REVIEW: Doctor Strange/Punisher: Magic Bullets #1

Writer: John Barber
Storyboards: Jason Muir
Artist: Andrea Broccardo
Review: Will Dubbeld

Not so long ago Marvel graced us with another flash-in-the-pan crossover event/maxiseries/dollar snatch called Original Sin. It reeked of editorial mandate and pretty well spat on 40 some-odd years of Nick Fury and Howling Commandos storytelling. I don't blame scribe Jason Aaron so much as editors handing down unneeded continuity 'fixes' and otherwise mucking things up.
The art was on point, though...

Throughout the miasma of Original Sin one segment did shine, however, in the form of the most unlikely Buddy Cop team-up in recent history:
Dr. Strange and The Punisher.
Aside from his brief stint as a supernatural agent of God, Punisher is about as mundane and nonmagical as they come, and I'm fairly certain Stephen Strange doesn't know an AR-14 from an AK-47. Sticking these two together seemed to be a perfect Odd Couple scenario and it played out wonderfully.

Running with that dynamic in the new miniseries will, with any luck, have enough momentum to carry us through what is so far quite the letdown.
Granted, it's only the first issue, and although I'm trying my damnedest to like this book it falls short at nearly every turn. I'm really having a hard time figuring out how a concept that should be a no-brainer homerun is so pedestrian. The setup is fine, showing us the Punisher up to his mob-killing tricks and discovering something that forces his hand and causes him to seek out Dr. Strange for aid. This blend of supernatural crime is currently told in two great books, Weavers from Boom! Studios and Dark Horse's Weird Detective, but none of that magic made its way over to the House of Ideas.

In addition to a lackluster script, Magic Bullets boasts some of the most ill-fitting art I've seen in quite awhile. A story such as this one deserves pages with a bit of grit, but we're served up some pretty cartoonish, almost Manga-inspired pencils. Similarly styled art can be found in the latest Hellcat book, but in that case it works, reflecting the lighter tone contained within.
Frank Castle and the Sorcerer Supreme aren't light.

Perhaps this book will turn around, but I'm not welling with confidence in this regard. I was looking forward to this comic, so it's disappointing to be delivered such a mediocre product.
You might skip this one and instead check out Dr. Strange: The Oath, or Dr. Strange: Flight of Bones, or pretty much any other Punisher story.