Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: October 11, 1966 Cover: January 1967 12 cents Truly hath Stan Lee authored yon awesome epic– Verily hath Bill Everett such scenes depicted– And, finally didst Artie Simek the lettering incribe! 10 pages
I’d say this issue picks up where the last issue left off, but nothing happened last issue. Except that Clea was captured by Umar after a recap of the last 40 issues.
Everett’s depiction of Dark Dimension is fine, maybe even good. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood since Ditko left and am being unfair to Everett. I do appreciate Everett for his work on Sub-Mariner, Venus, and Daredevil… just not here.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: March 10, 1966 Cover: June 1966 12 cents Eerily edited by: Stan Lee Spookily scripted by: Dennis O’Neil Demonically drawn by: Steve Ditko Laconically lettered by: Artie Simek 10 pages
Am I a child, to be frightened by a mere illusion– a shadow of shadows?
Lee seems to have stepped away as the regular writer for the end of Ditko’s run. Just as well as Ditko has been doing most of the writing and refusing to even speak to Lee for a little while anyway.
Roy Thomas stepped in the last two issues, and now we have Dennis O’Neil. While for artists, Stan has been seeking veterans from the ’40s and ’50s, for writers, he has been giving new talent a try. Thomas is new to comics, and O’Neil was hired at his suggestion. This is O’Neil’s first comic work. He’ll go on to do some good things, and will perhaps be eventually better known for his work with the Distinguished Competition.
That Lee is handing off scripting duties to new and untested writers gives a hint as to how important these Dr. Strange stories are to him.
We meet a villain named Mr. Rasputin. He uses magical and scientific means to do espionage. His ancestor had been a famous Russian advisor.
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: June 1, 1965 Cover: 1965 25 cents Written and edited by the toast of Marvel: Stan Lee Plotted and drawn by the boast of Marvel: Steve Ditko Lettered and bordered by the ghost of Marvel: Sam Rosen 20 pages
“May the Vishanti watch over thee!” “And may your amulet never tickle!”
This is a great comic, but it seems like they forgot to make a cover for it. It’s actually a decent picture by Ditko with the many Spider-Men of various poses and sizes. But a picture of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange would be in order. A missed opportunity as Dr. Strange gets so few cover appearances, sharing his title with Human Torch or Nick Fury.
Next week, we will read Strange Tales #136, except not the entire issue. We’ll skip the Dr. Strange story, just as we have skipped the Dr. Strange Stories from #130-135. And I appreciate your patience, I really do.
I decide what order to read these in based on when they came out and when the stories take place, sometimes heavily weighting either one over the other on a whim.
Because Dr. Strange appears in this story and an upcoming Fantastic Four story, and I judged there’s no room for him to do so after #130, we are holding off on the Dr. Strange stories until after these two guest appearances.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I think Dr. Strange and Spider-Man are Marvel’s two best titles at the moment, courtesy of the fact that I think Steve Ditko is the greatest graphic storyteller of all time.
They finally meet. For sort of the first time. They had a brief meeting in the last Amazing Spider-Man Annual.
Now that’s what the cover should have looked like.
As far as Dr. Strange knows, this is the first meeting between him and Spider-Man. He and Peter Parker have briefly crossed paths, and it seems likely that Peter would remember the encounter while Strange would not.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: October 8, 1864 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee– unchallenged master of the dramatic word! Drawn by: Steve Ditko– unquestioned innovator of the occult illustration! Lettered by: Artie Simek– unabashed purveyor of the captivating caption! 10 pages
Dr. Strange gets more cover real estate than usual.
Recall that after last issue’s epic battle with Dormammu, Dr. Strange was rewarded with a more powerful amulet and a new cape. The narrator here notes the amulet and new powers of levitation. This seems to imply the cape itself bestows the power of levitation. Dr. Strange confirms this at the end of the story.
A man comes to Dr. Strange seeking help. He had become the disciple of a magician known as the Demon and wishes to leave the Demon’s service. The Demon summons him back before Dr. Strange can help.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: July 9, 1964 Cover: October 1964 12 cents How proud we are that Stan Lee wrote this sensational thriller! How fortunate we are that Steve Ditko drew these magical masterpieces! How triumphant we are that Geo. Bell inked these priceless panels! How ecstatic we are that Artie Simek lettered these deathless phrases! 10 pages
This is the actual first page for the comic, found online. The Masterworks version colors the characters white, as though both in their astral form. Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics #16, where most of the scans below come from, colors all the astral forms a weird bluish color, and the front page from that issue follows suit.
The Masterworks also colors Mordo’s disciples white. They are garbed in green in the original and light blue in the scan below.
This is the last of the “filler” issues of the Dr. Strange stories. One more issue until Ditko returns to full art duties and the series kicks into high gear. As these go, this issue’s actually pretty good. Despite the story where Dr. Strange and Mordo battle for the 77th time.
The most egregious coloring error in my reprint is the coloring of Dr. Strange’s cloak. It is quite possibly an intentional error, aimed at consistent marketing to match Dr. Strange’s cloak at the time of the reprint. But, quite obviously, Dr. Strange’s cloak should be blue, as it is in any other reprint of this story.
