Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: June 9, 1966 Cover: September 1966 12 cents Magical editing by Stan Lee Mystic script by Denny O’Neil Mysterious art by Bill Everett Makeshift lettering by Artie Simek 10 pages
“…he will be punished for whatever dark deeds he has committed! I, Dr. Strange, vow it!” “Enough! Your babbling is that of a callow schoolboy, Disciple!”
Finally, Dr. Strange is starting to get the cover slot sometimes.
You can see my own copy of the cover has seen better days.
For this issue, O’Neil copies the structure of X-Men #12. That structure didn’t work then and this won’t either.
In the X-Men story, Juggernaut is attacking the X-Men, but rather than prepare, Professor X insists the X-Men must first know his entire life story, instead of just telling them the relevant bits.
Same idea here. Kaluu has just attacked and stolen the Book of the Vishanti. The Ancient One will keep stressing how urgently they must stop him. But first he thinks he needs to tell Dr. Strange his entire life story.
“Zowie! He’s the ever-lovin’ gearest! Far as I’m concerned, the mods have had it! That crazy cape really comes on strong!” “Man! Like there’s a boss bunch’a threads! That dad is gotta be what’s happenin’!”
The first issue of Dr. Strange without Steve Ditko. I think the first Spider-Man stories without Steve Ditko actually went pretty well. That John Romita guy is doing all right. But what even is Dr. Strange without Steve Ditko?
Stan Lee never cared about Dr. Strange. He never understood the character. He never understood the character’s appeal. He accepted the character had fans and was fine with that.
You can see this in his treatment of the character. The gap between the early issues, the character rarely being featured on the cover, the story always the back story of each issue, behind Human Torch and then Nick Fury.
He wrote the character for dozens of issues, but almost all the writing really came from Ditko.
On the other hand, Stan Lee loved Spider-Man. And you can tell. There are eternal disagreements over how much of the character and stories come from Lee and how much come from Ditko. But it was a much more collaborative process than Dr. Strange ever was, at least early on. And Stan Lee loved the character of Spider-Man like a son.
So when Ditko left Spider-Man, Lee put everything into making sure the next issue would keep the readership. He found the best artist for the job, told an extraordinarily eventful story, and plainly put his all into assuring readers that Spider-Man would continue to be great after Ditko.
For the first issue of Dr. Strange without Ditko… Lee writes half the script then hands the back pages to his new hire to write, a guy who’s scripted like 5 comics by this point. He just doesn’t care.
This is the second recent comic to refer to Stan Lee as being on vacation. Some reprints of this issue omit that, and change the credits to read “Smilin'” instead of “vacationing'”.
Bill Everett isn’t a bad choice for artist. He created Sub-Mariner and Daredevil. He’s been doing solid work illustrating the Hulk. But Ditko brought something wild and unique to these pages, while Everett is, well, less wild.
Though I’ll give him some credit for this image. He’s certainly taking his best shot at being Ditkoesque.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: April 12, 1966 Cover: July 1966 12 cents Edited by the enchanter– Stan Lee Penciled + inked by the prestidigitator– Steve Ditko Scripted by the sorcerer– Dennis O’Neil Lettered by the letterer– Artie Simek 10 pages
We recently described Fantastic Four #50 as the most disappointing cover yet. This may top it. Again, just compare the cover of the issue to the first page of the issue and see the contrast.
This is sad because it’s Ditko’s last Dr. Strange story, and because Dr. Strange has been snubbed from the covers of Strange Tales for the entire run. Even more insulting because the spotlight was instead given to the inferior Human Torch stories. The one time Dr. Strange was finally given the cover spotlight, Kirby, not Ditko, was assigned to draw it.
So here we are, Ditko’s final issue of one of the greatest superhero runs in history and finally we seemingly get our very first Ditko Dr. Strange cover. Except it’s a lie.
That is a Ditko Dr. Strange but it’s been badly cut and pasted from interior art. Resized, flipped around, generally mangled. The Eternity image is also cut and paste from the interior.
I don’t believe Ditko actually made this cover, though it’s generally credited to him. I think someone else made the cover, assembling bits of interior art by Ditko.
I hate it.
The issue is good. This first page is closer to what the cover should look like.
I’d given a lot of hype to this extended saga, which I’m calling “The Eternity Saga”. And I think the first 12 issues are unimpeachable. From #130-141, the action flows crisply to a climax, ending with the final defeat of Mordo and Dr. Strange and Dormammu in something of a stalemate after Strange’s humbling of Dormammu. The story then completely lost momentum as Dr. Strange dealt with Mordo’s underlings and searched for the woman who had helped him, facing some unrelated threats along the way. The last 4 issues have been solid comics, but don’t help make the case that we have a great 17-part saga. We have a great 12-part saga, then 4 more issues, then this conclusion.
Let’s see how Ditko brings this home. And this will be bringing it home. With this story, Ditko bids goodbye to Marvel for the foreseeable future and to the character of Dr. Strange forever.
Stan seems utterly indifferent to the importance of the moment. In addition to the sloppy cover, Stan has junior writer Dennis O’Neil onboard for his second Dr. Strange story and one of his earliest comics, period. It doesn’t matter too much who the writer is, as Ditko does most of the writing anyway. O’Neil will stay on the title a few more issues, but soon enough move to DC, where he will go on to great things.
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: Dr. Strange Release: February 10, 1966 Cover: May 1966 12 cents Edited with percipacity by: Stan Lee Written with precocity by: Roy Thomas Plotted and illustrated with profundity by: Steve Ditko Lettered with the windows closed by: Artie Simek 10 pages
How dare you make a request of the great Tazza! In the name of Satannish the Supreme, you shall join the other unmoving forms in my hallowed halls…
We are in what I see as the spinning-the-wheels phase. We had an extremely tense and fast-paced adventure that took us from issues 130-141. Then it slowed down. Mordo was defeated. Dormammu was humbled. Loose plot threads included servants of Mordo’s to deal with, and this woman who had helped Strange, who was now a prisoner of Dormammu. We’ve spent the last couple issues dealing with Mordo’s servants and now we’ll go look for this unnamed woman.
Dormammu was beaten with yet another vow to not move against Strange. But there’s a loophole if you read the fine print. Dormammu agreed not to attack Strange on Earth. But if the good Doctor travels to another dimension…
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: January 11, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Edited and rehashed by: Stan Lee Written and rewritten by: Roy Thomas Plotted and drawn by: Steve Ditko Lettered and blotted by: Artie Simek 10 pages
And just like that, Stan Lee is not writing this series any more. He’s been the credited writer since the beginning, and isn’t quite done as the regular writer. But he’s off for the next half dozen issues or so. Last issue was his final collaboration with Ditko on the character of Dr. Strange. Maybe for the best as they no longer get along by this point.
Roy Thomas is Marvel’s young writer that Lee will increasingly be leaning on to take the burden of scripting some of these titles. He’s now the regular scripter on Sgt. Fury, but is only on Dr. Strange for the next two issues.
Either way, this is really Ditko’s comic. Whoever is scripting is just there for finishing touches.
We’re kind of maybe still in the middle of the Eternity Saga. Mordo defeated. Dormammu humbled. That woman missing. The Ancient One off searching for her. Mordo’s minions causing trouble. Dr. Strange with his hands and face bound, and his amulet and cloak stolen.
In this issue, Strange defeats the disciples and recovers his amulet and cloak.
Notably, we still don’t get the name for either disciple. The man will eventually be named Kaecilius, and he’ll be the main villain in the first Dr. Strange film, played by Mads Mikkelsen.
The woman will be known as Adria. It will be 16 years before either shows up again.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: December 12, 1965 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Extravagantly edited and written by… Stan Lee! Painstakingly plotted and drawn by… Steve Ditko! Lovingly lettered and bordered by… Artie Simek! 10 pages
I was born to battle the forces of evil– and though death be my reward, I would have it no other way!
Ditko’s time on this title draws short, and Lee is starting to hand off more and more of his scripting duties. So this is the final Dr. Strange story to be written by the team of Lee and Ditko. (I use the word “team” a bit loosely, as Ditko is by this point utterly refusing to even speak to Stan Lee.)
Dr. Strange’s adventures had been characterized by stories that fit entirely within 10 pages. Then his first battle with Dormammu lasted twoissues and 20 pages, the size of a normal Spider-Man or Fantastic Four comic.
Then Strange Tales #130 ended with a cliffhanger. Dormammu and Mordo had teamed up; they’d seriously injured the Ancient One, and Dr. Strange was on the run. Without a break, Dr. Strange struggled against this duo of foes for a full 12 issues. Then finally it seemed as though Mordo and Dormammu were defeated, and Dr. Strange could rest.
But not quite! The woman from the Dark Dimension who befriended Strange remains a prisoner. Dormammu was humbled by Strange but remains a threat. And Mordo’s servants remain at large, and in fact have planted a bomb in Dr. Strange’s sanctum, and the last issue ended with the bomb about to go off.
We then paused and checked in with the many other Marvel titles. That was 8 months ago our time. Thank you for your patience in learning what’s up with that bomb. We won’t quite see the resolution of all the threads at present, but at least we’ll resolve this bomb question.
It’s actually a clever resolution. This cleverness is important as sometimes it seems Dr. Strange could maybe magic his way out of anything, so it’s good when we understand how. The villains left an ordinary bomb, because he would have sensed a mystical trap. And they erased traces of their presence, so he would not detect they had been there.
But… he sensed no trace of evil presences! And knew Mordo had been there recently, thus realizing someone had used a spell to eliminate traces of evil presences! See, clever. Anyways, this puts him on guard, and he finds the bomb. It was a close one, though.
And while he evades the bomb, he’s caught in the shockwave and captured by the baddies.
Mordo’s servants don’t know what’s happened in the Dark Dimension. They just know they can’t contact Mordo. They are unaware Dormammu had him banished for being a pathetic loser.
Featuring: Marvels Release: December 14, 1993 Cover: February 1994 $5.95 Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross Letterers: Starkings w/ John Gaushell Editor: Marcus McLaurin Assitant editor: Spencer Lamm Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman Interior design: Comicraft 45 pages
The real story was the people who’d been scared too long. Who’d been wound tight by talk of mutant menaces and hidden conspiracies and shadows under the bed.
I’ve mentioned before I want to frame our reading around the Marvels miniseries from the 1990s. That hasn’t really been obvious yet. We read Marvels #0, which retold a few pages from Marvel Comics #1. And we read Marvels #1, which paralleled 1940s Marvel comics. But our reading is concentrated in the 1960s. Finally, we get to Marvels #2, which parallels the 1960s Marvel stories, ranging from Avengers #6 (May 1964), the 191st entry in our reading, through Tales of Suspense #69 (June 1965), the 404th entry in our reading. Quite the range. We are reading it after completing the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense #72, because we’d first needed to tie up some continuity ends.
We’ve hinted before at the theme of this comic, and I’d like to just discuss it up front. The two centerpiece stories are the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic Four Annual 3, and the attack on the X-Men by the Sentinels in X-Men #14. The writer Kurt Busiek had noted in his own Marvel Universe research what we also found in our reading here, that these events must occur on nearly consecutive days. That’s not obvious from any comic, but does follow from a close reading of the many interconnected comics. And the two stories make for quite the juxtaposition.
The contrast between these two arcs becomes the central tension of this issue. The Fantastic Four wedding is the celebrity event of the century. The press covered it, crowds of fans gathered, famous people like Tony Stark and Millie the Model attended. The Fantastic Four are super-powered heroes and beloved by the public.
The X-Men are also super-powered heroes. But where the Fantastic Four gained their powers from cosmic radiation, the powers of the X-Men are innate, based on an accident of birth, perhaps from radiation their parents had been exposed to. The “Children of the Atom”. And that difference is big enough that the same public who cheered on the wedding of the FF members would listen with interest and nods of approval as Bolivar Trask went on the airwaves to declare mutants a menace and announce he’d created robot-hunting Sentinels to hunt and kill the X-Men.
We read the Heroes & Legends retelling of the wedding, which focused on this very tension in the form of a child, who was a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but afraid of the X-Men. He learned better by issue’s end.
Here, the arc will play out within Phil Sheldon, the photojournalist who specialises in shots of the people he’s dubbed the Marvels. A person who idolizes heroes like the Fantastic Four and Avengers, but fears mutants like the X-Men.
It’s entirely irrational, just like all forms of bigotry.
That’s enough belaboring of themes. Let’s dive into the story. As we do, we’ll try to draw the parallels between what’s happening on the page and our reading.
I’ll note that the title is called “Monsters”, which brings to my mind Thing and Hulk. The latter doesn’t appear, and the former is a minor player at best.
It’s 20 years after the events of Marvels #1. Phil Sheldon is now an established freelance photojournalist happily married with two kids. We see hm doing freelance work for Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe. The shadows on the page somewhat obscure Phil’s eyepatch, a lifelong injury sustained last issue by getting too close to a superhero battle.
We remember meeting Barney in Amazing Spider-Man #27. He’s nicer than Jonah, but asked too many questions for Peter’s tastes.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: November 11, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents Dialogue and captions: Stan Lee Plot and artwork: Steve Ditko Lettering and more lettering: Artie Simek 10 pages
…I must destroy him! And destroy him I shall!! For I am truly– the Dread Dormammu!!
Chapter 12. Dr. Strange had defeated and humiliated Mordo, so Dormammu challenged Strange directly to a duel of honor for the fate of Earth. They fought using “pincers of power”. Dr. Strange was on the edge of victory when the treacherous Mordo intervened and struck a cowardly blow, leaving Dr. Strange defeated.
And so we continue the Eternity Saga.
Notice the plotting credit for Ditko. He’s plotted every Dr. Strange story.
Generally these stories have really been 9 pages, with the opening splash page serving as a sort of cover for the issue, since the actual issue covers always go to Nick Fury. However, this time Ditko seems to need all 10 pages, so a lot of plot is covered on the opening splash page.
Dormammu banishes Mordo for daring to presume he needed help. That’s the end of that partnership and Mordo’s last bow for this story.
Then Dormammu gallingly still tries to claim his prize despite clearly cheating.
Only for those without faith can there be no hope! The faith of the righteous will never waver!
How does our hero fight a being of unimaginable, godlike power? That’s a hard question for a writer. And the answers don’t always satisfy me. The last time, Dormammu’s sense of honor prevented him from continuing the battle. While this can often be a cop-out, it worked well because Dr. Strange really had suddenly switched to side with Dormammu against the Mindless Ones. He truly won the day through his sense of heroism and righteousness. I liked it.
I like the answer that Stan and Jack have come up with so far when they introduced beings like the Watcher and the Stranger. When the Watcher captured the FF, what can they do? Nothing. Just go along with it. What can the X-Men do against the Stranger? Nothing. Let him do as he wills. Fortunately, what these beings willed was agreeable to our heroes. Not so with Dormammu.
Another answer is for the godlike being to agree to a duel of honor, where he doesn’t use his powers. That’s the answer they go with here. I find it unsatisfying.
Fortunately, this will not be the final battle with Dormammu. And we’ll soon see other heroes face a similar godlike power. In these battles, we’ll see other answers to the question.
That said, once I accept that Dormammu has agreed to this no-powers duel, I find a pretty cool duel. These pincers they use as weapons make for awesome visuals, befitting this series.
Also, in an interesting twist, Dr. Strange still loses the duel.
