Doctor Strange: Damnation #1 Review
Writers: Donny Cates & Nick Spencer
Artist: Rod Reis
Publisher: Marvel
I thought Marvel said no events for 18 months? Luckily, this new mini-series feels less like an event and more like a continuation of Cates’ Doctor Strange book. After Cates wrapped up a killer start to his take on the character last week, this is definitely a good thing. The book is off to a strong start with some incredible art and a promising plot, picking up threads from Secret Empire and Doctor Strange Legacy.
The book has a lot of groundwork to lay down due to the fact that it’s picking up a major plot point from two different books. Luckily, it wraps up Secret Empire fairly effortlessly, even establishing the current lack of faith in our heroes today. This is picked up as a major theme the event will be revolving around. There’s the feeling idea that our heroes aren’t heroes anymore and that they carry with them a history of sins and mistakes. Unfortunately, this is merely said rather than subtly shown. With only 4 issues, this is probably a necessity to establish the story quickly.
The other book Damnation has to catch the reader up with is Doctor Strange’s solo title. It’s done fairly quickly. Doctor Strange is in the possession of much more power due to the recent events of the Loki Sorcerer Supreme arc. The writers decide to let the reader piece some of this stuff out themself rather than explain everything. This is probably for the best to avoid slowing the story down. Ghost Bats, for example, is just thrown into this issue without any explanation.
The plot is fairly straightforward. With his newfound power, Doctor Strange decides to use his power to resurrect the recently destroyed Las Vegas. This resurrection even includes the city’s residents. The motivations behind this are explained fairly poorly. Strange isn’t a, ahem, stranger to the consequences of magic. Since the beginning of the modern Doctor Strange title, the cost of magic has been a primary concern. It seems silly to have Strange commit to such a dramatic display of power considering everything he knows. Also, the fact that he now has the power to bring souls back to the land of the living is swept under the rug. Despite the limitless nature of magic, Strange has always played but some rules. I’m pretty sure casually bringing thousands of people back to life is frowned upon as a Sorcerer Supreme. Hopefully we get a better look into Strange’s motivations in the next issues or in his own series tie-ins.
Well, it turns out that bringing a city back to life does have its consequences. Mephisto, of course, decides to take advantage of the situation and opens of his own casino smack in the middle of Sin City. Things get out of hand and it now seems that bringing Las Vegas back to the land of the living has merely given Mephisto new territory. It’s a lot of fun and we get to see Mephisto be Mephisto. He’s a suave, slimy devil and fits in very well with the Las Vegas setting. We know that Mephisto loves to make deals, it’s kind of his thing, so Strange, predictably makes a bet with him for the fate of Las Vegas. The plot is a little predictable so far but with the promise of the new midnight sons with some interesting team members, the future is very exciting.
The book is off to a solid start. It doesn’t spend too much time setting up the plot and seems to be taking a fun direction. Unfortunately the book is a little predicable and Strange’s motivates questionable. Still, there is plenty of time to surprise us and flesh out those motivations. It seems that this creative team has some really cool ideas in store for us with the next issue.
Artist: Rod Reis
Publisher: Marvel
I thought Marvel said no events for 18 months? Luckily, this new mini-series feels less like an event and more like a continuation of Cates’ Doctor Strange book. After Cates wrapped up a killer start to his take on the character last week, this is definitely a good thing. The book is off to a strong start with some incredible art and a promising plot, picking up threads from Secret Empire and Doctor Strange Legacy.
The book has a lot of groundwork to lay down due to the fact that it’s picking up a major plot point from two different books. Luckily, it wraps up Secret Empire fairly effortlessly, even establishing the current lack of faith in our heroes today. This is picked up as a major theme the event will be revolving around. There’s the feeling idea that our heroes aren’t heroes anymore and that they carry with them a history of sins and mistakes. Unfortunately, this is merely said rather than subtly shown. With only 4 issues, this is probably a necessity to establish the story quickly.
The other book Damnation has to catch the reader up with is Doctor Strange’s solo title. It’s done fairly quickly. Doctor Strange is in the possession of much more power due to the recent events of the Loki Sorcerer Supreme arc. The writers decide to let the reader piece some of this stuff out themself rather than explain everything. This is probably for the best to avoid slowing the story down. Ghost Bats, for example, is just thrown into this issue without any explanation.
The plot is fairly straightforward. With his newfound power, Doctor Strange decides to use his power to resurrect the recently destroyed Las Vegas. This resurrection even includes the city’s residents. The motivations behind this are explained fairly poorly. Strange isn’t a, ahem, stranger to the consequences of magic. Since the beginning of the modern Doctor Strange title, the cost of magic has been a primary concern. It seems silly to have Strange commit to such a dramatic display of power considering everything he knows. Also, the fact that he now has the power to bring souls back to the land of the living is swept under the rug. Despite the limitless nature of magic, Strange has always played but some rules. I’m pretty sure casually bringing thousands of people back to life is frowned upon as a Sorcerer Supreme. Hopefully we get a better look into Strange’s motivations in the next issues or in his own series tie-ins.
Well, it turns out that bringing a city back to life does have its consequences. Mephisto, of course, decides to take advantage of the situation and opens of his own casino smack in the middle of Sin City. Things get out of hand and it now seems that bringing Las Vegas back to the land of the living has merely given Mephisto new territory. It’s a lot of fun and we get to see Mephisto be Mephisto. He’s a suave, slimy devil and fits in very well with the Las Vegas setting. We know that Mephisto loves to make deals, it’s kind of his thing, so Strange, predictably makes a bet with him for the fate of Las Vegas. The plot is a little predictable so far but with the promise of the new midnight sons with some interesting team members, the future is very exciting.
The book is off to a solid start. It doesn’t spend too much time setting up the plot and seems to be taking a fun direction. Unfortunately the book is a little predicable and Strange’s motivates questionable. Still, there is plenty of time to surprise us and flesh out those motivations. It seems that this creative team has some really cool ideas in store for us with the next issue.
A Look Inside
