A Nidavellir Dwarf, Doctor Strange’s arrogance, and an old friend returns in this week’s DOCTOR STRANGE #4 as Mark Waid continues Stephen and Kanna’s intergalactic journey to the Majesdane, which are a Photon-based race eager to build a planet destroying weapon. Let’s jump into this one!
WRITTEN BY: Mark Waid
ART BY: Jesus Saiz
LETTERS: Joe Sabino
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
DOCTOR STRANGE SPOILERS TOO!
To see what happened in the last issue, click on the writer’s name below.
Summary
Doctor Strange and Kanna get wind of a Nidavellir Dwarf named Eoffren who has been captured to make a world killing weapon for a Photon-based race of people named the Majesdane. So, Stephen and Kanna go to the Majesdane planet and attempt to free Eoffren. Needless to say, things don’t go according to plan.
Doctor Strange’s arrogance shines through again. Even though Kanna, Eoffren, and Stephen had an opportunity to escape, Doctor Strange teleports the heroes back to the fight to take his revenge on the Photon-based race. Seeing no chance for escape, Kanna uses her techno-magic weapon, fires it at Stephen and Eoffren, and teleports them to another planet leaving her on Majesdane as their new prisoner and weapon maker. How will Stephen rescue Kanna and stop the world killing weapon set to destroy Earth?
The Best Part
Mark Waid finally hits on the cause of Doctor Strange’s magical dilemma. The dwarf Eoffren takes the opportunity to point out Stephen’s arrogance but more importantly, he hasn’t been building his spells from the ground up. Throughout Stephen’s entire time as a Sorcerer, he’s borrowed, stolen, or used magic that’s already existed. Furthermore, the good Doctor exhausted all Earthly magic which is the reason none of his spells, artifacts, and incantations worked anymore.
Waid not only opened up the idea of intergalactic and technological magic in just three issues but now he’s emphasizing the point that Doctor Strange has been stealing and borrowing magic from others his entire magical life. Waid has evolved Stephen Strange in four issues and has shown all writers, artists, creative teams, readers, and comic fans why he is a master of his craft and one of the best writers of all time.
In addition, Waid uses the current situation in the MCU with INFINITY WAR to connect dwarves, Asgard, and other magical weapons to draw new and old readers into his story. Eoffren, the dwarf, points out that the magic is just gone because he’s used it up and creates a Forge for Stephen to build and create his own magic, which came across as similar to events in INFINITY WAR and again are even more reasons as to why Waid may very well be the true Sorcerer Supreme.
The Art
Jesus Saiz’ art is out of this world. Saiz’ colors are crisp, bright, stimulating, and have a glossy finish that I adore. The action scenes are dynamic, lively, and appear three dimensional making the reader feel like they are apart of the story. Joe Sabino’s lettering is wonderfully spaced out and guides the reader seamlessly through the narrative. Saiz and Sabino help Waid to elevate Doctor Strange to an all new level.
Should you buy this issue?
Absolutely! Waid puts Doctor Strange back to normal and even sets him up with his old friend, the Cloak of Levitation. Readers see Stephen come into his own while Waid opens the door to a fresh new magical concept that I haven’t seen in comics or pop culture yet. For a wizard or Sorcerer to literally create their own spells and magical artifacts seem so interesting and exciting to me.
Think about it, magicians usually use spells from a book or scroll but who made that spell? Who created the artifact? Now, Doctor Strange will be creating every spell or artifact he needs. I can’t wait to see where the story goes. And if that’s not enough to get you to buy this issue, the art by Saiz is genuinely brilliant. Readers won’t be disappointed with this issue. Plus, we get two incredible cliffhangers.
Should you add this to your pull list?
Of course! Waid is taking this series in an amazing new direction that opens the door to outrageous trips, tales, and magical adventures. Sure, everyone knows about Doctor Strange’s arrogant nature but to see him create his own magic and sorcery from scratch will not only be fantastic to see but should only up until the good Doctor’s arrogance level about 10 notches too. In Waid’s short time, readers have seen Stephen lose his powers, head into space, captured by an alien race, recreate his magic with technology, find the Time Infinity Stone, and now realize that he can create his own magic and stop borrowing it from everyone else. Keep in mind, everything I said happened in 4 issues! Why wouldn’t you add this to your pull list?
What did you guys think of DOCTOR STRANGE #4? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @dispatchdcu. If you would like to read more of my reviews, click HERE!
