Doctor Strange #7: Pulling The Rug From Underneath The Rug

Doctor Strange #7 kicks off with General Strange revealing himself at Umar’s wedding. After the previous issue’s exploration into the history of the General, his full plan is brought to light, complete with child soldiers and a war to end all of existence. After the explosive adventure last issue, it was very much a let-down to see General Strange spend over half of Doctor Strange #7 spouting his plan in expository fashion like many comic book villains have been known to do. Following this segment there is a lengthy discussion between Clea and Doctor Strange which ties back well into the core themes of this run, highlighting Strange’s moral code and Clea’s willingness to go beyond it.

Pasqual Ferry returns to the art here, having taken last issue’s flashback story off. The biggest piece of Ferry’s art, in comparison to his work earlier in the run, is the design of General Strange. While writer Jed MacKay goes to great lengths to explain the General’s drastic change in appearance, an argument can be made that he is overdesigned. Some of this design really works, such as the flame-like aura around his head, obviously working as a visual similarity to Dormammu. Beyond that, there seems to be more going on than there needs to be. Not only does he have the flame-like aura, but he is also bald, heavily bearded, and blind in one eye, all while sporting a costume that visually contrasts that of Doctor Strange. He almost feels like a randomized option on an RPG character creation screen. Thankfully, this more than visually separates him from Doctor Strange, although it simultaneously makes it easy to forget that they are supposed to be the same person.

As mentioned earlier, it was very underwhelming to see General Strange portrayed as a villain who is happy to spout his plan in front of everyone before making a spectacular exit. There was a lot of worldbuilding and excellent visual storytelling done in the previous issue that made a lot of this unnecessary. That being said, seeing Doctor Strange’s response to all of this almost makes it worthwhile. MacKay has spent a lot of time telling Strange’s story, enough to know how to make him tick. Seeing his explosive outburst made complete sense and was very in keeping with his character, while also highlighting a side of himself that is seldom shown. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see where MacKay goes with this, seeing as though General Strange is starting to feel more like a plot device than an actual character.

While Ferry’s art stays fairly consistent with the earlier issues, Heather Moore’s colors steal the show here. She does an excellent job showing how different the magic in the Marvel universe can look, highlighting each of these characters in unique and colorful ways. A particular page that emphasizes this is when General Strange creates a portal to leave the Wedding. There are so many fun and vibrant colors here which indicate all the different aspects of power that the General has at his disposal. More so than the exposition, Moore’s colors serve to highlight the power and effectiveness behind General Strange.

Cory Petit continues with the letters in Doctor Strange #7, doing an excellent job in conveying the emotion on the page. After General Strange’s exit, Doctor Strange has some words with Tiboro and Umar, which are made even better by the way that Petit puts them on the page. This explosion in Strange’s temperament is shown in the art and the story, yet it’s Petit’s letters where all the emotion lies. Petit does this in a few different ways, whether it’s separating the words into their own speech bubbles, or using a loud lettering font. All of these techniques create a fun and engaging tone for this issue.