A magical murder mystery, a hero looking for power, and a fresh cast of Asgardian characters. Doctor Strange of Asgard is a compelling tale that, though tied to the larger One World Under Doom event, stands alone.
Marvel
Doctor Strange, stripped of his title of Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, moves himself to Asgard in hopes of becoming the Sorcerer Supreme there, which is a pretty bold choice considering the people of Asgard are inherently magical. It’s the perfect sort of ego for Strange, a man humbled but never broken of his habit of self-aggrandizement.
But Asgard is not a gentle place. Strange’s day-to-day job as a physician presents the ho-hum attitude toward stabbings, maimings, and casual violence. Murder, however, appears to be a much bigger deal – or, perhaps, only murder committed against named characters. When current magical guru Hulda is killed – ostensibly by a mind-controlled Loki – Strange is set to solve a murder even as he attempts to cast a spell necessary for his magical glow-up.
Marvel
Artist Carlo Magno delivers a sort of gritty realism that works well with Doctor Strange – lacking cartoonist flair and swathed in shadows, his style presents a humanistic edge to play against all the magical nonsense. It grounds the book in something more substantial than fantastical, and even trolls are delivered with a humanity that might be denied them by another artist. It suits a tale based on intrigue and interpersonal drama.
It’s a tight story with twists aplenty, handily marrying the mystical with the mysterious, and while some convenient narrative turns feel to arise from the ether, it largely satisfies on both fronts. Sure, there are near-literal deus ex machina moments, but this is a story about gods.
Marvel
Though the end of the mystery is mostly satisfying, the end of the book isn’t quite. Beholden to the events not only in One World Under Doom but also in the final act of The Immortal Thor, Stephen Strange’s journey is abruptly halted by events happening off-page, elsewhere. Seen as a prologue for the upcoming Doctor Strange ongoing, this might not be as frustrating as it is taken as a standalone miniseries.
Doctor Strange of Asgard is unique, exciting, and brief; it feels like a full short story. Doctor Strange is a character whose career of late has been made up of these sorts of small narrative movements, short bursts over long, twining ongoing series. This fits that bill, and it excels at it.
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