Doctor Strange #76 (April 1986)

In recent years, Doctor Strange's profile has been heavily raised thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With his second movie on its way, I figured that in honor of it, I'd take a look at a Doctor Strange story. I figured that this story would be a good one, as it shows one thing: Doctor Strange may be one of the mightiest mystical defenders of the Marvel Universe...but even he can't save everyone. You'll see what I mean when we look at Doctor Strange #76!

The cover is a Chris Warner and Terry Austin piece. It's pretty awesome, depicting Strange at the mercy of the villain of this story. One detail I like is the shadows on the snake-headed woman's face. Even though she has a pretty face, the shadows show she has a much more sinister side, appropriate for the story.

"What Song the Sirens Sang!"
Writer: Peter B. Gillis
Pencilers: Mark Badger (breakdowns), Chris Warner
Inker: Randy Emberlin
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins in a realm very much unlike our own. A realm that is not unreachable to death. And death stalks the ruler of this realm.

Page 28, Full page

No, this isn't a gorgon. Her name is Iuriale (I pronounce it Yur-ee-ale), and her time is short. She has found someone on Earth that will be her salvation: Darryl Berenson. Berenson is a practicing surgeon. She sees him use his skills to save a man's life...and he tells the patient's wife to talk to her insurer. They're not great about their payments to him. Berenson kind of mirrors another man we may know...

(Hmmm)

Iuriale reaches out to him with her power. Her power is only sensed by him, sensed as a siren song. A song that only touches his ears. The song guides the surgeon, and tempts him with promises of love, wealth, power...meaning. The song leads Berenson to a bookstore where he buys a spellbook. Because in the Marvel Universe, you can buy copies of potentially dangerous mystical tomes in your local Barnes and Noble.

(shrug)

Darryl heads home to his loving wife Patricia. The narration establishes that despite his seemingly happy perfect life, Darryl himself feels...empty. It's like nothing matters. It's all pointless. All except...the book. The book will grant him life again. The book will make him feel like he matters again.

Page 31, Panel 9

So, it's clear that there's some dark magic involved. How is Strange going to get involved? Well, it's here we join our man Strange alongside some of his allies at the time: his faithful manservant Wong, his then-secretary and business manager Sara Wolfe...and the empath known only as Topaz. 

Page 32, Panel 1

Last issue, Strange had rescued her from Hell, basically. She was a past ally of Jack Russell, the original Werewolf by Night. It was an encounter with the devilish Mephisto and the vampire king Dracula in Tomb of Dracula #62-64 that led her to being trapped in "Hell" in the first place. 

In the process of escaping, part of her soul has been taken from her. This took away her empathic abilities and has affected her ability to process emotions properly...and will eventually lead her to insanity.

It's here that Patricia Berenson comes to the Sanctum, seeking Strange's help. Darryl's up and pulled a vanishing act. Strange wonders why she doesn't tell the police about this. She takes him to her home, saying that Darryl had envied Strange for getting out of the hectic life of a surgeon. As for why she came to him and not the cops, well...

Page 35, Panel 6

Yeah. Weird pink vines everywhere. Anyone who has watched an episode of Law and Order or any of its bazillion spin-offs would clearly know this is no ordinary missing persons case. Heck, this is the Marvel Universe. A missing person case could literally turn into a fight for the fate of the universe.

Strange eyes a pentagram in the center of the room. In the center of it is a photo of Darryl and Patricia at their wedding. He notes that the frame of the picture is wooden...as it's the source of the vines. Using the Eye of Agamotto, Strange discovers a piece of burnt parchment. He magically reconstructs the parchment...and he's very disturbed by what is written on it.

Strange destroys the parchment and Strange goes for a flight. He's familiar with that particular spell. He first learned of the spell during his time as an apprentice to the Ancient One, but he dared not chant it because, basically...everything may go kablooie.

Like that. Strange realizes that the spell must be performed underground. He seeks out the deepest hole in New York and heads there. It's here our man finds Berenson, about to complete the spell.

Page 39, Panel 3

Strange screams at him not to finish the enchantment, but Berenson does. He manages to summon Iuriale.

Page 40, Panel 1

Strange engages the gorgon cosplayer in mystical combat. Spells are flying! The fate of the world is at stake! Another Tuesday in the life of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme! Iuriale wants to suck the life force out of Berenson. Driven by his obsession with feeling whole, the surgeon shanks Strange with a broken bottle. Iuriale restrains Strange with some snakes, and then takes Berenson's hand.

Page 44, Panel 2

That's not a tattoo. That's a mouth. Iuriale tries to get Stange to back off by telling him this is what they both want. She wants his life, and Berenson is willing to give it. The thing is...Berenson will die if he completes the ritual...and she's done this before. She has lured many mortals to their death to feed herself. She truly doesn't care about Berenson at all. He's only food to her.

Strange gets his second wind and banishes her from the realm. Berenson is furious. She was beautiful, colorful, his one escape from the cold gray dead world he felt trapped in. Strange reminds him that he still has a wife that loves him. He still has a practice. As such, he still is needed in this world, and he still has value and worth. But Darryl thinks no one understands his lonliness. As the night starts to give way to the day, Strange takes Darryl to the police and heads back to his Sanctorum. After he fixes up his shoulder wound with a bit of old-fashioned bandages, gauze, and antiseptic, he goes to see Patricia...only to see her distraught and being comforted by Sara.

It turns out that as the police were taking him to the hospital, Darryl Berenson grabbed one of their guns and shot himself in the stomach. He died in pain, his last word being "Iuriale". 

This was a good comic. A tragic one-shot tale. One thing I liked was that Berenson in a way was a parallel to Strange himself. Both were arrogant men, brilliant surgeons. But whereas Strange found a higher purpose and meaning in protecting this realm from mystical threats, Berenson let himself get consumed by his feelings of emptiness. Maybe if things were different, Strange himself would have ended up like Berenson. Berenson is a man who had everything. A successful practice, a loving wife, a seemingly perfect life, if he himself came off as a bit cold. But that doesn't change the fact that he felt like he had nothing going for him. That there was no joy in his life.