Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
A mystic Marvel masterwork by: Stan Lee and Marie Severin
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
10 pages
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| Strange Tales #154 | Reading order | Strange Tales #155 |
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Do as you will, Spectral One! Dr. Strange cannot be harmed by the truth!
Where were we? Oh yes, Dr. Strange thought he had rescued Clea. But it turned out to be a Mindless One in disguise.
I’m sympathetic, having grown up thinking I’d been successful in finding a woman only to be constantly told, “Our princess is in another castle.”
So Dr. Strange has to defeat this Mindless One and find the real Clea.
Will the real Clea please stand up?
Shouldn’t be too much of an issue as Dr. Strange held his own last issue against a whole horde of Mindless Ones.
But Umar is confident this single Mindless One will defeat Dr. Strange. So confident that she turns off her mystic television and doesn’t even bother to watch the battle. She just presumes Dr. Strange to be dead and goes about her business. Which mostly involves evil.
Severin’s depictions of the Dark Dimension are more grounded than Ditko’s. We see ground, for example. As well as mountains and a castle. Ditko’s illustrations were almost entirely surreal.
Part of this may have come from Ditko just not wanting to draw backgrounds.
The best part of this issue is the cloaked dude Dr. Strange meets in the Dungeons of Doom.
He turns out to be Veritas, the living embodiment of truth.
I’m down with all the living embodiments of all the things. We haven’t met too many yet. Eternity’s the living embodiment of the universe itself.
But give it time. We’ll meet embodiments of Death, Love, Hate, etcetera.
Veritas shows Umar her true face. It’s more interesting than her “angry aunt” face we’ve been seeing, at least.
Despite how awesome he is, it will be a long time before we see Veritas again. Nova will encounter a similar character named Sayge, and eventually some later writer will decide Sayge and Veritas are the same person. But even then, it’s still a good decade before any character who even might be Veritas appears.
A waste of a good character.
Life is but a fleeting dream– ’tis only the use we put it to that matters!
And that’s the truth!
Strange Mails.
Invocations:
- By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! Let my mystic will be done! Now, as I command it, let my double selves be one!
- The Vishanti be praised!
- By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak…
- Spell of the Seraphim
- Shining Circle of the Seraphim
- By the Seven Rings of Raggadorr! By the power of dark and gloom… let the Mystic Mists of Munnopor send yon Demons to their doom!
- In the name of the All-seeing– in the name of the All-knowing– in the name of the All-freeing– let the Mists be ever growing!
Some slightly different invocations here. The Mystic Mists of Munnopor, when usually we’ve heard of the Moons. We’ve heard a lot about the Seraphim, usually the Shades of the Seraphim. But we’ve also seen reference to the Serum and the Shield. Her we learn about the Spell of the Seraphim, as well as the Shining Circle.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 50/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Some plot oddities. But Veritas is cool. I’m a Veritas fan.
Characters:
- Dr. Strange
- Umar
- Veritas
- Clea
Story notes:
- Picks up where last issue left off. Dr. Strange has just encountered the Mindless One disguised as Clea.
- Dr. Strange gone into astral form, and made his body invulnerable, seemingly intangible.
- Dr. Strange sends the Eye of Agamotto ahead to scout; it seems to come from the amulet and refer not to the amulet but to the floating eye.
- Umar seeks to conquer other dimensions.
- Dungeon of the Doomed for those who oppose Umar.
- Liquid fire guards Dungeon.
- A spell allows his cloak to protect Strange from the fire.
- Dr. Strange enters Dungeon. Most fear him, save one unmoving cloaked figure in the shadows.
- Veritas is the embodiment of truth incarnate.
- Veritas is not a prisoner; he comes and goes at will.
- Veritas takes Strange in his cloak and directs him to Umar’s castle.
- Strange confronts winged sentry demon.
- Castle of Umar itself will assault Strange.
- Umar is about to kill Clea.
| Previous | #623 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #154 | Reading order | Strange Tales #155 |
| Strange Tales #154 | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #155 |
Maybe the Dark Dimension looks more like a real planet now because the new ruler is choosing to look like a real woman, though she is not?
I see, the form of the realm is at the whim of the ruler. The previous ruler liked thinks abstract and surreal.