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| Cover Art: Raphael Albuquerque |
Original Price: $3.99
Title: untitled
Writer: Robbie Thompson
Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Inker: Alvaro Lopez
Letterers: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
SYNOPSIS
In a mystical cave in England, in the year 590 AD, the sorcerer Merlin is about to lock away a creature he has created. He is confronted by King Arthur and another wizard named Bohra, who Merlin reveals to be another of the creatures. Merlin claims that the creatures are evil and locks them away behind a door before leaving with Arthur.
In the present day, a vastly depowered Dr. Strange is fighting a tentacle demon named Q'uvin the Malevolent in an alley beside his Sanctum Sanctorum. Merlin arrives to help fight the beast, who Strange is able to kill with his axe. Merlin takes Strange through a time travelling dimension, saying he needs Strange's help against an evil creature called the Forgotten who is collecting magical relics. They arrive in the past and locate the other Sorcerer Supremes that Merlin has enlisted: Wiccan, Kushala, the Conjuror, Sir Issac Newton and his Mindful One, and a young boy that Strange recognizes as the eventual Ancient One. After a brief battle against the Forgotten's minions, Strange talks to Wiccan, who is the Sorcerer Supreme from the future, and asks what's going on. Merlin gives a key to the Conjuror, then the two of them speak with Kushala the Demon Rider, who tells them that when she touches the earth she senses great power. The Forgotten bursts from the ground and attacks, grabbing Merlin and swearing revenge on what he has done to "them". He then crushes Merlin in his hand and tosses him to the ground, while simultaneously knocking around the other sorcerers with ease. Strange makes his way to the fallen Merlin, who requests that Strange finish his mission then dies in his arms.
ANNOTATIONS
The Spirit of Vengeance from this series is a Native American woman named Kushala, the Demon Rider, who is not only a Ghost Rider but also her era's Sorcerer Supreme. Her origin story will be told in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) # 3.
Among the many variant covers for this issue was a Champions variant featuring the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider by Jamal Campbell.
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 1 - "Deathbed Confession to a Skeleton Monster" (Click to Listen)
REVIEW
The Spirit of Vengeance from this series is a Native American woman named Kushala, the Demon Rider, who is not only a Ghost Rider but also her era's Sorcerer Supreme. Her origin story will be told in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) # 3.
Among the many variant covers for this issue was a Champions variant featuring the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider by Jamal Campbell.
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 1 - "Deathbed Confession to a Skeleton Monster" (Click to Listen)
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| Cover Artist: Jamal Campbell |
In time for the release of his feature film Dr. Strange is awarded a second ongoing title that features amongst its cast a brand-new Ghost Rider!
Marvel was all about some Dr. Strange in the last few months of 2016 due to the movie's release, so a lot of new material was pushed out to coincide with it. As a sister title to Jason Aaron's pretty keen solo book is Sorcerers Supreme, a team book with Strange as the focus and a Ghost Rider introduced as part of the cast. Marvel has been utilizing Ghost Riders from history for a few years now, but none of have been given a central role in a series until this one, and it's a pretty inspired choice. Kushala, or "Demon Rider" as she's being called to differentiate her from other Ghost Riders, is a Native American woman that's both a Spirit of Vengeance and a Sorcerer Supreme. That's a pretty damn potent combination, and it makes me immediately interested in what her backstory must be. Unfortunately, she only gets a few panels in this first issue, which is working hard to introduce its core cast.
That's the biggest problem with this comic, though, is that it shoves the plot and all these new characters into the reader's face at a frenetic pace. The plot is really simple: Merlin locks away some creatures, they escape, he recruits a bunch of Sorcerer Supremes to fight his battle, then he dies. All of that could have been stretched out over the first arc, which would have allowed us time to get to know all of the other Sorcerers, but I understand his desire to just get on with the plot already with as little slow down as possible. The issue is that Thompson doesn't make any of this very interesting while he's rushing from point A to point B, it's an introduction to Dr. Strange then fight-fight-punch-magic-fight. The characters themselves are given only the barest of personalities (Newton's a dick, Ancient One is a punk, Conjuror is a novice, etc...) and it's not enough to keep me interested in them.
The artwork is by Javier Rodriguez, who has done some excellent work for Marvel recently on books like Spider-Woman. His work here, though, is too clean for my tastes when it comes to Dr. Strange. Maybe I'm spoiled by Chris Bachalo's work on the main Strange series, but Rodriguez's designs for the characters are rather bland. The Forgotten looks somewhat interesting, but not very threatening. It's like the Disney Store versions of what these characters should look like, and while that's not BAD it's also not what I was hoping for.
I'm curious about the Demon Rider, so I'll keep reading the series for a while, but this first issue didn't really thrill me.
Marvel was all about some Dr. Strange in the last few months of 2016 due to the movie's release, so a lot of new material was pushed out to coincide with it. As a sister title to Jason Aaron's pretty keen solo book is Sorcerers Supreme, a team book with Strange as the focus and a Ghost Rider introduced as part of the cast. Marvel has been utilizing Ghost Riders from history for a few years now, but none of have been given a central role in a series until this one, and it's a pretty inspired choice. Kushala, or "Demon Rider" as she's being called to differentiate her from other Ghost Riders, is a Native American woman that's both a Spirit of Vengeance and a Sorcerer Supreme. That's a pretty damn potent combination, and it makes me immediately interested in what her backstory must be. Unfortunately, she only gets a few panels in this first issue, which is working hard to introduce its core cast.
That's the biggest problem with this comic, though, is that it shoves the plot and all these new characters into the reader's face at a frenetic pace. The plot is really simple: Merlin locks away some creatures, they escape, he recruits a bunch of Sorcerer Supremes to fight his battle, then he dies. All of that could have been stretched out over the first arc, which would have allowed us time to get to know all of the other Sorcerers, but I understand his desire to just get on with the plot already with as little slow down as possible. The issue is that Thompson doesn't make any of this very interesting while he's rushing from point A to point B, it's an introduction to Dr. Strange then fight-fight-punch-magic-fight. The characters themselves are given only the barest of personalities (Newton's a dick, Ancient One is a punk, Conjuror is a novice, etc...) and it's not enough to keep me interested in them.
The artwork is by Javier Rodriguez, who has done some excellent work for Marvel recently on books like Spider-Woman. His work here, though, is too clean for my tastes when it comes to Dr. Strange. Maybe I'm spoiled by Chris Bachalo's work on the main Strange series, but Rodriguez's designs for the characters are rather bland. The Forgotten looks somewhat interesting, but not very threatening. It's like the Disney Store versions of what these characters should look like, and while that's not BAD it's also not what I was hoping for.
I'm curious about the Demon Rider, so I'll keep reading the series for a while, but this first issue didn't really thrill me.
Grade: C-
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