Doctor Strange #2: Not Just Another Elf On The Shelf…

Derek Landy and Ivan Fiorelli are back, and they’re back with a vengeance! Doctor Strange and Angela are back with them! As Strange is the current Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard, his role has drastically changed to what it was prior to the events of Blood Hunt, and One World Under Doom. Currently trying to rebuild the Rainbow Bridge, allowing them to return to earth to regain his once held role! Can our motley crew do it?

Derek Landy has put in a lot of work over the last year, rebuilding Strange from where he was left at the end of Blood Hunt to where we’re at now. His work with Stephen has opened up all manner of new and exciting possibilities, giving us a fresh adventure, putting him in situations that are quite similar, yet also brand new and limitless with new interactions and personal relationships. Adding Angela to the cast seems like a novel idea for a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons is how little she’s been developed in this universe, since her initial appearances in the Guardians of the Galaxy series by Bendis and Gaiman, after ownership rights were granted to Gaiman, who in turn sold them to Marvel. The fact that Marvel has such a unique situation with Angela, yet refused to do anything substantial with her shows how little Marvel knows what to do with her.

Landy and Fiorelli has put our hard traveling heroes on this interesting trek, and their first big adventure takes place on Alfheim, where they’re pit against a new “ancient” foe, Vyrbodin, an ancient elf sorcerer elf, whose dark magic threatened all ten realms. It’s nice to see new faces and threats, even if this newest threat resembles Malekith, it’s nice to see fresh faces and new threats. Especially when we have so few threats from the Asgardians that are primarily one of Thor’s rogues. Landy’s giving us not only something new, but he’s making the threat a lot of fun to play with. We’re only two issues in, but Landy’s filing the cast with a lot of personality, making it a fun read along. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of depth to the cast, which can grow old real fast.

Ivan Fiorelli’s line work here is fun and energetic. He work tends to align more with the weird, rather than the more realistic, giving the visuals an ethereal and funky feel. The storytelling here lends to the weird, and is both a compliment and retraction to the narrative. Fiorelli’s art style can be very polarizing, and it’s a very acquired taste. His strongest moments are the action sequences, as they’re very loud and expressive. But when we deal with the slower, most emotional scenes it’s where he loses the audience. Hopefully his work tightens up as the series moves forward.