Plot: The book opens one year ago, where we see a slacker teenager being paid a visit by a massive Asian man, who claims to have a message from the teen's father. We then jump to the modern day where we see Spider-Man is busy suffering though the monotony of a slow night, as all the criminal community is taking the night off. However, we then look in on a sinister meeting between two men, where one of them is revealed to be the evil magic user Xandu, who has hired the other man to discover where the magical artifact the Wand of Watoomb is being held. As Xandu learns that the wand is currently in the home of Doctor Strange, we see the back-story of Doctor Strange is offered up, and it pretty much mirrors the version that we received in the Marvel Universe. However, it does have one major change, as the current Doctor Strange is not Stephen Strange, as Stephen has been missing for over a year. We then see Spider-Man stumble his way into this meeting, where he is magical ensnared to retrieve the Wand of Watoomb.
Comments: I must confess I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Spider-Man fan, and as such I can pretty much envision him being able to take down pretty much any character in the entire Marvel Universe. I mean, I'll admit he'd have a tough time with the major heavyweights like Thor & the Silver Surfer, but I can at least see him making it a couple rounds before they pulverized him. However, the one character who I can never see Spider-Man fairing all that well against is Doctor Strange, as magic spells are simply too difficult to defend against, and frankly the good doctor has too many ways to take Spidey out of the fight, that I can't see any writer being able to deliver a rewarding tussle between the two, that didn't have me wondering why Stephen Strange was taking such a long time wrapping this tussle up. Brian Michael Bendis looks to have come up with a way to deliver a battle between these two that is more evenly matched, and while part of me is dreading the young, slacker version that we'll see next month, another part is eagerly awaiting this contest.
The one thing that Brian Michael Bendis has managed to accomplish on this title is to put a nice twist on stories that fans are probably already familiar with. I mean, yes he could be accused of sticking a little too close to the original back-story that Doctor Strange has in the regular Marvel Universe, as the Ultimate version is also a surgeon who has his hands injured in a car accident, and encounters the Ancient One in his quest for a cure. However, he also put a nice spin on the story by continuing the tale beyond this point and taking it into uncharted territory, which in turn leaves us with a Doctor Strange who is vastly different from his Marvel counterpart. What we have is a Doctor Strange who doesn't have to be aloof, or even particularly adept at the magic that he's drawing upon. It also gives us a Doctor Strange who should interact quite nicely with Spider-Man once Peter is freed from the magic spell, as they are both heroes who are fairly new to the game, and Brian Michael Bendis could have some fun with this pairing.
Ted McKeever offers up a rather twisted looking style where the human form takes on an almost alien appearance, but with this said, given the guest-star is Doctor Strange, the art is nicely suited to the material. I also have to mention the stylistic manner in which Ted McKeever establishes his various scenes, as we get a couple of wonderful sequences where the panels move in closer & closer to the subject we're suppose to be focused on. I know it's not a huge detail, but I appreciate an artist who puts some thought into how he's going to introduce an idea to the reader. There's also some wonderful one page spreads in this issue, where Doctor Strange's rather involved origin is detailed, and I have to credit the art for being able to recognize the most important details and bring them to light, from the anguish of Doctor Strange in the aftermath of his car wreck, to the almost unworldly appearance of the mountain temple where Doctor Strange discovers the Ancient One. The action sequences also have some nice punch to them.
Final Word: Brian Michael Bendis does seem to have settled into a storytelling format on this title, as Spider-Man always plays second fiddle to the guest-hero, and while the Spider-Man fan in me is a bit put out by this setup, I must admit that the little doses that we do get of the character in this title have been quite enjoyable, thanks in large part to the attention that has been lavished upon the guest-hero. It also doesn't hurt matters that Brian Michael Bendis has done a pretty decent job putting a new spin on the characters he's introducing into the Ultimate universe, as while he doesn't change all that much about Stephen Strange's back-story, he does add a nice twist at the end that completely changes everything one can expect from the Ultimate version of the character. The villain of the story is also used quite well in this issue.
