Strange Academy Presents: Death of Doctor Strange #1 Review: The Kids Are Alright

Now that the Sorcerer Supreme is murdered, it’s sending ripples across every dimension and plane of existence. With Doctor Strange dead, it’s only natural for those in attendance in Strange Academy to be heavily affected. Luckily for fans who’ve been following the school for the magically gifted over the past year and some change, The Death of Doctor Strange welcomes a Strange Academy tie-in issue into the mix of the larger event. Strange Academy Presents: Death of Doctor Strange #1 is a one-shot that comes across as the event’s antithesis in that it does more to further the events of the separate ongoing title in comparison to the event at hand.

This one-shot features a main story by Skottie Young and Mike Del Mundo, two Marvel heavyweights that could sell a comic solely by having their names attached. Luckily here, the comic itself is certainly worth an event-level pricetag. In addition to this main story, which follows Alvie and Iric—the twin sons of the villainous Enchantress—a handful of one- and two-page backups are attached to the back following the respective students of Strange Academy in a post-Death of Doctor Strange world.

It’s in these backup stories where things get really interesting. The story itself is consumable, but it doesn’t add all too much to either story at hand. The big reveal—the fact Enchantress was the Asgardian duo’s mother—happened months ago. With that out of the way, the main story does an adequate job of turning her into what you and I would probably think is a suitable mother, even though it’s almost guaranteed to change somewhere down the line.

The backup stories, however, are reminiscent of one of Jason Aaron’s massive splash-page teases. As the students each go their own way—the Academy has been temporarily shuttered because its headmaster is dead—most feature stories or teases to set up potential story arcs for the future. And the ones that don’t set something up instead further the character development of the ensemble. See: the bit about Doyle Dormammu eating a lunch meat sandwich in a shack because he has no home to return to.

Strange Academy Presents: The Death of Doctor Strange #1 is an event tie-in in name alone. While there’s a loose connection to the main event at the very beginning of this tale, it does much more to further the primary Strange Academy line than push forth any of The Death of Doctor Strange‘s narrative. While Young’s always been dynamite writing these teen sorcerers, it’s a real treat to see Del Mundo deliver artwork on one of Marvel’s most mystical titles.

Published by Marvel Comics

On November 3, 2021

Written by Skottie Young

Art by Mike Del Mundo

Colors by Mike Del Mundo and Marco D’Alfonso

Letters by Clayton Cowles

Cover by Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado