Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus Vol. 1

So this here contains the first 40 issues of the 1988 series "Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme", mostly written by Roy Thomas and with Jackson Guice doing the lion's share of the art. Thomas returned as writer of Dr Strange in 1989, twenty years after his first run, and what emerged was one of the best second-rank eras of the good Doc's adventures. It's not quite up there with Thomas's own earlier work with Colan & Palmer, or the epic Ditko and Englehart stories, but it's certainly on par with the fun but somewhat over-rated Roger Stern series earlier in the eighties. This doorstep volume collects the earlier part of Thomas' second stint, and it's solid stuff for the most part, but frequently marred by intrusive crossover stories.Amazon credits the book to Peter Gillis: be grateful this is not actually the case, for only the first four of the forty-one comics herein (there's also Ghost Rider #12 as well as Doc #1-40) were written by Gillis, the first two being a so-so Dormammu story, the next two being barely coherent, and all following on from Gillis' wretched Dr Strange series from "Strange Tales", which was, well, wretched. The mediocre art in the Gillis stories is by a young Richard Case, just prior to his much superior work on Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, and somehow manages to get worse issue by issue. Thomas and Guice arrive with issue 5 and it's like someone has opened the shutters to let the light in. Thomas took the bold step of using first-person narration from a Doctor Strange who, unlike all previous incarnations, has a sense of humour, and the equally bold and probably more important step of throwing out all of the whiny baggage of the Gillis era and restoring Doc to his rightful place in Greenwich Village and status as Bull Goose Magician of the MU. Oh, and as Clea's main squeeze.The first Thomas-Guice arc, "The Faust Gambit", is a classic, a smartly-plotted gem which echoes the wiliness of folk tales and the intricate plots that Gardner Fox produced for DC in the the early sixties. Guice's art has power, clarity and elegance, and the story clearly marks Dr Strange as a character who, for all his power, beats his enemies because he outwits them - a trope used to great effect in the recent film.If the rest of the run had matched this first arc, we'd be talking about a legendary series, but it never captures quite the same lightning in a bottle. There's a brief diversion as we see the biography of Dr Strange written by his friend and on-off squeeze from the Stern era, Morgana Blessing. Although Blessing is one of the most annoying characters in the history of comics, the bio is actually a lot of fun, as it recaps the Doc's backstory and is full of Easter eggs for long-term readers. The next arc involves Doc's hitherto unseen brother Vic becoming a vampire (come on, we're in comic-book land - unseen relatives of long-running characters becoming vampires is what happens all the time here). This starts promisingly but is waylaid by three consecutive crossovers with the blah blah blah "Acts of Vengeance" crossover event. Thomas and Guice are solid professionals, so there are fun moments in all of these, but momentum is lost and the idea of Doctor Strange having any problems seeing off a fatuous villain like the Hobgoblin is preposterous. When the vampire arc starts again, it's dragged out for another five issues, which, kindly, is at least two too many, and once again Doc seems to be thwarted by a villain he could dismiss in the wink of an eye. In this arc, Guice seems to get bored, and tries to maintain his interest by putting as many cheesecake shots into the stories as he can, as though he's working for Fox Comics in the 1940s. It's certainly diverting, but that's the problem.Then follows an in-a-single-issue one-shot illustrated by Gene Colan. This, of course, is lovely.Guice returns with one issue which seems to be little more than a swimwear special but this is followed by a four-part Dormammu epic which is splendid, and the best thing since "The Faust Gambit". This is Guice's final bow, and he goes out in considerable style.Things go downhill after this. There's a well-intended but rather clumsy fill-in by another creative team, trying to make a serious point about Native Americans, and which doesn't quite work, like an early '70s "relevance" story. Thomas returns with new artist Chris Marrinan (whose work is best described as "inconsistent") to tread water for a few issues. Again, there are many incidental pleasures, but they struggle to work up a head of steam due to a further run of crossovers (including a Ghost Rider story which is one of the worst written and drawn comics I've ever read, and I've been around since the late Silver Age). These include six - SIX! - issues devoted to "Infinity Gauntlet" crossovers. The IG stories, taken individually, are good fun, but once again prevent any sense of momentum building up, especially as a changing cast of artists plays musical chairs throughout the half-dozen stories. The lowpoint here is one of Doc's greatest enemies, Silver Dagger, causing him less aggro than the frickin' Hobgoblin had.A sense of purpose is regained in the last few stories, which include a one-off Frankenstein tale which is pleasantly reminiscent of the Wein-Wrightson Swamp Thing, and the final arc, in which Doc takes on "the Fear Lords", a very solid Dr Strange tale in the traditional manner. New artist Geof Isherwood is solid throughout and the book ends more strongly than could have been the case thanks to this final flourish. There's what appears to be a No-Prize moment in the very final story, I won't spoil the fun and tell you what it is, but the clue is, it involves Daredevil.Thomas is such a solid writer that there's something good in pretty much every story here. He handles a massive range of guest stars with great verve, and his legendary fondness for continuity is used well, enhancing stories rather than driving them. It's particularly nice when he manages to bring the two most obscure stories of the Ditko era into continuity in a manner which seems perfectly logical. But the problem isn't the individual stories. It's the way the emphasis on crossover events (a soul-destroying trend which has dogged superhero comics since the mid-eighties) takes the wind out of the narrative flow of the main series. It doesn't ruin this book as whole, but it does drag things down unnecessarily.The original comics featured a back-up series, "The Book of The Vishanti". The original five-page BOTV tales are grouped here into four-chapter chunks which provide backstory for some of the main arcs, and this works extremely well. The earliest are drawn by the great Tom Sutton (who drew one of the great Dr Strange one-shots, issue 34 of the second series, back in 1979) and are lovely, especially the one with the immortal line from a frustrated black magician, "MORE virgins sacrificed...".This hefty volume is padded out with a small amount of miscellaneous supplementary material, none of which need detain us.Overall, if you're a Dr Strange fan and the price doesn't put you off, this is well worth a punt, though you may find it frustrating at times. Those less familiar with the character should check out the earlier Omnibus with all the Ditko material, or the "Separate Reality" Epic Collection, which includes some of the best work from Thomas/Colan/Palmer and Englehart/Brunner.Tamam shud!

Great stories

First I'll talk about the product presentation; the second half of the review covers the actual stories. This is a big heavy book (about 4 lbs in old money). The cover illustration is by the legendary Gene Colan. It's a very nice piece of work but not really representative of the book as a whole. Colan only drew one issue of the stories reprinted here; far better, I would have thought, to use a cover by Jackson Guice who drew 18 issues. (I would have chosen his iconic cover to issue 5). Also I found the spine of the book quite garish featuring a relatively large picture of Doctor Strange (ironically take from issue 5) which seems out of place here. I would have much preferred something like the restrained simplicity of the recent "Master of Kung Fu" Omnibus' The cover and spine are replicated beneath the dust jacket, but the back cover is a piece by Jim Starlin. An odd choice as he doesn't illustrate any of the stories here.My main gripe though is that there is no introduction by any of the creators. Something that one expects in such an up market product. There are reprints of a couple of articles by Roy Thomas written at the time, but nothing contemporary. (It gives the impression of the book being rushed out (to cash in on the sucsess of the recent Doctor Strange film?). Also, after page 144, the pages are unnumbered, again giving the impression of a rushed product.On the positive side there has been a generally successful attempt to adapt the "Book of Vishanti" back up stories so that they better fit this compilation and do not unnecessarily interrupt the flow of the main story. The book is well made with a strong binding though there is the inevitable loss of some art work when it spreads across a double page.Now the content. The first four issues are by Peter Gillis and Richard Case Carrying on from the stories in Strange Tales they are less than riveting. The first two are an ok Dormammu story, the second two, (attempting to write a an end to "The Defenders") I found more or less incomprehensible. But then we begin Roy Thomas' and Jackson Guiice's run. Tight story-telling, drama, intrigue, suspense, humour (quite a lot of humour!) topped off with some very nice art from Jackson Guice. Guice draws emotion and the human form very well and this compliments Thomas' aim to "humanise" Strange and his supporting cast. Having said that these stories abound with demons, vampires, immortals and multiple dimensions intertwined with the complex life stories the characters involved. And if Guice does have a slight preoccupation with the female form he usually stays the right side of good taste! Issues 5-24 are unquestionably the highlight of this book, complemented by the "Book of the Vishanti" back up stories that explore the background to the various characters and events of the main story. If the Thomas/Guice stories were the total content of this book it would unquestionably get 5 stars.Roy Thomas stays with the book for the remaining issues but the art work is never as good, (and sometimes downright awful) and Thomas' story telling becomes very pedestrian. It doesn't help that 6 or 7 issues are crossovers with the "Infinity Gauntlet" mega series and, in my opinion, they don't always work very well. The final three stories do though represent a bit of a last hurrah, with a well written story and some really quite nice art (by Geoff Isherwood).So there you have it. My take on over 1000 pages. Overall I think its well worth buying despite the high price. But if I'm honest I would have preferred a collection that featured only the Thomas/Guice stories. Then again Doctor Strange becomes more or less unreadable for the next 40 issues or so, so maybe it is good to get Thomas' "lesser" stories while we can. They are still, in my opinion, light years ahead of what is to come!