Doctor Strange, Vol. 2: Remittance

Doctor Strange (2018) (Collected Editions)

by Mark Waid, Javier Pina (Illustrator), Jesus Saiz (Illustrator)

Doctor Strange returns to Earth to find...Doctor Strange?! Something bizarre happened since Stephen took off into the cosmos - and it doesn't bode well for him. It's time to gear up, get serious and build his new arsenal - because Strange has become his own worst enemy. Literally! And as if this twisted mystery weren't enough, a villain from Strange's past has returned, threatening Greenwich Village and the Sanctum Sanctorum in a way that Strange has never been threatened before! By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, it's good to be home!

COLLECTING: DOCTOR STRANGE 6-11

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

152 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2019

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

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like Waid's heart hasn't been in his recent Marvel work. First Captain America and now this. It's fine. It just doesn't have that magic and wonder Waid typically brings to his stories. First, he resurrects plot threads he left dangling in a miniseries from 10 years ago, Strange: The Doctor Is Out!. I don't know how he expects anyone other than him to remember anything about that old storyline. Then he rehashes the "magic has its price" theme that appears over and over in Dr. Strange.

The art inside is great though with Jesus Saiz and Javier Pina doing the heavy lifting. Kevin Nowlan and Butch Guice tag along for a couple of short stories for the 400th issue. Nowland is one of my favorite artists so I'll take any new pages he gives us.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Strange finds himself locked in combat with... himself? Can he unravel the mystery of The Two Doctors before the true mastermind shows himself?

Doctor Strange: Remittance collects issues 6-11 of Doctor Strange.

The previous volume, Across the Universe, was a pretty inventive tale. This one feels like a bridging volume more than anything else. Yeah, the stuff with Baron Mordo, the Ancient One, and the Faltine was cool but the book was the tail end of the previous volume, plus a two parter, plus some standalone tales. I guess it just lacked a unifying component other than Doctor Strange.

That being said, I did enjoy it. My favorite tale was the one of the demonic real estate developer trying to buy up Doctor Strange's neighborhood. The anniversary stories in #10 were also quite good. Another thing that impeded my enjoyment was the shifting of art teams. Sure, they all produced great demons and monsters but the contrasting styles were a little irritating.

That's about it, I guess. I liked Doctor Strange: Remittance but never contemplated making sweet love to it on my Cloak of Levitation. 3 out of 5 stars.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent volume, nothing mind-blowing but nothing terrible, either. The best part is that Strange is finally using magic again. It's ridiculous that he went so long without his super power.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Building directly from the end of the previous volume, Mark Waid launches into The Two Doctors (not a Doctor Who story) which brings some resolution to a story thread that has been dangling for almost a decade. What follows is a battle between the good Doctor and some of his more recognizable foes - it's a decent little story, but it falls into a Doctor Strange trap - the guy doesn't have that many regular villains, so it's a narrow pool to draw from.

Then we get the two issue Remittance story, which starts in the extra-sized Doctor Strange #400. This one draws on the idea that magic always has a price, and shows us who it is that keeps the books on that. It's a bold idea, but very reminiscent of what Jason Aaron did with Strange at the tail end of his run, so it's a tad derivative.

On the art front, we get some Jesus Saiz and Javier Pina as before, with some assists from Kevin Nolan (who has been floating around Strange for a bit). Strange is a good looking book, there's no denying that.

Not as good as the first volume, but not particularly bad. Just not as ambitious as it was before - hopefully we can bounce back going forward.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read!

We have Stephen and Kanna return to earth only to find that someone else might have taken the place of the Sorcerer Supreme and well later on we see its Casey, one of the students of Strange who was abducted and other shenanigans happened and then its him vs hero and also Baron Mordo and it was a fun story connected to a story that Waid did of Strange years ago and then finally we have the return of Ancient one as someone has taken his memories and how Stephen fights that is the bulk of the story plus bringing the other cast members in and then vs Dormammu in the over-sized 400th issue was kind of awesome!

I love how this volume harkens back to the first appearance of Strange by Stan lee and shows the arrogant man being humbled and protecting others from the forces of Mordo or Dormammu and even Nightmare and some fun villains too, like really exploring them and showing the responsibilities of Sorcerer supreme plus "magic has a cost" was well done here and introduces some great new villains for the future.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was...fine.

Probably the standout story was the shortest, with the Strange Doctor facing down gentrifying developers over the years on Bleecker St.

I'm decidedly not a fan of the "Magic Accountant" story, hopefully that's the last this concept (that even Strange himself recognizes a totally absurd in-story) is heard from.

[... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this bolume wasn’t as great as the first, I was still very much enjoyed it; especially the last few chapters.

The artwork was great as usual, but the plot was a very small meh.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The contrived storyline for a 400th (?) issue seems to have been more of a marketing ploy that a creative-driven one, and it shows a bit, but still a good followup to the preceding volume.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darn, almost was going with a 4 star. I really enjoy the first half. Nice twist and turns. 2nd half? Not so much.

Doctor Strange returns to earth but upon getting back to his home another doctor strange attacks him. This leaves them fighting each other but soon is revealed who is the real strange. This leads the doctor on a personal journey of failure and how to fix things broken. Then have the 2nd story of Strange dealing with the ancient one and then his greatest foe, which sounds cool, but ends in an unsatisfying way.

If I'd rate each part the first would be a 4 out of 5 where's 2nd part is a 2.5 out of 5. The art stays good throughout, the fights are fun, and way less internal dialogue so it works a lot better in this book for pacing. I also enjoyed Strange's characterization a lot. But the villain in the 2nd half was really blah and the ending didn't get me excited.

Still a solid, good, if not fun book. Wish I could give it a 4 but gonna settle with a 3.5 out of 5.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous "Doctor Strange in space" volume was exciting and different and offered a sweet cliffhanger conclusion - two Doctors! Unfortunately, that cliffhanger leads to diminishing returns in Remittance. The ultimate reveal of the second Doctor is disappointing (Am I supposed to remember who Casey is?). Each issue gets progressively more tedious as every vanquished villain seems to say "you may have defeated me, but my boss is worse!" How far down does the rabbit hole go?

Doctor Strange is always a fun read (can't go wrong with a ghost dog sidekick!), but Remittance felt more throwaway than usual. The idea that Doctor Strange owes a magic debt is fine, though I feel like we've dealt with that before. Despite Mark Waid being new to the series, Doctor Strange might already need some fresh blood.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid is really doing a nice job of drawing together Strange continuity in this volume. Some of it is a bit obscure, like the story of Casey and Strange's bull-headed helper. But other is nicely recent, such as references to Aaron's run. We also get two very classic villains in Mordo and Dormammu.

The writing is also strong, with the best being the one-and-done Bleeker Street issue, which is a nice travel through time with Strange that highlights a unique character: his neighborhood.

The start of this volume was a bit weak, because the continuity was a bit deep, but after that it was increasingly interesting and self-assured.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5🌟

Short RTC

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Dr Strange novel that didnt appeal to me.

[Viridian5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories, some good and some eh. My favorite was the gentrification story. The accountants thing might have been a step too far for me. (Really? They have offices just like that?) I would have appreciated more Kanna in this collection.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was little disappointed at how quickly and absurdly the “two” doctors storyline was resolved. I’d expected this was going to be a big focus for this volume and instead it was just half the volume and then pretty much tossed aside. I was hoping for something like the classic Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Stranger storyline, but this just didn’t live up to expectations at all. The rest of the volume fine, some fun little stories, but nothing really amounted to much. Over all a fine volume, but nothing overly remarkable.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up right where the previous Volume left off, we see Dr. Strange coming back from his magic/science exploration mission in space. Arriving at the Sanctum Santorum, he is greeted by... Dr. Strange? A "I'm.... no, I'm...!" battle breaks out with lots of magic and flashiness. Using a revealing spell, the Strange who was already home is revealed to be Casey, a magical trainee who learned from Strange, but when she crossed a line, Strange opted to forget her, to help him better focus on his use of magic. Chasing her down proves harder than he thought, but battling her reveals that it is really Baron Mordo who is controlling her. With Kanna making him a new bow, he is able to help Casey break free from the spell and send Mordo away.
The Falston Corporation has come to Bleeker Street. Trying to buy up all the property so that they can create a "metal and glass monstrosity", the company has yet to secure from Strange. He is eventually able to deter them, but it takes allowing them a visit inside his magical home AND a demonic lawyer. LOL
The final story is probably the most interesting... The Ancient One has come to Strange to ask for help in learning magic again, having been attacked and his knowledge of magic removed from him. When Strange goes in search of the "magic accountant" who took it, he himself gets "audited" when his "price" (how much it "costs" to use magic) is due. Once again, he is able to get out of it, but the accountant informs him that because of his negligence, Dormammu and the Falleen have come to collect, and they want Earth! With the help of his friends, and The Ancient One coming back into his power, they send the Falleen packing...
Overall, a really good Volume. I thought the two Stranges' was resolved too quickly, but oh well. Still loving this title. Recommend.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

D'oh! I thought this was the 2nd volume for the other Doctor Strange series I am trying to finish when I grabbed it at the library; anyway... This was much better than volume 1. Some of the dumb aspects of the first volume finally pay off. Though, to be honest I don't like how this whole story is being handled. Mark Waid is writing the story as if Doctor Strange is the villain of the story, Strange lies to his friends and uses magic without "Paying the price" causing bad things to happen. I see it in the recent Captain America and Batman stories where modern writers can't write heroes as heroes and have to write them as the bad guys of their own stories. I am reading comics to escape the evils of the current day, I want my heroes to be heroes I don't understand why that is so bad, let the good guys win once in a while. Oh, it is also kind of sad that the head accountant for magic is an evil 1970's accountant and Black Stereotype (How that got past the editors is kind of bad in this day and age).

Anyway, resolving the two Doctor Stranges story worked out better than I expected. The tale of defending Bleecker Street was kind of fun and the other short stories were mostly well done. So while I have issues with the volume overall it was not unreadable.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu havia simplesmente adorado o primeiro volume dessa nova fase do Doutor Estranho por Mark Waid, com suas aventuras espaciais cheias de sentido de maravilhamento. Mas logo no final do primeiro encadernado ele já retorna à Terra. No começo deste segundo encadernado já pude sentir que a minha empolgação diminuía. E, quando achei que ela seria diminuída a um ponto de eu desistir do personagem, dei um tempo na leitura. Quando retornei, percebi que não só a história estava mais empolgante como os desenhos também haviam melhorado. Aí que a gente para pra pensar no poder de um desenhista de nos conduzir por uma narrativa bem estruturada ou não, com desenhos que cativam nossos olhares ou não. Assim que saí do encadernado mais satisfeito, talvez quase sem me lembrar das decepções anteriores com o mesmo. Isso porque ele pode ser dividido em dois miniarcos. O primeiro, como puderam sentir, é bem fraquinho e o segundo muito envolvente. Dessa forma, como a segunda parte é maior, o segundo encadernado do Doutor Estranho acabou obtendo uma média melhor do que a impressão inicial poderia ter lhe conferido.

[Alex Sarll]

The first volume wasn't perfect, but it was at least fairly cohesive. This one bounces from pillar to post; first of all we're tying up a loose end from Waid's previous, brief run on Strange, which I suspect was only bothering him, and then before you know it Stephen's magic has deserted him, again, because magic always has a price, again. In between there is one excellent issue about gentrification, and how it's literally the work of Hell, but overall a distinctly wonky collection.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not mind-blowing. Felt a little bit like retreading old ground, actually, though I did like the general concept of an accounting firm keeping track of magical debt.

[Nik-El Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worse than Vol 1

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough, but not particularly memorable...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typically, I'm a bigger DC fan than a Marvel fan, but "Doctor Strange" has safely become one of my must-read series. It's creative and unique and has a solid foundation is storytelling and character development. Plus, Doctor Strange has a talking ghost dog, so... what else could you want? The story of this "other" Doctor Strange being a former student that Mordo was using as a puppet to collect Doctor Strange's debt was an interesting one. The end of that story arc, in which Strange's debt was the catalyst for a mystical conquest of the world was as entertaining as it was interesting. Strange's different friends (all of whom he's fallen out with, thanks to his own ego--though, in his defense, he usually THOUGHT he was doing the right thing with them) were all integral parts in fighting that conquest. Plus... there was that magical accountant. Seriously, that whole idea just made me laugh out loud. Too clever! I want to see more of that, because I'm pretty sure Strange is going to have to pay his debt one way or another... eventually. I also really enjoyed the final short stories at the end of this collection, showing different moments in Strange's life, all with different artists. Very cool. As with all of these graphic novels, I can't wait for the next installment.

[Fandom SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recenziu pre Fandom.sk napísal Ivan Kučera:

Scenár je síce osviežujúci a rázny, ale zároveň sa nebráni povinným klišé. Takže bezmocný hrdina otvorene hovorí o konci, aby na nasledujúcej strane zabral a vyhral. Vedľajšie postavy mu vyčítajú prchkú a sebeckú povahu a odchádzajú od neho s hláškou na perách: „Zbohom, nikdy viac sa neuvidíme,“ ale v nasledujúcej kapitole sa „nečakane“ vrátia. Isté rozpaky môže vzbudzovať i lacný spôsob, akým Waid vykorčuľoval zo šokujúceho konca jednotky, resp. úvodu dvojky. V ňom je šialený problém vyriešený tak rýchlo a banálne, že chvíľu trvá, kým sa čitateľova myseľ upokojí. Zároveň však ale treba dodať, že hoci ide o lacné vysvetlenie, vedie k zaujímavým ďalším okolnostiam. Takže nejde o vyložené negatívum, skôr o zaujímavosť. Tieto situácie opätovne potvrdzujú, že hoc má Strange neustále problém s aroganciou, zároveň má paradoxne veľké srdce...

Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the core mystery promised by the cover is solved very quickly, and it heavily references a previous run by Mark Waid on Strange. Then we get a fairly interesting interlude about a real estate developer trying to buy Strange's neighborhood. Then we go back to the (lightly foreshadowed) metaplot, where the disappearance of Strange's magic is offhandedly explained, and some of Strange's friends are called in to help solve an abruptly (re)introduced big menace. Then there are a few random short stories at the end. This is all entertaining enough, but overall it feels like the author was in a rush to get to certain scenes and plot points, and either didn't have the time - or didn't want to spend the time - to build it up in a more natural way. The result is fine, but could have been better. (B+)

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. This series toes on the edge of being something special several times, as some ideas Waid presents are interesting and could spin into something deeper, but it never takes that critical step. It can feel rushed or filler-ish, and lacks long-term direction. The short-term stories are entertaining enough, but there’s a spark missing. The art is nice though, and though nothing feels like it has staying power, I enjoyed most of the book.

First, the Doctor gets to the bottom of an imposter. Then, as Strange assumes he’s surpassed the need to “pay” for his magic usage, he is quickly corrected by a mystic bureaucracy. Kanna finds out about his betrayal. His allies step onto their own paths for the moment. So far, while I like the series, it lands shy of being standout run for the character.

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this return to the world of Doctor Strange, as this might be the most recently published Doctor Strange comic I've read so far. The initial plot is decent, but it really picks up the pace with the return of **minor spoilers** Dormammu and his species. I always like a good Strange vs. Dormammu fight scene, and this one was even better due to the addition of his friends- especially Wong who should have had more of a role in the overall plot. The 400th comic was fun to read, especially seeing Steven Strange's origin from the perspective of the Ancient One.

Next I'll be venturing into the Death of Doctor Strange, which looks like part mystery/part fantasy, in other words exactly what I want to read next!

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing through the Mark Waid run for Doctor Strange and we have to resolve Strange coming home from his intergalactic adventures to find...himself. But the reason for his double in the Sanctum is resolved quickly enough and leads to bigger and bigger problems.

The notion of a magical accountant behind the scenes of things is potentially interesting but didn't necessarily feel like it made a whole lot of sense in this book. And the reference to debts of magic that need to be paid did not feel entirely resolved by the end of that big battle. Maybe they'll come back to it in time as there are still a few more books in this run, but as of the time of Volume 2, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Let's suspend judgement until the next volume.

[Andrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book, but felt like a turn in the wrong direction from the first volume. No more space adventures which is disappointing. Kanna was an interesting character in the previous volume due to her interactions with Doc, but now they don't get much space in the same panel. A new character appears out of the blue (apparently, she was around during a previous Doctor Strange story by Waid which I hadn't read) and is a major plot point during the first couple of issues, but the entire thing left me indifferent. The issue with the real estate agent was good, and the conclusion to the "why Doc lost his magic" arc was ok as well. Finally, the 400th issue contains some short stories at the end which are decent, the one with Nightmare being my favourite out of them.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a few days ago, but didn’t summarise my thoughts then, and have no idea what happened now that I’m staring at this blank box. So I skimmed the last couple of issues and felt kinda flat, like “OK I get this is a heart wrenching story for Stephen, it it doesn’t do much for me”.

Then I made the fatal mistake of skimming my GR friends’s reviews to get an idea, and they’re ALL 3-star reviews. All of them. What? Since when do we all converge like that? Is this a conspiracy? Or are we all like, “Um, I *guess* that was a decent Waid Story?”