Issue(s): Doctor Strange #41
Cover Date: Jun 80
Title: "Weep for the soul of man..."
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Dan Green - Inker

Review/plot:
Baron Mordo, with the aid of the Man-Thing, continues his ritual of sacrificing people to the demon Mabdhara.

Mordo has actually restored Ted Sallis' intelligence to the Man-Thing, and promised him a human body if he'll help with his ritual.

While Dr. Strange (weakened by all of the ordeals of the past few issues) and Mordo battle it out...

...Jennifer Kale appeals to Sallis, asking him if he's the sort of man that would let others die just for himself.

Sallis eventually turns on Mordo and prevents the ritual from completing.

Claremont is definitely very wordy. The conclusion of the Strange/Mordo battle is actually told in an all-text panel, which is a bit frustrating. This could as much be a problem of Colan's pacing, but it seems that Claremont just tried to cram too much into one issue.

After the battle, Strange tries to take Mordo's 'cure' of the Man-Thing a step further and restore him to a human body, but he is unable to. Sallis starts to freak out and go mad...

...so Dr. Strange puts his mind back in 'limbo' restoring the Man-Thing to status quo. Strange does swear to spend the "rest of his days" looking for a way to cure the Man-Thing, but i think he might be exaggerating.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Continues directly from Man-Thing #4.

References:

• A reference to the origin of the Man-Thing points us to Man-Thing #1. At this point, there have been two Man-Thing #1s, and either one probably gave a recap of the Man-Thing's origin, but the footnote is probably referring to the more recent and ongoing series.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The Mabdhara called upon by Mordo here are the N'Garai masters who included Y'Garon, previously invoked by Gloria Hefford in Marvel Spotlight #24 but more renowned for hounding Marada the She-Wolf (in Epic Illustrated #10).

Is Strange really such an unthinking jerk as he appears to be here? If I'd been in Ted Sallis' place, I'd have much preferred to keep my own mind, even if it was in the Man-Thing's body. I haven't read these issues so maybe I'm missing something, but it sure seems like Sallis could've communicated his wishes to Strange by writing with a stick in the dirt, if only Strange had given him half a chance. I can't help but think that most people would rather live an ambulatory and apparently pain-free existence, with their minds intact, even if they were mute and monstrous, over having their minds sent to some undefined "limbo" somewhere. Sallis obviously had a bit of a meltdown here (which seems quite understandable given his situation), but Strange might ask himself if Sallis is really more dangerous to the world as an intelligent Man-Thing than he would be as an unintelligent one? I'm assuming Strange just lets Sallis go back to the swamps after all this-- if Strange has some rationale to explain his actions here it's beyond me. Seems very negligent and un-physician like.

-As a surgeon in another life, though, he was rather un-physician like, or doctors at their worst, anyway...