0146: Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #9
Cover Date: August 1975 On-Sale Date: May 13, 1975
Welcome to the finale of the current Dormammu arc. A buttload of threads come together in this issue. And I say buttload because the title of this story is conspicuously plastered across Dormammu's butt as he crawls out of the Grand Canyon! There are daddy issues, sibling rivalry, origins, tragedy and triumph and more! It's amazing what Steve and Gene squeezed into 18 pages.
Come together now! Our splash page is packed with vital information. Most importantly Dormammu has completed his incubation and is crawling out of the Grand Canyon. Sadly the story's title is obscuring his awesome glutes. Doc and Clea are returning to Earth from the Dark Dimension. Mother Nature is still bound at the Earth's core. Clea's dad is standing by with his weird looking flunkies and our buddy Horse the Junkie is dying of a Umar induced overdose. And that's just page one!
Dormie emerges with his sister and she has the "look at the adorable little humans!" observation. I love the giant Dormie!
Next, we see that Dormie is having an absolute ball finally setting foot on Earth.
I think Gene is enjoying this issue immensely! While Dormie is juggling the little humans we turn to Doc who is returning to his Sanctum Sanctorum with Clea through the portraits on the walls. It's nice that Steve remembered this little tidbit. As soon as the pair are in the room, Mother Nature contacts them. She's in a bad way and needs help. Doc senses Dormie out west, but before they can go Wong pulls the pair aside. Doc scolds him for the interruption but Wong then introduces to some visitors who responded to Clea's earlier please for help. Meet Rama Kaliph, Turhan Barim, Lord Phyff and Count Carezzi. (Actually we've met Rama a couple of times before.)
Doc thanks them for the offer, but he can't use them. There's a whole explanation as to why they can't fight together and how their spells would "shriek in disharmony" but since Doc and Clea know each other (very well) all's good there. Doc and Clea head out, but the guests are going to stick around for awhile. (We need to keep a close eye on the Lord Phyff dude.)
After a brief interlude showing our buddy Horse the Junkie in his death throes (this guy takes a while to leave) we return to the Grand Canyon where Dormie is about to reward his "beloved" sister. He attempts to banish here but the stubborn woman stays put. In fact, Dormie is nearly the one banished. It has something to do with being a woman.
Umar is ruthless, sneaky and backstabbing. Her next act is to steal Dormie's new power and we wind up with Giant Umar
Orini then pokes into Umar's business. Orini informs Umar that Doc is still around and heading their way. Umar commands Orini back to the Dark Dimension. Instead he asks to remain and we get a story.
Yup, young and horny Orini let himself get seduced by Umar. Once they're done bumping uglies Umar lets us know that she doesn't like getting laid. On top of that Orini knocker her up and now we know that Umar is Clea's mommy! Clea come up a double loser in the parent department! Doc arrives with their daughter in tow. Umar turns Orini into her puppet and attacks the pair through him.
Doc and Clea capture Orini and Doc goes to confront Umar directly. Clea slips away. Doc has transferred his power back to her for a singular mission. Clea is going to the Earth's core to free Mother Nature.
Mother Nature departs and Clea heads back to the surface where she will hopefully be in time before Umar obliterates the powerless Doc. Umar realizes what happened just as Clea returns to the surface. She attacks, but Clea links with Doc sharing their power between them.
We cut to our buddy Horse the Junkie. He's still dying and have hallucinations of little demons crawling over him.
Horse has a little mercy delivered to him. A certain recently freed goddess has made a stop to see one of her children on his way.
Returning to the Canyon, Doc and Clea have something sneaky arranged. While fighting Umar she suddenly collapses and shrinks. Her brother is suddenly giant size again. Doc and Clea try to bargain ("Dormammu, I've come to bargain") and send Dormie back home. Dormie's not buying it, but Mother Nature arrives to offer help. It's not just her, she uses the power of the entire planet.
The inset of the page is a nice touch. Dormie tries but the entire planet proves too much even for him. Dormie flees. Mother Nature praises her children.
Doc frees Orini who takes Umar back to the Dark Dimension. He and his daughter part on bad terms. She isn't yet aware that Umar is her mother. That family reunion is a few years away. Doc and Clea return home.
It's been awhile since I last read this arc and I didn't remember how much was crammed into this story. As barely a teenage reader when I first read it, I absolutely loved the end of this. It really did feel like something special happened.
Everyone is portrayed wonderfully. Doc and Clea's relationship grows further. Clea is confident and capable. Doc trusts her to the point of giving her all his power and sending her to free Mother Nature. The pair are in perfect synchrony. Steve even manages to drum up sympathy for Horse the Junkie. Perhaps his "mother" realizes he's been lead astray and, while she can't save him, she guides him to the next step as painlessly and peacefully as possibly. It's really touching.
The final battle where the planet itself fights against Dormammu is magnificent. Complementing the story, Gene's art is also magnificent. If any story benefits from his surrealistic touch it's this one. Doc's travel amongst many dimensions is really perfect for his style.
Absolutely fabulous!
