When I first left the theater after seeing Iron Man, the first hero that came to my mind for another movie was Dr. Stephen Strange. The story of a cocky surgeon humbled by the loss of his hands only to discover the mystic arts through a journey to Tibet is perfect for the big screen. Many years later, and the vision I had in my head was surpassed by Benedict Cumberbatch playing Dr. Strange as Dr. House with magic powers. The cockiness was there, the struggle to overcome beings so Otherworldy that they would cause regular people to go insane just by looking at them was there, and Wong was there. All the classic beats of a Dr. Strange story were on screen.
Considering the character has been around the Marvel universe for over 40 years, there's a lot of stories to choose from, so where to start? How about a story that has all the classic Dr. Strange tropes while introducing a new relationship and a down to Earth version of the Sorcerer Supreme?
Dr. Strange: The Oath.
A 5 issue mini-series from 2006, Doctor Strange: The Oath explores the relationships in the life of Stephen Strange. His professional relationships as a Doctor, his personal relationship to Wong and even his romantic relationship to The Night Nurse, whom finally gets to take part in an adventure:
Everything starts when Dr. Strange is rushed to the Night Nurse's clinic by Wong. The Sorcerer Supreme was laid low by a simple gun shot from a Z-list villain. While recovering, Dr. Strange learns that Wong is suffering from cancer and he vows to fulfill the very first oath he ever took, The Hippocratic Oath, and journeys to a strange dimension where he finds the cure for cancer itself. The problem is that not only does he have the cure for cancer, he has the cure for all diseases.
He also has the greatest cape ever. No one is allowed to out-cape Dr. Strange.
Soon Dr. Strange and his gravity-defying collar is drawn back into conflict with Z-list villain, armed with the pistol that Hitler used to kill himself, and the mysterious mastermind behind a twisty Machiavellian plot to make the cure for cancer into a source of pure pain for Dr. Strange. Tested by villains on the physical plane, mystical plane and even his own spiritual plane, Dr. Strange has to reach deep down inside and reconcile his relationships with where he is at this point in his life.
Dr. Strange: The Oath is available on Marvel Unlimited or through a trade. If you only read one actual Dr. Strange story, make it this one.
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