Death of Doctor Strange #4 Review

WRITER: Jed Mackay

ARTIST: Lee Garrett

PUBLISHER: Marvel

PRICE: $3.99

RELEASE DATE: December 29th, 2021

If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any others that were mentioned then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon.

TOMASSI’S TAKES

Death of Doctor Strange #4 answers the question of who exactly murdered the good Doctor. While the ultimate reveal may feel a tad underwhelming, especially if you’re not already well versed in the Doctor’s history, there are still enough great parts of this issue to make it the best issue since issue 1.

Coming off the heels of the last issue, Doctor Strange’s time-displaced younger self is ready to attack suspect #1 Baron Mordo. In a nice twist what ends up happening is instead of a battle we get an engaging conversation. Even though this is a younger version of Doctor Strange, he stills has a history with the Baron. They did both train under the Ancient One. So it makes sense that instead of a fight the Baron defiantly explains why he couldn’t have killed Doctor Strange.

Besides the opening scene with the Baron, there are many great character scenes in this issue. Watching the younger Doctor Strange have a mild panic attack and question the wisdom of his older self Made the character even more interesting. We haven’t gotten a lot from this version of Doctor Strange to show how over his head he is. He later proves himself when he uses his intelligence to figure out who killed his older self. As mentioned earlier, the actual reveal isn’t that interesting, but with one issue to go there might be more to reveal about the murder mystery.

ART

Lee Garnett’s art in Death of Doctor Strange #4 is his best of the series so far. He gets to channel some Ditko old school Doctor Strange art style with the reveal of the murderer. There is also a fun panel of Bats the ghost dog chasing birds while still being a voice of reason for young Doctor Strange. These scenes alone are worth the issue.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Death of Doctor Strange #4 is the best issue since the first issue. What makes it special is the interactions between young Doctor Strange and both his rogue’s gallery and supporting cast. What has made this story overall interesting is not the “Death” of Strange but rather the repercussions of his death. The art is looser than in previous issues. Which is a good thing for a book about magical characters. And of course, we need more of Bats the Ghost dog.