nightmare – Coke & Comics

Strange Tales #122, Story B

The World Beyond

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 9, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written, with a touch of sorcery by: Stan Lee
Drawn, with a dash of necromancy by: Steve Ditko
Lettered, with a number 6 pen point by: Art Simek
9 pages

We finish up Strange Tales #122. A couple things to recall from last time. I actually own this comic. And Dr. Strange is now a corner box star.

Dr. Strange, exhausted from recent battles against supernatural evil, falls asleep without proper protective chants, which leaves him vulnerable to Nightmare. This is Dr. Strange’s third battle with Nightmare.

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.