Writer – Roger Stern
Artist – Sal Buscema
Inker – Mark Badger
Colours – Bob Sharen
Letters – Joe Rosen

With this issue, Roger Stern delivers a bit of a mixed pot as it continues straight from Fantastic Four #276 and #277 and even then, that part of the story ends fairly quickly before it moves into the main tale which flows right out of these events. The good thing about it all is that Stern does not let that bit of a crossover ruin the book, instead using it to tell his own story and work it to his advantage. So it is that a couple of things happen, the first of which is the Strange having to give advice upon the emotional turmoil that fills his house between Sarah and Wong, the two obviously caring for each other, if not in love with each other, but not being able to do anything about it as Wong is in a pre-arranged marriage. That in itself is a little bit of a shocker, but given his history and the fact that his family has always served the Master of the Mystic Arts, whoever that might be, Wong would have to have a child at some point which means being in a relationship. After the drama is all but finished, Stern draws the story to a close as Strange must do battle with a demon woman that has breached the walls to Earth from Mephisto’s realm. Things are not quite what they seem though as within the stone-looking creature, there is a soul crying out and Stephen means to help the poor woman however he can. Sal Buscema and Mark Badger lend their talents to the book, bringing it to life under their skilled hands. There is a good dose of action and a bit of horror to go along with it and it all looks, for lack of a better word, great. Hodgepodge though it may be, the story flows nicely and it all works, though for a moment it does get a little bogged down in the middle with Strange playing matchmaker. After the recent storyline taking place in the Dark Dimension, it would be nice to see another grand, overarching tale like that one instead of these one-offs that have taken place so far in the book, but that being said, it is an entertaining little yarn, with more to come next issue.

3.5 out of 5