Doctor Strange #11 Review

Writer: Mark Waid / Artist: Jesus Saiz / Marvel Comics If the last issue of Doctor Strange was an interesting exploration of magic in the form of financial bureaucracy, #11 is the classic last act of an action movie. The end of Waid and Saiz’s two-part “Remittance” arc puts Doctor Strange and his estranged companions face-to-face with a gang of Dormammus tearing up New York. At the jump of this rooftop stand-off, Strange teleports his team away. Dormammu mocks his sympathetic tendencies to protect his loved ones. They commence a dialogue. In true, Syndrome-from- The Incredibles-form, Dormammu is lured into a villainous reveal of his plan of vengeance. After countless embarrassments at the hands of our title character and exile from his people, the Faltine, he plays his hand to conquer both in one swoop. Knowingly unable to defeat the collection of demons (let alone Dormammu), Strange bets on the abilities of Wong, Kanna, and Zelma to assist him. His plan, though fruitful, falls short of ending Dormammu…but an unexpected force seals the deal.

This comic was a satisfying cinematic finale, complete with the initial tense good guy/bad guy face-off and lines like “we circle each other like a couple of gunslingers waiting for one another to flinch.” Hilariously, even after feinting conversation to unleash a quickly thwarted surprise attack, Dormammu still can’t resist talking at length. I can hear him now in my imagination: “You sly dog…you caught me monologuing! Now, where wa…