Doctor Strange: The Oath

We wrap up the unintended trilogy of Marvel trades collecting solo series ("Black Widow", "Karnak") this week with a modern classic from a decade ago.

For anyone who's only been reading comics for the last, say 25 years or so, this is probably the definitive Doctor Strange story. Let's face it, the 1990s did not provide a bumper crop of memorable Doctor Strange stories.

He's the character, legend has it, that every creator has a story for and wants to tell a story with, but that Marvel never publishes.

He has a semi-long lived series now (by today's standards) by Jason Aaron, and that ends the long draught of Strangeness in the Marvel Universe.

But in 2007, Marvel let Brian K. Vaughan take the reigns of the character for a five issue mini-series. It is so well thought of that it is always the first suggested reading material people suggest for fans of last year's "Doctor Strange" movie. While there have been countless appearance of Strange over the decades, "The Oath" is the first book to come to mind in modern days for a definitive depiction of the character.

It's for good reason: It's a great book that retreads the origin story yet again, inserts a retcon or two, and makes a great story with big, though questions.

Oath as Origin

Maybe "retcon" is too strong a word. Perhaps "continuity implant" is a better phrase. But, really, what's the difference? This story has, as its basis, the classic origin story of a young doctor who's too full of himself until an awful accident robs him of his skills. Then, we travels to exotic places to find a solution to his problem, gets hooked up with an ancient mystic, and becomes the Sorcerer Supreme.

Vaughan explores those generalities by adding a couple new details that haunt Strange into the current day. I don't want to spoil anything, but we learn more of the consequences of Strange's earlier reckless behavior, and how a less moral person might react under similar circumstances.

That's the crux of the story, with an added layer being questions about the Hippocratic Oath and the superhero method. (Can Strange save Wong? Is the cost too great? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or of the one?) The most impressive part of Vaughan's story is how he weaves in those bigger questions in the last couple of issues. He challenges Strange in ways where there's no easy win or solution. There's only a decision that has to be made, and does Strange have the strength of character to do it?

I may grouse and grumble a bit about having to revisit the origin story yet again, but Vaughan minimizes the part we already know while maximizing the new additions for maximum force.

How Many Origins Do We Need?

Also, this book comes just a couple short years after "Doctor Strange: Beginnings and Endings," by J. Michael Straczynski and Brandon Peterson, went deep into the origin of those shaky hands.

You can understand why people might not have been thrilled to see Yet Another Origin Story coming down the pike. But when the story is this good, it sticks.

Honestly, as big a fan of JMS' as I am, I've never read his Strange story. This is the one that stuck.

So when you ask why we're getting Yet Another Origin story for a given character, sometimes this is why. It takes few tries to get it to stick forever sometimes. For example, Frank Miller wasn't the first to show Joe Chill's bullets taking out Thomas and Martha Wayne. It is, however, the most memorable, most imitated, and most loved. The shell casings, the string of pearls breaking, etc.

I bet most modern comics readers will point to this version of Strange's origin as their most memorable. For good reason. It's a great story, well told. Strange comes off as likable and the kind of guy you want to root for. He's overcome his demons, though they haven't left him entirely. And his relationship with Night Nurse in this book is particularly delightful.

The Look of the Book

Marcos Martin's art is strong as always, though I think it dips a minor amount in the middle before finishing very strong. The man just knows how to tell a story and how to keep things neat and clear, while still drawing plenty of detailed backgrounds.

You don't get too many of his wild double page spreads here, though you do get pill-shaped flashbacks in the medicinally appropriate moments. There are a few fun panel layouts with inset panels helping to set the scene, but nothing too wild.

He also appears to incorporate bits of Steve Ditko into some more of the mystical action moments.

Javier Rodriguez is always a great colorist for Martin. He works well with Martin's style, making a color design that looks flat, but really isn't. Look carefully and you'll see the gradients and the subtle modeling in the shadows. He keeps things bright and punchy, letting the art shine.

He drops a photograph of some stormy skies into the climactic battle. Normally, I don't like mixing pictures of things alongside line artwork, but it worked for me here. They were the perfect ominous addition to the dramatic high point of the series. (And it's a good final battle...)

Special shout-out to the instantly recognizable lettering stylings of Willie Schubert. His style was a staple of much of my 90s readings, and it's great to see it at work here, too. Some of the special fancy demon lettering styles don't work that well for me, but his work on the text pages at the beginning of each issue is great, and his usual dialogue lettering style is an instant win for the book.

Give It a Shot

I'm late on reading this book. I bet most of you already have read this one. If you haven't, though, it's a strong mini-series from all the creators.

I'm not really a Doctor Strange fan -- or any kind of mystical genre fan -- but I like this one a lot.