Dr. Strange

Doctor Strange is a fictional comic book sorcerer and superhero in the Marvel Comics Marvel universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). more...

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Additionally, the name had been used for a different Marvel character two months earlier.

Dr. Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, responsible for defending it from mystic threats. He is a master of the mystic arts, using his abilities to battle evil magicians and other supernatural villains. He is also often consulted by other superheroes on supernatural matters.

Publication history

After debuting in Strange Tales #110 and returning in the next issue, the nine- to 10-page feature "Dr. Strange" skipped two issues and then returned permanently with #114 (Nov. 1963). Steve Ditko's surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly head-trippy visuals helped make the feature a favorite of 1960s college students, according to contemporaneous accounts. Ditko, as co-plotter and later sole plotter, in the "Marvel Method", would eventually take Strange into ever-more-abstract realms that nonetheless remained well-grounded thanks to Stan Lee's reliably humanistic, adventure/soap opera dialog. Doctor Strange shared the "split book" Strange Tales with solo adventures of Fantastic Four member the Human Torch (whose feature had begun in issue #101), and, beginning with #135, with its replacement feature, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..

While Lee and Ditko themselves interacted less and less as each went their different creative ways, Doctor Strange's storyline culminates with what historians consider one of modern comics' great moments: the introduction, in issue #146 (July 1966), of Ditko's grand and enduring conception of Eternity, the personification of the universe, depicted as a majestic silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos. It was a groundbreaking creation at a time long before such cosmic conceits were commonplace, and Ditko's final bow on the feature.

"Doctor Strange" continued to the end of the book's run, when the "Fury" feature was spun off into its own title and Strange Tales was renamed Doctor Strange with issue #169 (June 1968). Note: This is the title as given in the book's postal indicia; Dr. Strange's various series, confusingly, have changed their cover-logo titles much more so than most series. See the Bibliography for details.

Doctor Strange's first namesake comic book, written by Roy Thomas with art by penciler Gene Colan, lasted only until issue #183, by which point Strange was given a new civilian identity as "Dr. Stephen Saunders" as well as a full-face cowl in an effort to more resemble a Marvel superhero and help low sales. The look was short-lived and subsequently abandoned.

Strange's next series began in the 1970s showcase title Marvel Premiere, continuing into a solo book generally titled as Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts (the original 1968 comic had also used that subtitle for a time, though not in the indicia). An acclaimed early arc by writer Steve Englehart and penciller/co-plotter Frank Brunner, featured the death of Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, followed by a storyline in which Strange witnessed the Creation, or re-creation, of the universe. Reflecting that era's trend toward "cosmic" characters and stories — a trend ironically begun in the Lee-Ditko '60s stories — this turn away from more traditionally occult, supernatural stories helped propel the soon-to-be-spun-off series through 81 issues, under various teams.

Read more at Wikipedia.org