So, I’ve decided to go with new content this week, rather then put the blog on autopilot with insufferable lists and hide under a blanket from the encroaching new year. This Friday I will likely be churning out some kind of retrospective and then embrace the New Year weekend from inside of a bottle. Either way, this is still the last Marvel Monday of 2016, and holy hell, even after 52 Marvel Mondays, I’m still falling behind on featuring my Marvel Legends, so let’s double up today with two figures.

Pressing forward through the Doctor Strange Wave, today I’m checking out both of the figures released under the “Masters of Magic” Slot: The comic version of Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo. I’ll go with Doctor Strange first, because I don’t have a lot to say about this guy.

And that’s because he’s very nearly just a repack of the Doctor Strange we got in the Hulkbuster Wave and I can just refer you back to my earlier review of that release for most of the details. The key difference is that here, Strange has been reunited with the Amulet of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation. As for the base figure, the only variation is in his gauntets. The previous release had them sculpting as part of his forearms, while here they’re just painted. It’s a strange (Haha!) change to make. Why would you go through the trouble of taking away sculpting in favor of paint? I think the other version’s gauntlets looked better. But it’s a moot point, because you can easily just swap the Cloak onto the previous release. It’s also worth noting that the red paint on this new figure is a little brighter.

As for the Cloak… it’s a nice piece of work. The high collar looks great, as does the gold painted border with the sculpted scollwork running through it. On the downside, it does make the figure very back-heavy and difficult to stand.

You get the same pair of magical effect parts that were included with the last release, only this time they’re molded in orange plastic instead of green. So, let’s move on to the figure here that I was really looking forward to…

I first met Brother Voodoo as a result of my favorite past-time as an early teen: Bicycling downtown to the used book shop and rifling through their stacks of used comics in a dark corner under the stairs to the second floor. Strange Tales was a title I always bought when I could find it, even if they were practically falling apart. And while I never had a complete run of Brother Voodoo’s stint in the book, but I enjoyed the two issues I did have. Naturally, he’s gone on to feature prominently in some heavy-hitting story-lines and needless to say, I was very happy to see him turn up in this wave. And wow, did they do a nice job on him.

Hailing from the pages of The New Avengers, Voodoo features a basic black buck with the white skeletal motif painted onto it. All the other aspects of the costume are derived from additional pieces. You get the gold wrist bracers, the long green belt with skulls hanging off the back, and the ragged red cape that hangs around his neck. I’ll concede that this is not my favorite look for the character, but I still like it a lot. The costume looks absolutely fantastic and is a fine example of how easy it is to build a great looking figure off a standard buck and some additional parts.

The portrait here is also superb. I love the grim countenance they gave him and his features are well defined.

Brother Voodoo includes a pretty cool staff, which I do remember him having in The New Avengers, although not quite looking exactly like this. Either way, I can’t remember if it has a name or specific purpose. I like the transition from painted wood to translucent blue plastic.

And yes, it is possible to convert Voodoo into The Sorcerer Supreme by giving him the Amulet and the Cloak from Strange. Alas, Voodoo’s hair is a bit at odds with the high collar making it a tight fit, but it certainly works.

I’m tempted to complain about the fact that despite sharing a slot, you still need both of these figures to complete the Dormammu BAF. But then, I probably would have picked up this version of Doctor Strange anyway. It’s just a shame that Hasbro couldn’t have given us this more complete version first, because now that initial release is pretty much superfluous. Either way, taken on their own, these are both great figures and solid entries into this wave.