DOCTOR STRANGE EPIC COLLECTION: THE REALITY WAR

It's so often the case that American comics see talented artists hampered by weak writing, and Dr. Strange in particular is saddled with the reputation of being an "artist's series", as most of the writers working on the character have struggled to know how to produce enaging, coherent stories while the art has been frequently dazzling.This book is a perfect example. Covering the Bronze Age series from issue 29 (1978) to 51 (1982), the art comes predominantly from Tom Sutton, Gene Colan and Marshall Rogers, three of the best artists to labour in the field at the time. Sutton has a whale of a time, managing to balance his rococo psychedelic style with clear storytelling, to gorgeous effect. Issue 34, with Sutton inked by another great, P. Craig Russell, is particularly lovely, with one of my favourite splash pages ever. Rogers only worked on six issues of Dr. Strange - four of them are here, and the remaining two will presumably follow in volume 5 in this sequence of Epic Collections - but it's one of the most memorable short runs in comics history, a largely successful attempt to modernise the original Ditko approach to fit within Bronze Age storytelling tropes. Rogers succeeds for the most part, with admirable invention and energy, though occasionally his work is so hyperkinetic it's exhausting, and his fondness for weirdly long character necks is distracting. Colan is one of the definitive Dr. Strange artists, along with Ditko and Brunner (who contributes some excellent covers, all included here, to the original mags). Unfortunately, his work here sees him tied to a mediocre inker (Dan Green) and more damagingly, comes from a period when Colan was being bullied by Marvel's then editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter, during the latter's relentless (and depressingly successful) mission to dumb down Marvel Comics into unprecedented levels of banality. Consequently, it's probably the most dispiriting work from Colan's long and largely distinguished career. That said, poor Colan is still better than most comic book artists on peak form.Overall, then, the book is pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately, the writing is less rewarding. Most of it comes from Roger Stern, with a long chunk by Chris Claremont sandwiched between two slices of Sterno. Claremont's plots are forgettable and his prose and dialogue are already, relatively early in his career, made ponderous by the verbosity and over-explanations that unfortunately became his much parodied trademarks. The first of the two Stern runs is let down by the use of "the Dweller in Darkness" as the Big Bad. The Dweller is one of those vague, almost omniscient, almost omnipotent villains who are ten-a-penny in magic-themed comics series, and is essentially boring, and it doesn't help that Sutton chooses to draw him as a none-less-sinister cross between George "What are the scores?" Dawes and a kidney bean.Stern's second crack at the Doc, largely coinciding with the Rogers issues, is rather more enjoyable. Stern has no real feel for the magical, but he compensates for this with sharp, clever and coherent plotting (always at a premium in Doc comics) and unexpected, amusing choices for guest stars (Brother Voodoo, Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos). The Stern-Rogers issues are the overall highlight of the book, a fun romp which holds up far better than most Marvels of similar vintage.Both Clarement and Stern, however, are hindered by a protracted and entirely misguided focus on the collapse of Dr. Strange's relationship with Clea as a subplot. Stern in particular blocks his copybook by introducing the insufferable idiot Morgana Blessing as a rival to Clea, one of the most prominent examples of a comic book writer adoring a character they've created almost as much as the readers hate said character.Alongside this, the book also contains some undistinguished filler by other writers and artists, though two short fill-in tales drawn by Michael Golden and Sandy Plunkett are exquisitely drawn. There's also some of the usual interstitial material you get in Marvel Epic Collections - house ads, original sketches, you know the form - and two stories from the early '70s, loosely associated with supporting characters from the Clarement stories. One of these features the once-in-a-lifetime writer/artist combination of Gardner Fox and Howard Chaykin, and if anyone can think of a less plausible pairing, then curse me for a novice.Three stars feels about right, with the art doing enough heavy lifting to compensate for the mostly underwhelming writing. One for Doc completists, late Bronze Age nostalgists, or fans of the artists, then. There's not much here to detain anyone else. Presenting all six Stern-Rogers issues would have made this a four-star item, but c'est la guerre.

Excellent art, excellent writing

Épico. Histórias fantásticas. Ótimas coletâneas do Doutor Estranho.