Doctor Strange: The Oath is a 2006 five-issue limited series by Marvel Comics, written by Brian K. Vaughan with art by Marcos MartÃn.
Doctor Strange attempts to save Wong's life with the help of Night Nurse, while opposed by a corrupt pharmaceuticals company bent on Withholding the Cure.
Doctor Strange: The Oath provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: Nicodemus West apologises for failing to fix his hands upon meeting Stephen, despite said event happening decades prior, and Stephen having long moved past it.
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Alternative Character Interpretation: During his time as a surgeon Stephen Strange is always shown as the biggest, most selfish jerk possible. But the miniseries implied that maybe he was this way because he couldn't cope with his inability to save everybody, and instead of getting emotionally invested, he had chosen to distance himself from his patients, becoming a greedy, uncaring jerk in the process. - Anti-Villain: Nicodemus West uses his skills and connections to help people around the world. His only real act of villainy was trying to kill Wong.
- Badass Creed: Doctor Strange manages to make the Hippocratic Oath badass:"I have sworn many oaths in my day, to every being from Hoggoth to Watoomb. But the first oath I swore was the Hippocratic. 'I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients, according to my judgement and ability, and I will do so at any cost.'"
- Battle Butler: Strange reveals that Wong has been his tutor in the martial arts over the years:Doctor Strange: Yes, in some respects, [Wong] is my servant... but in others, Wong is my master.
- Bluff the Impostor: Doctor Strange encounters a demonic entity who tries to convince Strange that he is facing one of his most powerful foes, Dormammu. Strange, suspicious of Dormammu's sudden arrival, asks him, "So where is Umar, your rapscallion of a brother?" When Dormammu answers, "He is none of your concern," Strange has his answer; Umar is Dormammu's sister.
- Character Catchphrase: Doctor Strange's catchphrase is parodied by himself with "By the Hoary * &(^ing hosts!"
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Wong punches clear through a Stark security robot, suggesting he has some superhuman abilities.
- Cure for Cancer: The plot revolves around "Otkid's Elixir", a magic potion which Doc hopes will cure his manservant Wong's brain tumor. The ethical dilemma comes when Doc discovers that the elixir isn't just a cure for cancer, it's a cure for everything. Naturally, a corrupt pharmaceuticals company bent on Withholding the Cure interferes with him every step of the way.
- Doctor's Orders: A physician pulls this on Strange a few times. Justified since he's genuinely injured; though if he hadn't been somewhat taken with her he probably wouldn't have listened.
- Does Not Like Guns: After struggling to fire a gun, Strange expresses his distaste for firearms.
- Evil Counterpart: Dr. Nicodemus West is Strange's biggest evil counterpart next to Baron Mordo. West was actually the doctor who botched the operation on Strange's injured surgeon's hands, West even trained under the Ancient One like Strange and Mordo did. West also used magic to help people, but after accidentally killing a girl with magic, West becomes disillusioned with sorcery and even formed a evil organization that would abolish all attempts to heal the sick with magic. West even steals Otkid's Elixir (the cure of all illness) seeing it concluding in overpopulation and chaos for humanity but also selfishly as a doctor wants to keep disease existing in the human race. Ironically Strange also doesn't use the elixir to cure everyone either, he just uses it to save Wong from dying of cancer, Strange like West could see danger with playing god with mankind's cure-all. Strange just went about in a more morally positive manner.
- Face Death with Dignity: Wong when he discovers he has an inoperable brain tumor. Doc's not having it.Wong: Journeys only find meaning at their destinations. I am fully prepared to reach my final—
Doctor Strange: Oh, shut up with that Zen crap. - Friend-or-Idol Decision: Strange has to decide between taking the panacea to his home to mass-produce a universal remedy; or using it to cure Wong, who is at death's door. He ultimately chooses to save his friend's life.
- Good Is Not Soft: Upon learning that due to an extensive cover up, the man who shot him will never be able to be convicted in a court of law, Strange banishes him to another dimension, flat out telling his allies that he has neither the time or the patience to worry about due process.
- Good Powers, Bad People: Nicodemus West doesn't start out bad, learning magic with the intention of curing people.
- Healing Hands: Puns aside, Nicodemus West is able to cure a sick girl in Tibet just by laying his hands on her.
- Hero Insurance: After Night Nurse finishes operating on Dr. Strange after he is shot by an intruder, Strange jokes that he might still be covered under the Defenders' group health insurance plan. For reference, the Defenders were a somewhat mismatched superhero team-up that included the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, and Namor the Sub-Mariner.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: This is lampshaded by Iron Fist when he is asked about Luke Cage's location in issue #1.Iron Fist: "No, I do not know where Power Man is. We're partners, not a couple."
- Hijacked by Ganon: Subverted; Strange initially suspects Baron Mordo to be behind the events, and later seems to meet Nightmare and Dormammu in collusion, but none of them are responsible. An original character ends up being the Big Bad.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Nicodemus West steals the elixir of life from Stephen, almost killing Wong and Stephen in the process, with plans on destroying it so as to, as he claims, prevent humanity from abusing its power. Stephen calls him out on this, claiming he's really doing it so as to please the pharmaceutical companies. He admits it's a little of both.
- Information Wants to Be Free: The comic is all about the battle between a corrupt pharmaceuticals company and Strange's attempt to effect a cure through magical means. The primary antagonist is another mage/doctor who was bought by the company and acts as if he half-believes their official line that medical research must proceed at its own "natural pace".
- Kung-Fu Wizard: It's revealed that Wong has taught Strange martial arts just in case he was Brought Down to Normal.
- MegaCorp: Nicodemus West heads a very successful pharmaceutical company.
- Mistaken for Gay: This happens to Doctor Strange no fewer than three times, as everyone and their mother seems to assume that Strange and Wong are a couple, with this happening often enough to qualify as a running gag. First, random street toughs assume he and his friend and servant Wong are a gay couple, then Night Nurse seems to assume that Wong calling Stephen 'master' is sexual in nature (alluded to by her remark about his being unable to pass comment on 'other people's fetishes'). Then Reginald Pavlish, a would-be patient of Strange's in his last days as an arrogant young surgeon offers 'something else' to repay Strange, in what reads very nearly as an inverted Scarpia Ultimatum (Strange turns him down anyway.)
- The Night Nurse at least has a good excuse in that her first encounter with the pair involves Wong carrying a wounded Strange into her clinic, panicking and practically claiming he "is Strange's". The explanation for Strange getting shot - as a result of his quest to save Wong - does little to ease suspicions.
- Mugging the Monster: Doctor Strange and Wong visit a shop where Strange has tracked a mystic artifact (disguised as a Maneki Neko). While Strange is casting spells to activate the artifact, some thugs break into the shop to rob it. One thug points his knife at Wong, shouting "Give me everything you got!" Wong assumes a karate kata and answers, "I offer nothing less." By the time Strange is aware of the situation, Wong is standing over the now unconsious thugs.
- My Greatest Failure: Nicodemus West considered his botching of Stephen's hand surgery this. After reflection, however, he deduces that had he not botched it, Strange would have never have become the Sorcerer Supreme, and he'd have never learned the mystic arts as well. He still takes the time to apologise to Stephen when they first meet though.
- He later considers it to be the death of Reginald Pavlish, whose death at his hands causes him to swear off magic. Until Stephen gets in his way, that is.
- Mythology Gag: The comic includes a throwaway gag about Strange still being on the Defenders' group health insurance policy.
- Narm Charm: A critically-injured and unconscious Strange has been carried through the doors of a hospital by his manservant Wong. Though they have obviously come in through a pouring rain, his Cloak of Levitation is at full billow. In fact, it has hooked around the crash bar and is holding the door open.
- Non-Indicative Name: Night Nurse reveals that she is actually a doctor
, but "Night General Practitioner" isn't as catchy. - Omnidisciplinary Scientist: In the series Doctor Strange mentions that he's maintained his medical license- something which requires yearly certification and a certain number of hands-on hours, on top of being the most powerful sorcerer in the Marvel universe.
- Post-Modern Magik: In the first issue, Doctor Strange is seriously injured by a silver bullet fired from Adolf Hitler's personal weapon. The shooter wasn't a sorcerer, but he figured that a pistol with that kind of history would have enough Bad Mojo around it to blow right through Doc's protective spells.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Wong gets a nice one when some armed robbers threaten him and Strange:Lead punk: Now give us everything you got!
Wong(assuming a karate kata): I offer nothing less. (cue No-Holds-Barred Beatdown) - Precision F-Strike: Doctor Strange drops one:
- Sdrawkcab Name: The Elixir of Otkid, which is a Steve Ditko's last name backwards.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Nicodemus West genuinely thinks that he's a match for Strange - who, once it no longer suits him to pretend to be trapped, promptly thrashes him, referring to him as a "rank, arrogant, amateur." He then reckons, with a little more justification, that he can beat an injured Strange in hand to hand combat, with magic turned off. Strange being a Kung-Fu Wizard, just kicks the hell out of him with his bare hands.
- Shadow Archetype: Nicodemus West is yet another student of the Ancient One, whose abilities and knowledge of the Mystic Arts allow him to be able to give Strange a hard time in a magical fight, with the added resonance of also being a physician.
- Shout-Out: Strange travels to another dimension to face "Otkid the Omnipotent" and retrieve an elixir which he hopes can cure his servant Wong's inoperable cancer. The Corrupt Corporate Executive trying to destroy this medicine (he runs a pharmaceutical company) has a copy of The Fountainhead on his desk. Both are references to Doctor Strange's creator, Steve Ditko.
- Silver Bullet: In issue #2, a silver bullet fired from the Walther P-38 which Hitler used to commit suicide managed to get through Strange's mystical defenses and nearly killed him.
- Undying Loyalty: Strange goes through great lengths to save his manservant when he discovers Wong is suffering from an inoperable brain tumor.
- Villain in a White Suit: Fitting for a White Mage, he wears a nice white suit.
- White Mage: Nicodemus West is a rare villainous example.
- White Magic: Nicodemus West never uses any overtly evil magic, and was trained in the mystic arts by The Ancient One.
- Withholding the Cure: Doctor Strange retrieves a magical elixir that has the power to "erase what troubles the mind of man", hoping it can save Wong's life. It turns out to be the Cure for Cancer (and everything else), which causes a corrupt pharmaceuticals company to send an assassin to shoot Strange and steal the elixir. For extra points, Wong is dying of cancer and being kept alive with "Timelozar", which is manufactured solely by "Timely Pharmaceuticals", the exact same company that sent the assassin.
- The World Is Not Ready: Played with, as Nicodemus West and Timely Pharmaceuticals claim that the panacea must be destroyed to ensure the natural evolution of medical science, but it's blatantly obvious that they have ulterior motives: The existence of a universal remedy would logically put all drug companies out of business; while West himself rejects magic due to his own incompetence with the mystical arts accidentally leading to one of his patients' death.
