Man, it seems like forever ago that this book was announced. I've been on pins and needles waiting to sink my teeth into this book. A stellar creative team, with stories told anthology-style, in black and white? Sounds unique, and with 48 pages there was bound to be something I would like. The only other book of this style I had picked up before, Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, turned out to be a pleasant surprise. So did this issue live up to my expectations? Read on to find out.

Creative Team: 

The Cure:

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Frazer Irving

Melancholia:

Writer: Peter Milligan

Artist: Frank Brunner

So This is How it Feels:

Writer/Artist: Ted McKeever

Duel in the Dark Dimension:

Writer: Mike Carey

Artist: Marcos Martin

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Review: 

Just look at that creative team. You can't get much better than that on one book. But, as you can see, there are multiple stories in this anthology-styled book. So let's break them down one-by-one and see what we come up with. 

The first story is The Cure. Gillen really knocks it out of the park here. The basic story is that a psychiatrist is attempting to make the world a friendlier place. Our good Doctor notices something is amiss, and so disguises himself as a patient to get to the bottom of things. What he finds shocks him, as it is revealed that Mephisto is the catalyst of all the changes. The psychiatrist is offering up the souls of his patients (which they willingly give) in exchange for his power. Of course, Strange cannot stand for this, even if it means dooming the world.

The story was really fun. I've always enjoyed Mephisto as a villain (aside from One More Day of course) and this time, its questionable whether he should even be defeated or not. Gillen makes things difficult for our hero (and his wife, as she has to commit him to the asylum at one point). Which brings me to another good point: this is the best Clea I've ever read. Especially at the beginning when she decides to rob a bank. Yes, she walks in with hose on her head sporting a handgun. Pure gold.

The art is nothing to scoff at either. Of course, this is a black-and-white title, but you wouldn't know it by the life Irving brings to the table. My personal favorite image:

Just the look on her face as Strange nudges her is priceless. This was the best story in the book for me. Fun to read and fun to look at. I could really go on and on about this story, but we've still go three more to go!

The next story is Melanchloia. In this, we begin with Strange and Wong grocery shopping. Yes, it looks as humorous as it sounds. Strange is carrying huge bags of food while wearing his cloak. Good stuff. Unfortunately, all is not well for Strange, as he seems to be lost in thought. Wong calls him on this, but strange dismisses it as nothing.

Then, we flash back to the 70s with a couple fighting. Terrible things are said, and the husband strikes his wife. She leaves to go to her mother's, and we find that she gets into an accident and is killed. Flash-forward to the present, where the same man comes to Doctor Strange to help him forget that the last time he ever saw his wife, he struck her. He has been plagued by guilt for years.

This story was also very good. I truly felt sorry for the man, even if he was a jerk the night of his wife's death. He was genuinely plagued by guilt all these years. And once Strange delves into the man's psyche, we find that he is not only plagued by guilt, but also many lesser demons. Strange takes care of them, but then we have a most shocking twist in the final panel that really makes this story hit hard.

Brunner's art here is equally stellar. His demons are terrifying, and his expressions are spot on. You can truly see that this man is wracked with guilt. And in that last panel, the twist is made even more shocking by the look on Strange's face. While the first story was my favorite, this one comes in a close second. 

The third story...well, I'm not gonna say a lot about it, because honestly I'm not sure what the heck happened. We have a drunken Strange being assisted by a homeless man's disembodied head in a battle with a demon. I really didn't like it myself. The art was a pretty cool direction, so that made it worth reading just for that.

There's some stuff about drinking water and absolute power. I really don't know. This pretty much sums it up:

So the last story, Duel in the Dark Dimension,  is a prose piece, and it was really enjoyable. It tells a tale of when Strange was still studying the mystic arts, and a rather large mistake he makes. The illustrations by Martin are a really nice touch. I also really enjoyed reading this, even though I usually like my comics and my prose separate. This made me think a Doctor Strange novel could work pretty well. 

Overall, this issue is really a triumph. The whole thing could have been a failure; I mean, an anthology of black-and-white Doctor Strange stories? It screams awesome, but simultaneously screams questionable. However, like the aforementioned Shang Chi comic, I now count this as one of the highlights of my collection, the art is stellar, the stories are at worst readable, and the whole package just works. I recommend going to pick this one up today.