Dr. Strange Masterworks Vol. 1 Regular Edition Cover

Dr. Strange Masterworks Vol. 1 Variant Edition Cover

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(Click panels for larger images.)

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DOCTOR STRANGE'S WEBSITE
Bet you didn't know Doc Strange had his own site? Well, technically, he doesn't. But if he did, it might look like this!

STEVE DITKO: LOOKED UP
This is an awesome site dedicated to legendary comics artist and co-creator of Dr. Strange, Mr. Steve Ditko!

DR. STRANGE: THE MOVIE
Yes, there was a Dr. Strange movie made for TV back in the late 70s! Here's the IMDB page with all the info.

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By the power of the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!

In the name of the deathless Vishanti! By the twelve moons of Munnopor, the fury of the dread Dormammu, and the roving rings of Raggador! Here comes Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts!

Whew! Now that was a mouthful! Say it fast ten times in a row- it ain't easy! Now imagine yourself as our mystic friend Dr. Stephen Strange, and you're cornered by a whole passle of spirit wraiths sent from the bowels of Dormammu's dread dimension, and they are there to send you to some sort of stygian damnation or another...I bet you'll find a way to say those words real quick! And why? Because those words- carefully crafted by Stan Lee and put into pencilled panoramas of psychedelic insanity by Steve Ditko- are the words that take care of business in the realm of mysticism and magic that Dr. Strange and his ilk live in. A world of mystery and oddity...of strangeness! Where the rules as we know it simply do not apply! It's the world of "Black Magic", where if you're in trouble and you've called on 911 instead of the Omnipotent Oshtur, you've just made the wrong call, buster!

Premiering in the back pages of Strange Tales #110, the initial tale starring Dr. Strange clocked in at only five pages, and was a modest story settled in behind "The Human Torch vs. the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete" and a Larry Lieber monster/sci-fi five-pager called "We Search the Stars." The Human Torch (itself an oddity in the Marvel Universe!) was the lead feature at this time- July 1963- and would remain so for another two years. Dr. Strange rolled out slowly, with three five-pagers featuring very economical tales, settling in behind the Torch feature and a sci-fi backup strip. In fact, after the two premiere stories in Strange Tales #110 and 111, there was a two-month hiatus for ol' Doc, I guess to presume the fan reaction to the new hero. (In those two months without Doc Strange, Steve Ditko turned in a couple sci-fi backups- hey Marvel! We want to see those too someday!!!)

Well, the reaction must have been good, because by December of 1963, Dr. Strange was given eight pages and the sci-fi/monster backups were phased out of Strange Tales for good. Eventually the page counts were upped to nine pages, and then ten, where he would stay until he inherited the title all on his own. This volume doesn't include any covers, simply because Dr. Strange was rarely on any covers while serving as backup to Human Torch & the Thing and, later, Nick Fury. Only by Strange Tales #117 was Dr. Strange even mentioned on the front cover, and then was given either a "blurb in a box" or a small drawing advertising his backup story. His primary cover appearance was Strange Tales #130, the only cover where he took up more than half the space (the infamous Torch and Thing "Beatles wigs" cover.)

Despite it being treated as if a red-headed step-child, the creative energy poured into Dr. Strange takes a back seat to no one. It could be argued that this is Steve Ditko's finest work of his career, with his rendering of the universe of magic and mysticism that Strange inhabits being so fantastic and outlandish that it set the tone for years to come. After all, a comic about a magician could have been as formulaic as popping rabbits out of hats and waving magic wands at fleeing bank robbers. But no, Steve and Stan stretched the boundaries of reality to include whole new dimensions and civilizations. Quite often, Dr. Strange is opening portals from the rigid confines of Earth to faraway, or even very close, strange places, where the rules of reality as we know it do not apply. Certainly, the rules of comics art status quo did not apply, as Steve Ditko abandoned expected forms of layout, sending his characters off into the far distance of psychedelic landscaps that went as far as the eye could see.

The Rogue's Gallery was relatively static, with Baron Mordo, Nightmare, and the dread Dormammu being the consistent nemesis to the good doctor. Baron Mordo, in particular, annoyed and vexed Dr. Strange, as he was also a disciple of the Ancient One, the wizened old mystic who cares only to pass his knowledge of the "black arts" down to those who would use it for good- and "good" is exactly what Baron Mordo is not!

Dormammu certainly established himself as Doctor Strange's most brutal opponent (proven especially by the dread one's visceral emasculation of Baron Mordo in Strange Tales #141, an event that certainly cut the Baron down to size.) King of the dark dimension where he rules good people with evil intent, Dormammu is at least principled enough to make bargains and deals when he loses. Getting him to keep to the spirit of these bargains is a whole other story, though! The cagey despot craves nothing more than to destroy the man who has found more than one way to beat the supposedly unbeatable Dormammu!

Also premiering in this Masterworks edition is the lovely Clea, destined to become Dr. Strange's chief ally and love interest. Harried and held hostage by the cruel Dormammu, Dr. Strange rescues her and her race from the villainous king, and she is forever in his debt, forever admiring of him. An oddity is that her name- Clea- is never uttered throughout the stories reprinted in this volume. That would be saved for a later tale.

Dr. Strange is unlike any other Marvel comic of the day, and deserves a place on any complete Masterworks library shelf. The action is brisk, fun, and edgy, and Steve Ditko is achieving heights of artistic greatness that would serve to inspire many artists who would later take on the Master of the Mystic Arts!

-- by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Doctor Strange from Strange Tales #110-111, 114-141

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.

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