dr. strange – Page 4 – Coke & Comics

Strange Tales #120, Story B

The House of Shadows!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: February 11, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Written at midnight by: Stan Lee
Drawn by candlelight by: Steve Ditko
Lettered at twilight by: S. Rosen
9 pages

Dr. Strange gets a blurb on the issue’s cover, but no picture.

Dr. Strange has a new tagline. No longer the “Master of Black Magic”, he is now “Master of the Mystic Arts”. This one will stick around for quite some time until Dr. Strange earns a higher title. The stories themselves will still occasionally mention his mastery of black magic for a little while longer.

Ultimately, this seems a simple story. Dr. Strange and a haunted house. There is a twist that the house itself is an interdimensional being acting the part of the ghost. But that’s the type of twist we are used to from many comics of this era. There is some societal commentary about television and the news and audiences to be found. The fact that a news program is dedicating time to what seems to be a publicity stunt about a haunted house tells us something about the world. The fact that audiences don’t believe the reporter when he claims to be in danger speaks to something as well.

Strange Tales #119, Story B

Beyond the Purple Veil!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: January 10, 1964
Cover: April 1964
12 cents
Story conjured up by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by the Strange Sorcery of: Steve Ditko
Lettered at midnight by: Art Simek
8 pages

This issue is most notable for finally giving a name to Dr. Strange’s house servant. His name is Wong.

We had seen him twice before but without being named. Here he is in #110 and #116.

Here he is in the Dr. Strange film played by Benedict Wong. Is it coincidental that Wong is played by a Wong? A glimpse at Wikipedia tells me that over 7% of people in China have the surname Wong or a variant. So it’s not an astronomical coincidence.

Strange Tales #118, Story B

The Possessed!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: December 9, 1963
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Written by: Magical Stan Lee
Drawn by: Mystical Steve Ditko
Lettered by: Mysterious Sam Rosen
8 pages

As we noted in the last post, this issue represents the first time Dr. Strange has appeared on the cover of a comic. He’s allotted a small horizontal strip at the bottom of the cover. He’s on his way to becoming a star.

We again see Dr. Strange’s adventures no longer bear the “Master of Black Magic” subtitle. In fact, I think the stories will soon stop using the phrase “black magic” completely, even though the first several issues mentioned it constantly.

We also get some “clever credits”. It seems to be Stan’s new thing. We just saw it in our last Fantastic Four story (released the same day) and we’ll see it again in other stories out this month.

Strange Tales #117, Story B

The Many Traps of Baron Mordo!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: November 12, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Lettered by: S. Rosen
8 pages

All the original Dr. Strange stories, except for the origin story, bore the subtitle “Master of Black Magic”. He was Dr. Strange, Master of Black Magic. It’s gone now. In this comic, he’s just Dr. Strange. That tagline will never return. However, the narrator remembers it, possibly for the last time.

We get some nice clear exterior shots of Dr. Strange’s house. Before Mordo sends it to another dimension. Note the distinctive window.

I quite like this shot of Dr. Strange, shrouded in shadow, walking down the street with an aura of mystery about.

Strange Tales #116, Story B

Return to the Nightmare World!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: October 8, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
8 pages

Since when is 8 pages feature-length?

We see Dr. Strange and Nightmare go at it again. Nightmare is the ruler of the Dream Dimension. He has found a way to put some humans into an endless sleep, which will trap them as his prisoners.

This greatly reminds me of the 1988 DC comic, Sandman #1, by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg. That tells the story of Sandman, also ruler of the dream dimension, and the plot of the issue involves a very similar sleeping sickness.

Strange Tales #115, Story B

The origin of Dr. Strange

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: September 10, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
8 pages

We learn the origin of Dr. Strange, one of the greatest superhero origins ever. Probably the second-greatest. It will thus be only the second Marvel Age story I give the (presumably) coveted 5-star rating.

A brilliant surgeon cared only for wealth and fame. When an accident damaged his hands, his desperate quest to be able to operate again led him to seek out a mystic healer. There he learned of the nature of black magic and the threat to the world posed by Mordo. He spent years studying under the Ancient One to become a master of black magic.

Strange Tales #114, Story B

The Return of the Omnipotent Baron Mordo!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: August 8, 1963
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
5 pages

After a 2-issue hiatus, we see the return of Dr. Strange, Master of Black Magic! A note explains he returned because of enthusiastic fan response in the letters.

A thing that bothered me the last time I read through Dr. Strange stories is that, in contrast to the Spider-Man stories, less villains are being introduced. In his third appearance, he is fighting Mordo for the second time. In a couple issues, he’ll again fight Nightmare. In contrast, Spider-Man comics are introducing great villains in each issue.

I have come to terms with this, though. It gives the series a less episodic feel than the Spider-Man comics. Dr. Strange really does have a couple of key adversaries most of the series will be dedicated to, and thus feels like a more cohesive saga.

Strange Tales #111, Story C

Face-to-face with the Magic of Baron Mordo!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 9, 1963
Cover: August 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
5 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange vol. 1.

Another Dr. Strange story. Again a mere 5 pages. Again no hint on the cover that this tale is within. The cover focuses entirely on Human Torch and the Asbestos Man. The issue also contains a short text story, a sci/fi tale about a computer taking over the world, and this at the end.

The final panel this time lets us know Dr. Strange will not be returning next issue, but rather in “a future issue”. That’s likely Marvel hedging their bets, waiting to see sales numbers or look at letters and fan response before committing to more Dr. Strange stories.

Dr. Strange doesn’t show up until page 3. When we get a better shot of that cool window we discussed last issue. Well, not the same window, as that was on a door. But the same pattern.

That said, this issue is setting up for future tales: Dr. Strange now has an archnemesis. As Loki is to Thor, Mordo will be to Dr. Strange. Because the fan response will be strong and the character will return. Might even get his own movies one day.

Strange Tales #110, Story C

Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 9, 1963
Cover: July 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
5 pages

The cover focuses on the epic battle between Human Torch and the team of Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete. It makes no mention of any backup stories, not the space adventure that follows it, nor this story shoved into the back.

It’s only 5 pages long. Just like the sci/fi tale that preceded it. A story of a bad man with a problem who encounters some mystical force and gets his comeuppance– recall for example the stories we’ve read with Odin, Merlin, or Medusa.

It seems like not really one of our superhero stories; it’s just like these weird tales that have populated these anthologies for years, and have continued to populate the end of these anthologies which all now begin with a superhero story.

Now, one of those weird tales did grow into something more in the superhero era. The Man in the Ant Hill used his shrinking formula again–now with a costume and a superhero name–to become Ant-Man.

There is one thing differentiates this story about a mystic from other weird tales. A small note at the end that tells us this character will return.

Seems fitting. After all, the comic is Strange Tales. What is so strange about Human Torch stories? Dr. Strange, Master of Black Magic, seems a much more natural fit to headline such a comic.

It does note he’s a different kind of super-hero.

Some argue that Dr. Strange is not a superhero, that he comes from a different archetype, an older one. The wizard; or the mage. But Stan Lee describes him as a “super-hero” right there on page 1. So that’s good enough for me to call the character a superhero.

Dr. Strange is the creation of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, but really probably almost entirely Steve Ditko. Let’s see what we’ve got in his inaugural appearance.

Cool gloves. Mustache. Amulet. A cool design on the door window. Astral projection. Some unfortunate Asian stereotypes. The evil Nightmare from the dimension of dreams.

Tales of Suspense #41

The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: February 12, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages

Confession time. I just made a dumb mistake here. Got confused by numbers and dates. This post should have come before my previous Journey Into Mystery post, as this issue is from February and the Thor story is from March. It’s a little confusing because both are cover-dated May. The Thor stories always seem a month out of sync in terms of their cover dates for some reason.

Robert Bernstein returns on scripting duties. He will be the regular scripter for a while. This is the first Iron Man story without Don Heck involved with the art (either as primary or finisher). This is perhaps why Tony looks so radically different from the previous 2 stories.

Maybe I’d recognize him better with black hair…

Though part of the problem is that his hair is brown in my omnibus (scanned above). Other modern recolorings make it black. It’s hard to speak intelligently to the coloring of these comics because of how wildly it varies between reproductions.

Iron Man is falling into a somewhat familiar pattern 3 issues in. After a very good origin issue, we get a sequence of pretty forgettable stories. Last issue, he fought Gargantus, and this issue introduces Dr. Strange. Neither of whom am I expecting to show up any time soon in a major motion picture.

Another familiar trope is that we’ve skipped the establishing of the hero. In this issue, the third Iron Man story, the first of which was set in a Vietnam jungle, we learn that children idolize Iron Man. So he, like the rest of the heroes, has fast become a sensation.