Back in January, we looked at Doctor Strange #13 — which, as you’ll remember, ended with our hero witnessing the recreation of a shattered Earth just one issue after having witnessed (and been the sole survivor of) the destruction of that same planet. His new existential status as the one person in the world who knew that everyone else had been obliterated, and then replaced with perfect duplicates bearing the memories of their original, deceased selves (except for the dying-in-a-cataclysm part), clearly gave the Sorcerer Supreme a good deal to mull over. 
Unfortunately, before he had much of a chance to do so, he had to deal with the menace of the Lord of Vampires, Count Dracula, in an adventure that began in Tomb of Dracula #44 and ended in issue #14 of Doc’s own series.
It’s in the immediate aftermath of that adventure that Doctor Strange #15 begins, as we find our regular creative team of writer Steve Englehart and artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer (the latter two of whom also produced the cover) chronicling the return of a weary Stephen Strange and his manservant and friend, Wong, to their home… a return which is, alas, destined to be interrupted before they arrive at their doorstep…
As regular readers may recall, back in DS #13 Eternity had identified himself as “Adam Qadmon“, a name likely dawn by Steve Englehart from the school of Jewish mystical thought known as the Kabbalah.
Just before Doc and Wong arrive at the Sanctum Sanctorum, the latter peels away to stop by the corner store to pick up some ingredients for the night’s meal. He’s followed by the mysterious figure introduced in the last panel, above… although it’s another pair of strangers who end up accosting him inside the store…
This is an interesting interlude which, one assumes, has been included in response to concerns over the series’ arguably stereotypical handling of Wong, who at this time was one of the relatively few Asian supporting characters appearing regularly in American mainstream comics. I’m not at all sure that Wong’s speech accomplishes what it was intended to, here, but I do appreciate that Marvel was at least making an attempt to address the issue.
Meanwhile, having returned to his Sanctum, Doc wanders around, trying to take comfort in the familiar vibes of his home… and finding it tough to do so. “Everything is the same, and yet different! I cannot tell it is different — it looks and feels the same –”
This seems an appropriate time for your humble blogger to drop the factoid that, according to Steve Englehart’s 2013 introduction for Marvel Masterworks — Doctor Strange, Vol. 6, the character of James Mandarin was inspired by Charles Manson. Just thought you might like to know…
After Dr. Strange explains that they can’t afford to “get involved with a hospital’s paperwork” (um, really?), he and Wong carry the injured man to an upstairs room. Along the way, they run into Doc’s fellow mystical adepts, Rama Kaliph and Lord Phyffe. You remember those guys, right?
As has been customary throughout this present run of Doctor Strange storiesn, as the story’s events turn from the mundane to the fantastic, Gene Colan’s page layouts change from strict rectangular grids to more irregular, almost chaotic designs.
The demons are quickly dispersed by Strange’s spell, but he’s left shaken, and decides to abandon his attempt to commune with the Ancient One. Leaving his study, he ascends the stars towards his home’s roof; observing him, Clea wonders aloud to Wong, “Why will he not speak?” The retainer replies: “For many years now, he has borne the weight of the world on his shoulders, miss — and by temperament and avocation, he is a solitary man! What can any of us truly know of Dr. Strange?”
“Why must wisdom bring such doubt?” asks Englehart’s omniscient narrator at the top of the next page, as Dr. Strange continues to brood in solitude. “‘Master of the Mystic Arts’ — hah! The Black Arts have no masters — only adventurers!” he says ruefully. But then he’s interrupted by Lord Phyffe and Rama Kaliph as they join him on the roof. Phyffe apologizes for the intrusion, then explains that, although the two of them aren’t anywhere near their host’s league, they’re still adepts, and have sensed his distress…
Mandarin goes on to say that he took the action he did to force Strange to take him in, knowing that the latter would use his powers to save him. But the Sorcerer Supreme is having none of it. “You think I’m some sort of guru?” he scoffs. He tells his would-be disciple that even as a fantasy, the idea is ludicrous, and as a justification for almost killing himself, “it’s monstrous! Believe me, mister — the last thing in the world that I am is a messiah!”
Satan? The real one? You mean, like, the chief spirit of evil in the traditions of the Abrahamic religions? The Devil, you say?
This came as more of a surprise in March, 1976 than later generations of Marvel Comics readers may be able to appreciate. Sure, Dr. Strange had previously faced off against other evil entities with notably Devilish attributes — none more so than Satannish (first mentioned in Strange Tales #144 [May, 1966]), whose very name served to lampshade the publisher’s 1960s-era reluctance to feature the “real” Satan as a comic-book supervillain (as of course did also Satannish’s fellow Silver Age baddie, Mephisto). But, given that Satan had since then been established as a literal personage in the greater Marvel Universe, via his appearances in the “Ghost Rider” and “Son of Satan” features, that particular ship had clearly sailed; even Dr. Strange himself had by now teamed up a couple of times with the titular star of the latter strip, Daimon Hellstrom, in the pages of The Defenders. Besides which, our hero had quite literally called on the Name of Satan’s greatest enemy in his battle against Dracula in the issue immediately preceding this one; if the God of Abraham was now to be understood as part of this series’ conceptual backdrop, then surely it followed that Jehovah’s Adversary could be as well.
One month later, behind another strong cover by Colan and Palmer, our storytellers picked up their narrative pretty much where you’d expect — with Dr. Strange and Clea, newly arrived in Hell, being greeted by their infernal “host” (although James Mandarin, who’s presumably made the same trip, is conspicuous by his absence)…
The story’s title, as best as I can tell, is a play on “Pink Elephants on Parade”, from the 1941 Walt Disney film Dumbo.
I’m sure I don’t need to explain Englehart’s “Mick Jagger” reference to most people reading this — but just in case there is somebody out there feeling a little lost right now — and also because I love the song — here’s a link.
When Wong asks why the two mystics can’t just follow Dr. Strange and Clea directly into Hell, Phyffe scoffs, “Pfagh! If we could go where Dr. Strange goes and live, we’d bloody well be Doctor Strange, now wouldn’t we?… We’ll do… what we can!” Meanwhile, down below…
As he had against Dracula in issue #14, Strange calls here upon the Name of God as given in the Hebrew Bible; considered alongside the earlier reference to Adam Qadmon, the usage suggests a growing interest on the part of Steve Englehart in supplementing the established roster of fictional entities regularly invoked by our hero — the Vishanti, Hoggoth, Cytorrak, etc. — with authentic names from actual occult traditions like the Kabbalah. Whether he would have gone even further with this new inclination had he remained on the book longer than another couple of issues, we’ll likely never know.
“– You forgot about poor mad Mordo!” As we previously discussed in our post on issue #13, the fate of Dr. Strange’s arch-enemy Baron Mordo had indeed been left a mystery at the conclusion of that issue; Eternity had told Strange then that he’d recreated the Earth “without Mordo”, but what did that mean, exactly? Englehart seems to have had something specific in mind, here; but he wouldn’t get around to picking up on it before his abrupt departure, and when Mordo did finally show up again, no explanation for his survival would be offered.
Englehart’s description of “the eternal Vishanti” (who’d first been mentioned in Strange Tales #115 [Dec., 1963]) as being a quartet, composed of “the King, Queen, Son, and Daughter” is interesting, given that in their one and only previous on-panel appearance, back in Marvel Premiere #5 (Nov., 1972), they’d been a trio. Perhaps Englehart was unaware of this — or maybe he was aware, and had an explanation for the discrepancy in mind. If the latter is true, then it’s yet another road not traveled before his sudden departure from the series.
Ah, so that’s where Mandarin’s been all this time…
Dr. Strange’s spell is seemingly successful in disrupting his enemy’s serpentine form, causing Satan to transform back into his normal shape. But then the Devil leaps onto the top of the tower where Clea remains chained; and when Strange tries to fly to his lover’s rescue, the tower suddenly starts growing taller at an incredible speed, so that Clea is soon out of sight…
“Beelzebub is the Prince of Lies!” Dr. Strange says, as though to himself. “I see it now!”
“What is this, then?” asks Satan. “An exorcism — perhaps in concert with your foreign friends on the surface?” He already knows about Kaliph and Phyffe’s efforts, he says, and he assures Strange that their efforts are futile. “Imagine trying to affect the Devil in his own domain!
“Doctor?”
Did Gene Colan, who was presumably working from a written plot rather than a complete script, really mean for the panels on the above page to be read in the sequence indicated by those “Arrows of Shame” (to borrow a phrase from my fellow blogger Tom Brevoort)? It’s possible, certainly, but I have my doubts.
According to Steve Englehart’s Marvel Masterworks intro, he took some grief from other writers and staffers at Marvel for having had the effrontery to kill off and resurrect all of their characters, as well as his own. For my part, I agree with Englehart that it really shouldn’t have been a big deal, given that every “recreated” Marvel hero and supporting cast member was exactly the same as they had been before, and no one outside of the Doctor Strange book was aware of what had happened. Back in 1976, I simply appreciated it as another weird little wrinkle in Marvel’s fictional reality, in the same vein as Sise-Neg’s “second creation” of the universe back in Marvel Premiere #14; yeah, it was far out, man, but nothing to get worked up over, surely.
That said, this two-issue storyline was probably the least memorable in Steve Englehart’s three year run writing Doctor Strange, so far as your humble blogger was concerned. (And I speak literally; I had in fact forgotten all about Doc’s encounter with Satan prior to my latest re-read for this blog.) That may be due in part to the story’s brevity — outside of the recent crossover with Tomb of Dracula, it’s the only complete narrative arc in Englehart’s run that’s less than three issues long — but it’s probably due more to my own relative immaturity at the time I first read it.
Back in 1976, I was focused more on the somewhat shaky plot mechanics — like, just how did James Mandarin’s madness provide Satan with the means to abduct Dr. Strange and Clea, to Hell? — and less on its existential themes of how we define reality, as well as our own place within it… and how that in turn affects how we relate to others. Half a century later, however, I have a lot more life experience (and perhaps a little more wisdom), and so am better able to appreciate Englehart’s metaphorical approach to traditional religious concepts (“the Evil One exists only if you allow him to!”) as well as to its ultimate message of hope through human connection (“…if we look beyond the barriers, and help each other when the darkness falls — none of us need ever enter Hell again!“). It’s early days for my reassessment, I realize, but who knows? I may end up deciding that this story resonates for me more than anything else Steve Englehart wrote for this series.
Whether or not that turns out to be the case, there’s no question that, fifty years ago, eighteen-year-old me was ready for something a little different in the next issue of Doctor Strange — and “The Occult History of America!”, delivered in this country’s bicentennial year by the writer who’d previously pitted Captain America against Richard Nixon, seemed likely to do the trick. Alas, we’d only get two tantalizing chapters before Steve Englehart’s distinguished tenure on this feature would come to its abrupt and disappointing end… but that, of course, is a topic for a future post.
It’s Saturday morning. Workout’s done. Coffee’s brewed. Regina Spektor’s singing through my earbuds. Now to see what Alan’s got in store for me to enjoy.
Doctor Strange #16?
Oh, hell yes! (No pun intended.)
This issue confirmed in my 15-year-old mind that Dr. Stephen Strange had indeed become my second favorite comic book character. (Right behind Iron Man – long story!)
Why?
I saw that for all the complexity of these issues – amid the gorgeous art from Colan and Palmer – the core of this series was still a man who struggled with his role in life and ultimately, found a path to success.
Eternity destroys the world. Dracula fangs him. Satan abducts he and his lovely disciple. Incredible challenges all. Yet somehow, someway, this guy determines the path to victory.
What I also recall about this particular issue was someone in the letter pages remarking that the only book that had been as good as this one had been the Silver Surfer and it had been cancelled with their fear being such a fate awaited the good Doctor. Of course that didn’t happen. But with the creative team disappearing in two issues, it did mean that this title – with my second favorite character – would no longer be a title I collected.
Big thanks to Alan for another outstanding review to start my weekend!
I don’t remember fourteen year old Steve’s reaction to this but present me doesn’t like it. I find it a cluttered mess and an unnecessary side trip. And did they leave Mandarin in Hell?
No, Mandarin’s fate was addressed in issue #17, albeit briefly.
Mandarin also turns up much later once, during Roger Stern’s run.
I can imagine this was the kind of story my 18-year old self would have loved, considering it mixed superheroes and magic with modern religious themes, but unlike other stories of late, this one seemed a bit chaotic. I’m glad that Strange told his friends what had happened to them and to the world, even though Clea reacted badly (you’d think, being Dormammu’s daughter, she’d be used to this kind of thing), but aside from giving Stephen the chance to be unpleasant to everyone, it didn’t really seem to go anywhere.
Was this the first appearance of James Mandarin? I like the character and what he represents, but I feel like his introduction was sort of rushed here. If you hadn’t told us he was based on everyone’s favorite “family-man” Charles Manson, we would have had no context for him at all.
Don’t get me wrong. I respect that Strange plays on a large and dangerous playing field. I get that. So much so that I sort of wonder why the End of the World would have such an affect on him, especially since it’s not the first one he’s seen lately. Whereas the battle with Dracula and even Sig-Neg seemed to be about something, this just seemed like Satan was just throwing $#!+ at the Sorcerer Supreme to wear him down, rather than attempt to corrupt him. Strange finally rallied and gained the presence of mind to put Satan in his place, but the philosophical platitudes he espoused to Clea at the end were not particularly deep nor beyond the philosophical prowess of your average seminary student. I expect better from Strange…and from Englehart.
Finally, Colan’s art once again looks rushed and unfinished and his layout difficult to follow (hence the arrows of shame), giving credence to the opinion that Marvel’s low page rates were forcing him to do too much in order to make a living. The verdict? I probably would have enjoyed this more in ’76 than I do today. Thanks, Alan!
Yeah, a few of the panels or faces work better individually but overall feels rushed. I also would not have noticed as a young teen though. Does the Lord Phyffe character look based on anyone? eg an actor. Feels there’s a strong photographic influence overall as Colan did state he used taken pics and collected film stills.
Beautiful art from Colan and Palmer, especially in no. 15 which had more intricate (earthly) backgrounds in it, but not my subject matter at all.
My purchases for July 1976 cover dated comics were Swamp Thing no. 23 with interior art by Nestor Redondo (his last for the series which folded with no. 24) and Howard the Duck no. 4 with a Howard for president campaign button on the letters page drawn by Berni Wrightson (Swamp Thing’s co-creator, ironically).
Otherwise, aside from the Warren mags I was picking up older comics and fanzines (with some top pros in them) from a few years past at bargain prices.
Do you think Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan remembered Clea’s exhibition of magic when they worked on *Night Force* a few years later and gave Baron Winters Merlin the leopard?
I knew what happened to Lord Phyffe but had to look up Rama Kaliph. Seems that being a friend to Stephen Strange is as dangerous as being one to John Constantine!
Steve Gerber, if I remember correctly, has two repairmen in the Headmen arc in *The Defenders* comment on Wong’s deference towards Doctor Strange. Evidently, Steves, be they Baby like Gerber or Stainless like Englehart, think along similar lines.
At the moment, the Rolling Stones music in my personal collection comes down to *Sticky Fingers* and *Exile on Main St.,” so I don’t have their version of “Sympathy for the Devil,” but I do have two versions of it from Bryan Ferry, one studio and one live. The studio version is on *These Foolish Things,* and one of its other tracks is a cover of Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party.”
Satan and Judy…together again for the first time!
In Kate Flannery’s *Strip Tees,* the author adopts a kitten whom she names for Squeaky Fromme, whom she deems the least culpable of the Manson Family. Meeting James Mandarin made me think I’d choose Linda Kasabian.
While it may be Judy’s Turn to Cry ere long, once again you have given us a cause to cheer. Thank you and keep up the wonderful work.
I have no idea who Kate Flannery is, but my girlfriend and I actually had a cat named Squeaky, and my girlfriend really did name her after Squeaky Fromme. Not that that has anything to do with the comic books being discussed in this blog post!
On an unrelated note, I love THESE FOOLISH THINGS. And Bryan Ferry’s version of “Sympathy for the Devil” sounds a little more how I think Lucifer would sound than Mick’s version.
Ferry is UNSTOPPABLY cool!
Gotta say that I’m a big fan of both the Stones and anything Bryan Ferry touches.
I missed these when they were new on the racks. Perusing it now, I think the most fascinating thing is Strange’s psychological journey and struggles and finding a path out through connectiveness with others. Much of Englehart’s writing has dealt with matters of trust, perceptions and relationships. Satan doesn’t come off as all that interesting a character and his motivation appears not much more than amusing himself at Strange’s expense. By this time, I’d already encountered the devil in Ghost Rider, wherein he often came off as too cartoonish in appearance. Overall, this story came off as a bit of wild ride that ended on a paean of hope based on friendship and caring for one another, certainly a pleasant ending note.
I didn’t say it in my comment, but I also agree that this was the first portrayal of Big Red Bad Guy that didn’t seem cartoonish with him all but twirling his moustache. That added to my appeal for this issue.
Very good review Alan. My recollection of issues 15-16 was that I was somewhat confused by the presentation of “Satan” in these issues. We had seen Mephisto who faced the Silver surfer and Thor, who were both part of Dr. Strange’s universe. And Dr. Strange would eventually contend with Mephisto several times. I was unfamiliar with Satannish as I had not yet read Dr. Strange 169-183 (although I would several years later). I only read a very few issues of Ghost Rider but was familiar with how GR’s origin tied in with Satan. But I had been reading the Son of Satan series in Marvel Spotlight so was familiar with the use of Satan in that series. But the “Satan” in those series sounded and looked nothing like the Satan in those stories. Of course the Devil is supposed to have many guises. And in fact, another version of Satan would appear, just a year and a half later in Tomb of Dracula 63-64 and be drawn by Colan and Palmer! But returning to Dr. Strange, this version of Satan certainly sounded like Mephisto. I’m not sure I understand why Steve didn’t just use Mephisto. It wasn’t a bad story, just unusual. It appears most folks don’t recall that James Mandarin (a character I really did not care for) was quickly dispensed with at the very beginning of Dr. Strange 17 (thankfully).
Regarding different versions of the devil, JM DeMatteis attempted to address this several years later in the Defenders, and then Roy Thomas attempted to also address this in the West Coast Avengers series in the 90a. I won’t even try to go into detail about that as it is even more confusing.
At least we had two more interesting issues of Dr. Strange before things went south for awhile (and the dreaded deadline doom struck). Looking forward to what you have to say there…. Thanks Alan.
I still have my copies of this ( a bit dog eared from being re-read dozens of times.) While it’s not Sise Neg Genesis it’s still head and shoulders above any other comics published at the time and I oughta know because I was reading about 12 or 13 titles every month back then. So I sort of fail to see the quibbles of a couple of commenters here on the blog. Colan’s art looks rushed? Well, another way of looking at the composition details, like lack of background and a general sense of motion might be he’s trying deliberately to make it look different from other comics. Mystical, eerie, other worldly. To me he accomplishes this….Big Time! The ground beneath people’s feet not shown for instance, to highlight a place without substance, ethereal…umm hellish? Unnecessary side trip? Who better than Englehart to give his take on the devil? I loved the changing voices, the tricks’ the lies, the feigned figures. Superb. I dunno. If you’re panning this, what did you like back in mid-1975? Man Bat?
While my assessment of this issue aligns with yours, I enjoy reading views that differ from mine. They often point out aspects that I may have overlooked or a personal aspect that guided their impression. Comments of that nature also have me more carefully consider my future remarks. And best of all, for the first time in too many decades, I have the opportunity to “talk” about old comic books with others! It doesn’t get better than that!
Agree with both Joe and Rick here. I was quite surprised by the number of ‘meh’ or negative comments above – back in the day I thought this was about as good as comics got but, like Rick, I do like to hear dissenting opinions that give me reason to rethink and/or clarify my own thoughts.
That said, you might guess that I disagree with our esteemed host’s view that this was the least memorable story arc in Englehart’s Dr Strange run. I really loved the whole Eternity/ Planet Earth is No More/ Doc literally falls into the pits of despair business. Especially liked the simple (and obvious) resolution: “Beelzebub is the Prince of Lies!” … “I see it now!” “There is no reply… but the wind of power begin to blow!” Essentially, Doc simply recovers his self-belief and confidence. My only negative is that the whole storyline was interrupted by the (to me) mediocre Drac crossover, that was at the least poorly timed by falling between the cause and effect of this story.
Very much on display here is Englehart’s wordplay, which drew me to his work in the first place: “Remember this… If you never learn another thing from me, remember this… the evil one exists only if you allow him to!” Note also the repetition of “There is no reply!”. Very soon after this, we would be witnessing the same rhythm in Detective Comics, where “the Batman makes no reply!”
Just to clarify, mike — it was only the two-part Mandarin/Satan sequence that I found unmemorable way back then. I *loved* the four-part Eternity/Nightmare/Mordo arc that preceded both it and the Dracula crossover. Also, as I tried to convey in the post, I like #15-16 a lot better now than I did then. 😉
Hi, Alan. I understand, I just felt that the two-part Mandarin/Satan sequence was the memorable part of the story disrupted by the Dracula stuff, not really a separate thing. It wasn’t, to me, a ‘two-issue storyline’ as you described it, but the last two episodes of the whole arc. It’s also nice to know that us old guys can revise our opinions fifty years on 😊
Reading this blog post, I feel like Gene Colan got too crazy with the storytelling & layouts on these two issues. That page with the “arrows of shame” immediately stands out, but a few others are a bit difficult to follow, as well. Still, I have to at least acknowledge that Colan was attempting to do something unconventional and out of the ordinary with his penciling here. I also do think that Steve Englehart’s story here is perhaps somewhat haphazardly plotted, and the ending a mite rushed. But, again, points for attempting to go off the beaten path with his writing.
All I remember of this one was Strange’s friends learning they’d been de-existed then recreated.
I do think that would be a big thing, even for Stephen. Yes, he’d faced world destruction before; even so to have the world annihilated, then recreated, a vague sense that it wasn’t the real world, makes the latest apocalypse unsettling (less so for someone of his enlightenment than it is for me, I’m sure, but even so).
Here we see signs of the Strange/Clea rift that becomes stronger in the next arc. And Phyffe and Caliph as semi-regulars perhaps? Also the continuing emphasis on Sorcerer Supreme as a matter more of understanding than of raw power.
Mandarin, according to the Appendix to the Marvel Universe, goes on to become a sincere seeker for truth and meets strange again while he’s an Eastern-mystic monk.
At this risk of making a complete idiot out of myself (or entering into TMI territory), this book sorta helped save my life. I was in a dark place, entirely of my own devising, at the time it came out. The last page hit, and hit HARD. I had the chance to fumblingly thank Steve Englehart in a phone interview for this issue, and I think he read between the lines in what I was trying to say.
“If we look beyond the barriers, and help each other when the darkness falls, none of us need enter Hell again.” Still gets me to me.
This a long way of saying that I feel that these two issues were not just a coda to the Mordo/End of the world story. It was the necessary follow-up to reflect Stephen Strange’s – dare I say it? – rising and advancing of the spirit. After being shaken to the core by the events of the previous arc (not counting the Drac team-up, although that was skillfully addressed), Stephen needed to have some semblance of his confidence in his ability restored, and this was the way to do it.
As was the case with the post-Nomad Captain America, it would have been interesting to see how this Stephen would have handled Clea’s actions in the NEXT arc- though we would never see how Englehart would have played that out, sigh.
Oh, and about that page with Wong – maybe I’m wrong, but I think this is a thread that Englehart felt that he could follow now that DR. STRANGE was a monthly title, which allows for different plotting than a bi monthly book needs. Unlike THE AVENGERS, this is obviously not a title with a large supporting cast, but I think Englehart felt that the monthly schedule would have allowed him to play things out differently.
Not that we would ever see it. But at the time, we didn’t know that.
Thanks, Alan!
Thank you for sharing that, Bill. All of us have been in difficult situations. Inspiration will come in many forms. I’m glad that this particular issue provided that for you.