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A review by sandeeisreading
Doctor Strange, Vol. 1: The Way of the Weird by Jason Aaron
4.0
I'm not going to lie, I don't know shit about Doctor Strange. All I know about him is that a movie is coming out, soon, starring my darling Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme.
From what everyone's been telling me about him, and from the trailers that I've seen so far, there's some mystical elements, something extraordinary at play when it comes to Doctor Strange.
And this fucking excites me.
I've watched the animated version of Doctor Strange' s story, and while I liked it, I wanted more. Which is how I stumbled upon reading this.
I'm not expecting too much when I started this, but I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.
LONG STORY SHORT: Saving the mystical world is what Doctor Strange does best. He uses magic to defend himself (and the world, of course) from the creatures that only he (and some of the other sorcerers and magicians) can see. But what happens, when the one thing he depends on the most to save the world, is now the thing that he needs to save?
THOUGHTS:
- The first thing I noticed about this was the humor. I was not expecting his character to be as humorous as he is. I may not have read any Doctor Strange stuff prior to this, but I have watched the animated movie that I can compare this incarnation to. They were so different. I was expecting this to be much more serious in tone, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong though, this was not all rainbows and butterflies. Not at all. There were a couple of times where we see him almost die. It wasn't easy to look at, but it was there. I liked that. While I do like my stories dark and twisted, this gave me a good mix of that darker tone and a generously spread out humor.
- I felt that I got to know Doctor Strange quite a lot after reading this. I got to know who he is and how he is with the people he associates with (like the people at the Bar with no Doors, people he helps, his assistant Wong). In the first issue, you would see, sort of, a montage of all the stuff that has happened to him the past, and how he came to be The Sorcerer Supreme. But it doesn't stop there. You also get to know him as all the events unfold. I liked that.
- I really liked all the weirdness. The title really does this justice, because there are a lot of weird stuff in here. Let me enumerate some of them.
1. Slug-like creatures invading his house that he pushed to a magical food coma.
2. Fully naked Dr. Strange running around in New York (in his astral form of course… Haha. Damn)
3. The things the doctor eats… eeeehhh… let's just say you'll lose your appetite when you see him eat.
4. A librarian who has hungry monster mouths on her forehead.
5. Honestly, I can go on forever! Haha.
- Wong. I really enjoyed Wong's character. I'm very much interested to see more of him and discover stuff… That I will not be spoiling.
- A flashback with Dr. Strange and the Ancient One. It was a necessary flashback, in my opinion.
- The illustrations were great.
- The villain, although very much threatening, I felt was a bit weak for me, but not in the sense that they don't have powers or anything like that. The thing is, you do see how strong they are, but you don't get the whys. You don't know why they're doing the things they're doing. You don't know why they're even there. I understand that this is just the first volume (issues 1-5), so I guess we'll see more on the next issues, but I still would have wanted to know what their motivations are for doing the evil things they have done.
- A FUCKING CLIFFHANGER! Yes. I hate cliffies, and this volume, definitely, has one!
OVERALL: I really enjoyed this! I can't wait to read the next volume, because I am curious who these villainous creatures are and how the magical community would stand against it.
From what everyone's been telling me about him, and from the trailers that I've seen so far, there's some mystical elements, something extraordinary at play when it comes to Doctor Strange.
And this fucking excites me.
I've watched the animated version of Doctor Strange' s story, and while I liked it, I wanted more. Which is how I stumbled upon reading this.
I'm not expecting too much when I started this, but I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.
LONG STORY SHORT: Saving the mystical world is what Doctor Strange does best. He uses magic to defend himself (and the world, of course) from the creatures that only he (and some of the other sorcerers and magicians) can see. But what happens, when the one thing he depends on the most to save the world, is now the thing that he needs to save?
THOUGHTS:
- The first thing I noticed about this was the humor. I was not expecting his character to be as humorous as he is. I may not have read any Doctor Strange stuff prior to this, but I have watched the animated movie that I can compare this incarnation to. They were so different. I was expecting this to be much more serious in tone, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong though, this was not all rainbows and butterflies. Not at all. There were a couple of times where we see him almost die. It wasn't easy to look at, but it was there. I liked that. While I do like my stories dark and twisted, this gave me a good mix of that darker tone and a generously spread out humor.
- I felt that I got to know Doctor Strange quite a lot after reading this. I got to know who he is and how he is with the people he associates with (like the people at the Bar with no Doors, people he helps, his assistant Wong). In the first issue, you would see, sort of, a montage of all the stuff that has happened to him the past, and how he came to be The Sorcerer Supreme. But it doesn't stop there. You also get to know him as all the events unfold. I liked that.
- I really liked all the weirdness. The title really does this justice, because there are a lot of weird stuff in here. Let me enumerate some of them.
1. Slug-like creatures invading his house that he pushed to a magical food coma.
2. Fully naked Dr. Strange running around in New York (in his astral form of course… Haha. Damn)
3. The things the doctor eats… eeeehhh… let's just say you'll lose your appetite when you see him eat.
4. A librarian who has hungry monster mouths on her forehead.
5. Honestly, I can go on forever! Haha.
- Wong. I really enjoyed Wong's character. I'm very much interested to see more of him and discover stuff… That I will not be spoiling.
- A flashback with Dr. Strange and the Ancient One. It was a necessary flashback, in my opinion.
- The illustrations were great.
- The villain, although very much threatening, I felt was a bit weak for me, but not in the sense that they don't have powers or anything like that. The thing is, you do see how strong they are, but you don't get the whys. You don't know why they're doing the things they're doing. You don't know why they're even there. I understand that this is just the first volume (issues 1-5), so I guess we'll see more on the next issues, but I still would have wanted to know what their motivations are for doing the evil things they have done.
- A FUCKING CLIFFHANGER! Yes. I hate cliffies, and this volume, definitely, has one!
OVERALL: I really enjoyed this! I can't wait to read the next volume, because I am curious who these villainous creatures are and how the magical community would stand against it.