Doctor Strange Endless Nightmare by Kevin J. Anderson, Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín (review).
Periodically, publisher Abrams has been releasing standalone stories using characters from the Marvel Universe. Here we have Doctor Strange: Endless Nightmare by writer Kevin J. Anderson and Spanish artists Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín, with Jesús R. Pastrana. The title should give away the lead and potential villain, but not which reality they exist in, considering the changes it’s had in recent years.
Doctor Strange is accompanied in his house by Bats, a talking ghost basset hound. New York is under attack by something, which he thwarts, and then he steps in to help at the local hospital. He can’t operate any more but can still act as a medic. There, he is shown an unidentified, comatose, rambling patient whom Doctor Nita Achmed, who knows his identity, thinks he can help. Meanwhile, outside, everyone has a fear of sleeping. Oddly, I would have thought Strange would have made that connection quickly. There is a spoiler here, and his arch-enemy wants his help instead. From here on, you need to read for yourself. It does make the point that everyone needs dreams and nightmares for a balanced life, although you would have to ask why there is no god of good dreams.
The art is more dependent on design and colour than detail, but is functional for the plot. I think I’m probably more used to the continuity Marvel used to demonstrate. I mean, you would have expected to see various super-humans in New York being affected by this lack of sleep, if only in the odd panel. It’s a shame, given the lack of sleep, that the setting wasn’t at least shown at night. The plot is driven more by the problem than by anything else Doctor Strange is doing. It isn’t until over halfway through the story that Strange utters a Stan Lee incantation. I suspect the story will work for old-timers like me as well as anyone familiar with the Doctor Strange films. Don’t leave home without your amulet.
GF Willmetts
September 2026
(pub: Abrams Books/Marvel Arts, 2026. 64-page large hardback graphic novel. Price: $25.99 (US), $35.00 (CAN), £18.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-4197-7076-0).
Check out website: https://abramsandchronicle.co.uk/products/9781419770760
