How is Mark Waid’s Doctor Strange?

[Winghead]

I noticed it was selling well until last month where it dropped pretty hard. Love the writer, but I haven’t read a lot of the character.

[Rrobin]

I like it a lot so far, a big improvement over both Aaron and Cates imo. It's a pretty nice place to start reading him I think

I'm actually pretty confused why #11 dropped, hope it picks up again when the next one starts

[Prof. Warren]

I noticed it was selling well until last month where it dropped pretty hard. Love the writer, but I haven’t read a lot of the character.

It hasn't dropped pretty hard.

Generally it's been selling in the mid 20s.

January's issue was a spike up due to being an anniversary issue.

It dropped back down in February but not drastically from where it was before.

The book itself is great, one of the best runs the character's had in recent years.

[LordMikel]

Yes, I've been enjoying it. It starts with dr Strange in space, learning magic from other aliens. It didn't stay on that storyline as long as I might have thought. It looks like we are getting Galactus storyline coming up, so that should be good.

[bomaya]

It's really good and has lovely art by Jesus Saiz.

[Jekyll]

A solid, "meh" from me. I certainly agree it is above Aaron & Cates run, but it just didn't do it for me in terms of staying on my pull list.

[Clea]

I noticed it was selling well until last month where it dropped pretty hard. Love the writer, but I haven’t read a lot of the character.

It's well-written and enjoyable, IMO. It's a good book to start with if you haven't read much with Strange before. Waid's characterization of Strange is very good, IMO (unlike some recent writers).

[matt levin]

Clea's said it well: it's well-written and enjoyable. And it certainly looks nice. But it is, as others said, a big improvement, a cut above recent previous attempts...way above, IMHO... but somehow still lacks for me the excitement of decades ago. Strange is not the Doc Strange who first captured my attention, nor, seemingly is the aim of this newest series the emotionally cosmic-yet-personal story that made the character so memorable for me. But--! Without that burden of When-it-Was-Goodism, this is a good starting point: well written, and good-looking. And a different kind of setting from most MU stories.

[Rrobin]

Clea's said it well: it's well-written and enjoyable. And it certainly looks nice. But it is, as others said, a big improvement, a cut above recent previous attempts...way above, IMHO... but somehow still lacks for me the excitement of decades ago. Strange is not the Doc Strange who first captured my attention, nor, seemingly is the aim of this newest series the emotionally cosmic-yet-personal story that made the character so memorable for me. But--! Without that burden of When-it-Was-Goodism, this is a good starting point: well written, and good-looking. And a different kind of setting from most MU stories.

I agree it's not super "exciting" so far (although there are plenty of cool moments but on a smaller scale), and I think it's because Waid was trying to focus on his relationships with others around him. However, with the next Galactus arc, I think the scale will ramp up significantly

[DigiCom]

It's solid, and the whole "make your own tools" bit was a new approach, but I did find the denouement of issue #11 rather lacking. All that buildup, and the arc sort of fizzled.

[Clea]

... Strange is not the Doc Strange who first captured my attention, nor, seemingly is the aim of this newest series the emotionally cosmic-yet-personal story that made the character so memorable for me. But--! Without that burden of When-it-Was-Goodism....

LOL at 'When-it-Was-Goodism'! But you're right about that. Strange is not being written now as he was decades ago. He seems more superhero and less sorcerer to me these days. Marvel has (IMO) drained most of the mystery/fantasy aspects from him and his stories. I guess that's just who the character needs to be now for current readers. I can always go back to the earlier stories if I want to read about Strange meeting Eternity for the first time, or fighting Nightmare, or conquering death, or battling with deities (who were treated as such and not just as some sort of outlandish aliens). Those stories all remain very cool. I judge the contemporary writers by how well they stay consistent with Strange's overall personality and history. I don't expect slavish continuity with stories from the past, but I do want consistency. I appreciate it when writers demonstrate that they know the character, his history, and understand that Marvel magic is not like a D&D game or Harry Potter or a lot of handwavy nonsense with no rules. IMO, Waid understands the character very well and he's a good storyteller. I'm very pleased that he's on the book now.

[Daedra]

Any direction that takes Stephen away from getting acid reflux and parossistic diarrhea every time he casts a spell is a good direction, Aaron menaged to ruins years upon years of world building in a single run and left the character in shambles once he got tired with him, I always loved magic in the marvel universe thanks in large part to the many writers that actually contribuited to enrich the mystic side of it, Waid is doing all he can to recover what's possible but if a lesson should be learned from this experience is that it's much easier to erase and tear all down than to build something actually wort of notice.

[Rrobin]

LOL at 'When-it-Was-Goodism'! But you're right about that. Strange is not being written now as he was decades ago. He seems more superhero and less sorcerer to me these days. Marvel has (IMO) drained most of the mystery/fantasy aspects from him and his stories. I guess that's just who the character needs to be now for current readers. I can always go back to the earlier stories if I want to read about Strange meeting Eternity for the first time, or fighting Nightmare, or conquering death, or battling with deities (who were treated as such and not just as some sort of outlandish aliens). Those stories all remain very cool. I judge the contemporary writers by how well they stay consistent with Strange's overall personality and history. I don't expect slavish continuity with stories from the past, but I do want consistency. I appreciate it when writers demonstrate that they know the character, his history, and understand that Marvel magic is not like a D&D game or Harry Potter or a lot of handwavy nonsense with no rules. IMO, Waid understands the character very well and he's a good storyteller. I'm very pleased that he's on the book now.

I agree, which is why I’m looking forward to the next arc, where he will be spending much of his time in other realms. There’s so much opportunity to explore more fantastical and magical concepts, and he can actually use magic this time!

[Clea]

Any direction that takes Stephen away from getting acid reflux and parossistic diarrhea every time he casts a spell is a good direction, Aaron menaged to ruins years upon years of world building in a single run and left the character in shambles once he got tired with him, I always loved magic in the marvel universe thanks in large part to the many writers that actually contribuited to enrich the mystic side of it, Waid is doing all he can to recover what's possible but if a lesson should be learned from this experience is that it's much easier to erase and tear all down than to build something actually wort of notice.

Aaron's run was certainly the worst bit of mean, pointless character destruction that I've ever seen in all my decades reading Marvel comics, but he was far from the only writer who spent their time tearing down Strange. Bendis did it when he put Strange in the New Avengers and suddenly bumped down Strange's abilities. Numerous other writers have told tiresome 'Strange loses his powers because [whatever] and has to redeem himself in order to overcome [foe of the day]. Rinse and repeat for years. So tiresome. I figured it was due in equal parts to writers simply not knowing how to write stories set in the Marvel magical universe, plus editorial mandate to break and reform Strange into just another superhero who happens to get his power from amulets and Infinity Stones. At least Waid knows the character and (so far) is writing him in a way that is building the character up again, not hobbling him or tearing him down. My dream for the character would be for writers to get back to focusing purely on supernatural, magical threats because that's the whole point of being Sorcerer Supreme, but I don't know if that will ever happen again.

[Daedra]

Aaron's run was certainly the worst bit of mean, pointless character destruction that I've ever seen in all my decades reading Marvel comics, but he was far from the only writer who spent their time tearing down Strange. Bendis did it when he put Strange in the New Avengers and suddenly bumped down Strange's abilities. Numerous other writers have told tiresome 'Strange loses his powers because [whatever] and has to redeem himself in order to overcome [foe of the day]. Rinse and repeat for years. So tiresome. I figured it was due in equal parts to writers simply not knowing how to write stories set in the Marvel magical universe, plus editorial mandate to break and reform Strange into just another superhero who happens to get his power from amulets and Infinity Stones. At least Waid knows the character and (so far) is writing him in a way that is building the character up again, not hobbling him or tearing him down. My dream for the character would be for writers to get back to focusing purely on supernatural, magical threats because that's the whole point of being Sorcerer Supreme, but I don't know if that will ever happen again.

You are right, I just feel like Aaron mistreatment of the character is more egregious because It came at crucial moment (the movie) and therefore a good opportunity to really capture the essence of Dr Strange was lost and wasted. I'm also not very fond of the way he tried to "reinvent" magic (wich was totally fine) , it was like someone wanting to reinvent the wheel and then leaving your car in pieces after getting fed up with the task. Bendis as well is know for making tangled messes that at the end of the day don't really lead anywhere.