Doctor Strange #3 // Review
Aggamon–Sorcerer Supreme of the Purple Dimension–has been killed. It happens. Even to Sorcerers Supreme. (Stephen Strange just got back from being dead not too long ago.) Stephen and his wife Clea are well aware that a dead Sorcerer Supreme is NOT a good thing. (They know that firsthand.) A death like that is something to take seriously, but it’s going to have to rest comfortably in the background as Stephen and Clea have...a guest in Doctor Strange #3. Writer Jed MacKay continues Strange’s resurrected adventures with the aid of artist Pasqual Ferry. Color is summoned to page and panel by Heather Moore.
The guest in question is Clea’s uncle. Apart from having kind of a weird name by contemporary mainstream American standards, Clea’s uncle has a bit of a rivalry going on that goes back a very, very long time. You might even say that they’re enemies. So things will be sort of complicated. It’s okay, though: it’s Parley Day. There’s nothing nefarious going on. (At least, not on the surface.) The Dread Dormammu has just popped by to say hello to his family. He’s even dressed up for the occasion. What could possibly go wrong?
The casual social call by an arch-villain has always been a rather difficult one to tackle. Writers tend to lean in too far, trying to make it look cute or sinister. It’s maddeningly difficult to get the tone just right. MacKay crafts a chemistry between Dormammu and Dr. Strange that allows for remarkably even quantities of whimsy and menace in an issue that allows for a bit more of a clever understanding of the Marvel Universe’s realms of magic. It’s a cleverly-crafted story that works on a few different levels without trying to reach for too much weirdness.
Ferry and Moore keep the fantasy and horror of the story well-grounded. Somehow, Ferry manages to make the surreally sinister visage of Steve Ditko’s Dormammu feel perfectly approachable. Putting the flaming head of a powerfully magical being in a simple suit and tie would run the risk of feeling very, very silly. Ferry and Moore make it work in unexpected ways. The drama at the heart of the dark fantasy story remains remarkably clear throughout the issue, even if the idea of a casual day with Dormammu seems more than a little silly. Ferry and Moore manage to keep it grounded from beginning to end.
The third issue of Strange’s latest series further establishes MacKay’s grasp over realms of magic, which he’s been exploring from various angles in various ways for the past few years. MacKay has a very respectable progression for Doctor Strange. From life to death to life again, there’s a definite sense that Stephen and Clea have progressed since they started hanging out with MacKay. MacKay’s clever blend of social drama and the weird realms of Marvel magic has served the Sorcerer Supreme quite well in the recent past.
