Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 9 Hardcover – 29 Oct. 2019

Why can I only allocate 5 stars? The bulk of this book, by Stern and Rogers, deserves 10 stars at least. In my opinion it rivals Englehart and Brunner's fabulous run in the early 70's. (Doctor Strange Masterworks 5). The book starts with a story drawn by the legendary Gene Colan. It's beautiful in its own right but, really would have fit better in doc's previous Masterworks volume (which contains the rest of his 80's run). Then begins the six part Stern and Rogers epic Superbly complimented by Terry Austin's detailed inks, they present tales of mystery, intrigue, love found, love lost, suspense, horror and time travel. Rogers gives us a slightly more exotic version of the Doctor (harking back to the Steve Ditco days), while he and Stern retains all his humanity and frailties. The art is detailed and subtle, yet gives us all the power and excitement and mystery that the stories need. Strange has never looked more mystical and Clea has never looked more beautiful, If you have seen Marshall Rogers' Batman stories (with Steve Englehart) you will know exactly what to expect. Roger Stern seems equally inspired, and the end result is just about perfect. Together they bring back three of Doc's classic foes; Mordo, Dormammu, and Nightmare and introduce host of guest stars including Brother Voodoo, Sgt Fury, (from the 1940's!) and the Fantastic Four. Clea, Sarah and Wong are all present and correct, and we also have two new villains, Viscount Krowler and Sir Anthony Baskerville. And most importantly we are introduced to Morgana Blessing, Stephen Strange's other great love. These are comics to die for; to be read and reread. When they were originally presented in comic-book form the printing was muddy and a lot of the detail of the art was lost. Rogers used a lot of colour separation techniques that didn't always print out well back then. Now at last the work can be seen as intended. To summarise; compelling intricate stories complemented by sublime artistry. I won't go into details of the plot (no spoilers here) but if you have more than a passing interest in comic book story telling this book is a must buy. The remaining stories, (apart from J.M. DeMatteis' effort) are not so bad either. Michael Golden and Kevin Nowlan provide two very nice individual pieces, as does Paul Smith (who will go on to become Strange's regular artist in a year or so.) But the meat of the package is the Roger Stern and Marshall Rogers magical masterpiece. There is also a good introduction by Roger Stern where he explains some of the processes and frustrations involved in producing these stories. Comics don't come much better than this!