In terms of accessibility, and pure entertainment, I’d say it’d be hard to find a more enjoyable Doctor Strange adventure than his 2006 mini-series, ‘The Oath’. The fact is, I’d go further and say that, even 10 years after it’s publication, it’s one of the most entertaining mainstream superhero comics of recent years.
Brian K Vaughn is currently one of the most successful writers in independent American comics, but around the mid-naughties he made his name on some excellent runs from Marvel comics. Vaughn was firing on all cylinders with ‘The Oath’, which serves as simultaneously a (re)introduction for new/lapsed audiences, a homage to the earliest work of Ditko and Lee, a knowing lampoon of some of Strange’s cheesier conceits and potentially a springboard for further adventures of the Sorceror Supreme.
There’s no point in getting into plotline specifics here, other than to say that Strange is quickly drawn into a poignant and deeply personal mystery, with very real and dangerous stakes. The macguffin is reminiscent of the plot devices used in Indiana Jones or James Bond movies; and the pace of the adventure here is equally breakneck. This is Strange as pulp hero, Sherlock Holmes crossed with David Copperfield and he makes for a thrilling protagonist.
The artwork of Marcos Martin is both timeless and cinematic, at once something old and entirely brand new. For a Doctor Strange story, the action is relatively grounded in the real world; no astral projection combat here, and there are minimal excursions into alternate dimensions. The result is a believable, engaging adventure that the audience can readily invest in. And yes, maybe the final page is a little clumsy, but taken in the spirit of the crowd-pleasing blockbuster that this comic is intended, and it’s a forgivable sin.
Highly recommended.
