Strange #2

This Marvel Knights reimagining of Doctor Strange opens its second chapter with a cover by Brandon Peterson that is genuinely hard to look away from: a figure — identified by the wristband as Stephen Strange — lies unconscious in a hospital bed, hands heavily bandaged and bloodied, his head locked in a medical halo device and his face obscured by a breathing apparatus, surrounded by monitoring equipment. The imagery is clinical and cold, grounding Strange's origin in a rawly human moment of physical crisis before any mysticism enters the picture. J. Michael Straczynski and Sara Barnes's series was clearly aiming for something grounded and visceral from the start, and Peterson's painted cover delivers that mood with quiet, unsettling confidence.