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Maybe Wong’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline.

Published 2016

Take two of the OG sorcerer’s inception; same story, different font. This time it’s more of a story and less of an exposition dump, but all fairness to the original, the Doctor Strange movie came out alongside this in 2016. So even if someone didn’t see the movie, if they’re reading this comic then they were probably being served-up a lot of “Doctor Strange Origin Explained” Youtube visual essays.

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I’m sure you want to know specific differences though – first off, this one is long. It tells the original backstory we got in Strange Tales in about 10 pages, then moves on to developing Stephen’s relationship with Wong.

This image basically boils down the whole dynamic. Strange studies plenty, but is ethically questionable – while Wong is a good boy that hates homework. So naturally they don’t trust each other and the plot is a device to move them towards friendship.

It’s also a device to move Mordo towards “catching these [nerve-damaged] hands.”

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I’m sure you’ve slightly noticed it here, but the art in this book is both really unique and cool, while also being a bit messy on the action side of things.

Action:

It took me a very long time to work out what I was looking at here. Like I knew he was tripping on an apple core, but those 2 larger frames are just a mess of motion lines. Still don’t know what’s drawn next to “WHUMP.”

But on the other hand:

I think the artist, Emma Rios, might just specifically excel at close-ups.

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One last thing to mention: The Ancient One was Yoda’d. He’s now an all-powerful mystic that is frequently just a goofy guy because he finds it funny. Personally I like it when they Yodafy a mentor character, just makes them a little more bearable, but I know some people hate it when a serious character is recharacterized for comedy.

So what should you read if you want a Doctor Strange origin story? Well, I think you’ll find the 60s version is efficient and, while quaint, holds a lot of valu-
Read the new one.
You’re going to hear this from me a lot, but like any artform: comics have progressed a lot during its lifespan. Panel-to-panel dialogue is just better written now, I can guarantee you that.

Except for maybe some quips The Thing used to spit in the original Fantastic Four series. But that’s me getting ahead of myself.