Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: August 9, 1966
Cover: November 1966
12 cents
Gloriously edited by Stan Lee
Graniloquently scripted by Roy Thomas
Gorgeously drawn by Wild Bill Everett
Grudgingly lettered by Artie Simek
10 pages
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| Strange Tales #149, Story B | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #81 |
| Strange Tales #150 | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #151 |
It is the Sacred Griffin– the beast appointed by the priests of the Babylonian god Marduk to stand eternal vigil over the mystic text! It has ever been written in the Words of Flame that he who defeats the fearsome sentinel… is the destined possessor of the book!
Dr. Strange gets the cover again. Seems like he and Nick Fury will be trading off who gets featured.
We’re skipping the Nick Fury half of this comic to finish off the Kaluu arc.
O’Neill had been the writer for the last few issues, but Thomas fills in for this one. His scripting is described as “graniloquent”. Looks like Stan will return to the title next issue.
As you can see from the list down the page, Thomas is all in on the invocations.
So far, the Kaluu story has been terrible. Will Thomas turn it around?
Four issues into the battle, and Dr. Strange and Kaluu still haven’t met. So if we get that far, it will be a step up.
We’d heard Ancient One whine for several issues now about how powerful Kaluu is. But now Kaluu seems to fear that he will lose if his foes get any time to plan.
The Book of Vishanti notes a burning candle may lead a sorcerer to the past; Strange Tales #124 is referenced. Thomas is much more likely than Lee to get these references correct.
The Sacred Griffin was appointed by the priests of the Babylonian god Marduk to stand eternal vigil over the Book of Vishanti. Couldn’t be that eternal if the book ended up with Dr. Stange.
It’s interesting to compare Everett’s style over time. Compare this issue to Daredevil #1. Look at how detailed that art was and how much Everett focused on backgrounds. But the comic was over-deadline. Now Everett is making his deadlines, but skimping on all detail.
From the dialogue, we learn Dr. Strange is hurtling his most potent spell. From the art, we just see a flash of light. We get no sense of what this spell is, why it’s potent, why he doesn’t just cast it all the time, etc. The problem with telling instead of showing.
Ancient One thinks Dr. Strange should face Kaluu alone. A minute ago, Kaluu was this great threat Ancient One couldn’t stop whining about. Now it’s a good test for his disciple.
We’ve had a lot of build-up for Kaluu. Three issues about how tough he would be. But ultimately he is defeated within a moment of confrontation.
Since Kaluu is defeated with two pages to spare, we can begin the next story.
When Dr. Strange first confronted Dormammu, he learned from Clea that Dormammu was the only thing that protected her dimension from the Mindless Ones. Now that Dormammu has been vanquished by Eternity, Clea’s fears come true, and the Mindless Ones invade.
Fortunately, Dormammu’s sister steps in. I see the family resemblance.
Her name is Umar. Umar the Unrelenting… hey, it’s alliterative.
It’s worth noting that Umar is free only because Dormammu was banished. Defeating one evil unleashed another one.
Letters:
Invocations:
- “The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth be praised!”
- “May the Omnipotent Oshtur protect me…”
- “By the power of Amtor the Unspeakable…”
- “May the Shades of the Seraphim carry my thoughts…”
- “By the Venomous Vipers of Valtorr…” — Kaluu
- “In the name of Satannish the Supreme…” — Kaluu
- “By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, by the Shadowy Shades of the Seraphim…” — Ancient One
- “By the Wondrous Wand of Watoomb…” — Clea
- “By the matchless power of Omnipotent Oshtur…” — Umar
Amtor the Unspeakable is a new name to us. I think Stan was better at naming these beings than Roy. More of a flow and definitely more alliteration.
Rating: ★★½, 46/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Umar is almost significant enough to justify a 4th star for significance, but not quite.
Characters:
- Kaluu
- Dr. Strange
- Ancient One
- Sacred Griffin
- Clea
- Umar
Story notes:
- Kaluu suspects the candles have something to do with what happened to his foes.
- Kaluu finds the candles protected from his attempts to snuff them. But he has a spell he learned in Raggadorr that could help.
- Ancient One and Dr. Strange are indeed traveling into the past to recover the Book of Vishanti, which Kaluu hurled back in time. They approach ancient Babylonia, where the Book is from.
- Ancient One had long ago bested the Griffin to gain the book, so now it is he who again must best it, because of time travel stuff.
- Ancient One banished Griffin to a place beyond time.
- Ancient One strengthened by Book of Vishanti.
- Ancient One returns to Tibet.
- Kaluu’s powers cannot quench the Flames of the Faltine.
- Kaluu invokes some new powers.
- The Book of Vishanti itself redirects spells.
- Ancient One hurtles Kaluu into Limbo.
- Without Dormammu, the Mindless Ones invade his dimension. Clea tries to call Dr. Strange for help.
- Dormammu’s powers have passed to his sister Umar after his “destruction”, and she repels the Mindless Ones.
- Dormammu had imprisoned Umar in the void between worlds.
| Previous | #584 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #149, Story B | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #81 |
| Strange Tales #150 | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #151 |
