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Doctor Strange (2015) (Collected Editions) #3-4
Doctor Strange by Jason Aaron Vol. 2
Collects Doctor Strange (2015) #11-20 And Annual #1.
Stephen Strange is on the brink of death. His magic — all magic — is nearly depleted. Sensing that Strange is at his weakest, his greatest foes return from the shadows, ready to strike — starting with his oldest rival, Baron Mordo! But as a parade of villains line up to take their shot, one of Strange’s newest enemies may be the deadliest of all: The Orb has set his sights on the Sorcerer Supreme! And Mr. Misery may have helped defeat the Empirikul, but he’s about to unleash the full meaning of his name on Doctor Strange! Can Stephen survive this lethal lineup? Plus: The dynamic debut of the Sorcerers Supreme!
Stephen Strange is on the brink of death. His magic — all magic — is nearly depleted. Sensing that Strange is at his weakest, his greatest foes return from the shadows, ready to strike — starting with his oldest rival, Baron Mordo! But as a parade of villains line up to take their shot, one of Strange’s newest enemies may be the deadliest of all: The Orb has set his sights on the Sorcerer Supreme! And Mr. Misery may have helped defeat the Empirikul, but he’s about to unleash the full meaning of his name on Doctor Strange! Can Stephen survive this lethal lineup? Plus: The dynamic debut of the Sorcerers Supreme!
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 27, 2018
100 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,359 books1,678 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 6, 2022
3.5 stars. Every time you use magic, you have to pay a price. If you don’t, you are wrecked with pain. Over the years, Strange just pushed that pain and suffering to the cellar. Overtime, all that grew into an entity. Now, Strange is faced with have to fight this thing off. All while not having full access to all his magic after the events of the last volume. Also I this volume, something happens to the Zelma character that changes her forever. I’ve been reading Strange Academy which Zelma is in. So it was nice reading this book so see her humble beginnings. This wasn’t quite as good as volume 1 but still decent.
December 19, 2018
Doctor Strange and magic itself are recovering from the onslaught of the Empirikul, and Strange finds himself beset by a succession of his greatest foes, all while struggling to restrain his own dark half. The art, mostly by Chris Bachalo with Kevin Nowlan and some other artists I was unfamiliar with, is fantastic. As with the first volume, the most irksome thing is the lack of distinct personalities. Everyone, including Strange, Mordo and Wong, talks like they are in some kind of sitcom. It's monotonous and also prevents the dramatic situations from having much weight. I miss reading superhero stories where it felt like there was something really at stake. On the plus side this run is blessedly free of SJW nonsense, although Lady Thor does guest-star in one issue. The book is entertaining, but a bit lighter in tone than I would have preferred.
January 29, 2023
fajen, ale pierwsza lepsza 🧙🏻♂️
February 21, 2019
I love the fact Marvel is doing these oversize hardcovers for some of their series. I wish we were seeing this more often. I think DC is more consistent getting their main series printed in this size. But it's nice we are getting some from Marvel.
Overall I think Aaron's run on the character here is ok. The art from Chris Bachalo worked well for the series. His art is a little cartoony and I haven't always liked it on everything he has done. But, it fit with the magical creatures and scenes in this run.
Overall I think Aaron's run on the character here is ok. The art from Chris Bachalo worked well for the series. His art is a little cartoony and I haven't always liked it on everything he has done. But, it fit with the magical creatures and scenes in this run.
September 15, 2020
The artwork is gorgeous, and the writing is quite decent as well. As all good Dr. Strange stories go, this one has a great mix of comedy and supernatural horror. I always love the pure, campy wackiness of this character and his sector of the Marvel universe, and this compilation does not disappoint.
February 25, 2024
Doctor Strange volume 2 completes Jason Aaron’s run writing the character. This hardback volume collects issues 11-20 of the 2015 Doctor Strange plus annual 1.
This volume follows on nicely from the previous one. Magic has almost been wiped out and it’s down to Strange to try and bring it back. However magic in the Marvel universe comes with a price. A lot of this volume deals with Strange having to pay the price. Revealed in the previous volume, Strange’s use of magic has created an entity known as Misery.
The central conflict revolves around Strange and Misery. It’s quite refreshing to see the character have to deal with issues without having much magic at his disposal.
Other mystical Marvel characters show up, and there is a fun team up with Thor (the other series Jason Aaron was writing at the time).
It’s good that the main plot gets resolved by the end of the volume. The artwork is consistent with the art from the previous volume, apart from the annual issue.
Overall a fun read. I look forward to reading more of the character at some point.
This volume follows on nicely from the previous one. Magic has almost been wiped out and it’s down to Strange to try and bring it back. However magic in the Marvel universe comes with a price. A lot of this volume deals with Strange having to pay the price. Revealed in the previous volume, Strange’s use of magic has created an entity known as Misery.
The central conflict revolves around Strange and Misery. It’s quite refreshing to see the character have to deal with issues without having much magic at his disposal.
Other mystical Marvel characters show up, and there is a fun team up with Thor (the other series Jason Aaron was writing at the time).
It’s good that the main plot gets resolved by the end of the volume. The artwork is consistent with the art from the previous volume, apart from the annual issue.
Overall a fun read. I look forward to reading more of the character at some point.
April 13, 2021
Story wise this felt like a step down from volume 1. Basically what it felt like to me was: hey let's just use all these random foes and throw them all at Dr. Strange now that magic is gone. Also the alternating art style was really annoying as well, something that didn't happen with vol. 1.
All in all an enjoyable read, but less of a binge read than the first book.
All in all an enjoyable read, but less of a binge read than the first book.
August 7, 2022
Not at enjoyable of a read as Vol 1 but still quite fun. Shout out to the art in Issue 17 because it IS GORGEOUS.
April 13, 2025
Frazer Irving ❤️ Chris Bachalo ❤️
April 9, 2021
Continuing and finishing Jason's Aaron's run on Doctor Strange, I really enjoyed reading this but it didn't feel as epic as the previous volume.
It was a much more of a small scale story, that mainly focused on the good doctor, trying to gather up what little magic is left in the world. Whilst he's trying to rekindle the flame, his rouges gallery decide it's time to take him out of the equation permanently. I actually quite like the fact the villain's where so on the ball, usually in comics the villain's are completely oblivious when a hero is down on their luck, so I thought this was a brilliant take.
I do feel as though it was skimmed over a bit though, each villain gets to take their shot but only get about an issue each to do so. Then it move onto the next one, it kind of builds up one of them but then something happens that derails the whole narrative. It came across a little to fluffy for a narrative, that was mainly focused on the consequences of your actions and paying your tab. But with comics there is always a reset button, that gives the torch to the next writer who takes over a series, it's very rare that one sets up a story and the new guy follows through with it.
We also get some side stories featuring Wong and Zelma, I hope that latter is here to stay as she is a welcome addition to the duo, they each play off each other very well. I'm very interested where Donny Cates will take this series, hopefully he keeps the tone the same.
It was a much more of a small scale story, that mainly focused on the good doctor, trying to gather up what little magic is left in the world. Whilst he's trying to rekindle the flame, his rouges gallery decide it's time to take him out of the equation permanently. I actually quite like the fact the villain's where so on the ball, usually in comics the villain's are completely oblivious when a hero is down on their luck, so I thought this was a brilliant take.
I do feel as though it was skimmed over a bit though, each villain gets to take their shot but only get about an issue each to do so. Then it move onto the next one, it kind of builds up one of them but then something happens that derails the whole narrative. It came across a little to fluffy for a narrative, that was mainly focused on the consequences of your actions and paying your tab. But with comics there is always a reset button, that gives the torch to the next writer who takes over a series, it's very rare that one sets up a story and the new guy follows through with it.
We also get some side stories featuring Wong and Zelma, I hope that latter is here to stay as she is a welcome addition to the duo, they each play off each other very well. I'm very interested where Donny Cates will take this series, hopefully he keeps the tone the same.
December 18, 2021
Although I don't think Jason Aaron's take on Doctor Strange is far from the best. Some aspects of this storyline were still good. I like how Aaron is trying to put some kind of pseudo-logic behind the use of magic. It's not just some unlimited thing that can be used at will, but can have equally good and bad consequences when used. Bachalo's art is good, but laid out in a confusing way. But there are a couple of chapters by Kevin Nowlan that are really great.
December 4, 2020
After Doctor Strange and company finally defeated the alien Empirikul, magical energy is beginning to flow through the world again. And Doctor Strange is trying to learn how to be a functional Sorcerer Supreme without the advantage of his library and all the magic items he's come to rely on. But how can he start rebuilding his sanctum when every enemy he's ever had is showing up to take him down in his moment of weakness?
Overall, the tone of these stories is lighter and more fun than in the previous volume. Instead of fighting to save "all magic in the multiverse" Doctor Strange is just fighting to save his own life and soul and to protect his friends Wong and Zelma. I appreciated the smaller - but still meaningful - stakes of the story. Again Bachalo's artwork is great. And Aaron's approach to Doctor Strange and the quirks of magic is weird and fresh.
Overall, the tone of these stories is lighter and more fun than in the previous volume. Instead of fighting to save "all magic in the multiverse" Doctor Strange is just fighting to save his own life and soul and to protect his friends Wong and Zelma. I appreciated the smaller - but still meaningful - stakes of the story. Again Bachalo's artwork is great. And Aaron's approach to Doctor Strange and the quirks of magic is weird and fresh.
October 12, 2023
Some cool art and occasional gruesome horror imagery, but Strange is just now written very compellingly. The whole loss-of-magic-as-crisis-of-masculinity thing could maybe have worked, but as it is Strange is still too capable to really seem vulnerable, but not magical enough to really do anything cool.
July 19, 2021
Doesn't have the same fresh brilliance as the start of the series, but Aaron's writing continues to be enjoyable, interesting, and surprising. Robbing Strange of his magic surprisingly results in even more of an entry into the fantasy genre.
June 13, 2025
a whose who of Dr strange's rogues. takes a tour through his villains and puts him.back on a path to reigniting magic/magic starting to naturally return to the world.
sets up mister misery as a new rogue for Sr strange.
sets up mister misery as a new rogue for Sr strange.
May 11, 2023
3.5 - 3.75 stars.
November 16, 2024
3,5/5⭐️
December 30, 2020
frankly, an excessive focus on food
July 17, 2021
Fun First Arc Fades into a Whiff Ending
OVERALL RATING: 2.25 stars
Art: 1.75 stars
Prose: 3.5 stars
Plot: 2 stars
Pacing: 2 stars
Character Development: 3.25 stars
World Building: 3 stars
The Orb really helped the first arc punch above its weight but nothing could save that final arc. Abysmal ending. Aaron basically did Rian Johnson basically destroying the world/universes of magic in his first two arcs and then had not too much to fall back on. The art remained rather atrocious throughout. After issue 15 it felt like Aaron was just banking a pay check and his soul simply was no longer in it. Was tough to finish.
OVERALL RATING: 2.25 stars
Art: 1.75 stars
Prose: 3.5 stars
Plot: 2 stars
Pacing: 2 stars
Character Development: 3.25 stars
World Building: 3 stars
The Orb really helped the first arc punch above its weight but nothing could save that final arc. Abysmal ending. Aaron basically did Rian Johnson basically destroying the world/universes of magic in his first two arcs and then had not too much to fall back on. The art remained rather atrocious throughout. After issue 15 it felt like Aaron was just banking a pay check and his soul simply was no longer in it. Was tough to finish.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews