Doctor Strange
Vol. 1: The Life of Doctor Strange by Jed Mackay is
about Dr. Strange returning from the dead and settling back into his life. Life
is good. He is married to Clea again and is enjoying being the consulting hero
that other heroes come to with magic problems. Of course, this nice life can
not last forever.
Someone or
something is murdering high profile magical bad guys causing power vacuums to
form in the bad guy community. Many, including Wong’s new team, think Dr.
Strange’s wife, Clea is behind the murders. Not only is Clea violent with a
history of killing folks, several of the current victims played a role in
killing Dr. Strange and that makes her an obvious prime suspect. The fact that
most of these bad guys were extremely powerful means only a few people in the
universe could have killed them. That means whoever did it is extremely
dangerous.
This a fun
action packed read features cameos from various heroes. One of my favorite
cameos was with Spider-Man as he needs Stephen Strange’s help getting his soul
back which he lost in a game of chance to a demon. The current Spider-Man title,
which I have nothing good to say about, is subtly made fun of here. It’s not
often that writers in the same company go out of their way to bad mouth a title
being put out. It is done here and quite funny along with being accurate.
Moon Knight is
also a great guest star as Stephen Strange is willing to set aside his personal
dislike of Moon Knight and the fact that his wife, Clea, likes him in order to
help Moon Knight save a group of children that are being magically kept asleep continuously
against their will. Their personal dislike is set aside for the greater good to
rescue the innocent.
Various other
heroes also have cameos in this tale told from Clea, Stephen, and Wong’s
perspective. Various situations are dealt with in a variety of circumstances as
the issue builds to the end where a major villain is introduced. His introduction
should have major ramifications as one of Dr. Strange’s major life events has a
new twist introduced.
There is also a
short tale that is kind of separate from everything else and features a
different artist where Stephen Strange comes to the aid of Nico of the Runaways.
It apparently is set in the past since it reads like they are meeting for the
first time. However, they have teamed up several times. Also, Nice for a period
was working as a teacher at Dr. Strange’s school.
This is a really
fun read and I look forward to reading volume 2 when it comes out next year. I
continue to really enjoy everything Jed McKay writes.
My reading copy
came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2023
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