comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
volumes featuring the character Doctor Strange and published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, beginning with the original ''Doctor Strange'' comic book series that debuted in 1968.
Publication history
Doctor Strange vol. 1
The original ''
Strange Tales
''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in ''Strange Tales''. It was a showcase for the science ...
'' series ended with issue #168 (May 1968). The following month, Doctor Strange's adventures continued in the full-length ''Doctor Strange'' #169, with Nick Fury moving to the newly launched '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.''
Expanded to 20 pages per issue, the ''Doctor Strange'' solo series ran 15 issues, #169-183 (June 1968 – November 1969), continuing the numbering of ''Strange Tales''.DeFalco in Roy Thomas wrote the run of new stories, joined after the first three issues by the art team of penciler
and inkerTom Palmer through the end. Colan drastically altered the look of the series, as Thomas recounted: "... he had his own view of what these other worlds should look like. Everyone else sort of copied Ditko's versions of those extra dimensions, which were great and wonderful. When Gene came on, he didn't feel a real rapport with that, I guess, so his extra dimensions tended to be just blackness and smoke and things of that sort... Sometimes it was a little strange for a dimension Doc Strange had been to before to look different when drawn by Gene, but nobody complained." Thomas recalled in 2000 that he returned to work a day late from a weekend
comic book convention
A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...
to find that Marvel production manager
Sol Brodsky
Soloman Brodsky (April 22, 1923 – June 4, 1984) was an American comic book artist who, as Marvel Comics' Silver Age production manager, was one of the key architects of the small company's expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate. He ...
had assigned ''Doctor Strange'' to writer Archie Goodwin, newly ensconced at Marvel and writing ''
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
''. Thomas convinced Brodsky to allow him to continue writing the title. "I got very possessive about ''Doctor Strange''," Thomas recalled. "It wasn't a huge seller, but
y the time it was canceled
Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...
we were selling the low 40 percent range of more than 400,000 print run, so it was actually selling a couple hundred thousand copies utat the time you needed to sell even more."
Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts
Doctor Strange's feature in the ''
Marvel Premiere
''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own serie ...
'' series segued to the character's second ongoing title, ''Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts'', also known as ''Doctor Strange'' vol. 2, which ran 81 issues (June 1974 – February 1987). ''Doctor Strange'' #14 featured a crossover story with ''
The Tomb of Dracula
''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces. On rare ...
'' #44, another series that was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time. In Englehart's final story, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
. In 2010,
Comics Bulletin
Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry.
History Silver Bullet Comicbooks
The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice.
During this ...
ranked Englehart's work on ''Doctor Strange'' with artists
Frank Brunner
Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s.
Early life
Brunner attended Manhattan's High School of Art and Design. He was in the same graduating class ...
and Colan ninth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels."
The series ended with a cliffhanger as his home, the
Sanctum Sanctorum
The Latin phrase ''sanctum sanctorum'' is a translation of the Hebrew term ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים'' (Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm), literally meaning Holy of Holies, which generally refers in Latin texts to the holiest place of th ...
, was heavily damaged during a battle. The title was discontinued so that the character's adventures could be transferred to another split-book-format series, ''Strange Tales'' vol. 2 #1–19 (April 1987 – October 1988), which was shared with
Cloak and Dagger
"Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common in the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery.
Overview
In " Th ...
.
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme
Strange was returned to his own series, this time titled ''Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme'', which ran 90 issues (November 1988 – June 1996). The initial creative team was writer Peter B. Gillis and artists Richard Case and
Randy Emberlin
Randy Emberlin is a comic book inker best known for his ink work on the Spider-Man comic books. Per the bio on his website, he currently lives in Portland, Oregon. He has spent the past 30 years working in a variety of creative fields, including as ...
, with storylines often spanning multiple issues. During this time the series became part of the "
Midnight Sons
The Midnight Sons is a fictional team of supernatural superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Including Ghost Riders Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze, Blade, and Morbius, the original team first formed as part of ...
" group of Marvel's supernatural comics.
Jackson Guice
Jackson "Butch" Guice (born June 27, 1961) is an American comics artist who has worked in the comics industry since the 1980s.
Biography
Guice was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.. Retrieved March 21, 2008. Growing up in the 1960s, Guice was fond o ...
's cover for ''Doctor Strange'' #15 (1990) used
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...
singer
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
's likeness without her permission, leading to a complaint saying that the cover gave the appearance that she was associating with witchcraft. A US District Court sealed an out-of-court settlement between Grant and Marvel in early 1991 with a consent decree in which Marvel did not admit to liability or wrongdoing.
Doctor Strange vol. 3
As part of the
Marvel Knights
Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles (''Black Panther'', ''Punisher'', '' Daredevil ...
imprint, the third volume of ''Doctor Strange'' was released in 1999. Given the subtitle ''Flight of Bones'', the volume was written by
Dan Jolley
Dan Jolley is an American novelist and comic book writer. His comics work includes DC Comics' ''Firestorm'' and Graphic Universe's ''Twisted Journeys,'' a series of interactive fiction or gamebooks in graphic novel form, and his novel work include ...
Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron (born January 28, 1973) is an American comic book writer, known for his creator-owned series ''Scalped'' and ''Southern Bastards'', as well as his work on Marvel series '' Ghost Rider'', ''Wolverine'', '' PunisherMAX'', ''Thor'', and ...
and
Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death series. Chris has also illus ...
teamed up for the fourth volume of ''Doctor Strange''. Writers Dennis Hopeless and Penciler Niko Henrichon took charge during the
Secret Wars
''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...
event in issues 21-24, with Bachalo still providing covers. Writer John Barber and Penciler Niko Henrichon took charge for issues 25-26. After the
Marvel Legacy
Marvel Legacy is a 2017–18 relaunch of a line of American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is concurrent with All-New, All-Different Marvel and Marvel NOW! 2.0.
Publication history
On April 22, 2017, Marvel Comics announced Marvel ...
renumbering, writer Donny Cates and pencilers Frazer Irving and Chip Zdarsky took over at issues #381-390.
Doctor Strange vol. 5
A fifth ''Doctor Strange'' series was launched by writer Mark Waid and artist Jesus Saiz in August 2018.
Doctor Strange vol. 6
A short-lived sixth series, ''Doctor Strange: Surgeon Supreme'', launched in December 2019 by writer Mark Waid and artist
Kev Walker
Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on '' 2000 AD'' and ''Warhammer'' comics and the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering''. He is now working for Marvel Comics.
Biography
Walker ...
follows immediately after the storyline completed in the fifth series. The series was cancelled after six issues.