What Comics Should Be (Doctor Strange edition)

There's an old line at Marvel Comics about every creating having a story pitch for Doctor Strange but none knowing how to sell it.

As a Doctor Strange fan, I couldn't agree more --- he's a tough character to write and gets shoved onto teams where he's an awkward fit. Brian K. Vaughn's mini-series was an exception. Doc Strange had endured more bad relaunches than almost any other Marvel character, partially due to the groundbreaking Stan Lee-Steve Ditko stories from Strange Tales and the always reliable series from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The 1990s-era Strange book is almost unreadable.

Strange varies from the standard Marvel template - we meet him in medias res. In his first appearance, we already see him as a powerful spellcaster. A few issues later, we discover that the good doctor evolved from an amoral egomaniac into Marvel's go-to guy for dealing with alternate dimensions and higher powers. We only get to glimpse the younger Strange to see how much he changed.

Which brings us to "This Old House," the recently released Marvel Vault selection that revives stories that for whatever reason never saw print. Roger Stern's name alone coaxed me to depart with $2.99.

A leftover from a short-lived Marvel Universe anthology series killed 12 years ago, Roger Stern and Neil Vokes tell a simple tale: Doctor Strange buys a house (known to diehards as his Sanctum Sanctorum).

This type of story fits nicely into past Doctor Strange continuity without feeling as though Stern shoved in a story where it doesn't fit. Too many writers flip back through character histories and drop in their story wherever they feel. "This Old House" doesn't change the character, but explains how he chose his domicile and what struggles came in making it his own.

Needless to say, Strange doesn't just tear out the carpet and install granite countertops. The beauty of scripting a younger version of an established character is the chance to show Doctor Strange still learning his new powers and striving to overcome his nerve-damaged hands (it was a car accident, nothing sick or disgusting).

Voke's artwork only contains necessary ties to Ditko's psychedelic, magical realm backdrops. It comes off as stylish but not out of bounds for Doctor Strange.

Instead of stopping the story dead, Stern deftly sprinkles essential nuggets of Strange's origin into the action. It flows and genuinely moves the plot in some instances.

What remains in Marvel's vault is unclear. Tales like "This Old House" deserve daylight, especially when presenting a sometimes confounding character in an accessible fashion.