Marvel Masterworks Doctor Strange 8 Hardcover

The 8th Dr. Strange masterwork covers a relatively brief period at the beginning of the 1980s when Chris Claremont was the Dr. Strange scribe. It's a holding pattern of sorts but a fairly well written one, as one would expect of Claremont. There are two major story arcs. One has Strange foiling (with the help of Man-Thing) a plot by Baron Mordo to destroy the world. The second involves Strange tracking Clea and Wong to another dimension to clear up a mess started by Wong's ancestor. Neither are really close to peak Dr. Strange that we got from Lee and Ditko and later by Englehart and Brunner but it is a pleasant read. A nice touch was Claremont trying to expand Strange's supporting cast with neighbor Sara Wolfe and tabloid reporter Starrett. What Claremont does not do is further the "Dweller in Darkness" plot left hanging from the previous masterworkThe artwork is in the capable hands of Gene Colan with Dan Green doing commendable inking. The last issue of Dr. Strange collected here, #46, is a complete hodgepodge of writers and artists but is surprisingly readable.Other issues are collected here that are connected in some way to the main storylines. There is a Man-Thing crossover, a Clea solo story in Defenders, a nice little self contained story from Marvel Fanfare, and an interesting What If? issue where the darker side of Strange is highlighted as a Dormammu disciple.The icing on the cake is the complete 12 month 1980 Dr. Strange calendar. There are also a couple of pages of original art and a four page introduction by Claremont.Recommended but not Strange at or even near his peak. I get the impression that Claremont didn't really "get" Strange although I'm sure if he had been on the book longer that would have changed.

Lately, I've been consistently pleased with the extras in the Masterworks and Omnibus collections from Marvel. The 1980 Marvel calendar was all Doctor Strange, and not only had incredible artwork by Byrne, Pollard, Perez, and other greats, it also had informative blurbs in the calendar cells that exposed me to the events of earlier issues that I missed before I started reading the series with Doc # 9. A few years back I regretted throwing mine away in 1981 so I found a slightly beat up copy on Ebay. The calendar is reproduced in its entirety here, including the calendar pages, front and back covers (back cover by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson), and even Stan's intro and the "Bullpen Birthdays" pages!As usual the book has nice color reproduction for the main stories. Artist is Gene Colan on most but there are also stories drawn by Michael Golden, Marshall Rogers (from Fanfare 5) and others. "What If?" # 18 is also included.

This is not the best Doctor Strange's Marvel Masterworks. It is basically a Gene Colan book (173 pages from 256 pages of history) which is not the problem; I guess Dan Green (although I like him) was not the best choice to ink Gene Colan's art. As it is said in the description, the book covers Doctor Strange 38-46, Man Thing 4, Defenders 53 (just a small story of Clea), Marvel Fanfare 5 (I guess the first work of Marshall Rogers on Doctor Strange) and What if? 18 (What if Doctor Strange has been a disciple of Dormammu?").The five page story "A Moment's Peace" with art by MIchael Golden is the higher point of the book. Of course, he did some of the covers too. The Man-Thing story is part of a crossover placed between Doctor Strange 40 and 41. The writing of Chris Claremont is solid but not fantastic. But it is a good book for fans of Doctor Strange.

Greater than Volume 8. Works good on Kindle.

Great plot .love the work ,

Not sure where to start your deep dive into the world of Dr. Strange. Look no further. With contributions by Chris Claremont (X-Men Phoenix Saga) this collection features stories that expand on Strange’s relationship with his apprentice/lover Clea, and includes some of the trippiest Dr. Strange art ever!

Masterworks 8 comprises, in the main, all the stories written by Chris (X Men) Claremont, mostly illustrated by the incredible Gene Colan. That said this isn't quite Gene's best work on Doctor Strange.( His work with Steve Englehart on issues 6-18 is just a tad better). This is still cracking stuff though. In particular, the Mordo / Man Thing story (39-41 plus Man Thing 4 ) gives us the best of both writer and artist. Just check out the mystic sacrificial dais and Doctor Strange's "heroic" entrance a couple of pages later. Vintage Colan.And there are a couple of other gems too. Firstly, as everyone else has mentioned, the five page story "A Moment's Peace" by Roger Stern, Michael Golden and Paul Craig Russell. Every panel is a delight. No super-villains, no fight scenes just a very touching moment of relaxation for Stephen and his extra- dimensional lover, Clea Every panel is a work of art. (and seems even more so being directly preceeded by the worse story in this collection; a dire "filler" with dreadful art by Kerry Gammill.).Secondly a tale from Marvel Fanfare. This is Claremont's last Doctor Strange story with stunning detailed art by Marshall Rogers and Paul Craig Russell This is a sequel of sorts to an obscure "Clea" story from "Defenders" 53. which I'm so glad is included in this collection. ( The five page story is written by Naomi Basner, with rather nice art by Sandy Plunkett; two creaters I have never heard of before. Clea in particular is very nicely realised ). Back to the Fanfare story which offers a taste of what is to come in a couple of issues time when Rogers begins his epic six issue run on Doctor Strange, Scripted by Roger Stern. ( can't wait for these stories to be reprinted in the next Masterwork; but how will I give a volume more than 5 stars? ).The collection concludes with an ok "What If" story and The 1980 Doctor Strange calendar.The only slight disappointment is that Gene Colan's final story of this run is not included (I know it is scripted by Roger Stern but the look and feel of the story would fit this volume nicely and would mean that volume 9 could start cleanly with the Marshall Rogers stories.). A minor gripe though...My only