Doctor Strange Classics #3 [1984]

It was all the rage in the mid-1980s to do deluxe format mini-series of classic runs of comics, and a year of Ditko's Doctor Strange got the treatment in this series. This particular issue reprints three 10-page stories from STRANGE TALES #136 - #138 [1965], all plots and art by Ditko. The colouring is a bit over-done, some kind of pseudo-painting look, but for the most part the line-work comes through and is sharply reproduced, and these remain an excellent affordable way to sample some of Ditko's best.

The issue opens with "What Lurks Beneath The Mask", with Doctor Strange on the run from the minions of the Dormammu-powered Baron Mordo, looking for the secret of "Eternity" to save the stricken Ancient One. Especially good in the opening pages are the hints of a whole magic subculture with various odd mystics thoughout the world on both sides of the battle, and a quick hint about a never followed up on past Doctor Strange adventure. Anyway, in his haste Doc misinterprets a clue from a crazy old mystic whose memory the Ancient One had once erased and winds up in a strange realm with a demon who tries to switch bodies with him. There's a great scene where Doc uses his Cloak of Levitation to battle the demon inhabiting his body.  Great little side-story in the middle of a longer epic.

In "When Meet The Mystic Minds" Doctor Strange decides that he has to find out the secret of Eternity directly from the mind of the Ancient One, which leads to an excellent sequence of increasingly bizarre visuals as he attempts to reach his mentor.  The closing scene, with Doc atop a mountain walking into an enlarged amulet just ahead of Mordo's arrival, that's how you do a cliffhanger.

"If Eternity Should Fail" opens with one of the best renditions of the mystic realm in Ditko's work, probably the panel you'd put in the dictionary if you needed one image to define "Ditkoesque".  And that's just the beginning, as we next get introduced to Eternity, the living embodiment of a universe, who offers the type of enigmatic advice you'd expect from someone who looks like that.  Returning to his own realm, he finds the Ancient One has been captured by Mordo and goes to confront his foes, who also have the unnamed woman who helped him in Dormammu's realm held captive.

Seriously, this is 30 incredible pages of comics.  If you've never read them you owe it to yourself to check out one of the multiple versions of this run that should be readily available now.  Added bonus in this version, they got some of the new guys to do some pin-ups in the back, and this one includes a great image by P. Craig Russell titled "Dr. Strange gets lost on his way to the Surrealist's Convention", which is even weirder than what you're imagining.

Marvel Tales #167 [1984]

This issue features a reprint of "The Wondrous World Of Dr. Strange" from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2 [1965], obviously the team-up between Ditko's two main Marvel characters of the 1960s. It's a real blast to see Spidey juxtaposed with all those weird and wonderful mystical visual effects that were at their peak at this time.

The villain of the story is Xandu, a mystic who has stumbled onto half of the powerful Wand of Watoomb and wants the other half, currently in the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange. He mentally controls some thugs, who manage to get the other half of the wand but fortunately for the cosmos also attract the attention of Spider-Man, who manages to delay Xandu long enough for Strange to catch up and they can team up to defeat Xandu.

Lot of great little touches in how these two worlds mix, with a good old fashioned rooftop fight in the first half for the Spidey side, and then one of the best mystic realm scenes Ditko ever did later in the book.

The cover to the Annual is also reprinted, though with some of the little Spider-Man figures moved around, and not looking quite right with the colouring on the giant Spidey head. Also, since they had an extra page, they were randomly reprinting some of the pin-ups each issue, this time the Lizard pin-up from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 [1964].

Marvel Tales #134 [1981]

This issue reprints the first Doctor Strange story, the classic 5-page "Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic" from STRANGE TALES #110 [1963]. The story has been a bit on my mind lately, with what Ditko has said about its origins in the recent THE AVENGING MIND.

I'm sure most people reading this are familiar with this oft-reprinted story. A man who is disturbed by mysterious dreams goes to Doctor Strange's Greenwich Village home to enlist the help of the fabled mystic. After a brief astral trip to Asia to consult his teacher, the Ancient One, Strange enters the man's dream, where he finds out the reason for his guilt, but also encounters his long-time foe Nightmare. With his physical body and astral form in danger, Strange calls on the Ancient One to help, which he does with the use of the mysterious eye contained in Doctor Strange's amulet.

This is a classic story, remarkable for how clearly it lays out the vision for the series in only five pages. While Doctor Strange's outfit and face would undergo some tweaking in the issues ahead, the main elements are all here. We also get the Greenwich home (with a few early hints of the design elements which would define it), the Ancient One and his mountainside home, the astral form and a great villain in Nightmare. And the hands, of course, we get some of the Ditko mystic hands.

As near as I can figure, this story (via its 1978 Pocket Books reprint) is probably the first place I laid eyes on Ditko's artwork, some 30 years ago. It's even fresher and more alive now than it was then.

Ditko plots, pencils and inks the 5-page story.

Marvel Tales #135 [1982]

Yeah, on a bit of a Doc Strange kick lately...

The 5-page "Face-to-Face With the Magic of Baron Mordo" from STRANGE TALES #111 [1963], the second Doctor Strange story, is reprinted here-in, introducing Doc's most persistent foe, the Ancient One's other student, who would figure into about half of the Ditko run of Doctor Strange.

The Ancient One's reluctance to see Mordo as evil until this point, given what we later see of Strange's origin, is kind of perplexing. Plus, just look at the guy (not that Doc looks like an angel at this point, with his far sharper features). In any case, this is where he finally makes his move to find out the last of his old teacher's secrets, sending his astral form to Tibet and using the Ancient One's servant to poison him. Doc gets worried when a message to the Ancient One doesn't get a response, so he also makes the astral journey, finding Mordo over his weakened Master. Fortunately, he's able to trick Mordo into racing back to his lair to protect his physical body, giving the Ancient One time to recover, and hopefully guard against further attack.

By the way, "How ironic that of both my pupils, only one fulfilled his promise, with the other --- Baron Mordo, threatens us so long as he lives". Um, how is that ironic? Plus, Doc's prediction that the loser of their next encounter would die isn't exactly spot on.

Still, these early 5-page quickies are fun, if less developed than the later tales when the feature got more pages. I especially like the glimpses into Mordo's dark, shadowy lair.

Marvel's Greatest Comics #27 [1970]

"If Eternity Should Fail" is the 10-page Doctor Strange reprint in this issue, from STRANGE TALES #138 [1965]. The second page is shown here, with a great 2/3 page shot which is probably the ultimate of the signature other-worldly mystical dimension that Ditko defined in this series and which later artists would repeatedly imitate to capture some of the same feel. Just an amazingly organic hodge-podge of techniques defining the feature perfectly. "Inconceivable", Doc says in the script, and I think that does mean what he thinks it means.

Anyway, the story this time has Doc having found out how to reach the mysterious Eternity from a probe of the Ancient One's mind going to a journey by way of his amulet. Finding Eternity, yet another brilliant Ditko design, a creature containing the cosmos within him, he only gets some advice for his battle with Mordo and Dormammu, that he already possesses what he needs, but then returning to Earth he finds that the Ancient One has been taken by Mordo. So the issue ends with Doc facing down his foes.

As I've said before, this run of Doctor Strange is just a visual delight with every page, full of both the grant designs that define Ditkoesque and a lot of great small things (Mordo's spirit warriors rising out of the ground, the mystical portal screen that Dormammu appears in).

Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #20 [1969]

After some FF, Iron Man and Watcher stories, this issue reprints "Beware Tiboro, The Tyrant Of The Sixth Dimension", a 10-page Doctor Strange story from STRANGE TALES #129 [1965]. Doctor Strange is being questioned about his alleged "magic" because of his refusal to appear with some debunking scientists on the TV show "The Twelfth Hour". Instead they mock Strange on air ("[his] theories are as ridiculous as his attire") and display an allegedly mystical idol that was found in Peru. When the lights go out during the show, the three "scientists" vanish. Strange is called in to investigate, and recognizes the idol as having powerful magic, which a consult with the Ancient One verifies as a sign that the long vanished Tiboro of the Seething Volcano is ready to attack our reality. Strange allows the idol to transport him to the Sixth Dimension, where he's able to defeat Tiboro and return the captured humans to Earth. But now that they know magic exists, they want to bring that knowledge to the world, something Doctor Strange isn't too happy with, so he wipes their memories and turns back time so they can resume their magic debunking. In between all this is some mumbo-jumbo about how the decay of Earth's civilization causes Tiboro to return, so mankind has to work towards peace to prevent that.

Cute little story, I liked how those experts were so dismissing of magic on the show, and Doc having his cloak attack Tiboro from behind was a great visual.

Strange Tales #136 [1965]

"What Lurks Beneath the Mask?" is in the middle of Ditko's long final storyline for Doctor Strange, with Doc on the quest for the secret of Eternity to save the Ancient One while pursued by Baron Mordo, who is being backed by Dormammu. Doc spends the first half of the story going to various mystics around the world for a clue, while agents of Mordo search for him. A lot of great stuff in that sequence, giving a feeling of great breadth to the wider mystic world that Doc inhabits.

Doc finally finds a clue in the possession of a crazy old mystic whose memory the Ancient One had once erased, bringing him to one of those surreal realms, this one filled with odd masks and a demon who traps Doc by switching bodies through eye contact and then covering his face with a mask. Fortunately Doc retains control of his cloak of levitation, which leads to a funny scene of the cloak tossing around the demon wearing it and freeing Doc of the mask. Free to use his powers, Doc then frees all the previous captives of the demon and destroys the realm, then returns to the orient to try to get the secret of Eternity straight from the Ancient One's mind.

This year of Doctor Strange stories is among Ditko's finest work, with a lot of strong short stories full of great imagery building up the suspense for the main story.

Ditko plots and draws the 10-page story.

Marvel Tales #136 [1982]

This issue reprints the third Doctor Strange story, "The Return Of The Omnipotent Baron Mordo", from STRANGE TALES #114 [1963]. As the title says, Doc's main rival, Baron Mordo, attacks again, this time luring Doctor Strange to an old castle in London by disguising himself as Lord Bentley, an old and apparently distant friend of Doc (distant enough that Doc didn't know he died a decade before). Mordo traps him in the vapours of a mystic candle, which will end his life if it's allowed to burn out. Ever arrogant Doc refused the Ancient One's offer to help, and instead reaches out to the nearby Victoria Bentley, who has latent mystic powers. Not taken by surprise, Doctor Strange is more than a match for Mordo, who is forced to retreat.

They sure did pack a lot into these early 5-page episodes. Mordo and his arrogance, clearly covering for his innate cowardice, is always nice to see. I thought it was kind of interesting that Victoria was pretty clearly set up to return, though she doesn't until long after Ditko is gone. There seem to be a few mild attempts to create a few supporting characters for Doctor Strange beyond the Ancient One, though none seem to take for the first few years.

Strange Tales #139 [1965]

 Ditko's final year on Doctor Strange is some of his best work ever, 10-page segments of pure magic every month. "Beware...! Dormammu Is Watching" is right in the heart of that run, a great chapter in the saga. As Strange returns from his quest for Eternity, he finds that Mordo, working for and powered by the Dread Dormammu, has taken the Ancient One prisoner. What follows is an epic magical battle, while Dormammu, the Ancient One and the as-yet-unnamed Clea look on, amazingly drawn by Ditko.

As you can see by the choice of close-up scans, one of the things I love about this story is the way Ditko would draw hands, especially of anyone engaged in casting magic spells. I don't believe in magic, but I know in my heart that if it did exist, it would have to be accompanied by hand gestures straight out of the Ditko playbook.

Lots of other classic Ditko bits in this page, from that weird hair on Clea, and the worried look on her face to the disheveled hair on Doc in the last panel. I think I even catch a hint of a Ditko sneer on Dormammu in the third panel, and that's an impressive thing to manage with that character design.