If you follow IGN Comics, you probably know that we haven’t been too keen on Marvel’s Season One graphic novels so far. While most boast beautiful artwork, the stories themselves have offered little more than a retread of the characters’ first appearances, save for some modern updates and a little trivial expansion here and there. While Doctor Strange: Season One certainly holds true to the series’ tradition of stunning visuals, it bucks the trend of stale narratives by offering some new insight into Stephen Strange.
The broad strokes are the same as the early Doctor Strange adventures, but writer Greg Pak manages to weave in one very important element that really makes this book as successful as it is: the relationship between Strange and Wong. Traditionally, Wong has been a servant sent to Strange by the Ancient One after Stephen was already Sorcerer Supreme. In Season One, Pak reconfigures Wong to be a peer of Strange – even superior, in some ways – and the result is the foundation of a relationship that plays off some classic buddy cop tropes to construct their friendship in a whole new light.