Doctor Strange

Debuting in July 1963; Doctor Strange was originally published as a back-up strip to the Human Torch’s solo adventures in the Strange Tales title. Marvel have collected the first 2 and a half years of his adventures in a Masterworks edition, and I’m pleased to see that all the iconic elements (as featured in the recent movie) were in display in these earliest issues: the Ancient One, the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Cloak of Levitation, the Eye of Agamoto, Baron Mordo, the Dread Dormammu, and plenty of out-of-body combat.

Steve Ditko was really the creative driver behind these early adventures, as both the artist and plotter (Stan Lee co-plotted and scripted). And if I was to be really critical, I would have to say that Ditko’s inking in the early issues was not particularly strong; the lines are a bit stiff and uniform, which dates the artwork badly. The megalomaniacal villains of the first year or so get a bit repetitive too, with Baron Mordo being a particularly unengaging arch-nemesis. Each chapter was a self-contained adventure, and Strange was never really stretched by any of his foes, and so a sense of dramatic tension never really built up.

Luckily, that all changed about 18 months in, when Ditko kicked off an extended epic storyline. Mordo and Dormammu joined forces and formed a foe which Strange could not so easily overcome, cutting him off from his teacher, the Ancient One, and from all the resources of his Sanctum. For 12 months, the hero had to go on the run, a fugitive hounded by legions of magical pursuers, not even able to use his most powerful spells for risk of detection by Mordo. Ditko’s storytelling was fantastic throughout, see the panels above which show the artist’s use of hands to detail the intricate spell-casting, and his mastery of body language to sell the effort Strange is expending.

Although the main Strange/Dormammu/Mordo conflict is wrapped up in this volume, it does end on a particularly cheesy cliffhanger, which only adds to the charm. This is vintage pulp adventure, and is well worth a read for those who enjoyed the dafter aspects of the movie.