Doctor Strange #6 Home is Where the Soul Is

The cover by Kevin Nowlan utilizing both recent Doctor Strange logos and different versions of the man in an almost spaghetti western style standoff was a nice touch, leaving it vastly open as to which was the real Doctor Strange and keep us all guessing.
The reveal came as somewhat of a shocker and I have to say my suspicions of a split personality were completely unfounded, for which I was pleasantly surprised and grateful. And this forgetting of people in his past is getting to be a disturbing trend. Much like John Barber showed in issue #25  just before Legacy kicked in, where Strange was confronted by The Haunted Girl, it seems he keeps forgetting people he’s helped. So Casey Kinmont, who is she? Glad you asked. Some may remember we first met Casey in Mark Waid’s own Strange mini-series from 2010, now entitled Strange: The Doctor is Out. This tale started with her introducing herself to him at a ball game by hitting him with a baseball and calling him an asshat…I kid you not and ended with her sacrificing herself to save him from Silver Dagger. Right from the get-go and the start of the confrontation things are undecided and we are kept on the back foot, as they both seem to believe they are the real deal, both using spells in a true magician face off.
Also, very clever of Waid to bring back not only Casey but Larry, Baroshtok and Damion Hellstrom, who all played a part in the saga, this was a nice call back to all of that. Also I’m loving Kanna and Bats…two peas in a pod. The meeting of this pair was something I wasn’t expecting and it’s another pleasant surprise. They gel really well and I can see them being great friends and a foil for Strange in his serious moments.
And the art of Javier Pina, though distinctly different from Jesús Saiz, is a more than capable and suitable replacement, given we are in a different setting. We may have been brought back to Earth, but it isn’t with a bump and dare I say, it was almost even soothing at a time that could so easily have come off too jarring a transition. We had been significantly spoiled with the art for the opening of this new series and I for one was in awe. While I was sad to lose Jesús, Javier has stepped up to the plate in what could have been a very challenging change and made it his own, as the style is still an admirable one, in keeping with the last arc but still distinctly different and individual. And I was also sad to see bearded Strange wasn’t the real deal, but it was a small price to pay to keep this new look, which I’m loving, by the way, especially the updated apparel, which vastly outshone the last big change we had in the 90’s and that ridiculous Lucha Libre style mask and black get up of Vincent Stevens. I’m glad to see it seems as though this one will be staying a while.
And Brian Reber’s coloring came into its own as we had to deal with not just one time change for the memories, but two, with the flashback to the fate of Casey and then the further attempt to save her, the death of Larry and the cause of Stephen’s lack of memory of events. This was very helpful in a story that could have gotten a little confusing.

Yet we are still none the wiser as to the cause of Strange’s predicament before meeting Kanna and his quest into space. With the arrival of #400 I’m confident that will all be to come, but first solving the mystery of the return of Casey, Strange has his work cut out for him with this one. And it seems she is also unaware she is even the ersatz replacement, bringing to mind the question, who caused this if she isn’t aware of the manipulation herself?

COMING NEXT: With the big #400 countdown in the works (Doctor Strange#10) the next few issues will prove to be pretty eventful. Stephen Strange is back on Earth, and he knows how to build his own arsenal. He’ll need it! His troubles continued growing while he was gone, and while he’s using magic to solve them…He’ll need it to fight… himself?

Doctor Strange #6 On Sale 7th November 2018!