Dr. Strange from the beginning (reviews by coke & comics)

[MRP]

Strange Tales #146, by Dennis O'Neil and Steve Ditko
"The end-- at last!"
July, 1966

Attachment 111842

Grade: A-

Brief Synopsis: Dormammu is ready for revenge. Because of his oath, he must first lure Dr. Strange to his dimension. Fearing the interference of Eternity, Dormammu locks Eternity in his own subcosmos; he then lures Dr. Strange with the voice of the captive female who had aided him.

Eternity is not so easily trapped. He breaks free of Dormammu's locks, saying the battle had no interest to him until Dormammu brought him into it. Dormammu sees it is Eternity who has always been between him and supremacy and goes to war against Eternity.

Dr. Strange is not privy to the finale of the battle. The Ancient One rescues him, but what he had seen was more than his mind could retain. Dormammu is destroyed, reduced at least to a disembodied spirit. The fate of Eternity is unknown.

Dr. Strange frees all who had been imprisoned by Dormammu. Those he has rescued pledge to help Dr. Strange rid the dimension of the lingering traces of Dormammu's evil. Mordo is among the freed, but the Ancient One takes him prisoner. The girl was also freed. She reveals her name to be Clea.

The end.

Review: Well, that's it. I'll reflect a bit and give some final throughts on Ditko's run on Dr. Strange. Take a brief break while MRP catches up, and then continue onward with the further adventures of Dr. Strange.

This was a far better finale to the Dormammu saga than the hand-to-hand combat struggles of a few issues back. Is it all I could hope for? Not sure. The cosmic and epic scale of the finale was appreciated. I have mixed thoughts on how small a role Dr. Strange ended up playing in the defeat of Dormammu. On the one hand, a more active role by Strange fits better with the goal of a dramatic series about our hero. Thinking which led to the pincer battle. On the other hand, the idea that these forces were too big for him, relegating him to the sidelines, makes a lot more sense.

With the splash pages and short page count, the battle seemed quick. And I perhaps could have used more. But what was there was about as good as comics get. Those awesome splash pages of Dormammu vs. Eternity is really what it's all about in my mind.

And, of course, to throw some human in with the cosmic, are the hints of romance between Dr. Strange and the girl we now know is named Clea.

Glad that mystery was finally wrapped up.



Notes:

• Ditko's final issue
• Dormammu's physical body destroyed; fate of Eternity unknown
• Mysterious girl revealed to be named Clea

and lo there shall be an ending....of sorts. Our fantastic finale and farewell to the mastery of Ditko.

Story: 9/10
Art 10/10
Overall Impression: 9/10

Commentary: Ditko hits it out of the park in his swan song. The battle between Eternity and Dormammu looks epic and we see visually how small Doc is in the scale of such things. O'Neil turns in a much stronger script here than he did in the previous issue. Nice little bits like the bystanders when Doc steps through the amulet and the interaction between Doc and the finally revealed Clea, but still some hamfisted bits like Mordo's dialogue when he emerges from the netherrealm.

This is perhaps one of the greatest Doc epics ever, and certainly set the tone for everything that happened with the character moving forward in terms of tone, feel, and scale. Anything coming after is going to seem less by comparison, but the fact it is the first Strange without Ditko on board is going to be a double let down, but such is the life of an ongoing comic feature, and Doc is a strong enough character to survive and eventually thrive again.

-M

[LEADER DESSLOK]

and lo there shall be an ending....of sorts. Our fantastic finale and farewell to the mastery of Ditko.

Story: 9/10
Art 10/10
Overall Impression: 9/10

Commentary: Ditko hits it out of the park in his swan song. The battle between Eternity and Dormammu looks epic and we see visually how small Doc is in the scale of such things. O'Neil turns in a much stronger script here than he did in the previous issue. Nice little bits like the bystanders when Doc steps through the amulet and the interaction between Doc and the finally revealed Clea, but still some hamfisted bits like Mordo's dialogue when he emerges from the netherrealm.

This is perhaps one of the greatest Doc epics ever, and certainly set the tone for everything that happened with the character moving forward in terms of tone, feel, and scale. Anything coming after is going to seem less by comparison, but the fact it is the first Strange without Ditko on board is going to be a double let down, but such is the life of an ongoing comic feature, and Doc is a strong enough character to survive and eventually thrive again.

-M

The battle between Dormammu and Eternity was like NOTHING that hadever been seen in comics up to that point and YES, I'm including Galactus v. the Silver Surfer in this! It literally gave me goosebumps, even to this jaded comic book fan who has seen numerous "epics" since this came out! Ditko sure went out on a high note with DR. STRANGE! It TRULY was AMAZING! (A slight dig aimed at the Web-Head!)

[Scott Harris]

Strange Tales #150

Kaluu had been built up far too much for how easily he was defeated.
[*] Kaluu is banished to Limbo

No spoilers - well, very small spoilers I guess? - but more than twenty years later, Kaluu finally returned for what I consider one of the three greatest Dr. Strange storylines of all time. And he's totally awesome in it.

[MRP]

Strange Tales #147, by Stan Lee, Dennis O'Neil and Bill Everett
"From the nameless nowhere comes... Kaluu!"
August, 1966

Grade: C

Brief Synopsis: Dr. Strange is going about his day when the Ancient One calls to warn of the threat of Kaluu!

Review: Well, we have lost Ditko. But Bill Everett is no slouch. Lee and O'Neil split the scripting chores for this issue and the tonal shift is immediately evident. First, the dialogue is overdone, as people talk in the "groovy slang" of the era. And we see our first examples of the mundane in Dr. Strange's world. Dr. Strange goes shopping, has money problems, and has an argument with building regulators. All of which seems out of place with respect to the series so far. But fits right in with Fantastic Four or Spider-Man comics of the era.

We also get a quick scene where Dr. Strange is in the right place to stop some robbers. Again, more mundane than the usual battles. Collectively, all these scenes serve to make the story feel more like a typical Marvel superhero story. Dr. Strange had previously stood out, not quite being a superhero.

Dr. Strange checks in on the imprisoned Mordo, and Everett proves he can also handle crazy dimensions. Dr. Strange then uses his powers to glimpse Clea in an oddly stalkerish scene.

We then get a clip show, 2 pages recapping the past 2 issues.

For a series that had previously always been in a hurry to get to the action, this issue is suddenly willing to take its time. The story which gives this issue its title begins on the penultimate page when the Ancient One calls to warn about Kaluu!

The Ancient One goes on a bit how powerful Kaluu is, unlike anything Dr. Strange has ever faced. This is a bit difficult to chew given the battle with Dormammu. That is an inherent problem with the ongoing series I have no solution to. You do need to keep one-upping yourself, and Dormammu is tough to top. Of course, dialogue claiming Kaluu is tougher is just words. Will they be able to actually convince us Kaluu is tougher when the next issue comes.

"The power of Kaluu surpasses yours. Indeed, he is my equal..." says the Ancient One. This dialogue (in addition to being a bad example of telling instead of showing how tough your villain is) seems to undermine Dr. Strange's recent growth and the hints that he had finally reached the level of his master.

The issue ends with hints Kaluu had been the Ancient One's teacher, and Dr. Strange beginning to hear the story...

Notes:

• We meet Hiram Barney, a theatrical agent who had once tried to recruit Dr. Strange

Continuing into the post-Ditko era...

Story: 6/10
Art: 7/10
Overall Impression: 6/10

Commentary: In addition to what Chris noted, we also learn Wong's name for the first time in this issue. This new era gets off to a slow start. Everett has the unenviable task of following in Ditko's footsteps, and whoever decided to use the issue to recap much of what happened in Ditko's run did Everett no favor, because he had to essentially redraw Ditko material and was not able to really put his own stamp on the series to show what he could do. Everett is not a bad artist, but when you are recreating Ditko material for recaps, you come across as a second rate Ditko wannabe. I know it's not the case, but like I said, whoever decided Everett's first issue should be a redo of the Ditko stuff, made a poor decision. Where Everett did shine was in the scene with the drug store hold up and the demonic images Doc conjured to torment the thieves. Here we got a sense of what he could do with the strip. And as Chris pointed out, Doc seemed to be channeling his inner Peter Parker for a good bit of the strip, girl troubles, money troubles, man on the street scenes, job troubles, raving villains, and uncertainty as to other villains' fate.

It's been a while (10-15 years) since I read through this stuff, and I remember some of it fondly but remember it took a while for the series to get its groove back post-Ditko, so here's hoping my memory is fuzzy or my impressions are different this time and it turns around after a poor debut.

-M

[Chris N]

We learned Wong's name in Strange Tales #119.

[MRP]

We learned Wong's name in Strange Tales #119.

Did we? My bad. He just seemed forgotten in the Dormammu arc, never seen despite all Mordo's minions squatting in Doc's abode that it just felt like they suddenly remembered, oh Doc had that manservant and threw him back in and gave him a prominent role, and since I didn't remember them naming him before I assumed it was an addition to go along with his more prominent role. But looking back Doc did call him by name when he dismissed him in that issue. Apologies for the error.

-M

[Chris N]

X-Men #33, by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, and John Tartaglione
"Into the Crimson Cosmos!"
June, 1967


Format: Softcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: C+

Brief Synopsis: Professor Xavier had been studying the arcane, specifically the legendary demon known as Cyttorak. He built a device which should have drained Juggernaut of his power and returned it to the nameless void between dimensions where Cyttorak dwells. The experiment failed, thanks to the interference of Factor Three, and the resulting explosion. Thinking Xavier dead, he was disinterested the X-Men, and so went off in search of the group of villains called Factor Three.

Through a mental connection to the unconscious Xavier, Jean learns the history of Cyttorak:

The Ancient One had traveled to Choson (now Korea) to see the Ruby of the Crimson Bands. He did not desire the power of a juggernaut, but merely to learn. Nonetheless, Xorak--the monstrous guardian of the temple--attacked him. Too used to easier prey, Xorak was overpowered and imprisoned in the ruby.

Uncertain is the Ancient One is still alive, the X-Men use Cerebro to find out, and learn that he is and he isn't. They instead make contact with Dr. Strange, summoning his astral form away from his confrontation with the Living Tribunal. He learns of their need and agrees to send Cyclops and Marvel Girl to the Temple of Cyttorak, and telepathically teaches them the incantation they must recite. The incantation transports them within the ruby.

There they encounter Xorak. He is defeated by a wristwatch, allowing Jean and Scott to gain the prototype ruby to aid the X-Men against Juggernaut. The prototype ruby makes him weaker, just as the earthly one made him stronger. And when Juggernaut grabs it, he is sucked into the Crimson Cosmos of the ruby.

But the battle with the Juggernaut was but a distraction, allowing Factor Three to kidnap Xavier...

Review: Hmmm... I realize Xorak attacked the Ancient One, but guarding a ruby which could turn a man into a Juggernaut seemed a worthy cause. Isn't leaving the temple without a guardian mighty irresponsible?

This is basically the X-Men in a Dr. Strange story. Though the depiction of the world within the ruby is a hollow copy of the type of worlds Ditko created.

It is also nice to get our second peek into the early days of the recently deceased Ancient One.

Oddly, I was just talking with Brian about Cyttorak at a bar the other night. He asks if Stan Lee had meant for this connection between Dr. Strange and the X-Men, and hypothesizes that he didn't. Having a word like Cyttorak in his head and forgetting if he'd already used it is totally a Lee thing to do. It's totally a Thomas thing to notice the the Juggernaut's ruby shares a name with the crimson bands called upon by Dr. Strange, and explain that connection.

Notes:

• Dr. Strange is still at Stonehenge when the X-Men summon his astral form.
• Xorak guarded the ruby at Cyttorak's behest until banished by the Ancient One. He now goes by the name "The Outcast".

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #159, by Roy Thomas, Marie Severin, and Herbe Trimpe
"The evil that men do..."
August, 1967


Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: B-

Brief Synopsis: Thanks to Dr. Strange, a host of evil sorcerers now walks the earth. And if he can't stop them, and the root of their evil, earth will be destroyed before their malice is allowed to spread.

Dr. Strange returns home to find his home has disappeared. Wong informs him it was the doing of Umar. Dr. Strange uses a counterspell to restore it.

Dr. Strange uses the crystal of Agamotto to see how magic powers are awakening in people throughout the world.

A newly empowered art thief comes across a more powerful mystic, who recruits him to a mystic brotherhood with plans to free Mordo!

Review: The story quickly deals with the loss of Dr. Strange's house. Then we get a page-long recap of recent events explained to Wong. He leaves out that cutting Zom's hair unleashed "the nameles terror", just saying it was a side-effect of freeing Zom.

We get a single panel--albeit a good one--to mourn the Ancient One. Wong cannot control his grief, but Dr. Strange stores up his tears until another hour.

The issue itself is basically an interlude. Reminds us where we are with respect to the doom of the Living Tribunal, and ties that in to the return of Mordo. I was hoping now that the earth was overrun with mystic villains, we could take a break from Mordo, to tell you the truth.

Notes:

• Umar had used the spell of vanishment to make the house disappear
• Without the psychic seal of permanence, the spell of vanishment can be undone.
• The ceremony of the Circle Sinister can be used to purge all goodness from a person.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #160, by Raymond Marais, Marie Severin, and Herbe Trimpe
"If this planet you would save!"
September, 1967




Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: C+

Brief Synopsis: Dr. Strange must battle Mordo and the horde of mystics who serve him. Failing to reason with Mordo, he unleashes his power, greater than all the mystics combined, and hurls Mordo's spirit through time to see the events that led them here.

He then performs a spell of exorcism to drain the evil from the crowd, and uses Mordo to host the evil.

Review: Raymond Marais will briefly take over the writing. Not a name I know well. He did only a couple stories for Marvel. I don't find the change of scripter particularly noticeable. But it adds to my "too many chefs" complaint about this extended arc. And I dislike the phrase "to whence". I would remove the "to". But "maleficent" is a good word.

Mordo has a new outfit with yellow trimming. Not a fan of it.

One of the assembled mystics is a woman, who the narrator makes it a point to draw our attention to. We later learn she is Victoria Bentley. We've only met her once before in Strange Tales #114, when she helped Dr. Strange against Mordo. She asked Dr. Strange to tutor him in the mystic arts, but he denied her. Now she has only a hazy memory of perhaps meeting Strange and Mordo before. Perhaps Dr. Strange removed her memory of the incident? It was the type of thing he did. I don't recall that, and didn't note in it my review of the issue. I'd go double-check, but there's a sleeping cat on my lap.

Drawing Mordo through time allows for a midstory recap. These have become common, and I should have noted this sooner. They were almost unheard of in Ditko's era. Even in the middle of big arcs. The opening page had some fill-in-the-gap narration, but the story itself was never interrupted to bring the audience up to speed clip-show style. But now most every issue finds an excuse to have one character reflect upon recent events, or tell another about them.

This is Severin's final issue, and the nature of the story doesn't give her room to do anything that interesting with it visually. She does a fine job, as always.

But what just happened? Recap. Umar comes to earth, so Dr. Strange frees Zom, who is far worse. Then he cut's Zom's hair, unleashing a mystic evil upon the world which awakens dormant powers in many evil mystics, summoning the Living Tribunal, who deals with Zom before deciding to destroy the earth. Dr. Strange's plan after unleashing Zom, then evil incarnate and the Living Tribunal on the earth? Channel all the mystical power into Mordo. I think he's a glutton for punishment.

I don't know why he swallowed the fly.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #161, by Raymond Marais and Dan Adkins
"And a scourge shall come upon you!"
October, 1967

Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: B

Brief Synopsis: The newly empowered Mordo banishes Dr. Strange to a limbo of sorts. There, Dr. Strange battles a strange creature, while slowly remembering who he is and why he's there.

Meanwhile, Victoria Bentley remembers who she is, and her history with Dr. Strange and Mordo. She then mysteriously finds herself transported to the world where Dr. Strange is trapped.

After saving Victoria from a giant ant, Dr. Strange and she encounter Nebulos, Lord of the Planet Perilous!

Review: Marie Severin leaves us to be replaced by Dan Adkins. Who recently passed away. I like the work of Dan Adkins, though I don't know him as well as I would like to, and look forward to looking carefully at his Dr. Strange work. Seems a fitting tribute.

First, I'll renew my objection that this post-Ditko era suffers from a lack of cohesion due to the constantly rotating creative team, with seemingly nobody able to stay on long enough to tell a story. I think Severin had done an excellent job. Her characters were a large departure from Ditko's style, but that is fine. She displayed an impressive imagination and visual style when called upon, and the expressions of her characters were always excellent. Her work will be missed.

Adkins is certainly a worthy successor. He takes a little bit to find his feet, and this issue isn't as strong as the rest of his run will be. The opening splash page for example isn't as exciting as that image could be. Mordo's stupid costume doesn't help. However, once we move away from Mordo and go on a journey through dimensions--the true test of a Dr. Strange artist-- Adkins performs admirably. His depiction of the strange dimension is more reminiscient of Everett than Ditko, having the appearing of floating through outer space, but with weird things around, rather than having the appearance of floating through nothingness with weird things around. The world depicted is a mix of the familiar and bizarre. Planets, stars, an ocean and shore, solid ground, giant ants. Ditko tended to leave out the familiar.

I'll reserve judgment on the character of Nebulos, until we see more of him next issue.

On the story, a quote. "For the sake of humanity, Dr. Strange has helped the evil Baron Mordo gain the additional powers of the awakened mystics of mankind." Beyond the absurdity of the sentence, especially on top of the recent choices, I had hoped the awakening of evil mystics would be able to provide a fertile backdrop for stories for a while to come. Having all (most?) of them depowered to make Mordo stronger seems a waste of a good premise. Instead of a collection of potentially interesting future villains, we get more servants of Mordo out of it.

Victoria Bentley will obviously be playing a more prominent role. It had been hinted she might back when, as we learned she had latent mystic potential. But her disappearing for 50 issues suggested she wouldn't.

I had been mistaken in my previous issue, uncertain why she didn't remember he encounter with Dr. Strange. It was nothing to do with that last encounter, but an effect of all the disciples of Mordo being under a spell.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #162, by Jim Lawrence and Dan Adkins
"From the Never-World comes... Nebulous!"
November, 1967



Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: C+

Brief Synopsis: Nebulous gives Dr. Strange his staff of polar power and sends him to earth. With the staff as a weapon, Strange is able to defeat and banish Mordo.

But the sands in the hourglass continued to fall. Nebulous, having some purpose of his own, transported Dr. Strange and the hourglass back to his dimension. Victoria Bentley is hidden and his hostage.

Then comes the Living Tribunal...

Review: We again get a new writer. It's a shame a steady creative team could not have been found post-Ditko. Jim Lawrence is not somebody I'm familiar with. Like Marais, he had a very small output for Marvel.

His writing style is distinct in that he tends not to repeat the precise phrasings we've heard before for summoning spells, offering instead variants on the ideas, while invoking the same gods and demons.

Dr. Strange was polarized by Nebulous's sceptre of polar power. I don't think I understand that word in this context.

Dr. Strange uses his cloak to instantly teleport across the world. Has he been able to do this before? Was this something the Ancient One's power gave him?

This story is getting confusing. Nebulos' addition has added a layer of complication to an already tangled web. At present, we know he is powerful, considers himself above mortals, and has a purpose of his own. So far, that purpose has been convenient. He provided Dr. Strange transport to earth and the power to defeat Mordo. We don't yet know why, but it made a convenient plot device. Though it seems like a waste of empowering Mordo, if Dr. Strange immediately powered up to defeat him. Nebulos doesn't appear to know about the Living Tribunal.

Anyways, hopefully this extended arc will wrap itself up well and Nebulos' motives will become clear.

Adkins work is smoother than last issue. He seems to have the rhythm of things now. We get an impressive 2-page splash out of him, with Dr. Strange confronting Nebulos.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #163, by Jim Lawrence and Dan Adkins
"Three faces of doom!"
December, 1967

Grade: B

Brief Synopsis: The Living Tribunal has agreed not to destroy the earth, but the aura of evil seems to remain. The solution to the mystery is in the staff of Nebulos, which had absorbed some of the evil.

The Living Tribunal now casts his judgment on Nebulos. Dr. Strange cannot allow this, for only Nebulos knows the location of Victoria Bentley. Such concerns are beneath the notice of the Tribunal, as are Dr. Strange's attempts to stop him.

Dr. Strange also fears their conflict may rend the universe itself asunder, but his attempts to interfere are dealt with by the Living Tribunal, who attacks him with the talons of cosmic fire. He then turns back to Nebulos, beginning to destroy the entire planet of which Nebulos is lord.

In the end, it is Dr. Strange who steals the sceptre from Nebulos before he is doomed. As a reward, the Living Tribunal transports him to the world where Victoria Bentley is imprisoned.


Review: This is the first appearance of Living Tribunal I own an actual copy of. While the Masterworks are generally recolored, Living Tribunal seems distinctly different. In the comic, he is colored a pale very yellow, almost white. The masterworks make him a more standard yellow, and is the form I am most familiar with.

We learn in the opening dialogue that defeating Mordo did indeed save the world from the wrath of the Tribunal. I had been unclear on that point. It seems that every new mystic created on earth was in fact summoned to be part of Mordo's cult. A really disappointing conclusion to the story, actually. I really wish the concept had been a springboard to introducing new mystical villains.

We at last get something of a motive for Nebulos. In defeating Mordo with the staff, the staff absorbed some of the evil and power. This was Nebulos' goal. Beyond that, he remains a mystery. A power-hungry cosmic being who the Living Tribunal has decided to destroy. I have no idea why he kidnapped Victoria Bentley. It didn't seem like that was needed to motivate Dr. Strange to battle Mordo, which is apparently all Nebulos wanted.

The battle between Living Tribunal and Nebulos is reminiscent in many ways of the battle between Eternity and Dormammu. The key difference in Nebulos, who lacks the dramatic build-up Dormammu had. A character the big guns were called in to destroy before we even learned he was evil. The battle itself also lacks the sense of cosmic scale, as the characters are on an earth-like planet and seem to just be fighting. Ditko was better at creating a sense of a battle on the edge of perception, and making us appreciate that Dr. Strange did not belong there. Here, he did not seem particularly out of place amongst the combatants, even though Living Tribunal claimed he was. Only when Living Tribunal decided to destroy the entire planet did we get a sense of the scale and power of the character.

For all that, Adkins' work is excellent. The depictions of Strange and the Tribunal, and of the world itself erupting, are all effective. He pulls out all the stops and shows his chops for the final panel, a surreal image of Victoria Bentley and Dr. Strange preparing to save her.

In the end, Living Tribunal rewards Dr. Strange for saving the universe by transporting him to the world where Victoria Bentley is a prisoner. Not to question the wisdom of everybody involved, but I can think of a better reward one of his godlike stature could surely have offered: How about he just transport Victoria here, instead of Strange to her. Or better yet, both to earth. That's what I would have asked for.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #164, by Jim Lawrence and Dan Adkins
"Nightmare!"
January, 1968

Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: B

Brief Synopsis: Dr. Strange has been transported to a strange nightmare world in search of Victoria Bentley. There he encounters a giant slug cabable of ultrasonic blasts. He defeats the creature with a mystic bolt.

He is then chased underground by a giant bat-creature. There he discovers the machines he sought. He then learns Victoria is prisoner of Yandroth-- the Scientist Supreme!

Review: Dan Adkins' work seems to get better with each issue. The splash page opens with a cool effect worthy of Ditko, as the half-face of Victoria Bentley seems to contain the strange universe through which Dr. Strange travels. He continues to flex his artistic muscles as Dr. Strange walks on a strange world. Somehow the mere presence of solid ground differentiates the dimensions of later artists from those of Ditko. But this "nightmare world" remains imaginative enough, populated with strange flora and fauna. And the story features some fantastic panels.

They have let one story flow into another well, making it hard to tell where one ends. Perhaps to keep each ending a cliffhanger. But at this point, we certainly have a lot of resolution. Kaluu, Umar, and Zom are all long defeated. As are the threats which spun out of those encounters, including Mordo's cult of evil mystics and the Living Tribunal. Nebulos is defeated as well. The lingering plot thread is that Victoria Bentley remains trapped in a strange dimension. But it almost seems fair to say a new story arc is beginning, just one with its roots in the previous story.

This means that now Jim Lawrence is allowed to play entirely in a story of his own making, rather than cleaning up the loose ends initiated by his predecessors. This issue is mainly setup for the story, but it seems an interesting one. It's a common enough motif in literature. Science vs. sorcerory. We will see how it plays out.

Notes:

• Introduces Yandroth, Scientist Supreme!
• Dr. Strange considers an incantation to the spirit of the Ancient One to help locate Victoria.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #165, by Jim Lawrence and Dan Adkins
"The mystic and the machine!"
February, 1968

Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: B-

Brief Synopsis: Yandroth, scientist supreme of an underground world, seeks to make Victoria Bentley his queen. Dr. Strange must rescue her.

They battle, and Dr. Strange pretends to be dead to lull Yandroth into overconfidence. Their match is finally settled by Dr. Strange's fists. Or at least it seems to be, until Voltorr is activated...

Review: Science vs. sorcery. Old powers vs. new powers. Both empowered by knowledge. But of very different forms.

Though, to paraphrase Clarke, science and magic in comic books can be tough to distinguish between.

I like that Yandroth has his own curses. "By the ninth theorem of anti-matter!"

Dr. Strange mainly battles with mystic bolts. They are useless against a door, but destroy a laser weapon. We are told the intricate circuitry made it more vulnerable. We also again see that he can separate his astral self from his body and make his physical shell inviolate.

Cyttorak's seventh crimson band gives Dr. Strange a flaming whip and a circle of cosmic fire destroys Yandroth's gun.

Notes

• Introduces the robotic Voltorr, who wields the lightning of the universe.

[Chris N]

Strange Tales #166, by Jim Lawrence, George Tuska, and Dan Adkins
"Nothing can halt...Voltorg!"
March, 1968



Format: Hardcover Marvel Masterworks

Grade: B

Brief Synopsis: Dr. Strange battles Voltorg, robotic creation of Yandroth. He casts a spell to block its scanner circuits, rendering it out of control, leading to the destruction of much of Yandroth's equipment. While Voltorg attacks illusions, Strange pursues Yandroth.

Yandroth uses a time-warp to slow Strange down. Strange defeats it with a spell. Yandroth seeks to escape with Victoria Bentley as Voltorg catches up to Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange manages to defeat Voltorg, but too late. Yandroth has made it to the teleportation chamber and escaped with Victoria, she he would make his queen.

Dr. Strange pursues and finds himself at Stonehenge, there confronting the ghost of the Ancient One!

Review: Tuska fills in on the penciling chores, with Adkins inking. Adkins also gets credit for the plot. It actually comes out quite well. Adkins is able to make the art match well with the previous issues.

Been a while since Dr. Strange made illusion copies of himself to draw his opponents' fire. I guess we were due.

Lawrence has Dr. Strange invoke much vaguer things. "Pall of darkness, grave-like gloom..." and the "chanted charm of demons beyond dimension". A contrast to the named entities usually invoked.

The battle with Yandroth and the giant robot is very different from the stories we have seen, a welcome change of pace.