Dr Strange – Page 4 – Now Read This!

March 3, 2018February 25, 2018

Avengers Epic Collection Volume 4: Beholdâ€¦ The Vision

By Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Barry Windsor-Smith, Sal Buscema, Gene Colan, Frank Giacoia, Howard Purcell & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9165-0

One of the most momentous events in comics history came in the middle of 1963 when a disparate gang of heroic individual banded together to combat an apparently out of control Incredible Hulk.

The Avengers combined most of the company’s fledgling superhero line in one bright, shiny and highly commercial package. Over the intervening decades the roster has unceasingly changed, and now almost every character in the Marvel multiverse has at some time numbered amongst their colourful ranksâ€¦

The Avengers always proved that putting all one’s star eggs in on single basket can pay off big-time. Even when all Marvel Royalty such as Thor, Captain America and Iron Man are absent, it merely allows the team’s lesser lights to shine more brightly.

Of course, the founding stars always regularly feature due to a rotating, open door policy ensuring most issues include somebody’s fave-rave. After instigators Stan Lee & Jack Kirby moved on, the team prospered under the guidance of Roy Thomas who grew into one of the industry’s most impressive writers, guiding the World’s Mightiest Heroes through a range of adventures ranging from sublimely poetic to staggeringly epicâ€¦

This fourth trade paperback compilation – also available in eBook iterations – collects Avengers #57-79, plus a solo saga starring a soon to be recruited addition from Marvel Super-Heroes #17 collectively covering October 1968 to August 1970.

This all-action extravaganza opens with the introduction of a new character with John Buscema and George Klein illustrating the 2-part introduction of possibly the most intriguing of all the team’s roster.

‘Beholdâ€¦ the Vision!’ and the concluding ‘Even an Android Can Cry’ retrofitted an old Joe Simon & Jack Kirby hero from the Golden Age (an extra-dimensional mystery-man) into a high-tech, eerie, amnesiac artificial man with complete control of his mass and density: playing him as the ultimate outsider, lost and utterly alone in a world that could never, never understand him.

After attacking the team but inexplicably stopping short of killing the human heroes, the then-nameless â€œVisionâ€ led the Avengers into astounding adventure as the enigma of his creation unfolded.

It was revealed that he/it had been built by the relentless, remorseless robotic Ultron-5 to destroy the Avengers and especially his own creator Henry Pym. Furthermore, the mechanical mastermind had used the brain pattern of deceased hero and fallen Avenger Wonder Man as a cerebral template. Perhaps that was a mistake since the synthetic man apparently overruled his programming to help defeat his maniac makerâ€¦

Avengers #59 and 60, ‘The Name is Yellowjacket’ and ‘â€¦Till Death do us Part!’ (the latter inked by Mike Esposito moonlighting as Mickey DeMeo) saw Goliath and the Wasp finally wed after the heroic Dr. Pym is seemingly replaced by a new insect-themed hero, with a horde of heroic guest-stars and the murderous Circus of Evil in attendance, followed here in swift succession by another of Marvel’s increasingly popular and commonplace crossovers.

‘Some Say the World Will End in Fireâ€¦ Some Say in Ice!’ concluded a storyline from Doctor Strange #178 wherein a satanic cult unleashed Norse demons Surtur and Ymir to destroy the planet, with occasional ally the Black Knight adding his recently acquired mystic prowess to the defence of the realm.

He hung around for ‘The Monarch and the Man-Ape!’ in Avengers #63; a brief and interlude in hidden nation Wakanda and a brutal exploration of African Avenger Black Panther‘s history and rivals – most notably a usurping super-strong trusted regent declaring himself M’Baku the Man-Apeâ€¦

The next issue began a 3-part tale illustrated by Gene Colan & Klein whose lavish humanism was intriguingly at odds with the team’s usual art style. ‘And in this Cornerâ€¦ Goliath!’, ‘Like a Death Ray from the Sky!’ and ‘Mightier than the Sword?’ (the final chapter inked by Sam Grainger) was part of a broader tale; another early crossover experiment intersecting with both Sub-Mariner and Captain Marvel issues #14, wherein a coterie of cerebral second-string villains combined to conquer the world by stealthâ€¦

Within the Avengers portion of proceedings, Hawkeye revealed his civilian identity to be circus performer Clint Barton and recounted his origins before forsaking his bow and trick-arrows to become a size-changing hero and subsequently adopting the now-vacant name Goliath. Along the way the team scotched a terror satellite scheme cooked up by Egghead and enforced by the sinister Swordsmanâ€¦

Another triple-chapter story-arc followed; giving new kid Barry (Winsor) Smith a chance to show just how good he was going to become.

Inked by the legendary Syd Shores, ‘Betrayal!’ (#66) reveals how the development of new super metal Adamantium triggers a long-dormant back-up program in the Vision who is slavishly compelled to reconstruct his destroyed creatorâ€¦

As ‘We Stand atâ€¦ Armageddon!’ (Smith & Klein opens), adamantium-reinforced Ultron-6 is moments away from world domination and the nuking of New York when a now truly independent Vision violently intercedes before dramatic conclusion ‘â€¦And We Battle for the Earth’ (illustrated by young Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger) sees the team – augmented by Thor and Iron Man – prove that the only answer to an unstoppable force is an unparalleled mindâ€¦

In Avengers #69 ‘Let the Game Begin’ (Thomas, Sal Buscema & Grainger) finds the team – Captain America, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Goliath, Vision and Thor – called to the hospital bedside of ailing Tony Stark just in time to prevent his abduction by the grotesque and gargantuan Growing Man. After battling boldly against the unbeatable homunculus, the team are summarily and collectively snatched into the future by old enemy Kang the Conqueror who co-opts the team to act as pieces in a cosmic chess-game with an omnipotent alien called the Grandmaster.

If the Avengers fail – Earth would be eradicated from the cosmosâ€¦

Issues #70 and 71 began a fertile period for writer Thomas as he introduced two new teams who would, in the fullness of time, star in their own stellar series: Squadron Supreme and The Invaders.

‘When Strikes the Squadron Sinister!’ sees the Avengers returned to their own time to battle a team of deadly villains (mischievously based on DC’s Justice League of America) before ‘Endgame!’ – guest-starring the Black Knight – finds the Vision, Black Panther and Yellowjacket dispatched to 1941 to clash with the WWII incarnations of the Sub-Mariner, Human Torch and Captain Americaâ€¦

After foiling Kang’s ambitions and surviving his betrayal the team victoriously return to the present where Avengers # 72 offered a guest-appearance from Captain Marvel and Rick Jones.

‘Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?’ also debuts malignantly menacing super-mob Zodiac, after which ‘The Sting of the Serpent’ (illustrated by Frank Giacoia & Grainger) pits the Panther against seditious hate-mongers determined to set New York ablaze, leading to a spectacular and shocking clash between Avengers and the Sons of the Serpent in ‘Pursue the Panther!’; the first in a string of glorious issues illustrated by the artistic dream team of John Buscema & Tom Palmer.

Long-missing mutant Avengers Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch resurfaced in #75, desperate to warn of and stave off extra-dimensional invasion and nuclear Armageddon by Conan prototype Arkon the Magnificent in ‘The Warlord and the Witch!’ before the staggering threat is finally extinguished in ‘The Blaze of Battleâ€¦ the Flames of Love!’

As the tone of the times shifted and other titles entered a period of human-scaled storytelling dubbed â€œRelevancyâ€, a far more mundane and insidious menace manifested as billionaire financier Cornelius Van Lunt manoeuvres to bankrupt Avengers sponsor Tony Stark, compelling the team to become the mystery magnate’s ‘Heroes for Hire!’

With the end of the book fast approaching here, Sal Buscema popped in to pencil ‘The Man-Ape Always Strikes Twice!’ as the team are targeted by a coterie of vengeful villains competing to join a new league of evil, spectacularly culminating in a grand clash with the aforementioned anthropoid, Swordsman, Power Man, Living Laser and the Grim Reaper in ‘Lo! The Lethal Legion!’, which concluding chapter also heralded the artistic return of Big Brother Johnâ€¦.

Chronologically adrift but adding plenty of bonus thrills, the comics adventures end for now with ‘The Black Knight Reborn!’ by Thomas, Howard Purcell & Dan Adkins from try-out title Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (November 1968). Here American part-time superhero Dane Whitman inherits an English castle and discovers through ghostly intervention that he is the last descendent of King Arthur’s trusty comrade Percy of Scandia – history’s first Black Knight and Merlin’s last resort against all forces of evil.

Gifted with a mystic ebony blade that can cut through anything, Dane readies himself to fight the good fight in modern times. He soon becomes painfully aware that the malign ghostly spirit of vile Modred is also abroad and empowering dupes such as French derelict Le Sabre with magical weapons to end his crusade before it can even beginâ€¦

Unceasingly enticing and always evergreen, these timeless sagas defined and cemented the Marvel experience and are a joy no fans of Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction should deny themselves or their kids.
Â© 1968, 1969, 1970, 2015 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

May 20, 2017May 19, 2017

Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment

By Roger Stern, Michael Mignola & Mark Badger, Gerry Conway, Gene Colan, Bill Mantlo, Kevin Nowlan & various(Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8454-6

This occult odd couple concoction is perhaps one of the very best Marvel Universe yarns from the post-Kirby years and tells a powerful tale by contrasting the mandatory origin sequences of the two doctors to produce effective motivations for and deeper insights into both characters.

Adding even greater interest and incentive, this collection from 2016 – also released as an eBook – offers loosely associated material from Astonishing Tales #8, Doctor Strange #57 (February 1983) and Marvel Fanfare #16 and 43â€¦

Victor Von Doom is a troubled gypsy genius who escaped the oppression of his homeland on a scholarship to America. Whilst there he succumbed to an intense rivalry with young Reed Richards, even then perhaps the most brilliant man alive.

The arrogant Von Doom performed unsanctioned experiments which marred his perfect features, leading him down a path to super-science and an overwhelming hunger for power and control. His mother, a sorceress, burns in hell for the unholy powers she used in life, powers which her son also possesses.

Steven Strange was America’s greatest surgeon, a vain and arrogant man who cared nothing for the sick, except as a means to wealth and glory. When a drunken car-crash ended his career, Strange hit the skids until an overheard barroom tall tale led him to Tibet, an ancient magician, and eventual enlightenment through daily redemption. He battles otherworldly evil as the Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic arts.

When a magical call goes out to all the World’s adepts offering a granted wish to the victor in a contest of sorcery, both Doom and Strange are among the gathered. After mystic combat reduces the assemblage to the two doctors, Doom’s granted wish is to rescue his mother’s soul from Hellâ€¦

A classic quest saga, Triumph & Torment sees the two mages storm the gates of the Underworld in a mission of vain hope and warped mercy, battling the hordes of Mephisto and their own natures in a mesmerizing epic of power and pathos.

Roger Stern is at his absolute writing peak here and the unlikely art team of Michael Mignola and Mark Badger defy any superlatives I could use. The art is simply magical, especially the mesmerising colouring, also courtesy of Mr Badger.

High drama, heroism, perfidy and plenty of surprises wrapped in superb craftsmanship typify all that’s best in the â€œMarvel Styleâ€ and this tale has it all aplenty.

The bonus material kicks off with ‘â€¦ Though Some Call it Magic!’ by Gerry Conway, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer: a tense vignette from Astonishing Tales #8 (October 1971) which first revealed details of the arcane annual ritual in which the metal-shod monarch of Latveria battled with the King of Hell for possession of a gypsy witch’s soul, after which Doctor Strange #57 (February 1983) revealed Roger Stern’s first stray thoughts on the forthcoming Triumph & Torment epicâ€¦

Although the story mainly dealt with other acolytes trying to become the sorcerer’s latest apprentice, ‘Gather My Disciples Before Me!’ – illustrated by Kevin Nowlan & Terry Austin – saw Doom attempt to swallow his gargantuan pride and also petition Stephen Strange to become his tutor in the ways of magicâ€¦

The story portion of this graphic grimoire concludes with a brace of salty sea tales starring Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner both illustrated by then callow newcomer Mike Mignola and scripted by Bill Mantlo. The undersea action opens with ‘A Fable’ (Marvel Fanfare #16, September 1984) with the Sea King striving to save a beautiful beast from the callous cruelty of sailors whilst from MF #43 (April 1989) ‘Time After Time’ – inked by P. Craig Russell – sees the Sub-Mariner fall through time to an age of piracy and share a brief, overpowering passion with a ferocious female freebooterâ€¦

Sweetening the pot is a full cover gallery, Mignola Namor pin-ups, a Marvel Age article on Triumph & Torment (by Peter Sanderson) and a couple of delicious Mignola parody ads. Also included are Mignola sketches, and a gallery of pin-ups by Austin, Carl Potts, Ken Steacy, Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, Bret Blevins, Bob Layton, Gregory Wright, Craig Hamilton, Mike Machlan, Joe Sinnott, Kerry Gammill, Nowlan & Paul Ryan.

Sheer comic enchantment, this a book no lover of the fantastic fiction can afford to ignore.
Â© 1971, 1983, 1984, 1989, 2013, 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

November 15, 2016November 14, 2016

Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange volume 1

By Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Don Rico, George Roussos & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4564-6

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Little Seasonal Magicâ€¦ 9/10

When the budding House of Ideas introduced a warrior wizard to their burgeoning pantheon in the summer of 1963 it was a bold and curious move. Bizarre adventures and menacing monsters were still incredibly popular but mention of magic or the supernatural (especially vampires, werewolves and their eldritch ilk) were harshly proscribed by a censorship panel which dictated almost all aspects of story content.

At this time all – almost a decade after a public witch hunt led to Senate hearings – comics were ferociously monitored and adjudicated by the draconian Comics Code Authority. Even though the some of the small company’s strongest sellers were still mystery and monster mags, their underlying themes and premises were almost universally mad science and alien wonders, not necromantic or thaumaturgic horrors.

That might explain Stan Lee’s low key introduction of Steve Ditko’s mystic adventurer: an exotic, twilight troubleshooter inhabiting the shadowy outer fringes of society.

Capitalising on of the runaway success of Fantastic Four, Lee had quickly spun off the youngest, most colourful member of the team into his own series, hoping to recapture the glory of the 1940s when the Human Torch was one of the company’s untouchable â€œBig Threeâ€ superstars.

Within a year of FF #1, anthology title Strange Tales became home for the blazing boy-hero (with issue #101, cover-dated October 1962), launching Johnny Storm on a creatively productive but commercially unsuccessful solo career.

Soon after in Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963) current sensation Iron Man battled a crazed scientific wizard dubbed Doctor Strange, and with the name successfully and legally in copyrightable print (a long-established Lee technique: Thorr, The Thing, Magneto and the Hulk had been disposable Atlas â€œfurry underpants monstersâ€ long before they became in-continuity Marvel characters) preparations began for a new and truly different kind of hero.

The company had already published a quasi-mystic precursor: balding, trench-coated savant Doctor Droom – later rechristened (or is that re-paganed?) Dr. Druid – had an inconspicuous short run in Amazing Adventures (volume 1 #1-4 & #6: June-November 1961). He was a balding psychiatrist, magician and paranormal investigator who tackled everything from alien invaders to Atlanteans and was subsequently retro-written into Marvel continuity as an alternative candidate for Stephen Strange‘s ultimate role as Sorcerer Supremeâ€¦

After a shaky start, the Master of the Mystic Arts became an unmissable icon of the cool counter-culture kids who saw in Ditko’s increasingly psychedelic art, echoes and overtones of their own trippy explorations of other worldsâ€¦

That might not have been the authors’ intentions but it certainly helped keep the mage at the forefront of Lee’s efforts to break comics out of the kids-stuff ghettoâ€¦

This enchanting full colour paperback compilation â€“ also available as a digital download – collects the mystical portions of Strange Tales #110, 111 and 114-141 and a titanic team-up from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2; spanning July 1963 to February 1966. Moreover, although the Good Doctor was barely cover-featured until issue #130, it also magnanimously includes every issue’s stunning frontage: thus offering an incredible array of superbly eye-catching Marvel masterpieces from the upstart outfit’s formative heyday by Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Bob Powell, John Severin and others.

Following a fond reminiscence and commentary from Dean Mullaney our first meeting with the man of mystery comes courtesy of a quiet little chiller which has never been surpassed for sheer mood and imagination.

‘Doctor Strange Master of Black Magic!’ by Lee & Ditko debuted at the back of Strange Tales #110 and saw a terrified man troubled by his dreams approach an exceptional consultant in his search for a cureâ€¦

That perfect 5-page fright-fest introduces whole new realms and features deceit, desperation, double dealing and the introduction of both a mysterious and aged oriental mentor and devilish dream demon Nightmare in an unforgettable yarn that might well be Ditko’s finest momentâ€¦

A month later in #111 he was back, ‘Face-to-Face with the Magic of Baron Mordo!’ which introduced a player on the other sideâ€¦

The esoteric duel with such an obviously formidable foe established Strange as a tragic solitary guardian tasked with defending the world from supernatural terrors and uncanny encroachment whilst introducing his most implacable enemy, a fellow sorcerer with vaulting ambition and absolutely no morals. In the astounding battle that ensued, it was also firmly confirmed that Strange was the smarter manâ€¦

Strange Tales #114 (November 1963) was one of the most important issues of the era. Not only did it highlight the return of another Golden Age hero – or at least a villainous facsimile of him by Lee, Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers. Here’s a quote from the last panel. â€œYou guessed it! This story was really a test! To see if you too would like Captain America to Return! As usual, your letters will give us the answer!â€ We all know how that turned outâ€¦

Nevertheless, for many of us the true treasure trove here was the fabulously moody resurrection of Doctor Strange: permanently installing an eccentric and baroque little corner of the growing unified universe where Ditko could let his imagination run wildâ€¦

With #114 the Master of the Mystic Arts took up monthly residence behind the Torch as ‘The Return of the Omnipotent Baron Mordo!’ (uncredited inks by George Roussos) found the Doctor lured to London and into a trap, only to be saved by unlikely adept Victoria Bentley: an abortive stab at a romantic interest who would periodically turn up in years to come.

The forbidding man of mystery was at last revealed in all his frail mortality as Strange Tales #115 offered ‘The Origin of Dr. Strange’, disclosing how Stephen Strange was once America’s greatest surgeon. A brilliant man, yet greedy, vain and arrogant, he cared nothing for the sick except as a means to wealth and glory. When a self-inflicted drunken car-crash ended his career, Strange hit the skids.

Then, fallen as low as man ever could, the debased doctor overheard a barroom tale which led him on a delirious odyssey or, perhaps more accurately, pilgrimage to Tibet, where a frail and aged mage changed his life forever. It also showed his first clash with the Ancient One‘s other pupil Mordo: thwarting a seditious scheme and earning the Baron’s undying envious enmityâ€¦

Eventual enlightenment through daily redemption transformed Stephen the derelict into a solitary, dedicated watchdog for at the fringes of humanity, challenging all the hidden dangers of the dark on behalf of a world better off not knowing what dangers lurk in the shadowsâ€¦

‘Return to the Nightmare World!’ saw the insidious dream predator trapping earthly sleepers in perpetual slumber until the doubtful authorities asked Strange to investigate and invade his oneiric enemy’s stronghold after which ‘The Many Traps of Baron Mordo!’ apparently saw the malevolent mage devise an inescapable doom, which once more foundered after Strange applied a little logic to itâ€¦

The wildness and infinite variety of Strange’s universe offered Ditko tremendous opportunities to stretch himself visually and as plotter of the stories. In ST #118 the Master of Magic travelled to Bavaria to combat ‘The Possessed!’ and found humans succumbing to extra-dimensional invaders neither fully mystic or mundane, whilst ‘Beyond the Purple Veil’ found him rescuing burglars who had stolen one of his deadly treasures from ray-gun wielding slaver tyrantsâ€¦

Strange Tales #120 played with the conventions of ghost stories after a reporter vanishes during a live broadcast from ‘The House of Shadows!’ and the concerned Doctor diagnoses something unworldly but certainly not deadâ€¦

Mordo sprang yet another deadly trap in ‘Witchcraft in the Wax Museum!’ but was once again outsmarted and humiliated after stealing his rival’s body whilst Strange wandered the world in astral formâ€¦

Roussos returned as an uncredited inker for #122’s ‘The World Beyond’ wherein Nightmare nearly scored his greatest victory after an exhausted Strange fell asleep before uttering the nightly charm that protected from him from attack through his own dreams.

Strange hosted his first Marvel guest star #123 whilst meeting ‘The Challenge of Loki!’ (Lee, Ditko & George Roussos as George Bell from August 1964) as the god of Mischief tricked the earthly mage into briefly stealing Thor’s hammer before deducing where the emanations of evil he sensed really came fromâ€¦

Strange battled a sorcerer from ancient Egypt to save ‘The Lady from Nowhere!’ from time-bending exile and imprisonment, and performed similar service to rescue the Ancient after the aged sage was kidnapped in ‘Mordo Must Not Catch Me!’ after which Roussos/Bell moved on whilst Lee & Ditko geared up for even more esoteric action.

Strange Tales #126 took the Master of the Mystic arts to ‘The Domain of the Dread Dormammu!’ as an extra-dimensional god sought to subjugate Earth. In a fantastic realm Strange met a mysterious and exotic woman who revealed the Dread One operated by his own implacable code: giving the overmatched Earthling the edge in the concluding ‘Duel with of the Dread Dormammu!’ which saw Earth saved, the Ancient One freed of a long-standing curse and Strange given a new look and mystic weapons upgradeâ€¦

Restored to his homeworld and Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village, Strange solved ‘The Dilemma ofâ€¦ the Demon’s Disciple!’ by saving a luckless truth-seeker from an abusive minor magician and – after a stunning pin-up by Ditko – tackled a demonic god of decadence stealing TV guests and execs in #129’s ‘Bewareâ€¦ Tiborro! The Tyrant of the Sixth Dimension!’ (scripted by Golden Age great Don Rico).

Doctor Strange got his first star cover slot in Strange Tales #130 to celebrate the start of an ambitious multi-part saga which would be rightly acclaimed one of the mystic’s finest moments. ‘The Defeat of Dr. Strange’ opens with an enigmatic outer-dimensional sponsor entering into a pact with Baron Mordo to supply infinite power and ethereal minions in return for the death of Earth’s magical guardianâ€¦

With the ancient One assaulted and stuck in a deathly coma, Stephen Strange was forced to go on the run: a fugitive hiding in the most exotic corners of the globe as remorseless, irresistible forces closed in all around himâ€¦

A claustrophobic close shave whilst trapped aboard a jetliner in ‘The Hunter and the Hunted!’ expands into cosmic high gear in #132 as Strange doubles back to his sanctum and defeats the returning Demon only to come ‘Face-to-Face at Last with Baron Mordo!’ Crumbling into weary defeat as the villain’s godly sponsored is revealed, the hero is hurled headlong out of reality to materialise in ‘A Nameless Land, A Timeless Time!’ and confront tyrannical witch-queen Shazana.

Upon liberating her benighted land the relentless pursuit resumes as Strange re-crosses hostile dimensions to take the fight to his foes in ‘Earth Be My Battleground’. Returning to the enclave hiding his ailing master, he gleans a hint of a solution in the mumbled enigmatic word â€œEternityâ€ and begins searching for more information, even as, in the Dark Dimension, a terrified girl attempts to sabotage the Dread Dormammu’s efforts to empower Mordoâ€¦

As the world went super-science spy-crazy and Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. took over the lead spot with Strange Tales #135, the Sixties also saw a blossoming of alternative thought and rebellion. Doctor Strange apparently became a confirmed favourite of the blossoming Counterculture Movement with its recreational drug experimentation subculture. With Ditko truly hitting his imaginative stride, it’s not hard to see why. His weird worlds and demonstrably adjacent dimensions were just unlike anything anyone had ever seen or depicted beforeâ€¦

‘Eternity Beckons!’ when Strange is lured to an ancient castle where an old ally seeks to betray him and, after again narrowly escaping Mordo’s minions, the Mage desperately consults the aged senile Genghis in #136 and makes a grave error in judgement. Once more catapulted into a dimension of deadly danger, Strange barely escapes a soul-stealing horror after discovering ‘What Lurks Beneath the Mask?’

Back on Earth and out of options the Doctor is forced to test his strength against the Ancient One’s formidable psychic defences to learn the secret of Eternity ‘When Meet the Mystic Minds!’ and after barely surviving the terrible trial translates himself to a place beyond reality to meet the embodiment of creation in ‘If Eternity Should Fail!’

The quest for solutions or extra might bears little fruit and as he despondently arrives on Earth he finds The Ancient One and his unnamed female friend prisoners of his worst enemies in anticipation of a fatal showdownâ€¦

Strange Tales #139 warns ‘Bewareâ€¦! Dormammu is Watching!’ but as Mordo, despite being super-charged with the Dark Lord’s infinite energies, fails over and again to kill the Good Doctor the Overlord of Evil loses all patience and drags the whole show into his domainâ€¦

Intent on making a show of destroying his mortal nemesis, Dormammu convenes a great gathering in which he will smash Strange in a duel using nothing but ‘The Pincers of Power!’ and is again bathed to ultimate humiliation as the mortal’s wit and determination result in a stunning triumph in the concluding ‘Let There Be Victory!’ As the universes tremble Doctor Strange wearily heads home, blithely unaware that his enemies have laid one last trapâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

After all that tense suspense there are a few treats still in store, beginning with one last Lee/Ditko yarn to enthral and beguile: Although a little chronologically askew, it is very much a case of the best left until lastâ€¦

In October 1965 ‘The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange!’ (from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2) was the astonishing lead feature in an otherwise vintage reprint Spidey volume.

The entrancing fable unforgettably introduced the webslinger to arcane adventure and otherworldly realities as he teamed up with the Master of the Mystic Arts to battle power-crazed wizard Xandu in a phantasmagorical, dimension-hopping masterpiece involving ensorcelled zombie thugs and the purloined Wand of Watoomb.

After this story it was clear that Spider-Man could work in any milieu and nothing could hold him backâ€¦ and the cross-fertilisation probably introduced many fans to Lee & Ditko’s other breakthrough series.

But wait, there’s more! Wrapping up the proceeding is a selection of original art pages and contemporary T-shirt designs, a cover gallery from the 1970’s reprint revival of â€œStrange Talesâ€ volume 2 with art from Gil Kane, Ed Hannigan, Dan Adkins, Klaus Janson, Frank Giacoia, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer, all nicely rounded off by a re-presentation of this collection’s previous Ditko/Dean White cover and informative ‘Biographies’ of the creative stars featured hereinâ€¦

Doctor Strange has always been the coolest of outsiders and most accessible fringe star of the Marvel firmament. This glorious grimoire is a magical method for old fans to enjoy his world once more and the perfect introduction for recent acolytes or converts created by the movie iteration.
Â© 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

August 5, 2013

Doctor Strange: Season One

By Greg Pak & Emma Rios, with Alvaro Lopez, plus Matt Fraction, Terry Dodson & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6387-9

Much as I’d love to believe otherwise, I know that the Cold War, transistor radio, pre-cellphone masterpieces of my youth are often impenetrable to younger fans – even when drawn by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Bill Everett or Don Heck.

Radical perpetual change – or at least the appearance of such – is the irresistible force driving modern comics. There must be a constant changing of the guard, a shifting of scene and milieu and, in latter times, a regular diet of death, resurrection and rebirth – all grounded in relatively contemporary terms and situations.

Even for relatively minor or secondary stars the process is inescapable, with increasing supra-comicbook media adjuncts (film, TV, games, etc.) dictating that subjects be perpetually updated because the goldfish-minded readers of today apparently can’t understand or remember anything that’s more than a week old.

Alternatively, one could argue that for popular characters or concepts with a fifty-year pedigree, all that history can be a readership-daunting deterrence, so radical reboots are a painful but vital periodic necessityâ€¦

Publishing ain’t no democracy, however, so it’s comforting to realise that many of these retrofits are exceptionally good comics tales in their own right and anyway, the editors can call always claim that it was an â€œalternate Earthâ€ story the next time the debut saga is modernisedâ€¦

Released in 2012, Doctor Strange: Season One was the fifth all-new graphic novel in a hardback series designed to renovate, modify and update classic origin epics (following Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil and Spider-Man) and, despite clearly being intended as story-bibles for newer, movie-oriented fans and readers, mostly managed to add a little something to the immortal but hopelessly time-locked tales.

Once upon a time Steven Strange was America’s greatest surgeon, a brilliant man, yet vain and arrogant, caring nothing for the sick, except as a means to wealth and glory. When a self-inflicted drunken car-crash mangled his hands and ended his career, the arrogant Strange hit the skids, big time.

Then, fallen as low as man ever could, the debased doctor overheard a barroom tale which led him on a delirious odyssey – or perhaps pilgrimage – to Tibet, where an impossibly aged mage and eventual enlightenment through daily redemption transformed the derelict into a solitary, ever-vigilant watchdog for frail humanity against all the hidden dangers of the dark. Now he battles otherworldly evil as a Sorcerer Supreme, a veritable Master of the Mystic artsâ€¦

Putatively set in the period following his automotive Armageddon, this fast-paced mystic buddy-movie traces Strange’s first days and months under the tutelage of the puissant Ancient One and, after exposing the perfidy of senior disciple Mordo, his quest to prove himself worthy of the exalted station and inner peace he sought.

Still plagued with the tantalising dream of healing his shattered hands, regaining his status as a superstar surgeon and resuming his life of glamorous, sybaritic luxury, Strange struggles to master the most basic disciplines of magic, constantly competing with fellow postulant Wong – a flashy, smart-mouthed martial artist and life-long devotee of the cult of Kamar-Taj – the Ancient One’s mysterious homeland.

Because the students despise each other so vehemently their aged guru forces them to train togetherâ€¦

Their tempestuous cloistered life is soon shattered: first by a demonic assault and subsequently by the arrival of museum curator Sofia di Cosimo, who has discovered that three antique rings scattered around the world have the power to compel and command the astounding might of the hallowed trinity of gods known by sorcerers as the Vishanti. Whoever holds the rings has ultimate power in their hands, and someone very bad is obviously trying to find themâ€¦

When the Ancient One refuses to aid Sofia, Wong and Stephen sneak away with her, determined to save their complacent master and unsuspecting mankind from appalling horrorâ€¦

And thus begins a smart, sharp and extremely engaging quest that takes the fledgling heroes to a corrupt politician in Salem, Massachusetts, a modern-day saint in the slums of Cairo, and a mad old biddy in the British Museum, all the while dodging demonic assaults, escaping angry, disdainful deities, foiling arch-foes and slowly becoming the people Earth needs them to beâ€¦

Also included in this attractive and compelling hardback is the tantalising first chapter of the then-new Defenders comicbook title wherein Strange, Sub-Mariner, Red She-Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Fist reluctantly reunite to help the Hulk destroy his eldritch antithesis in ‘Breaker of Worlds part 1: I Hate Myself and Want to Die’, by Matt Fraction, Terry & Rachel Dodson.

Be Warned: the tale is extremely addictive but concludes elsewhereâ€¦

Also included are nine pages of design sketches and many examples of the art production process from pencils through inks and beyond by Rios, making this a superbly enticing and entertaining package for both newcomers and returning readers alike.
Â© 2011 and 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

October 30, 2011October 29, 2011

Sensational Spider-Man

By Dennis O’Neil, Frank Millar, Klaus Janson, Tom Palmer, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-87135-514-0

Here’s a masterfully moody little lost snippet of full-on Marvel Madness from the early days of graphic novel compilations that might amuse and will certainly delight all-out aficionados and neophyte Spidey fans alike.

Released in 1989, but still readily available and affordable, this full-colour 80 page compendium collects two supremely impressive Amazing Spider-Man Annuals (#s 14 and 15) by veteran scripter Dennis O’Neil and then rising star Frank Miller, yet still finds room for a classy classic from the Astounding Arachnid’s earliest days (Amazing Spider-Man #8) by Marvel’s triumvirate of top creators.

Inexplicably the action starts with Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15 (1981) with Klaus Janson inking ‘Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?’ wherein maniac vigilante Frank Castle (five years before the Steven Grant/Mike Zeck miniseries catapulted him to anti-heroic superstardom in The Punisher) returns to the Big Apple and becomes embroiled in a deadly scheme by Doctor Octopus to poison five million New Yorkers.

It’s not long before both Peter Parker and his colourful alter-ego are caught in the middle of a terrifying battle of ruthless wills in this tense and clever suspense thriller, which perfectly recaptures the moody mastery of Steve Ditko’s heydays.

Next up is the previous year’s summer offering: a frantic magical mystery masterpiece wherein Doctor Doom and extra-dimensional dark god Dread Dormammu attempt to unmake Reality by invoking the Arcane Armageddon of The Bend Sinister.

‘Vishanti’, inked by Tom Palmer, sees an unsuspecting dupe capture Doctor Strange for the malevolent masterminds and nearly unleash cosmic hell with only the Amazing Spider-Man left to literally save the world; a fascinating magic and mayhem romp that once more deeply references and reverences the glory days of Ditko, particularly ‘The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange!’, the legendary team-up of web-spinner and wizard from Spidey’s second annual.

As if that brace of brilliant yarns was not enough high-quality comic excitement, this slim tome also includes ‘Spiderman Tackles the Torch!’, a masterful, light-hearted 6-page vignette written by Stan Lee, drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Ditko wherein a younger, boisterous and far more carefree wall-crawler gate-crashed a beach party thrown by the flaming hero’s girlfriend, leading to a clash with the entire Fantastic Four with explosive and thoroughly entrancing consequences.

The most enduring and effective component of Spider-Man’s success was always the soap opera continuity element, but this rare collection of stand-alone stories perfectly demonstrates the character’s other star properties: sharp humour, heroic ingenuity, incredible action and beguiling empathy with the readership.

Sensational Spider-Man is one of the best individual collections of the hero ever assembled and makes a perfect primer for anyone looking to discover the magic for the first time.
Â© 1988 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

October 9, 2011October 6, 2011

Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa – Marvel Graphic Novel #23

By J.M. DeMatteis & Dan Green (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-559-0 or ISBN13: 978-0-87135-166-1

Once upon a time Marvel published far more all-original graphic novels than reprint collections or assorted compendia of past glories, utilising new formats and print innovations to tell â€œbig storiesâ€ on larger than normal pages (285 x 220mm rather than the now customary 258 x 168mm) featuring not only licensed assets like Conan, high profile movie adaptations and creator-owned properties, but also proprietary characters the company owned lock, stock and barrel.

One such spectacular home-grown special event is this quirky, lyrically lovely visual and philosophical diversion starring the company’s own New Age Astral Avengerâ€¦

Steven Strange was once America’s greatest surgeon, a brilliant man, yet vain and arrogant, caring nothing for the sick, except as a means to wealth and glory. When a self-inflicted drunken car-crash ended his career, Strange hit the skids.

After years of unceasing battle, a momentary lull in the eldritch crusade allows Strange time for contemplation and reminiscence. His thoughts return to the beginning of his second life amidst the misty crags of the Himalayas. He is often troubled by his long-departed mentor’s more impenetrable teachings and questions, even doubts begin to cloud the wizardly warrior’s sense of mission and purposeâ€¦

Visiting the Ancient One’s abandoned abode, Strange meets again his past master’s devoted body servant Hamir the Hermit and takes possession of his mentor’s final gift: a puzzle-box which defies his every effort to discern its true meaning.

Just as Strange’s frustration peaks he is summoned by the puissant and (seemingly) benevolent Lords of Shamballa and press-ganged into undertaking a global odyssey to jump-start the spiritual evolution of humanity and thereby mid-wife the Golden Age of Mankind.

But for that joyous miracle to occur the Doctor must perform three drastic and draconian feats of mystic surgery; in South America, India and England, harried each time by an unknown and deeply malevolent adversary.

However, no matter how far he travels or bravely he strives Stephen Strange cannot solve his most urgent internal dilemma: what kind of transcendent world can be built only on the corpses of three-quarters of humanityâ€¦?

Challenging, allegorical and elegiacally moving, Into Shamballa offers a far more mature and spiritual experience than most comics tales whilst still maintaining the thrill and wonder so necessary to lovers of graphic narrative.

Enticingly scripted by Searcher into the Mysteries J.M. DeMatteis and stunningly painted by Dan Green, this off-beat gem typifies all that was great about the bold and innovative middle-period of â€œthe House of Ideasâ€.
Â© 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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