Doctor Strange

Defenders #14 (July, 1974)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

When we last left the Defenders, back in September, the Defenders themselves were, well, leaving.  Most of them, anyway.  As was the writer who’d been chronicling their adventures since they’d graduated from Marvel Feature into their own title some sixteen months earlier: Steve Englehart.

Just in case you missed it, Englehart had concluded his double-title, multi-issue crossover epic, the Avengers/Defenders War (or, if you prefer, the Quest for the Black Knight’s Soul) in Defenders #11 with a scene that saw four of the six heroes who’d carried the banner of the junior team in that classic match-up — the Hulk, the Sub-Mariner, the Silver Surfer, and even raw recruit Hawkeye — departing to pursue other interests.  That left only de facto team leader Doctor Strange, as well as the Valkyrie (who had nowhere else to go, really) on hand to say farewell from the window of the Sorcerer Supreme’s Sanctum Sanctorum — and also left incoming new regular writer Len Wein with the challenge either of contriving a way to bring some or all of the wayward members back, or of quickly  introducing new members to the mix.  (Or of having Doc and Val face down the menace of Xemnu the Titan all on their own, which I don’t think anyone expected — or especially wanted, for that matter — to see happen.)  As we’ll soon discover, he ended up employing a combination of those first two strategies… although it would take several issues for that process to be complete.  Read More

Doctor Strange #1 (June, 1974)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

I have to confess, that as fond as I am of the comic that’s the subject of today’s blog post, I’ve always had a little trouble thinking of it as a “real” first issue.  After all, Doctor Strange had already had a first issue of his own solo title all the way back in 1968 — despite Marvel’s having opted at that time to continue the numbering of Doc’s previous home, the double-featured Strange Tales, by sticking a “#169” on it.  That solo series had run for fifteen issues before succumbing to cancellation in 1969, so no way was the comic book that showed up on stands in the middle of March, 1974, the actual first issue of Doctor Strange.  Heck, this wasn’t even the first issue of his current headlining feature, since that had begun a little less than two years previously, in Marvel Premiere #3.  The hero’s MP run had continued through issue #14 and then picked up here after only a three-month break; so, as far as I was concerned, Doctor Strange #1 was little more than the latest issue of the Sorcerer Supreme’s successfully revived solo series.  “Fabulous First Issue!”, my eye (of Agamotto).  Read More

Marvel Premiere #14 (March, 1974)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

In December, 1973, the lead feature spot in Marvel Premiere was about to become vacant, as Doctor Strange’s 20-month, 12-issue tenancy as the publication’s headliner neared its end.  For the Master of the Mystic Arts — and his fans — it was a happy occasion, as he was about to return to starring in his very own title for the first time since 1969.

Though, of course, before the good Doctor could move into his new digs, he’d have to survive the third and final chapter of the storyline the series’ creative team of Steve Englehart (co-plotter/scripter) and Frank Brunner (co-plotter/artist) had initiated back in Marvel Premiere #12 — a storyline that presently found Strange and his arch-enemy, Baron Mordo, journeying backwards through time to the dawn of Creation, trailing a sorcerer from the far distant future named Sise-Neg (though, for reasons now unknown, the copy affixed to Brunner’s cover for issue #14 called him Cagliostro — the 18th-century mage Sise-Neg had impersonated in the previous issue).  Read More

Marvel Premiere #13 (January, 1974)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in August, we took a look at Marvel Premiere #12, featuring the initial chapter of a multi-part “Doctor Strange” adventure by the creative team of co-plotter/scripter Steve Englehart (joined for that single issue by co-scripter Mike Friedrich) and co-plotter/artist Frank Brunner.  Having begun their run on the feature half a year earlier by taking two issues to wrap up the extended “Shum-Gorath” storyline they’d inherited from their predecessors — and then following that up in Marvel Premiere #11 with a three-page framing sequence for a couple of classic Strange tales by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko — this was the first opportunity for Englehart and Brunner to show what kind of story they could come up with all on their own.

Our topic today is the second chapter of that same story, which begins right where the first installment left off, as the newly-anointed Sorcerer Supreme of Earth pursues his old foe (and former rival for his new role), Baron Mordo, through the time stream…  Read More

Defenders #11 (December, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

The primary subject of today’s post, Defenders #11, is the official conclusion of Marvel’s Avengers/Defenders War crossover event of summer, 1973 — though you’d be hard-pressed to find any evidence of that fact on the book’s otherwise very fine Sal Buscema cover.

Still, as the opening splash page clearly tells us, this is indeed “The 12th and final chapter of the greatest super-epic ever told!”  And surely writer Steve Englehart must know whereof he speaks.  Mustn’t he?  Read More

Avengers #118 (December, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

It’s September, and we’ve finally arrived at the climax of Marvel Comics’ pioneering crossover event of the summer of 1973, the Avengers/Defenders War.  Having realized at last that they share a common enemy, the superheroes of the two feuding teams have united to save the world.

So it’s fitting that, for the first time since the storyline began, the cover of this chapter gives us a group shot of multiple members from both teams — although artists Ron Wilson and John Romita have probably chosen wisely in not trying to cram all fourteen heroes, plus supervillains Dormammu and Loki, into a single shot.  Rather, they’ve opted to go with just nine, and it’s interesting to take note of who’s been included.  Unsurprisingly, every character starring in their own series — that’s Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther (in Jungle Action) from the Avengers, plus Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Doctor Strange (in Marvel Premiere) from the Defenders — makes the cut.  But that still leaves two slots, and they’ve both gone to female characters — the Avengers’ Scarlet Witch and the Defenders’ Valkyrie — which serves to make the cover at least slightly less of a sausage fest.  Better luck next time, Silver Surfer, Vision, Hawkeye, Swordsman, and Mantis (the only shero who didn’t make the cover).

Still, if you’re hankering for a big group shot featuring all the heroes from both teams, no exceptions, then have no worries; Marvel’s got you covered on the book’s opening splash page:  Read More

Marvel Premiere #12 (November, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

In the summer of 1973, Marvel Comics decided to bring out an extra issue or two of a couple of their titles that normally came out only every two months.  I’m sure the thinking was that by doing so, they could capitalize on the fact of their mostly youthful audience having more time (and maybe more money) to spend on comic books while out of school, and you can’t really blame them.  But while the increase in frequency made all the sense in the world for a book like Defenders — which was then in the middle of a multi-issue, back-and-forth crossover with the always-monthly Avengers — it made somewhat less sense for the “Doctor Strange” solo vehicle, Marvel Premiere… if only because the publisher evidently got the idea for the “extra” issue too late to prepare a new story for it.

That would seem to be the simplest explanation for how, in the month of July, we got Marvel Premiere #11 — which, beneath a new cover by Frank Brunner, reprinted a couple of eight-page classics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko that had originally appeared way back in Strange Tales #115 (Dec., 1963) and #117 (Feb., 1964), with the only new interior content being a three-page framing sequence by Brunner and writer Steve Englehart.  Hey, d’you think maybe Marvel was just trying to pry every dime they could out of faithful fans like your humble blogger?  Read More

Defenders #10 (November, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Today we continue our coverage of Marvel Comics’ groundbreaking crossover event of summer, 1973, the Avengers/Defenders War.  As you’ll recall from our post about Avengers #117 two weeks ago, the latest battle in the ongoing conflict between the super-teams ended without a clear winner or loser, as Captain America and the Sub-Mariner called a time-out to investigate their suspicions that the heroes were being played against each other by a malevolent third party (which was indeed absolutely the case).

But, as had been promised in no uncertain terms by Avengers #117’s end-of-issue “coming next” blurb — and which was proclaimed even more forcefully by Defenders #10’s John Romita cover — whatever “Breakthrough!” might be imminent wouldn’t arrive in time the stop the Mighty Thor and the Incredible Hulk from throwing down.  And that was a good thing, since if that match-up hadn’t come to fruition, sixteen-year-old me would have asked for my money back.  (Well, not really, since I was well aware the guy working the counter at the Tote-Sum would simply have looked at me like I was crazy if I pulled something like that.  But you know what I mean.)  As it was, however, I could just kick back and wait for writer Steve Englenart and artists Sal Buscema and Frank Bolle to bring on the brawlers…  Read More

Avengers #117 (November, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Before we leap right into the latest installment of Marvel Comics’ crossover event of summer, 1973 , the Avengers/Defenders War, let’s pause to note how its cover represents yet a third approach to representing the event in the context of a single 20-cent comic book — a comic which Marvel would have been keen to have a prospective buyer pick up, even if they hadn’t bought the ongoing storyline’s two previous episodes.  To wit: while the cover of Avengers #116 had spotlighted only the three heroes actively engaging in battle within its pages (i.e., Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Silver Surfer), and that of Defenders #9 “symbolically” shoehorned the three original Defenders (i.e., Dr. Strange, Hulk, and Sub-Mariner) into a scene of Iron Man vs. former Avenger/current Defender Hawkeye, this John Romita-Mike Esposito number puts the focus on the two marquee combatants (i.e., Captain America and Sub-Mariner) while giving us a selection of other Avengers in the form of floating heads, as well as teasing us with a partially-seen guest star… while never using the words “Defender” or “Defenders” at all.  It certainly makes for a marked contrast with the covers of most later multi-title crossover events at both Marvel and its rival DC Comics, where the emphasis is on making sure that a prospective buyer knows that a particular issue is part of the event, and so a “must-buy” for anyone following/collecting it… versus trying to downplay the possibility of someone not buying the comic because they don’t have all the previous chapters.  Times sure have changed, amirite?  Read More

Marvel Spotlight #12 (October, 1973)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

In several previous blog posts (most extensively in this one), I’ve described the early 1970s horror boom in American comics as part of a larger wave of interest in monsters (especially among young people) that can be traced back to the arrival of the classic old Universal monster movies on television in the late 1950s, and that flourished in the following decade and beyond, ultimately giving us such enduring cultural artifacts as Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s hit 1962 single “Monster Mash”, the Gothic TV soap opera Dark Shadows (which premiered in 1966, but didn’t really didn’t take off until the arrival of the vampire Barnabas Collins in ’67), and, lest we forget, Count Chocula and Franken Berry breakfast cereals, which first crept onto grocery shelves in 1971.  It was a legitimate popular phenomenon, but one that had largely passed American color comics by — at least until the early 1971 revisions to the Comics Code, which allowed for vampires, werewolves, and ghouls to be used “when handled in the classic tradition such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high calibre literary works” for the first time since the Code’s adoption in 1954.  Before too many months had passed, spinner racks were filling up with titles like Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, and Swamp Thing — and fifty years ago, in the summer of 1973, new ones were continuing to arrive.  Read More