Doctor Strange #5 (455)
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeDoctor Strange #5 (legacy #455) is the climactic chapter of the opening arc of Derek Landy and Ivan Fiorelli's 2025 ongoing series — the first sustained exploration of Strange as Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard rather than Earth, a bold status-quo shift that repositions the character entirely within the Norse cosmology. The issue brings the Vyrbodin threat to a Nine Realms-wide scale, testing Strange and Angela as a fully-formed partnership across multiple realms and making good on the series' foundational premise that an Earth-stranded sorcerer must earn his place in an alien magical tradition. It also showcases the full potential of Scythe Magic — a new magical discipline invented for this run — by escalating Scythe-Rhialla's merged form into the arc's physical apex threat. As the payoff issue of the debut arc, it is the first story beat in this volume to put every major new character (Vyrbodin, Rhialla, Scythe-Rhialla) in simultaneous, direct conflict with Strange and Angela.
ComicBooks.com Value
Find on ebay
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The series grew directly out of Landy's prior *Doctor Strange of Asgard* miniseries and the continuity established in Al Ewing and Pasqual Ferry's *Thor* (2025) run, in which the Rainbow Bridge between Asgard and Midgard was destroyed, leaving Strange stranded. Marvel announced the ongoing in August 2025, with Landy and Fiorelli — who had previously worked together on *Fantastic Four* — reuniting under main covers by fantasy painter Alex Horley. A prelude story in the *Doctor Strange* #450 one-shot (September 2025) introduced Strange's new Asgardian look, designed by Geoff Shaw, before issue #1 launched on December 3, 2025; issue #5 released April 1, 2026, as the first arc's closing chapter.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released April 1, 2026 (cover date June 2026); legacy numbering #455 in the Doctor Strange publishing line.
- Written by Derek Landy, with art (pencils and inks) by Ivan Fiorelli, colors by Dono Sánchez-Almara, letters by Cory Petit, and main cover by Alex Horley; a Luciano Vecchio variant cover was also published.
- Edited by Alanna Smith under Editor-in-Chief C. B. Cebulski; rated T+ (13 and up).
- The issue is the fifth chapter of the opening arc of Doctor Strange Vol. 8 (2025 series), which established Strange as Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard — no longer holding that title for Earth.
- Vyrbodin, Rhialla, and Scythe-Rhialla — all new characters designed by Ivan Fiorelli for this series — first debuted in Doctor Strange Vol. 8 #1; issue #5 represents their arc-climax appearances.
- Vyrbodin is a Dark Elf mage of royal lineage who wields 'Scythe Magic,' a system that draws power from events that were on the brink of occurring but were denied — an entirely new magical discipline invented for this run.
- Angela (Aldrif Odinsdottir), Odin's long-lost firstborn daughter and a warrior of Heven, is Strange's primary ally throughout the arc; her prominent role in this series marked a long-awaited return for the character after years of limited appearances.
- The series was designed to grow out of continuity established in Landy's earlier *Doctor Strange of Asgard* miniseries and Al Ewing/Pasqual Ferry's *Thor* (2025), giving issue #5 a firm editorial lineage within the 2025 Marvel line-wide restructuring.
Cast · 5 characters
Full credits
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.