Writer:
Robbie Thompson
Penciler:
Javier Rodriguez
Inker:
Álvaro López
Colorist:
Jordie Bellaire
Letterer:
VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover:
Rafael Albuquerque & John Rauch
Cover Price:
$3.99
On Sale:
October 26, 2016
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE
BOTTOM**
Okay, so this is an incredible name for a disco group
or a jam band.
I hope the comic book matches up to the incredible
live performances I’m picturing in my head. Let’s find out!
Explain
It!
So we got a little taste of this in…I forget. Was it
a back-up in Doctor Strange? Or maybe
it was the Annual. Whatever it was, we knew this was coming: Doctor Strange and
the Posse. Though from the way it’s presented here, it’s more like Merlin and
the Posse, since he seems to be the tie that binds the Sorcerers Supreme
together. Allow an attempt to explain: as we know, the world is currently
mostly bereft of magic after a magic-hating imperative called the Empirikull
came and sucked it all up in his wet/dry vacuum. This has left Doctor Strange,
our ever-lovin’ Sorcerer Supreme, at a disadvantage against the boogums and
haints that routinely try to dominate our physical dimension. Still, he has a
bunch of magic-laced weapons, like a double-edged axe that slashes the
tentacles of Q’uvin the Malevolent, some unholy thing from another dimension
come to test Strange’s mettle. Q’uvin is overcoming the Doctor, until Merlin
shows up standing on wall (as wizards do) and he zaps the tormentor long enough
for Doctor Strange to hack it up and retrieve some mystic bones or something. Merlin
isn’t here to save Strange’s ass in some Greenwich Village alleyway, however,
and promptly whisks the two of them into the mystical realm.
Specifically, the Backroads of Time, which I am told
are more picturesque than taking the Time Expressway. The way this travel is
rendered and colored, on a gorgeous two-page spread, is exquisite. It does a
great job or blending Steve Ditko’s original ethereal worlds with the “walking
in an M.C. Escher drawing” shtick usually applied in cartooning to symbolize
another dimension. As they walk, Merlin explains that when the Empirikull
whisked away all the magic in Strange’s time, it unleashed something called the
Forgotten that is wreaking magi-havoc in Merin’s time. So he’s assembled
Sorcerers Supreme from throughout history to battle this darkness and…say,
isn’t this sort of like the plot to Spider-Verse?
I guess those were variations on Spider-Man from different dimensions, but this
seems awfully familiar. Merlin and Doctor Strange eventually pop out of a tree
in some dense woods, and then run to the action: half a dozen Sorcerers Supreme
battling gross beaver monsters that one can only assume are the Forgotten!
There’s a swashbuckling lady Sorcerer Supreme named
Nina, an obnoxious little kid Sorcerer Supreme who is actually a younger
version of Strange’s mentor the Ancient One, a future Sorcerer Supreme wearing
a super-long striped cloak named Wiccan, a Native American Sorcerer Supreme
named Kushala, and…Isaac Newton, which is a pretty nice touch. He’s one of the
Mindless Ones as a sidekick, except Newton seems to have bestowed it with some
level of cognition and so calls it the Mindful One. Once all of the Forgotten’s
minions are killed, Merlin gives Nina a key, which she initially refuses but is
somehow compelled to accept because she is the Conjuror. The team converses
with one another and reveals their essential characters, but Sharing Time ends
suddenly when a freakish red-haired monster bursts from the ground and snatches
Merlin up in one of its four hands. In another hand is the Shield of Endless
Misery, which has a mirror-like surface that shows the viewer…well, something
miserable, I’d think. The Sorcerers Supreme attack, so this monster tosses
Merlin aside and deftly blocks them. Strange rushes to Merlin’s side, but he is
dead! Oh, and that key he gave Nina belongs to a massive underground prison
where Merlin’s been locking the worst demons and spirits for many years, and
they’re known as the Forgotten. I figure this will be important later.
It was a little tough to get a handle on all of these
new characters, but I definitely liked what I could glean from relatively few
pages. I’m a sucker for these kinds of comics, and if you’re a fan of Doctor Strange or stuff like Sandman or Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, I think you might enjoy
this. The artwork is excellent, and is as compelling during Merlin and
Strange’s walk through the Backroads of Time as it is during scenes of dense
action. I feel like this kind of comic book is a tough sell because a lot of
people don’t care for the “magic” or “dark” side of comics, but I know the fans
are out there! If you like your comic books a little weird and a little spooky,
then you could do worse than to give this a shot.
Bits and
Pieces:
Sort of a lot to throw at the reader for a first issue, but you won't come away feeling ripped off. Fans currently reading Doctor Strange will probably appreciate this the most, though I wouldn't call it a requirement. Some really solid art and good use of whatever nightmarish visions plague Javier Rodriguez's waking hours made this a real worthwhile read--but if you don't liken to horror or magic-based heroes, then you might want to steer clear.
8/10
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