Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme 12 - Acts of Vengeance

One of the unfortunate things about this sort of crossover is that it's often better to read several issues of a particular title in close proximity rather than leaping backwards and forwards. Just about every order I've seen for "Acts of Vengeance" does this for at least some issues.

Dr Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #12

Writer: Roy Thomas (all)
Writer: Dann Thomas (main)
Writers: Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier (back-up)
Artist: Jackson Guice (main)
Artists: David Day and Dan Day,
Lettering: Janice Chiang (main)
Lettering: Joe Rosen (back-up)
Colours: Gregory Wright (all)
Assistant Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Once again, we have an issue of the series with the cover lacking the full title. And once again we have a breach of the crossover's premise, as Doctor Strange has encountered the Enchantress before and acknowledges it. (For those wondering where, they clashed in Defenders #4, which introduced the Valkyrie, and again in Defenders #107 to #109, which set out to untangle the mess of the Valkyrie's continuity.) With Doctor Strange having been the anchor for the original Defenders, who in turn battled many a magical and mythical entity, it does become a problem finding existing villains on his power level who can be sent against him for the first time.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, with the Enchantress seeking to seduce Doctor Strange to steal his magic but Strange's disciple Rintrah does everything he can to protect his master. The Enchantress's motives are believable and she's often been shown to partake in various mortal criminal endeavours (most notably the Masters of Evil) when she can secure her own ends in the process. The presence of the Executioner may surprise many as he had died by this point, but a suitable explanation is given. Otherwise this is a relatively quick character piece that helps develop both Rintrah and Clea, Strange's wife, without doing too much wider in the broad scheme of things.

There's also a back-up story, another chapter of "The Book of the Vishanti", telling here how the Darkhold scrolls came under the protection of the Roman Catholic Church and specifically the Montesi dynasty. It's not as compelling as the previous chapter and on the last few pages the story seems to realise its dullness so resorts to recapping how the Darkhold contains the spells that could clear the Earth of all vampires for good and how the latter tried to get hold of it.

All in all this a rather dull entry in the overall crossover and suggests that perhaps not every issue of every month needed to be given over to it (and indeed we'll see some series which only have one or two entries). The fact that it resorts to a villain Strange has encountered before just adds to the padding nature of it.

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme #12 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)