Doctor Strange, Vol. 1: Across the Universe

Doctor Strange (2018) (Collected Editions)

by Mark Waid

The Eye of Agamotto is closed! Doctor Stephen Strange has lost his connection to the Earth's arcane power, and he can't wait to recover while nightmares press against the seams of our reality. Tony Stark off ers a 21st-century solution: when astral travel fails, try astronautical travel. Enter Doctor Strange: Space-Explorer Supreme! New spells, allies and enemies--new and old--await Strange beyond the stars, along with corners and secrets of the Marvel Universe, seen here for the fi rst time! Space is endless, but time is short. After years of threats, Stephen's bill for magic use is coming due--who will come to collect?!

COLLECTING: DOCTOR STRANGE 1-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2018

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Strange In Space!
Basically.



The gist is that within a week, Strange goes from Sorcerer Supreme to nobody. Magic is gone.
POOF! It disappeared (at least for Stephen) just like...well, magic.



With a little help from Tony Stark, he heads off into outer space to see if he can find a bit of extra magic in the universe to Help recharge the Earth & himself.
He gets captured by evil aliens, meets a new friend, and follows in Iron Man's footsteps by building some shit.



It's a good story and I enjoyed the art quite a bit.
That ending though?



I'm hooked & looking forward to the next volume.

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m generally a big Mark Waid fan, though I wasn’t sure how his love of Golden and Silver-Age superhero tropes would translate to the Master of Mysticism, who tends to traffic in the weird and supernatural. He took an interesting approach—take Strange’s magic away and launch him into space in search of new sources of arcane energy—which worked, for the most part, thanks especially to Saiz’s stellar and eye-popping art.

The last-page twist will definitely bring me back for more. But, all you really need to do to get me to want to read more Doc Strange is weave the word “Agamotto” into any random sentence.

“Boy, I have sure been in some discomfort lately. Perhaps the hemorrhoid cream of Agamotto will help me—”

SOLD. GIVE ME VOLUME 2!

(And if you’re bored, go read the pilot script for Doctor, Doctor. It will change your world.)

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid has finally written something again that has peaked my interest. Sending Doctor Strange to space doesn't sound like the most natural fit. But once it got going, it felt no different that Dr. Strange going to the crossroads of dimensions. Yes, he's lost touch with his magic once again which seems to be every writer's crutch on this book. But there's a twist at the end of this that shows there's more going on. I really like Waid's narration and characterization of Strange here, bringing back some of his arrogance. It has a very classic Roger Stern feel to it. Jesus Saiz is on art for all the issues and it looks fantastic. Even though he's using computerized colors, the art has a classic look to it. I kept getting Frazetta vibes and old pulp sci-fi novels covers.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Strange gradually loses his affinity for magic on Earth and takes to the stars for answers...

Doctor Strange: Across the Universe collects Doctor Strange 1-5 by Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz. Saiz's art is gorgeous. He uses a lot of computer effects but he uses them very well. His aliens and planetary environs are superb and he draws a mean Stephen Strange.

And now for the story. Mark Waid is very hit or miss for me. I loved him on Daredevil and his Indestructible Hulk was okay. Everything else of his I've read hasn't left much of a mark but I haven't read all that much of his stuff.

Anyway, this was great. Doctor Strange goes to the stars for answers and slowly rebuilds his magical portfolio with Kanna, an alien arcanologist. Armed with some new skills, Strange thwarts an invasion and winds back in the vicinity of Earth. In and of itself, it was an above average tale but the pacing elevated it quite a bit in my estimation.

I shit on a lot of today's comics for being written for trades but this one didn't feel padded to me. The individual issues leaned on each other but they had the requisite amount of meat that I wouldn't have felt ripped off reading them one at a time. I won't say anything about the ending other than I will definitely be getting the next volume once I get the comic pile down to a more manageable level.

Doctor Strange: Across the Universe is the best Mark Waid book I've read since Daredevil and Jesus Saiz's art is fantastic. Four out of five Eyes of Agamotto.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hear me, gods and devils everywhere! Is that the best you've got? This is my home! My world! My dimension! It is under my protection! I am magic incarnate! I am the SORCERER SUPREME!" -- Doctor Stephen Strange, master of the mystic arts

It goes without saying that if our title character makes such a foreshadowing boast in the volume's initial six pages that it will be immediately followed by a plot complication. Well, Across the Universe throws Strange a career curveball by having him lose his trademark mastery of magic. Crestfallen, he turns to an certain superhero acquaintance - they have a nicely written and at times almost heartfelt conversation - who provides technological assistance by rocketing him on an intergalactic quest for answers. Strange soon teams up (because for him to just work solo would mean A LOT of thought bubbles) with a clever and chatty female alien antiquarian - he nicknames her 'Kanna,' she amusingly calls him 'earthbilly' - and the result is a fast-moving and occasionally fun adventure story.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doctor Strange is back as the Sorcerer Supreme but oh no - he’s used up all of Earth’s magic, or something, and, on the advice of Iron Man, decides to seek out new sources of magic… across the universe! Jai guru Tony, om?

Doctor Strange and Mark Waid are both hit and miss with me and unfortunately Doctor Strange, Volume 1: Across the Universe was mostly a miss. Jesus Saiz makes the comic look very pretty and I appreciated his expert artwork the most, but I found Waid’s story unremarkable.

Stephen gets into scrapes with some aliens, then gets himself out of them just as easily - it’s very pointless stuff. Moments like when his Cloak of Levitation returns to him are so wholly underwhelming because I was never convinced that he had really lost the ability to use magic at any point.

The new character, Kanna, is your generic sidekick, and of course the Infinity Gems make an appearance because what else does Marvel have to offer these days besides references to their way-more-popular movies?

I suppose it’s an interesting idea to give Stephen the ability to craft his own magical objects but also doesn’t that make them less special and more convenient if he can just rustle up a solution to whatever problem he encounters with his own hands? That’s why I don’t really like magic characters - everything’s so contrived with them.

It’s ironic that, for a story ostensibly about rejuvenation, all I got out of it was the feeling of stagnation, that it’s just more of the same old, same old, with the superficial veneer of setting it in space for a character who rarely ventures out there. Doctor Strange, Volume 1: Across the Universe is skilfully illustrated but Waid’s story is largely unentertaining guff and very forgettable.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Strange fans have it rough. Imagine going years with Iron Man having no armor, Captain America having no shield, or Hulk never Hulking out. They are really beating this "death of magic" plot like a dead horse.

And what are the rules here with this ongoing plotline? Sometimes he has his magic back, sometimes he has a little magic back, and sometimes he has no magic. And we have been told that all magic everywhere is gone, and now we are told just Earth's magic is gone. Make up your minds, Marvel!

My last gripe is that this is Doctor Strange in space. Now, I really like cosmic comics, but there are plenty of other heroes that tackle that sort of thing. When I read Doctor Strange, I want to see him facing off against astral horrors and Cthulhu-spawn, not Joe-Bob Skrull and his spaceship.

Anyway, this was fine for what it was. The art was good and the plot was so-so. Hopefully Strange can start getting back to his normal self sometime soon.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Strange in Space...sounds stupid? yet it somewhat works here.

This is basically Strange trying to find his place again. After magic leaves him he feels empty. This is when Tony says, well dude, go into space. So he does. And in space he meets a alien lady who helps him travel the universe to reclaim his magic. In doing so he might meet some races more powerful than he expects, and the end he might have to make some big choices.

This was pretty fun. When overly written in exposition and internal thoughts, the dialogue itself between characters was strong and fun. The pacing shifted, and sometimes boring, but most times pretty fun. Art was solid throughout though nothing amazing. Overall, a good book but not great. The ending made me want to read book 2 though. A 2.5 out of 5, but I'll bump it to a 3.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story for sure!

Stephen has sort of been having problems with magic on earth so he decides to go off world and well he meets with Tony first and from there we see him meet (in pace) a woman named Kanna, a techno-arcane and well him getting captured on some mysterious planet, escaping from there, doing some cosmic magic, fighting the Super-skrull to get back the time stone and then rescuing a dwarf from spome alien beings called Majesdane and in the process getting his mojo back and making his own magical weapons meanwhile plots against him are set in place.

A fun read for sure and its fast paced and doesn't waste any time getting the reader to speed and omg I love the character of Kanna and some new themes and concepts explored here and the interctions and challenges, and the space wizardry and the art in particular, just excellent! <3

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange in space just doesnt work for me.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, but really average....

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

The Sorceror Supreme has lost his touch with magic again. He Can't seem to tap into any power around earth. I've seen this so many times in the last 4-5 years with this title. With an assist from Tony Stark the Doctor begins a sort of space Odyssy in search of magical artifacts on other worlds. At least this hasn't been done. The plot isn't game changing, but Waid writes narration, and dialogue well enough. The narrative portions felt very classic space adventur-esque, perhaps a nod to a pulpier era in comics. I enjoyed the feel of the story, and was entertained throughout. There are some good side characters he meets on his journey, he forges an interesting weapon, and faces down many a Skr'ul. Not too shabby, but all in all I'm afraid this falls into the forgetable category.

This is a great looking book. Visually you would be hard pressed to find a complaint on the art front.

Volume 2 looks promising. Waid has written some of the greatest story arcs of our generation so I'm sure the next few volumes will be worth a read.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, straightforward storytelling featuring the Sorcerer Supreme...IN SPACE!!!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]

After the assault of the Empirikul, Doctor Strange knew magic would be diminished for as long as he lived. But he didn’t expect it to vanish entirely. With magic gone, Strange turns to the stars for aid, and begins an intergalactic voyage alongside magical archaeologist Kanna in search of that which he has lost, not knowing that along the way he may just discover that even with his vast knowledge of magic, he may not have even scratched the surface of its power.

Mark Waid’s Marvel work has been hit or miss recently. From the blandness of Champions and his off-kilter Captain America run, to the heights of Avengers: No Surrender, he’s been a bit all over the place, if we’re honest. And this Doctor Strange run starts off that way as well, surprisingly. But by the time this first arc is over, everything is turned on its head and the true depth of Waid’s ambition is revealed.

The idea of this arc confused me to begin with – the notion that magic could exist out in the universe but not on Earth was a strange (no pun intended) one to get my head around, but once I decided to just roll with it, it wasn’t as much of a problem, and it made me feel a bit more connected with Stephen – it wasn’t just him that was relearning how magic worked, it was both of us. The way in which he and his new friend Kanna (who gives me definite Doctor Aphra vibes) go about their adventures, initially thrust together and then reluctantly working alongside each other before finally becoming friends is surprisingly well-realising considering there are only five issues collected here, and it looks like she’s going to be the Zelma Stanton of this series.

The intergalactic odyssey that Strange goes on touches on a lot of Marvel continuity, not just with the Infinity Wars tie-in in issue three but even some old Runaways stuff in issues 4 and 5. I had thought that this was going to be a clean break from previous Strange continuity though, with Waid kind of ditching all of what Aaron and Cates had done before him, but this is part of the last issue fake-out that brings the story crashing back to Earth in some exciting ways that had me really excited for the following arc. I’ll admit, my interest waned a little midway through the story, but that final issue zinger is a great hook for what comes next.

All five of these issues are pencilled by Jesus Saiz, who is no stranger to having to draw craziness after runs on Swamp Thing and Secret Empire-era Captain America. His figures are always bold and well-defined, and his colouring really adds depth to his characters, who look almost as if they could walk off the page at certain points. Whether he can keep up a consistent run on this title remains to be seen since he has a reputation for needing long lead times (look at how many issues of Cap he drew across the 25 issue run, it wasn’t as many as you’d think), but there’s no denying that this volume is a visual tour de force.

This volume of Doctor Strange is surprising in many ways. It’s still a little inconsistent, and drags in the middle, but it has a good idea that it just takes a little while to get to. While Doctor Strange + Star Wars isn’t the most natural of pairings, it does have its moments (such as his new companion character), and the artwork is top notch throughout, and the final issue teaser is easily enough to justify the meandering journey we took to get to it. I wouldn’t call this one of Mark Waid’s best works (it’s more of a three and a half stars rounded up), but it definitely has the makings of something special.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these issues individually as they were coming out before I had this Goodreads app. A few simple things, I like space, I like adventure and I like Dr. Strange. This book gave me all of that. Strange adventuring around thru space trying to fix an issue he was having was so entertaining. I even liked the idea of who helped him get there and new characters he met along the way. Plus I I thought it was awesome how he learned to make his own magical weapons.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIVE for a full story arc of Stephen Strange being condescended to by a lady alien. I also like that the comics seem to keep taking away his magic and rebooting his origin story, which is great because his original origin story is gross. They're coming closer and closer to confronting the colonialism of it all. Also he still has his ghost dog from the last reboot so upgrades all around!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of his element away from Earth, but a rare enough occurrence to be interesting, and it gives the Doctor an opportunity to shine without being overshadowed by other established characters shoehorned into the storyline.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ| Spanish Immersion Week‽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange looses his powers so he decides to explore space instead to make himself feel better. what happens is quite cool

[Ondra Král · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waida mám rád, ale tohle je strašně líný psaní.

Strange ve vesmíru... meh. Ta premisa mi prostě přijde blbá. Ale dobrý, třeba s ní budou autoři pracovat nějak zajímavě a prozkoumáme roli magie u jiných ras nebo navštívíme zajímavé světy atp.

No, bohužel ne. Je to úplně stejný, jako když autoři využívají mystické dimenze - někam se přiletí, je tam záporák, co chce dobýt Zemi, a Strange ho vyškolí. Akorát má padouch raketu/bombu místo mystického artefaktu. Používání a fungování magie má zrovna taková pravidla, jak se autorovi hodí a sidekička je děsně generická.

Ať jen nehejtím, Waid je zkušenej vypravěč, čte se to dobře, není tam moc textu a kresba je fajn. Vyloženě spotřební mainstream, kterej mě vlastně bavilo číst, ale čím víc nad tím přemýšlím, tím víc je to meh.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

If anything, Waid deserves some credit for putting Dr. Strange in a non-traditional setting (think Magician...in...SPAAACE!) Unfortunately, the catalyst for this has been used time and again most recently in Aaron's run (all magic has disappeared) but it's all about the journey, right? Strange sets off into space to try and "find magic" which is a metaphor for the reader to find out just who Strange really is. Waid steps into the lake of Stephen's arrogance but doesn't quite dive in. Hopefully, he'll go for a swim later to better define that part of his personality. Granted this is the first volume and Waid has a lot of "setting up the pieces" to do, so calling this story "shallow" is premature.

Sais art is beautiful with clean lines, albeit generally static panels. The coloring almost has a painted look to it giving the overall result a fantasy feeling, which is probably intentional since Strange is on his Joseph Campbell Hero's Journey.

As with most of Waid's writing, it's not bad and has some points of ingenuity, but doesn't blow you out of the water. However, it's still good enough to at least peak your interest to keep going a little more.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Waid jumps into the world of Doctor Strange and does something unusual a takes him into space. Stephen has lost his connection to magic and goes searching for it offworld. AN interesting idea but filled with leaps in logic and the execution came across boring and generically bland. The introduction of Kanna was nice and she was a spark of energy the book needed. The book was possibly saved by the glorious artwork of Jesus Saiz. His linework was wonderful. Overall, not the start to a new series that I hoped for.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Marvel books I’ve read in a while, and possibly my favorite Doctor Strange boom so far.

This takes the Doctor into space, and focuses on some truly wild cosmic stuff. The setup is shrouded in mystery, but the beats are decisive, fast paced and really fun.

Jesús Saiz’s art is really spot on here, and Mark Waid tells us a compelling story with intriguing and loveable characters and fast paced action.

Judah likey!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one more nifty story from Waid and the art is gorgeous! Still, the story is quite thin and feels absurdly stretched to situate the book with a humdinger of a cliffhanger. There is very little text and the whole thing can be read all too quickly. The market imposed mandate of filling a 120-page graphic album multiple times a year often has a detrimental effect on the storytelling and that is evident here.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this is gorgeous, a treat for the eyes. The story is quite fun, even if it did remind me of Doctor Who perhaps a little too much. It does strike me as odd that they felt the need to reboot the story with yet another round of magic dying out, but the way it’s rediscovered is pretty nifty. I wasn’t wild about the old-fashioned wording of the narrative and have questions about the story, but I’m reserving some judgment because of the twist at the end of the volume. I’ll just have to see how I feel about it after I read the next one.
Pkzkrfmknna—thereafter known as Kanna, for obvious reasons—the arcanologist is a great character. She’s smart, crafty, brave and funny. She’s like a walking, talking reality check for the often-too-internal-and-judgmental Doctor Strange.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here’s a new and unique problem for the Sorcerer Supreme to overcome: Doctor Strange loses his magic. Oh wait, we just went through that already. And here’s another writer who can’t really grasp the concept of the character. Sigh. And the ending makes it seem like Waid’s approach is to turn Doctor Strange into another very well known Doctor, who travels through time to meet themselves.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, Mark Waid? Her name is... KPZKRFMKNNA? You had a stroke or something or what? Was really hard for you to come up with a decent name for a female character? That stupid name got me off the mood when I read the book. Not cool, Waid, not cool. If you aren’t able to find simple name for characters just call for help, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with new and old characters you'll love. Even if you are only an MCU fan, you'll find plenty to enjoy.

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Vraiment sympa !

[Ramón S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

yes, the art is pretty catching but the whole story is very bad. I ended wanting this comic to end soon so boring it was

[Kai Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent start to a new series. Action adventure and mostly I'm just going, "huh"? Perfect!