Doctor Strange: The Oath #3

December 3, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Oath Chapter Three
Rating: T+

Strange’s true enemy is revealed.

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Art: Marcos Martin
Colors: Javier Rodriguez
Letters: Willie Schubert
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Marcos Martin
Publisher: Marvel Comics

I give Brian K. Vaughan a lot of credit for digging so deeply in Dr. Strange’s history for this miniseries. It’s easy to forget that this calm elder statesman of the Marvel Universe was originally an arrogant, selfish man, and he had to learn to become a hero. Now his past is catching up with him.

The thief called Brigand has stolen the elixir that could not only save the life of Strange’s servant, Wong, but also cure cancer. Now he’s holding Night Nurse captive to make his escape. Strange makes chase and stumbles across the true mastermind behind the recent attacks on him, and the identity is a surprise. The action stuff in this issue works very well. The weaker bits come in where we follow the villain to his associates and Vaughan starts singing his usual “Big Business is evil” song. For the purposes of this story, it works, but Vaughan falls back on this same routine so often in his writing that it’s getting rather tiresome, even when everything around it is golden.

Marcos Martin’s artwork is a very nice fit for the story and the character. He has a nice blend of the superhero and the magician, which is absolutely essential for a Dr. Strange story, the big reveal at the end is very nice.

I’m definitely enjoying this miniseries – I just wish Vaughan would find other targets to pick on. When he uses the same theme so often in so many different titles, it starts to feel like he’s on a soapbox, and that’s never fun.

Rating: 8/10