Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Reviews

Dr. Strange
Review by Stu, Media by Kolbar

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Episode #27 - The Final Nightmare
Original Airdate: April 27th, 1996

Peter's search for Mary Jane leads him to an evil cult led by a man called Baron Mordo, who wants to release his master, Dormammu, from another dimension. Spider-Man teams up with Doctor Strange and his sidekick Wong to rescue Mary Jane and take back the Wand of Watoomb from Baron Mordo.

Credits:
Story By: John Semper and Mark Hoffmeier
Written By: Mark Hoffmeier
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Toyko Movie Shinsha (TMS)
Guest Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, John Vernon as Dr. Strange, Tony Jay as Baron Mordo and Ed Gilbert as Dormmau

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Review: The third season opener was certainly a strange one. Taking its queue from an old The Amazing Spider-Man annual, it features the first animated team-up of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. It picks up from last season's cliffhanger, where Spider-Man is searching for the missing Mary-Jane Watson, and it appears someone has taken over her mind.

The opening fight in Dr. Strange sanctuary was defiantly a cool one, and was surprisingly well animated. Dr. Strange has a cool design and the voice, provided by John Vernon fitted the character. This was my first introduction to Dr. Strange, and it's a solid one. I could have done without Wong, his sidekick. I usually like sidekicks, and this one wasn't too bad until they arrived at the villains hideout, where most of his lines were really, really stupid. "Steel is mightier than wood!" Indeed.

The villains were not what I expect from Spidey, but then again, they were Dr. Strange's villains, so they weren't too out of place. The same can't be said for their later appearances however (yup, Strange's bad guys aren't really going anywhere. Did they really need to be involved in the latter Venom and Carnage episodes?).

Also noteworthy, and kinda weird, was seeing Peter's parents in the dream sequence. Until now, the show had basically avoided all mention of them. I would've thought that Uncle Ben would be more likely for an appearance here.

Overall, "Dr. Strange" was good episode with a solid plot, nice animation and some good characterisation from all concerned. Despite some flaws, it got the third season off to a strong start.

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