Doctor Strange #6

Writer – Jason Aaron
Artist – Chris Bachalo, Mike Deodato, Jorge Fornes, Kev Walker, Kevin Nowlan
Inker – Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Mark Irwin, John Livesay, Wayne Faucher, Victor Olazaba, Jaime Mendoza
Colours – Chris Bachalo, Java Tartaglia, Rain Beredo, Kevin Nowlan
Letters – VC’s Cory Petit

The Empirikul has arrived on Earth, the richest deposit of magic that they have ever encountered with Doctor Strange being their most formidable foe. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo pile the hurt down upon the good Doctor and despite everything that he does, Strange has no idea if he will be able to win this fight. The world around him is dying, the magical one that is hidden from the naked eye for the most part and no matter what he throws at his enemies, it seems to do little damage. Never has Strange faced a foe as strong or as impervious to his skills as the Empirikul and in a last ditch effort he throws everything he has at them. The action is fast and thick and Bachalo makes it extremely exciting to follow with his very electric pencils. As the battle goes on, we are given flashes of various places around the globe where magic is dying and to add to the main story in the book, there are some quick backup tales that show us the same thing and illustrated by a bevy of artists. The only problem with the book, which is not a problem as such, is the fact that there were backup tales in the first place. A full length thriller starring Doctor Strange would have been much better with these small stories absent or at least packaged up in The Last Days of Magic book that will be coming out quite soon. The fact that the story is so short does make it read a little quick and in fact, adds to the tension which is present throughout as the tale is so compact. One has to wonder if this was part of Marvel’s big overall plan when they discussed focusing upon the magical side of their universe once again. With other books featuring magic more prominently, it remains to be seen if the aftereffects of what happens here will be felt across them or if this story will be self-contained, though whatever the case, you can be sure that nothing will be the same for magic-users in the Marvel Universe ever again. At the end of the day, if magic is gone from the Earth, how will Doctor Strange and his compatriots defeat the Empirikul, should they deign to stick around that is?

4 out of 5

Mockingbird #1

Writer – Chelsea Cain
Artist – Kate Niemczyk
Colours – Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters – VC’s Joe Caramagna

The first issue of Mockingbird presents us with a day in the life of Bobbi Morse, or more specifically, a few days which see her going for a weekly medical checkup at S.H.I.E.L.D. Thanks to her unique body chemistry which includes the Infinity formula and an experimental dose of the Super-Soldier serum, she just so happens to be different from the everyday person. Suffice it to say, Bobbi does not enjoy her weekly medicals and would rather be doing anything else. Something strange is going on with Bobbi though, which shows she is either gaining strange powers or going out of her mind and writer Chelsea Cain and penciller Kate Niemczyk deliver it in the most splendid of fashions. Cain serves up just a little bit of action against Bobbi’s narrative of going to the doctor’s, not to mention a few bits of humour to keep the material nice and light. Most of the funny comes from Bobbi sitting in the waiting room and Niemczyk provides the funniest of sight gags such as Tony stark reading a pamphlet on Gonorrhea or the re-ocurring Hercules who always happens to have some sort of injury. Cain provides some great characterization, letting us see a little of what makes Mockingbird tick and while it might seem like she is a superhero who is above it all, she is really just a normal person like everyone else. There is a mystery going on at the moment with Bobbi that is introduced from the very first page, something that S.H.I.E.L.D. obviously knows about or is expecting to happen and why Bobbi has not picked up on it yet is a little strange, though by the end of the book she knows that something weird is going on. All in all, this first issue is a good start to Mockingbird’s new solo adventures, something that is a little different and welcoming at the same time.

3.5 out of 5