A Robot's Review of Strange Tales #110

 I can hear the silent voices somewhere in the back of my head, and once again I am forced to wonder if I have some level of authentic telepathy.  Again and again I hear, "how can you write about the Greatest Comic Books of all time, and not write about Stan Lee?"  The question is apt and perfectly timed, because today I review the creation of Doctor Strange, "Master of Black Magick" as Mr. Lee originally called him, way back in 1963 in a classic comic book called Strange Tales.

No, I cannot afford an early Stan Lee comic book, and yes, this book came out eleven years before I was born; but through the powers invested in me by the reprinting of the Marvel Essentials I am capable of experiencing and studying those early comic books from a post modern perspective.  I personally think Doctor Strange is one of Mr. Lee's most profound creations and I have been a fan of all of his modern series for many years. To get a chance to go back and see just when the long term plot lines were created was terrific fun and a real privelage.

In Strange Tales #110, Doctor Strange was not even mentioned on the cover of the book, the special was just five pages long, and in it Strange was refered to as "The Master of Black Magic."  All of these are dubious distinctions, perhaps differences that would have marginalized a lesser character.  Instead Stan Lee tapped into exactly what could be entertaining about a super hero whose powers are all linked to authentic and imagined magic.  One could see the underpinings of Strange stand out as he is an anti-hero with a touch of danger and intrigue about his person.

In his first appearance Doctor Strange is introduced as an expert in magics that can help those with supernatural maladies.  A man who is plagued with dreams of a robed figure in chains goes to Strange, who says he will enter the man's dreams that night in Strange's ever after famous astral form.  Within the dream, after getting some advice from the venerable Ancient One, Strange confronts the robed figure and finds out it is a symbol for all the evil Strange's client committed.  the man was not there for help at all, but instead was manipulated by the forces of an anthropomorphized Nightmare entity who is trying his damnedest to kill Strange.

Threatened by the very man he is trying to save, Doctor Strange is called back to his physical form by the Ancient One just in time to use an "Amulet" to in later issues to be dubbed "the Eye of Agomatto," to sense the evil in his client and compel him to tell the truth about his motives and his master.

All in all a classic plot with enough twists for a whole novel in just five short pages.  I loved it, and have since read all three of the Doctor Strange Essentials, and I can say that the early episodes stand out as the best until the writing improved in the early eighties.  I also have a terrible thing to confess, but I love Steve Ditko's art work even more than Jack Kirby's.  Most readers would have a cow over such a claim but I cannot help it, I love the lurking horror comic feel that he invested the pages with and I think Ditko is vastly under-appreciated.

Perhaps my reviews are becoming more robotic.  But I set out to write about comic books for this entire thirty day challenge and I'm sticking with my decision.  Sure I could write articles with sexually provocative themes and get more readers but I am hoping that someday some one will find these hubs and feel heartened that there are other comic readers that read like you do.  Until then, read on and Blessed Be.