Master Sorcerer Doctor Strange has brought together some of the multiverse’s most powerful beings. The planet devourer Galactus has consumed a planet filled with strange magical energies, thus making him a threat to the very existence of the Marvel Universe. Having brought a powerful force together to meet the threat, Doctor Strange vanishes. Naturally there’s a pretty good reason for him doing so as Mark Waid puts together Part Five of his “Herald Supreme” story. Barry Kitson draws the issue with finishes by Scott Koblish. The epic-level massiveness of the conflict at the heart of the issue is impressive. However, it’s very difficult for any art to frame a battle this big, which challenges this issue to live up to its potential.

A powerful force of gods and magical beings converge on the mystic/cosmic hybrid entity that Galactus has become. Precisely what they’re going to do in the face of absurdly immense power is anybody’s guess. But there are quite a few of them there including powerful magic users Clea and Umar, who wonder where Strange might have gone off to. The two work alongside a strange array of beings of vast magic. Including Satannish, who strikes a powerful blow in a fashion that only a living embodiment of pure evil could, but the question remains: where is Dr. Strange?

Waid’s story feels a bit stagnant as it reaches a big showdown between Galactus and the forces looking to preserve the Marvel Universe. We know that nothing very serious is going to happen here. It’s not long before the last issue of Doctor Strange’s current run. Making it difficult to feel particularly invested in the story, but Kitson moves the story from scene to scene quite effectively. It may not be terribly memorable, but it feels like it’s hitting the right notes stylistically for a massive magical showdown in the Marvel Universe. ]

Kitson is allowed to open the issue on a moody moment. As the abstract embodiment of Nightmare has lost his power in the face of the entrenched battle. There is a problem with a story that its power against power. In an abstract space is that there really isn’t much to gauge the immensity of the conflict. Kitson measures the power of tiny, little figures swarming around Galactus with a fairly stylish sense of motion and emotion. 

There are four more issues left to go in Kitson’s Doctor Strange. Promotion suggests that the final issue features “An event so epic that it shakes Doctor Strange to the core and makes him completely reevaluate his life and role.” So it’s not exactly going to be a boring ending. It’ll be interesting to see how Waid brings the series to a close in the next four issues. The epic battle in this issue is placed in a bit of a strange moment. FOUR MONTHS from the end of the series.

Grade: B