As we discussed in this space two months ago, the fifth issue of the second volume of Doctor Strange marked the end of the very successful collaboration of Steve Englehart (co-plotter and scripter) and Frank Brunner (co-plotter and artist) on the feature… more or less. That “more or less” refers to the fact that Brunner had one last contribution to make to the series before turning his full focus to the upcoming (and eagerly awaited) “Howard the Duck” strip — i.e., the lovely cover shown above, which the artist pencilled, inked, and colored, making for a memorable final bow.
Once we readers of November, 1975 turned past the cover to the opening splash page, however, it was clear that artistic change had indeed come to Doctor Strange — even if it wasn’t entirely a matter of “out with the old, in with the new…”
…seeing as how the title’s “new” penciller, Gene Colan, was returning to the site of what many fans, my seventeen-year-old self included, considered to be an earlier triumph. I had originally become a fan of the Master of the Mystic Arts during the all-too-brief late ’60s period when Colan had teamed with writer Roy Thomas and inker Tom Palmer on Doctor Strange (first volume) #172 to #178 and #180 to 183, and I remained (and still remain) a big admirer of that run. Sure, I was going to miss Frank Brunner; and I probably wouldn’t have griped if another of the Young Turks who’d had a go at drawing Doc’s adventures since his return to solo stardom in 1972 with Marvel Premiere #3 — Barry Windsor-Smith, say, or Jim Starlin* — had come back for a nice long run of their own. But, on the whole, I was quite content.
I’m pretty sure I was pleased with the choice of Klaus Janson as inker as well, as he was someone who, while still relatively new to the field, had already become a favorite of mine. In the end, Englehart’s opening epigraph (which, as best as I can determine, is original with him, despite the quotation marks), with its references to both “new stars” and “old ones rekindled”, seems quite apt.
Y’all remember the giant white rabbit from Doctor Strange #1, right? The one that signaled that the new storyline beginning in that issue was heading straight for Alice in Wonderland territory? Sure you do.
Clea surprises her mentor with the particular method she chooses to deal with the situation, sending forth her astral body and leaving her physical shell to collapse into his arms. “Ha ha ha, Stephen Strange!” she calls to him teasingly. “I may be your disciple in the mystic arts — but you only told me what to do, not how you wanted it done!”
Stephen explains to Clea that even if he could rid the addict of his body’s current need for the drug, “it is he himself who would have to end his desire for it.” Clea remarks that her beloved’s world is no more a paradise than her own; he agrees, and then muses, “It’s odd that you should mention your world, however — because I find myself thinking of it, also.”
Meanwhile, behind them and out of their sight, the addict staggers to a tree, which he clutches as if for support — though his internal thoughts belie his apparent infirmity: “The fools!”
I don’t know what technique Klaus Janson used to ink Umar’s hair in that last panel — or how much of that wild, streaked look was implicit in Gene Colan’s pencils — but however the image came about, and whoever was responsible, doesn’t it look great? Tom Palmer will always be my favorite inker on Colan, but I think Janson did very well here — and throughout this issue — in rising to the considerable challenge Colan’s “painting with a pencil” regularly offered to his prospective embellishers.
Art by Bill Everett.
As for Umar the Unrelenting herself, this issue marked only her third outing, storyline-wise. Making her debut on the very last page of the “Doctor Strange” strip in Strange Tales #150 (Nov., 1966), she’d gone on to bedevil the hero for six subsequent installments of that feature. (For the record, Roy Thomas scripted Umar’s first on-panel appearance, and is usually credited as her co-creator with artist Bill Everett; that said, I think it’s worth mentioning that the six other chapters of that initial arc were written by Stan Lee, who of course edited Strange Tales #150 as well.) Since then, Umar had shown up only in Doctor Strange #172-173 (Sep. & Oct., 1968) in a yarn by the team of Thomas, Colan, and Palmer that found her mostly acting in a subservient role to her brother, the Dread Dormammu. About all that any Marvel Comics reader really knew about her at this point was that she was powerful and malevolent, just like her better-known brother — and that the two siblings didn’t get along, at all.
As had been the case with his earlier work on Doctor Strange, Colan’s page layouts become more daring, his panel shapes more irregular, whenever magic stuff is happening (see, for example, the earlier scene in which Clea de-giant-sized the rabbit) — and if our storyline takes us into other, mystical dimensions, well, watch out…
Stephen and Clea head to the Sorcerer Supreme’s study, where they consider the most recent doings of Umar’s brother; this involves a brief recap of the climax of the Avengers/Defenders War from Avengers #118 (Dec., 1973), where, as you’ll hopefully recall, the Scarlet Witch had cast a hex which sucked the living energy that comprised Dormammu’s form into the Evil Eye, then blasted it full into the face of the Norse god Loki, driving the latter insane. Of course, Dr. Strange also remembers the warning of the Watcher on that occasion — that the Lord of the Dark Dimension was bound to return some day, revived by the worship of his followers (see panel at right; text by Englehart, art by Bob Brown, Mike Esposito, and Frank Giacoia)…
Dr. Strange’s forehead-ankh had been introduced at the conclusion of issue #4; this is its first appearance since then. At this point, Englehart is clearly intent that this new visual indicator of mortal peril should be a recurring bit, somewhat analogous to Spider-Man’s spider-sense; but, although it will make a few more appearances after this, it will never become a permanent fixture in the series.
While her lover steels himself for whatever dangers he may face in her home dimension, Clea goes for a walk in his, hoping to clear her thoughts thereby…
This is the very first appearance (at least as a discrete Marvel comic-book character) of “Mother Nature” (or, as we’ll soon come to call her, Gaea) — an entity who will ultimately emerge as a significant player in the Marvel Universe.
This scene is highly significant in the development of Clea as a character, as it’s essentially the first time we’ve seen her go into action by herself since becoming Dr. Strange’s disciple in sorcery. It’s definitely a step up from her role the previous storyline, most of which she spent chained to a wall as the captive of the villainous Silver Dagger.
And that’s where we’ll have to leave matters for this post, folks — with Clea facing one of the most powerful mystical entities in the universe, and Stephen Strange’s confrontation with Umar on the latter’s home turf still ahead of us. Be sure and check back here in January, when the story will continue in Doctor Strange #7’s “The Demon Fever!”, courtesy of Englehart, Colan, and new inker John Romita.
*P. Craig Russell really should have been included in that small group as well — but since I wasn’t buying Amazing Adventures (where the Russell-drawn “Killraven” strip appeared), I wasn’t aware of how much he’d grown as an artist since turning out his one “Dr. Strange” story to date (in Marvel Premiere #7)… and so would have to wait until 1976, when I’d be totally gobsmacked by his Doctor Strange Annual #1, to see the light.
Another one I missed when it was new but have long since added to my collection. Brunner and Colan alike were masters at depicting the epic adventures of the Master of the Mystic Arts, each building upon the foundations established in the bygone era of Strange Tales by Ditko. Reading this summation of Colon’s return, late at night, with some ethereal and slightly somber tunes coming from the telly, this story strikes me as having dreamlike qualities, particularly Clea’s ventures, on behalf of Mother Nature, leading her to witness the rebirth of Dormammu, who now takes up the guise of a ravenous colossus who might set the world aflame. The encounter with Umar was also eerie, a beautiful yet vicious scourge, seemingly sent away with ease but whose exposed thoughts tease greater threats. At his best, as in chronicling the tales of Dr. Strange, Dracula or even Howard the Duck & Iron Man, Colon seemed able to mix modernism with archaism, visions of the shiny present yet with touches of decay, an ever-twisting dance of light and shadow. also bringing to my mind some of the works of Goya. Excellent commentary on this latest 50 year old chapter from the archives of our favorite Marvel magician and his disciple.
Looks to me like Umar’s hair was first painted in blue, the. Lines painted over with masking fluid, then black painted over it all, then the masking fluid rubbed off.
That comment was from dangermash, not Dan. A fingerslip.
Funny I don’t remember this one at all, though I know I’ve read it, and it’s certainly a good one. Ah, memory.
I agree Colan is a great fit for the book (I’m also fond of Marie Severin’s run as artist — I think she’s much underrated).
Ah, I just remembered this ties in with Giant-Size Avengers #4. Won’t give details or spoilers.
All I remember of it was the bunny bit. I preferred Colan on costumed adventurers rather than mystic ones so that could be why.
For stories, I’ve thought it good that they got rid of Clea’s struggling to master the magic of another dimension but it was an interesting bit when done well. I wonder if this is the era Fraction skimmed and missed that Strange was educating his lover not perving on someone who was his apprentice first. That run with Doc as a sexual predator of sorts was just awful.
I suspect he saw what he wanted to see which was yeah, not something that was there.
I’ve never read Fraction’s stories, but apparently he wasn’t aware that Stephen Strange and Clea had met and developed romantic feelings for one another long before he took her on as his apprentice, even if both Lee & Thomas were a bit coy about the actual romance, Thomas going so far as to have Clea live in a separate apartment when she left the Dark Dimension for Earth rather than stay in a guest bedroom in his very spacious mansion, which I thought was absolutely ridiculous when I read that in the Essentials volume. Mainly, my thoughts were, this is a woman who has never resided anywhere on Earth before and has no clue about the culture and no income and the only person she knows on the entire planet and who has an abundance of space in his own home insists that she live somewhere else on her own in a big, potentially dangerous city????? I mostly love Roy’s writing (at least after he got past the awful awkwardness of his first year or so) but sometimes he came off as rather dunderheaded in aspects of how he wrote characters. I also hated how he had Strange leave Barbara Norris trapped in a dimensional gate or whatever it was and then just opts to retire from the hero and mystic business without any concern for her whatsoever and with no explanation or even a hint that maybe Stephen wasn’t really being himself and his own experience of being trapped in that gate had frazzled him far more than he was letting on. As to Clea’s living situation, perhaps either Lee or Thomas or both were paranoid about how the CCA would react to having Stephen & Clea apparently “living in sin”. And while I don’t recall reading anything giving any hint as to Clea’s age, given that she is from another dimension, she could conceivably have been much older than Stephen despite her youthful appearance. Englehart, in my estimation, took a much more mature and reasonably realistic approach to writing Stephen & Clea in regards to their relationship as lovers and as “master & apprentice”. As well as making it clear that yes, they were living together in that big mansion.
It’s no surprise that Steve Engelhart would start developing Clea once he was writing Dr. Strange, as he often focused on creating stronger, more complex women. While Clea was a kidapping victim for most of the Silver Dagger storyline, she did become pivotal at the end, and I loved her role in this Dormamu/Umar Saga. While I had been a follower of the good doctor’s comic for a while at this point, this was the storyline that really locked me in.
I remember the cover of this one, and I’m sure I bought it, thinking it would be more artistic goodness from Frank Brunner, but I remember very little of the story inside. I’m sure I was disappointed by Frank’s departure. I agree, Colon’s great, but Brunner was a feast I wanted to partake more of. Still, Janson is one of the few inkers after Palmer, to understand the assignment when it came to inking Gene so I have no complaints about the artwork here, other than “it’s not Frank.” Englehart’s story is also solid. I assume Umar loses to Strange knowing he’d follow her and thus not be able to sense Dormammu’s reemergence into the world. I do have one question, “When Clea changed the rabbit back to it’s original form, what did it change into?” Just some dude, who I assume we never heard from again? It’s seems weird they didn’t show us the reveal.
All in all, a good issue, but I’m sure it was my last. Doctor Strange was by no means my favorite Marvel title, and if Brunner wasn’t drawing it, I have no doubt that I moved on as well once he left. I’d drop in on the doc sporadically over the years depending on who drew it, but that’s about it for me and the Master of Mystic Arts. Thanks, Alan!
Hey, Don, if you look back at Doctor Strange #1, the rabbit was always a rabbit… Silver Dagger’s magic just made the bunny really, really BIG. 😉
I did not remember that, Alan. Thanks
If I were to use one word for Colan’s drawing, it would be “fluidity”. And even the panels are often unconventional shapes , not the usual rigid containing rectangles, The inking in the panel “her face all around me”, is also striking,
Notable early reference to human induced climate change given that US scientist Wallace Broecker only put the term “global warming” into the public domain in the title of a scientific paper in that same year of 1975,
The exchange with the heroin addict was interesting, in part because it could not have happened without the recent loosening f the Comics code, and in part because of the mention of the greenhouse effect–in 1974!
And yet it’s still debated in some circles, 50 years later…
OF the comics code. (an “edit” feature would be helpful to me).
Though my original typo has some merit…
I very clearly remember feeling a jolt (and yes, I was surprised) when I read this 50 years ago at the exclamation of…”I, Dormammu!” And actually, in retrospect his return had been foreshadowed and we were seeing his sister Umar, but I did not see this coming…and it was Steve Englehart’s second surprise ending within a week (the first being the return of the Red Skull). A few observations of interest: I believe this was the first time Klaus Janson would ink Gene Colan but certainly not the last. Of course it was great to see Gene Colan on Dr. Strange. I had actually missed Dr. Strange 169-183 when originally on the stands and would not acquire those issues, as back issues, until the late 70s, and I really enjoyed them. This was the second time Dormammu appeared in a surprise ending as I later learned that he appeared in a surprise ending at the end of Dr. Strange 171 (1968). Returning to Dr. Strange 6, this was the beginning of an excellent 4 part story (DS 6-9), but interestingly, a different inker inked each of the 4 issues. It appears that Steve Englehart used this story line to elevate Umar as a major antagonist for Dr. Strange and to give some background to Clea. When you think about it, we really did not know very much about Clea at all, and we would learn a lot about her in this story line. Also, Umar had not been used very much (other than her first appearances in Strange Tales). Even though she was human in appearance, we would learn that she was just as evil and ruthless as her brother. Marvel did not have that many strong villainesses, and in the space of these 2 months we have seen Umar, Viper, and the Enchantress. Also it appears that November 1974 was major villain month at Marvel with the returns of: Dormammu in Dr. Strange, the Red Skull in Captain America, Loki in Thor, Kang in the Avengers, and Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four.
It is too bad that Frank Brunner would not return to a regular series (other than 2 issues of Howard the Duck). I understand he did provide a few later covers to Dr. Strange, although by then I was no longer buying the series so missed that. But Gene Colan was a very good replacement on Dr. Strange.
Great review. Thanks Alan!
Gene Colan drew much better than Brunner, and GC was a lot more prolific as well, but one could see that Brunner really went all-out on his Dr. Strange stories which, in retrospect, are his peak comics work.