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The Death of Doctor Strange
The Death of Doctor Strange Companion
Collects Death Of Doctor Strange: Avengers (2021) #1, Strange Academy Presents: The Death Of Doctor Strange (2021) #1, Death Of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man (2021) #1, Death Of Doctor Strange: White Fox (2021) #1, Death Of Doctor Strange: Blade (2021) #1, Death Of Doctor Strange: X-Men/Black Knight (2021) #1, Death Of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone (2022) #1.
Doctor Strange is dead! And without Earth's Sorcerer Supreme to hold back the darkness at the edges of reality, the world is suddenly under siege from all kinds of mystical threats. Now, as an unexpected investigator races against the clock to solve Doctor Strange's murder, it's up to the rest of the heroes of the Marvel Universe - from Spider-Man to Blade to White Fox to Elsa Bloodstone, plus the students of the Strange Academy and an uncanny alliance between the X-Men and Black Knight - to pick up the shattered pieces! Can they combat magical incursions and keep the Earth safe while the mystery is unraveled?
Doctor Strange is dead! And without Earth's Sorcerer Supreme to hold back the darkness at the edges of reality, the world is suddenly under siege from all kinds of mystical threats. Now, as an unexpected investigator races against the clock to solve Doctor Strange's murder, it's up to the rest of the heroes of the Marvel Universe - from Spider-Man to Blade to White Fox to Elsa Bloodstone, plus the students of the Strange Academy and an uncanny alliance between the X-Men and Black Knight - to pick up the shattered pieces! Can they combat magical incursions and keep the Earth safe while the mystery is unraveled?
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2022
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121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
June 10, 2022
It was ok but it doesn't shed any light on the Death of Doctor Strange storyline, so this is strictly for fans who want to see the ripple effect of what happens in the magical world.
I didn't care for the Avengers stuff in the beginning and shockingly was more interested in the weird titles like the X-Men/Black Knight, White Fox, and Bloodstone issues. Strange Academy might be an interesting title, but as the issue was just one-shot pages of different characters that I didn't know, I could have lived without that one. I wanted to like Blade but the art seemed like it didn't fit with the story and the writing was off somehow.
It wasn't a wash for me, though. I'll be checking out Bloodstone soon thanks to this.
But if you're wanting more insight into the Doctor's death, this won't help.
Completionists only.
I didn't care for the Avengers stuff in the beginning and shockingly was more interested in the weird titles like the X-Men/Black Knight, White Fox, and Bloodstone issues. Strange Academy might be an interesting title, but as the issue was just one-shot pages of different characters that I didn't know, I could have lived without that one. I wanted to like Blade but the art seemed like it didn't fit with the story and the writing was off somehow.
It wasn't a wash for me, though. I'll be checking out Bloodstone soon thanks to this.
But if you're wanting more insight into the Doctor's death, this won't help.
Completionists only.
July 15, 2022
A bunch of one shots with heroes throughout the Marvel universe dealing with the repercussions of Dr. Strange's death.
Avengers by Alex Pahnadel & Ryan Bodenheim - ★★★★
The wards around the Earth are down and entities from other dimensions are invading. The Avengers have to protect the Nexus of All Realities and New York City. Surprisingly good. I liked the stuff with Cytorrak.
Strange Academy by Skottie Young & Mike del Mundo - ★★★★
Dr. Strange's death lets a wizard from Weirdworld free. He'd made a deal with the Enchantress for her first-born child which puts one of the twins in danger.
Spider-Man by Jed MacKay & Marcelo Ferreira - ★★★
Dr. Strange sends Ben Reilly and Black Cat a list of mystical things that could go wrong after his death. They run around the city fixing everything before it gets out of hand while they bicker. I like the animosity Felicia has towards Ben compared to the admiration she has for Peter Parker.
White Fox by Alyssa Wong, Andie Tong & Luciano Vecchio - ★★
White Fox and Sword Master fight an ancient Kumiho. It's all kind of generic. The art is very mangaish with no backgrounds during the fights. The fight does have some repercussions on the two characters though.
Blade by Danny Lore & Dylan Burnett - ★
Oof, that was bad. It's about Blade being the sheriff in Vampire Nation. He has to take care of a dimensional refugee while dealing with "vampire politics". Poorly written. Terrible art. Garish coloring. The whole trifecta.
X-Men / Black Knight by Si Spurrier & Bob Quinn - ★★
Really just a Black Knight comic. The X-Men are barely in this. Requires you to have read Spurrier's Black Knight miniseries Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade to know what's going on with the character. The story is terrible. Bob Quinn's art is not.
Bloodstone by Tini Howard & Ig Guarra - ★★
It's always nice to see more of Elsa Bloodstone. I think she'sone of the more underrated characters in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, this is written by Tini Howard so it stinks. Elsa's unknown sister returns after Dr. Strange's death. That's the plot. Meh.
Avengers by Alex Pahnadel & Ryan Bodenheim - ★★★★
The wards around the Earth are down and entities from other dimensions are invading. The Avengers have to protect the Nexus of All Realities and New York City. Surprisingly good. I liked the stuff with Cytorrak.
Strange Academy by Skottie Young & Mike del Mundo - ★★★★
Dr. Strange's death lets a wizard from Weirdworld free. He'd made a deal with the Enchantress for her first-born child which puts one of the twins in danger.
Spider-Man by Jed MacKay & Marcelo Ferreira - ★★★
Dr. Strange sends Ben Reilly and Black Cat a list of mystical things that could go wrong after his death. They run around the city fixing everything before it gets out of hand while they bicker. I like the animosity Felicia has towards Ben compared to the admiration she has for Peter Parker.
White Fox by Alyssa Wong, Andie Tong & Luciano Vecchio - ★★
White Fox and Sword Master fight an ancient Kumiho. It's all kind of generic. The art is very mangaish with no backgrounds during the fights. The fight does have some repercussions on the two characters though.
Blade by Danny Lore & Dylan Burnett - ★
Oof, that was bad. It's about Blade being the sheriff in Vampire Nation. He has to take care of a dimensional refugee while dealing with "vampire politics". Poorly written. Terrible art. Garish coloring. The whole trifecta.
X-Men / Black Knight by Si Spurrier & Bob Quinn - ★★
Really just a Black Knight comic. The X-Men are barely in this. Requires you to have read Spurrier's Black Knight miniseries Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade to know what's going on with the character. The story is terrible. Bob Quinn's art is not.
Bloodstone by Tini Howard & Ig Guarra - ★★
It's always nice to see more of Elsa Bloodstone. I think she'sone of the more underrated characters in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, this is written by Tini Howard so it stinks. Elsa's unknown sister returns after Dr. Strange's death. That's the plot. Meh.
April 9, 2022
2.85 stars. So I was reading this simultaneously with the Main Death of Doctor Strange book so I could read everything in order. These tie in ranged from pretty good to decent with the exception of the X-Men/Black Knight issue by Spurrier. That was a 1 star issue as I have no clue what was going on in that book as I have realized that’s been the case lately with Spurrier books.
March 12, 2022
These Companion type books are usually an easy three star review, since there's usually a few dodgy tie-ins and a few really good ones. Death Of Doctor Strange is one of those rare books that somehow manages to have a lot of really good ones, and no bad ones in sight. Stephen Strange should die more often.
I won't go into detail about every issue, but there are a few that deserve special mention:
The Strange Academy one-shot is the one that has the most impact on other ongoing books, I think, since Stephen's their headmaster. This one sheds some light on mysteries that haven't been addressed in Strange Academy proper so it's pretty much required reading if you're reading that series.
I was also a big fan of the Spider-Man book, which pairs the Ben Reilly Spider-Man (since this takes place during the Beyond era) and the Black Cat as they try to mop up some of Stephen's messes. The fact that this duo don't interact much in the main Spider-Man book is a missed opportunity after reading this, because they work really well together, and the conversations they have about legacy and trust ring very true.
The X-Men/Black Knight one is a strange pairing, but in the hands of Si Spurrier it becomes a clever character study between Dane's new status quo and the Krakoan era of the X-Men. It's a book that shouldn't work, and yet it's one of the more entertaining entries in the volume.
Then, quickfire for the rest:
The Avengers is cute. The ending's a bit obvious from the get-go, but it's not bad. The White Fox issue is mostly there to serve as a prelude to the upcoming Iron Fist mini-series, but it does a decent job of that as well as acting as a tie-in. Blade's probably the most forgettable, but it's not particularly offensive. And how you like the Bloodstone one-shot will depend almost entirely on how much you love sarcastic dialogue - I love it, but three characters spouting it at once can be a bit much even for me.
One of the better sets of event tie-ins in a long time. None are essential reading for the main event, but there's more here to enjoy than not.
I won't go into detail about every issue, but there are a few that deserve special mention:
The Strange Academy one-shot is the one that has the most impact on other ongoing books, I think, since Stephen's their headmaster. This one sheds some light on mysteries that haven't been addressed in Strange Academy proper so it's pretty much required reading if you're reading that series.
I was also a big fan of the Spider-Man book, which pairs the Ben Reilly Spider-Man (since this takes place during the Beyond era) and the Black Cat as they try to mop up some of Stephen's messes. The fact that this duo don't interact much in the main Spider-Man book is a missed opportunity after reading this, because they work really well together, and the conversations they have about legacy and trust ring very true.
The X-Men/Black Knight one is a strange pairing, but in the hands of Si Spurrier it becomes a clever character study between Dane's new status quo and the Krakoan era of the X-Men. It's a book that shouldn't work, and yet it's one of the more entertaining entries in the volume.
Then, quickfire for the rest:
The Avengers is cute. The ending's a bit obvious from the get-go, but it's not bad. The White Fox issue is mostly there to serve as a prelude to the upcoming Iron Fist mini-series, but it does a decent job of that as well as acting as a tie-in. Blade's probably the most forgettable, but it's not particularly offensive. And how you like the Bloodstone one-shot will depend almost entirely on how much you love sarcastic dialogue - I love it, but three characters spouting it at once can be a bit much even for me.
One of the better sets of event tie-ins in a long time. None are essential reading for the main event, but there's more here to enjoy than not.
August 5, 2022
An extremely competent companion volume to the Death of Doctor Strange that doesn't really expand the impact of the Event Series but rather uses Strange's death as the starting point for some weird incursions that D-list characters need to resolve.
Naturally, the best stories feature the A-list characters. The "Avengers take Miami" tale is surprisingly touching with excellent art. I haven't read the Strange Academy books yet, but the story featuring two Asgardian kids and Enchantress (their mother) in Weirdworld was super fun, especially with Mike Del Mundo's artwork. I even liked the Spider-Man and Black Cat tale of finishing up Strange's to-do list despite not having read either of those series and totally missing the in-game references.
After those three, quality falls off a bit. The Blade vs. Dracula tale is amusing, but again: D-list character = low stakes. Further down the D-list, we get the Asian Avengers who I haven't really been paying attention to and Si Spurrier's second attempt to make Black Knight a thing (it's a no go, my friend). And we round out the volume with the character who always rounds out these volumes: Elsa Bloodstone. Basically, if you stop reading after Spider-Man (maybe catch the Blade issue), you'll be satisfied.
Naturally, the best stories feature the A-list characters. The "Avengers take Miami" tale is surprisingly touching with excellent art. I haven't read the Strange Academy books yet, but the story featuring two Asgardian kids and Enchantress (their mother) in Weirdworld was super fun, especially with Mike Del Mundo's artwork. I even liked the Spider-Man and Black Cat tale of finishing up Strange's to-do list despite not having read either of those series and totally missing the in-game references.
After those three, quality falls off a bit. The Blade vs. Dracula tale is amusing, but again: D-list character = low stakes. Further down the D-list, we get the Asian Avengers who I haven't really been paying attention to and Si Spurrier's second attempt to make Black Knight a thing (it's a no go, my friend). And we round out the volume with the character who always rounds out these volumes: Elsa Bloodstone. Basically, if you stop reading after Spider-Man (maybe catch the Blade issue), you'll be satisfied.
December 19, 2022
Bit dissapointed in this book especially as I really enjoyed the main story. The only reason I did get an extra star from me is because it does give glimpses into how many things Doctor Strane was involved in, how respected he was and tying together like the parts in the Marvel Universe and side projects like the Strang Academy.
Avengers: An ok story. The biggest thing this pointed out is the huge whole the Avengers have for when it comes to mystic threats. Which kind of goes with Dr Strange being important, but the story just felt flat to me.
Blade: Hated this story and the artwork. Blade is one if my faverite characters, but he is hardly done to my expectations by Marvel. The story was slow and dull, the artwork was to cartoony. I mean loony toon cartoony. This just does not fit what I expect from Blade.
Strange Academy: This is one of the better stories in the book and follows on from a storyline in the Strange Academy books regarding the Asgarding twins snd their mother.
White Fox: Good story fits in with the main theme of the book and furthers the story fir the White Fox.
Spider-man: A good story, a bit of validation for Spider-man and the new Spider-man in particular.
X-MEN/Black Knight: this was my faverite story in the book. Good story and artwork. Not only deals with the mystic fallout but enhances both the X-MEN and Black Knight series. Even a revelation at the end that could be used as a crossover for both these series.
Bloodstone: I was expecting much more from this story. I mean they are monster hunters dealing with the fallout should be right right up their ally right? Really I just got a dysfunctional family getting more dysfunction.
Overall some good bit but a lot I thought should have been done better. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.
Avengers: An ok story. The biggest thing this pointed out is the huge whole the Avengers have for when it comes to mystic threats. Which kind of goes with Dr Strange being important, but the story just felt flat to me.
Blade: Hated this story and the artwork. Blade is one if my faverite characters, but he is hardly done to my expectations by Marvel. The story was slow and dull, the artwork was to cartoony. I mean loony toon cartoony. This just does not fit what I expect from Blade.
Strange Academy: This is one of the better stories in the book and follows on from a storyline in the Strange Academy books regarding the Asgarding twins snd their mother.
White Fox: Good story fits in with the main theme of the book and furthers the story fir the White Fox.
Spider-man: A good story, a bit of validation for Spider-man and the new Spider-man in particular.
X-MEN/Black Knight: this was my faverite story in the book. Good story and artwork. Not only deals with the mystic fallout but enhances both the X-MEN and Black Knight series. Even a revelation at the end that could be used as a crossover for both these series.
Bloodstone: I was expecting much more from this story. I mean they are monster hunters dealing with the fallout should be right right up their ally right? Really I just got a dysfunctional family getting more dysfunction.
Overall some good bit but a lot I thought should have been done better. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.
March 27, 2022
To put it bluntly, this is not worth reading. It doesn't add anything to the main story. From a plot perspective, the only purpose is to show that once Dr. Strange died, many of the protections and things he watched over were removed, and a variety of magical creatures and events started happening across the world. Heroes from all over were forced to deal with these and that's what each of these issues are concerned with. There's a point in the main event where a couple of these are outright mentioned and is probably the right time to read them, but again, doesn't add to the main story.
From a publisher perspective, Marvel is just capitalizing on the event to showcase a few other less well known characters.
Avengers: totally unnecessary.
Strange Academy: didn't read this. I wasn't aware that Strange and others had a created a magical training school but I'm not interested in reading about young kids.
Spider-Man: This was actually very good. A major change happened over in that title and the Black Cat is trying to come to terms with it, while dealing with some of the fallout of Strange's death.
White Fox: had never heard of these characters. Intriguing but not really enough for me to want to read more.
Blade: the art turned me off so much I didn't finish it. It's actually a continuation from some events happening in Avengers and if you weren't aware of it, you might be lost.
X-Men/Black Knight: another showcasing of the character of the Black Knight, updating recent changes to the character. The X-Men are in it but not really the focus.
Bloodstone: same. Reintroducing the character and making a few changes to her status quo.
The art on Spider-Man, White Fox, X-Men and Bloodstone were all very good. The rest, not so much.
From a publisher perspective, Marvel is just capitalizing on the event to showcase a few other less well known characters.
Avengers: totally unnecessary.
Strange Academy: didn't read this. I wasn't aware that Strange and others had a created a magical training school but I'm not interested in reading about young kids.
Spider-Man: This was actually very good. A major change happened over in that title and the Black Cat is trying to come to terms with it, while dealing with some of the fallout of Strange's death.
White Fox: had never heard of these characters. Intriguing but not really enough for me to want to read more.
Blade: the art turned me off so much I didn't finish it. It's actually a continuation from some events happening in Avengers and if you weren't aware of it, you might be lost.
X-Men/Black Knight: another showcasing of the character of the Black Knight, updating recent changes to the character. The X-Men are in it but not really the focus.
Bloodstone: same. Reintroducing the character and making a few changes to her status quo.
The art on Spider-Man, White Fox, X-Men and Bloodstone were all very good. The rest, not so much.
April 30, 2022
This is a random grab bag of one-shots that went along with the Death of Doctor Strange event, but damn if they weren't as a whole much more enjoyable and playing off of what potential the main event had. Most of these one-shots are an excuse to either push through a big status quo change, or identify some characters who are close to Doctor Strange and use his death to explore something new.
Avengers is primarily about Iron Man being such a polar opposite to Doctor Strange, but working alongside him as part of the Illuminati, and now Iron Man has to step into the weird magical world to fight some monsters that are appearing since Strange died. I loved the connection between Steve and Tony, and how it's the part of the event that most embraced the chaotic multi-dimensional action as well as side-stepping that to tell a more personal story about the impact the event has on the world... no in terms of the cosmic importance of the Sorcerer Supreme but for all the people dying because of all the screwed up magics.
Strange Academy Presents has a primary story dealing with Enchantress and her twin sons, which means that I as a Thor fan am obligated to enjoy. I love the Enchantress, I love seeing a completely new side of her, and god damn do I love me some Mike Del Mundo artwork. The rest of the issue is a series of one page stories about the rest of the kids at Strange Academy are dealing with their figurehead's death- all done by different artists! These are the characters most personally involved with Doctor Strange who need to have their stories told, and the creators here do an excellent job telling them.
Spider-Man might be the best issue of this whole event. Ben Reilly is now Spider-Man! And Doctor Strange left a last request/will/message for "Spider-Man", so now Ben Reilly (and an annoyed Black Cat) go around New York doing wacky magical stuff. It's a test for Ben Reilly for how he can fill Peter Parker's shoes, it's a fun team-up between these two characters (especially more Black Cat from Jed MacKay after the success of her solo series), and with both Doctor Strange and Spider-Man being creations of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee it just feels right to have a story comparing the two heroes' legacies and roles. If you only read one issue from this volume, read the Spider-Man story.
White Fox was fun. It's White Fox and Sword Master, really, with White Fox getting a conclusion of sorts to her story and Sword Master getting a new status quo shift. This one-shot made me want to learn more about the both of them, since all the supernatural myth and legend stuff was right up my alley. I wish the art was consistent throughout, and I wish I had read more of them to get better context, but it was neat.
Blade was a blast. It's Blade in the middle of a vampire city fighting evil vampire-like creatures. While everyone is sulking about Doctor Strange's death, the vampires are living it up and celebrating- because they're evil, and a powerful sorcerer dying is good for the evil people. So here we have Blade, with some gorgeous artwork from Dylan Burnett and Mike Spicer, kicking a whole bunch of ass. It's the most stylish and cool-looking of any of the comics in this event, and while the plot doesn't do anything too special I had a blast reading this.
X-Men/Black Knight and Bloodstone were boring family drama cliches and plot hooks I didn't understand, didn't care about, and were unfun to read. Nothing of value in either of them, maybe if you're one of the rare Bloodstone or Black Knight fans you'd love them. But I did not care at all and the cliche twists they presented made me roll my eyes.
Overall, pretty solid book! Lots of great tie-ins, a couple garbage ones, but mostly some fun situations. Heck, it's a lot better than the main event- skip that, and read this instead.
Avengers is primarily about Iron Man being such a polar opposite to Doctor Strange, but working alongside him as part of the Illuminati, and now Iron Man has to step into the weird magical world to fight some monsters that are appearing since Strange died. I loved the connection between Steve and Tony, and how it's the part of the event that most embraced the chaotic multi-dimensional action as well as side-stepping that to tell a more personal story about the impact the event has on the world... no in terms of the cosmic importance of the Sorcerer Supreme but for all the people dying because of all the screwed up magics.
Strange Academy Presents has a primary story dealing with Enchantress and her twin sons, which means that I as a Thor fan am obligated to enjoy. I love the Enchantress, I love seeing a completely new side of her, and god damn do I love me some Mike Del Mundo artwork. The rest of the issue is a series of one page stories about the rest of the kids at Strange Academy are dealing with their figurehead's death- all done by different artists! These are the characters most personally involved with Doctor Strange who need to have their stories told, and the creators here do an excellent job telling them.
Spider-Man might be the best issue of this whole event. Ben Reilly is now Spider-Man! And Doctor Strange left a last request/will/message for "Spider-Man", so now Ben Reilly (and an annoyed Black Cat) go around New York doing wacky magical stuff. It's a test for Ben Reilly for how he can fill Peter Parker's shoes, it's a fun team-up between these two characters (especially more Black Cat from Jed MacKay after the success of her solo series), and with both Doctor Strange and Spider-Man being creations of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee it just feels right to have a story comparing the two heroes' legacies and roles. If you only read one issue from this volume, read the Spider-Man story.
White Fox was fun. It's White Fox and Sword Master, really, with White Fox getting a conclusion of sorts to her story and Sword Master getting a new status quo shift. This one-shot made me want to learn more about the both of them, since all the supernatural myth and legend stuff was right up my alley. I wish the art was consistent throughout, and I wish I had read more of them to get better context, but it was neat.
Blade was a blast. It's Blade in the middle of a vampire city fighting evil vampire-like creatures. While everyone is sulking about Doctor Strange's death, the vampires are living it up and celebrating- because they're evil, and a powerful sorcerer dying is good for the evil people. So here we have Blade, with some gorgeous artwork from Dylan Burnett and Mike Spicer, kicking a whole bunch of ass. It's the most stylish and cool-looking of any of the comics in this event, and while the plot doesn't do anything too special I had a blast reading this.
X-Men/Black Knight and Bloodstone were boring family drama cliches and plot hooks I didn't understand, didn't care about, and were unfun to read. Nothing of value in either of them, maybe if you're one of the rare Bloodstone or Black Knight fans you'd love them. But I did not care at all and the cliche twists they presented made me roll my eyes.
Overall, pretty solid book! Lots of great tie-ins, a couple garbage ones, but mostly some fun situations. Heck, it's a lot better than the main event- skip that, and read this instead.
April 29, 2022
A largely unnecessary tie in to the Death of Doctor Strange book. The overall point seems to be that bad things happen when there's no Sorcerer Supreme, which kind of goes without saying. I only enjoyed two of the seven issues here, which is a really low hit rate. The Spider-Man story is actually really good. It's the best argument that this book provides as to the necessity of a Sorcerer Supreme, and it does so in the shadow of a pretty big shakeup over in the main Spider-Man book. This ends up being a much more harmonious blend than I ever would have thought, and I feel like it actually provided some character development. I liked the Strange Academy issue, because I've been reading that book and like the characters in it. And that leaves five more stories that just didn't really make the cut. Avengers and White Fox are just extremely basic event tie in comics that don't actually do anything interesting. The Blade story is set in the vampire nation at Chernobyl, which should be a great place to set a story about the breakdown of magical barriers. Too bad it's extremely boring. And then there are the Bloodstone and Black Knight stories. I didn't like either of these stories, possibly because I don't care for either of these characters. The Bloodstone story also seems to be introducing some pretty big changes for the character, which seems strange for an event tie in comic. The Black Knight story was especially frustrating for me. It's actually billed as X-Men/Black Knight, but this is really a Black Knight story that the X-Men are little more than props in. I honestly wonder if the mutants were spliced in specifically to try and boost sales of this issue. As a whole, there's one really good story, one decent story, and a bunch of filler. Not a great ratio.
March 5, 2022
It seems like most miniseries over a certain length now include extra issues that aren't focusing on the main story. Instead, they are added for...future sales? Padding a story that needs more issues? Give fresh creative teams a chance to showcase things to come?
Honestly, it could be any of those. It's becoming a sore point in Marvel's line of comics, IMHO.
This collection of side stories to, 'Death of Doctor Strange' give you a glimpse at the MU as the magic walls between dimensions fail. Its fleshing out magic wielding characters in the MU that we don't normally get a long take on.
Is it necessary to read this as part of the core, 'Death of Doctor Strange'? No. Does it work as a group of single issues? Yes, for the most part.
Bonus: The next Sorcerer Supreme is in the Strange Academy?
Bonus Bonus: Clea is brought back...again. So much for new ideas.
Honestly, it could be any of those. It's becoming a sore point in Marvel's line of comics, IMHO.
This collection of side stories to, 'Death of Doctor Strange' give you a glimpse at the MU as the magic walls between dimensions fail. Its fleshing out magic wielding characters in the MU that we don't normally get a long take on.
Is it necessary to read this as part of the core, 'Death of Doctor Strange'? No. Does it work as a group of single issues? Yes, for the most part.
Bonus: The next Sorcerer Supreme is in the Strange Academy?
Bonus Bonus: Clea is brought back...again. So much for new ideas.
July 11, 2022
As far as companion stories go this is alright, I just fell asleep reading two of them because it just wasn’t all the interesting. The Blade and Elsa Bloodstone stories just didn’t interest me much. But the world learns the hard way just how much Doctor Strange did for them when his duties as Sorcerer Supreme are left open for attacks across magical dimensions. The rest of these stories are a lot of fun and can be read at any point of the event after The Death of Doctor #1 and #2. If you care about getting the whole story I would suggestion picking this up too, otherwise nothing here impacts the main story. The Avengers one does have some direct continuation from the second issue so that would be the only one I say must be read. The rest are just fun extra’s.
December 24, 2024
Finally reading the Death of Strange. The whole event, with the tie ins.
This collection is all of the one shot tie in issues. And they’re all mediocre at best, and painfully boring at worst. I usually just read the main issues of an event, but lately I’ve been trying to read tie ins as well. For the most part, from the events I’ve read, I can continue skipping them.
This collection is all of the one shot tie in issues. And they’re all mediocre at best, and painfully boring at worst. I usually just read the main issues of an event, but lately I’ve been trying to read tie ins as well. For the most part, from the events I’ve read, I can continue skipping them.
December 13, 2025
It's half good, half not so good. I really enjoyed storylines like spiderman and Elsa Bloodstone. Other ones were fever dream style story's, which I never enjoy.
February 25, 2022
(I read the individual issues comprised of: Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers (2021) 1, Death of Doctor Strange: Strange Academy Presents (2021) 1, Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man (2021) 1, Death of Doctor Strange: White Fox (2021) 1, Death of Doctor Strange: Blade (2021) 1, Death of Doctor Strange: X-Men/Black Knight (2021) 1).
Almost a complete waste of time. If you're a Doctor Strange completist then go for it, of course. Anyone else might be interested in the Death of Doctor Strange collection but all this was was a collection of battles caused by the loss of supernatural protection of earth that fell due to the death of the Doctor. As I recall, one story hints of something that might be followed up on but overall, nothing special - the usual tie-ins that add little or nothing to the main story and, thus look like cash-grabs, imo.
Almost a complete waste of time. If you're a Doctor Strange completist then go for it, of course. Anyone else might be interested in the Death of Doctor Strange collection but all this was was a collection of battles caused by the loss of supernatural protection of earth that fell due to the death of the Doctor. As I recall, one story hints of something that might be followed up on but overall, nothing special - the usual tie-ins that add little or nothing to the main story and, thus look like cash-grabs, imo.
May 17, 2022
Meh. Honestly I didn't have to read this. It adds nothing to the story of the Death of Dr. Strange and just focuses on small adjacent stories dealing with fallout of the death of the sorcerer Supreme. A lot of these stories feel unnecessary and underwhelming and I wonder how enthusiastic the writers were. Was this something they wanted to do or had to? There's no real stakes in anything here as everything gets set up and resolved in a single issue and not every issue works that well. They also feel about jarring being dumped into the middle of a conflict and story we know nothing about and worse, boring when it's a D-list character we don't care about. (I struggled through White Fox and Black Knight, I do know a little about Bloodstone and was interested in reading more on her character, obscure as it is)
August 2, 2023
With lowest expectations as possible that this has nothing to do with the main event title, I surprisingly enjoyed it more than i expected. It is totally skippable if you're saving on money. The main title is all what's important. This book is stand alone on its own. Great artwork and storyline for all the one-shots except for the Blade issue. Bored as F! and the artwork is super ugly. The X-Men/Black Night is so confusing and i have no idea what's going on with the X-Men, like is that even necessary? I was so lost. 4 star for the book cause the rest is just so good! I really enjoyed it
August 7, 2022
Being that I’m not super familiar with a lot of this stuff (Bloodstone, White Fox, and Strange Academy are newish to me, and I don’t read Blade comics ever), a lot of this felt like things I didn’t really have a reference point for. That being said, while long in most cases, these stories and their art were generally engaging. The Spider-Man issue was maybe the most emotionally affecting given the way it portrayed both Ben Reilly and Doctor Strange as champions of the people and not always heroes on the biggest of stages. That piece alone was maybe a reason to read any of this.
June 10, 2022
A bunch of stories that tie into “The Death of Dr. Strange.” Pretty decent for crossover issues. Since I haven’t been following comics closely for some time now I felt like a kid reading my first comics and not really following all the context but still enjoying the story.
June 22, 2022
Marvel has some very odd titles out there. These companions are best when they strike a nice balance between the cross-over to the Big Event and making new readers understand the dynamic of the book. I think this collection is weak on the former and solid on the latter.
May 14, 2022
Some of the tie ins were really cool some really sucked
Spider-Man had the best tie in tho hands down
Spider-Man had the best tie in tho hands down
October 23, 2022
Not as good as the main comic (the Death of Doctor Strange), but still quite good. I found that the start was the best though.
September 17, 2022
This is essentially an extended advert for other series, or possibly for some different artists to showcase their talents. I suppose, it could work that way for the writers as well, but with the stories being so short, it is hard to get much of an impact from any of them.
Avengers: Pretty basic art. Rather old fashioned, and frankly rather poor by today's standards. Incredibly forgettable story. Based on this, I would skip the Avengers comics entirely.
Strange Academy Presents: REALLY nice art. Great job here, and fitted well with the story, which was OK, tying both in with the Strange Academy and some previous Asgard stuff. Left me vaguely interested in the former, less so in the latter. Artist Mike Del Mundo, I think. There are also some single pages relating into other students at the academy with some excellent art, but I couldn't easily identify who was who. Dessy and Toth pages stood out particularly. Humberto Ramos maybe?
Spider-Man: Decent quality art that fits well with the character. Story seems to mostly tie into Spidy's clone and Black Cat dealing with some major events that happen elsewhere. If you are a Spider-Man fan, you will probably already be into that arc. If you aren't, I don't think this will make you care.
White Fox: Again, decent quality art. It doesn't stand out especially, but it it definitely does a solid job. I did not know any of the characters here, and am not sure how new they are, but I got a bit of a surprise and was quite curious to find out what happened next.
Blade: Really damn weird art. It's clearly a style. I am not sure I really liked it, but it worked well and particularly had a good colour scheme. This is also had one of the best self contained stories in the set. Yes, there were links, but it worked as a stand alone just fine. Artist: Dylan Burnett, and writer: Danny Lore.
X-Men/Black Knight: Art was OK. Not great though. Story was poor though. Mostly focused on the Black Knight, rather than the X-Men, it just felt like something to get through. Skip.
Bloodstone: Art was decent. Nothing much to say here. Story was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be and seemed to serve as a good introduction to Elsa Bloodstone, and I guess her brother, who I had never heard of. Clearly there is some kind of history, but this feels like a bit of a reset point, so maybe a jumping off point for those wanting to try out this series.
So, in the end, entirely skippable, but if you get to glance over it, it works as a showcase for a few artists.
Avengers: Pretty basic art. Rather old fashioned, and frankly rather poor by today's standards. Incredibly forgettable story. Based on this, I would skip the Avengers comics entirely.
Strange Academy Presents: REALLY nice art. Great job here, and fitted well with the story, which was OK, tying both in with the Strange Academy and some previous Asgard stuff. Left me vaguely interested in the former, less so in the latter. Artist Mike Del Mundo, I think. There are also some single pages relating into other students at the academy with some excellent art, but I couldn't easily identify who was who. Dessy and Toth pages stood out particularly. Humberto Ramos maybe?
Spider-Man: Decent quality art that fits well with the character. Story seems to mostly tie into Spidy's clone and Black Cat dealing with some major events that happen elsewhere. If you are a Spider-Man fan, you will probably already be into that arc. If you aren't, I don't think this will make you care.
White Fox: Again, decent quality art. It doesn't stand out especially, but it it definitely does a solid job. I did not know any of the characters here, and am not sure how new they are, but I got a bit of a surprise and was quite curious to find out what happened next.
Blade: Really damn weird art. It's clearly a style. I am not sure I really liked it, but it worked well and particularly had a good colour scheme. This is also had one of the best self contained stories in the set. Yes, there were links, but it worked as a stand alone just fine. Artist: Dylan Burnett, and writer: Danny Lore.
X-Men/Black Knight: Art was OK. Not great though. Story was poor though. Mostly focused on the Black Knight, rather than the X-Men, it just felt like something to get through. Skip.
Bloodstone: Art was decent. Nothing much to say here. Story was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be and seemed to serve as a good introduction to Elsa Bloodstone, and I guess her brother, who I had never heard of. Clearly there is some kind of history, but this feels like a bit of a reset point, so maybe a jumping off point for those wanting to try out this series.
So, in the end, entirely skippable, but if you get to glance over it, it works as a showcase for a few artists.
May 14, 2022
This companion graphic novel covers some other characters and their response to the news of Strange's death. Ok overall, but very long.
- Avengers - The Avengers face off against several versions of Juggernaut. (Cool visuals, but not my favorite here)
- Spider-Man - Ben Reilly (and Black Cat in tow) take a list made by Strange to help out with various small supernatural problems. Ben feels he must do this since Peter is still in a coma. His actions show his worth to Black Cat, who finally concedes to him being Spider-Man.
- White Fox - This one is the most interesting in the Volume. White Fox (Ami Han) is searching for a rogue kumiho, believing herself to be the last one in existence. Helping her (eventually) is Lin Lie, the Sword Master. In the final battle against the false kumiho, Lin Lie's sword breaks and he falls (seemingly dead, though I am not sure) which releases Chiyou back into the world. (Looking forward to more from this story!)
- Blade - A funny story about the vampire nation celebrating Strange's death, and their new sheriff Blade.
- X-Men/Black Knight - A crazy story about the X-Men getting corrupted (becoming Marvel Girl/Crimson Countess (Jean Grey); Rogue/Twins Ravenous (Anna Marie LeBeau); Polaris/Iron Priestess (Dr. Lorna Dane); Synch/Twins Ravenous (Everett Thomas); Cyclops/Cockatrice Knight (Scott Summers); Wolverine/Razorwolf (Laura Kinney); Sunfire/High Lord Lambert (Shiro Yoshida)} and Black Knight (both Dane and Jacks) having to save them.
- Strange Academy - Gives a bit of time to each kid as they head home while the school is closed, but a full story to Iric and Alvi, whose mom is Enchantress.
Would probably have skipped this one, but it wasn't horrible.
Recommend with reservations.
- Avengers - The Avengers face off against several versions of Juggernaut. (Cool visuals, but not my favorite here)
- Spider-Man - Ben Reilly (and Black Cat in tow) take a list made by Strange to help out with various small supernatural problems. Ben feels he must do this since Peter is still in a coma. His actions show his worth to Black Cat, who finally concedes to him being Spider-Man.
- White Fox - This one is the most interesting in the Volume. White Fox (Ami Han) is searching for a rogue kumiho, believing herself to be the last one in existence. Helping her (eventually) is Lin Lie, the Sword Master. In the final battle against the false kumiho, Lin Lie's sword breaks and he falls (seemingly dead, though I am not sure) which releases Chiyou back into the world. (Looking forward to more from this story!)
- Blade - A funny story about the vampire nation celebrating Strange's death, and their new sheriff Blade.
- X-Men/Black Knight - A crazy story about the X-Men getting corrupted (becoming Marvel Girl/Crimson Countess (Jean Grey); Rogue/Twins Ravenous (Anna Marie LeBeau); Polaris/Iron Priestess (Dr. Lorna Dane); Synch/Twins Ravenous (Everett Thomas); Cyclops/Cockatrice Knight (Scott Summers); Wolverine/Razorwolf (Laura Kinney); Sunfire/High Lord Lambert (Shiro Yoshida)} and Black Knight (both Dane and Jacks) having to save them.
- Strange Academy - Gives a bit of time to each kid as they head home while the school is closed, but a full story to Iric and Alvi, whose mom is Enchantress.
Would probably have skipped this one, but it wasn't horrible.
Recommend with reservations.
Read
April 22, 2023Various Marvel heroes deal with the fall-out from the Sorcerer Supreme's demise, as the mystical protection he afforded Earth begins to falter. These things are always a mixed bag, but here every story has at least a scene which sticks in the memory, whether that's Tony Stark after a bad day surrounded by thought bubbles which all read "DRINK.", or the only maps that make sense of Weirdworld. Having the Spider-Man issue fall during his replacement by Ben Reilly could easily have made it feel particularly throwaway, but instead it finds an angle which manages to say something impactful about both of them, the Black Cat, and the late Strange - as well as coming up with assorted weird, wonderful and sometimes surprisingly moving encounters. The White Fox issue is the first thing I've read which has made me care at all about the character (though guest star Sword Master remains a dead weight, and - spoiler - appears to suffer the indignity of getting killed off in someone else's tie-in to yet another someone else's event, which doesn't exactly feel like Marvel getting behind him). Danny Lore on Blade is normally an excuse to try to make Bloodline happen, but here we just get some nice twisty vampire mind-games (plus stabbing, obviously); Si Spurrier's got a dry run for his since revisited idea of putting the new Black Knight together with the X-Men. And last but definitely not least, Elsa Bloodstone. Sure, it's written by Tini Howard, who as Excalibur showed doesn't really get either magic or Britain, but it takes more than a little thing like that to stop Marvel's finest permanently exasperated posh bird.
January 4, 2023
I had really enjoyed the main Death of Doctor Strange book and so I started this companion piece with a greater degree of optimism. And while it's rare that any companion title is all that solid on its own, this was a pretty fun romp.
The Iron Man piece was a nice look at his relationship with Doctor Strange from his perspective. The stuff tied to Strange Academy was naturally some pretty strong (and now better establishes why the Academy was formed, maybe?). The Spider-Man story was rather endearing despite it taking place in the middle of the Beyond arc. The real gem (for me) was the Black Knight story - that was pretty awesome.
The Iron Man piece was a nice look at his relationship with Doctor Strange from his perspective. The stuff tied to Strange Academy was naturally some pretty strong (and now better establishes why the Academy was formed, maybe?). The Spider-Man story was rather endearing despite it taking place in the middle of the Beyond arc. The real gem (for me) was the Black Knight story - that was pretty awesome.
November 25, 2022
3.5 Rather than Companion, this collection should be called Aftermath as it's all about the consequences of Strange's death. All of these standalones are pretty solid in themselves, but they cover a variety of characters across the globe, many of whom I was only passingly familiar with. More context would be helpful, especially with the Black Knight. Oddly, the title of his issue includes the X-men as does the cover of the Companion collection, yet they are hardly to be seen. Not sure why Marvel is so misleading about them here.
October 20, 2024
Unnecessary and underwhelming. This collection of stories related to the Death Of Doctor Strange story are, at best, tangentially connected. They don't add to the story in any way and are not needed. They feel more like primer stories for new arcs but that's not necessarily the case either. The Strange Academy and Spider-Man stories are worth checking out, everything else, skip. The are was a mixed bag to say the least. Overall, a big nothing burger.
June 15, 2022
When a sorcerer dies all hell breaks loose. It shows the importance of gaving a successor. Some great stories about heroes having to deal with the loss.
August 1, 2022
Public library copy.
Marvel has been crest fallen ever since Bendis and Fraction and others have written for DC. This book was a mixed bag of all right to bad. Not recommended.
Marvel has been crest fallen ever since Bendis and Fraction and others have written for DC. This book was a mixed bag of all right to bad. Not recommended.
December 1, 2022
Mix of stories that were balanced towards the B level heroes.
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