaron nicely inverts that and bases his book on the magic around us. It’s also very good at teetering on the brink of ridiculousness in terms of the solution and then pulling back into something more grounded. Excellent

liz_a_k's review against another edition

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2.0

I genuinely enjoyed the Last Days of Magic issue that was between 6 and 7 (not just because it was narrated by the librarian). The rest of this story... not so much.

tabman678's review against another edition

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3.0

Though I don’t like the villain or the focus on good vs evil over the price coming paid I wanted to read each issue as soon as I could.

Worth continuing.

3 stars.

maxxesbooktopia's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5 ☘

noveladdiction's review against another edition

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4.0

This was awesome!