Customer Reviews

Essential Doctor Strange, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)

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Among the early $15 low-quality paper Marvel Essentials, Dr. Strange #1 is one of my favorites. I was impressed by how Steve Ditko (better known as Spider-Man's first artist) managed to capture the weird, mystical dimensions of Strange's foes and how well Stan Lee and Jim Lawrence were able to script all of those sorcerers' duels and make them believable. What I mean is it would be easy when writing about a fight between mages to introduce any wild plot element you could think of at any given time and explain it by saying "It's magic!", but I never really got that feeling from those tales. Dr. Strange had a regular arsenal of tricks (astral form, mystic bolts, hypnotism, cloak of levitation, Crimson Bands of Cyttorak) and most of the villians were defeated by their own impatience, arrogance, cowardice, or other flaw of their villainous personality. I've read and reread many of his Strange Tales appearances so often that several of the pages are starting to fall out (friggin' low quality paper!), even more so in preparation for the arrival of the Essential Dr. Strange #2 (in higher quality paper!), which is the real reason you're reading this.

It turns out that Doc's entry into the world of 20-page long headliners in the late 60's was a lukewarm affair at best. Although the first of Strange's new mag gives a great expanded retelling of our hero's origin, it settles into some merely OK rematches with Nightmare, Tiboro and Dormammu. The only new menaces introduced here were the Sons of Satannish, whose subsequent story arc ended with one of the most forced twist endings I had ever seen. After that little bit of loveliness, Doc decides to start hiding his face behind a mask when out on patrol. You know, his interdimesional adventures have never been public knowledge and he had always been bragging about the many mystic wards that protect his Sanctum Sanctorum (not to mention Dr. Strange IS his real name) so, really, why the mask? I think he did give a reason why he wanted to look more superhero-ey (besides a theoretical boost in sales, I mean), but for the life of me I can't remember it. He would later go on to help the Avengers corrale two Norse gods (there we go!) and then he went toe-to-toe with the Juggernaut (awesome!).

Sadly, it wasn't enough to save him from one of the most graceless series cancellations in the history of comic books. It would take me too long to explain it myself, so I'll leave it to Dr. Strange himself to tell you, with some paraphrasing.

(In #183, before he leaves to investigate the threat of the Undying Ones): Clea, my love. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life in your arms. But as the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, I must never rest my vigil for there are myriad mystical menaces that wish to steal the life from our conscious world.

(In Incredible Hulk #126, several months since the cancellation and after the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner were called in to smooth out that cliffhanger as best they could): Now that that one race of evil extradimensional demons won't be bothering us for a while, I think it's a good time to hang up my cloak, break all contact with my girlfriend, my ancient mentor, and my faithful manservant, and live out my days as a medical consultant. See you around, Dr. Banner.

Stinks, doesn't it?

Fortunately, after a three-year absence, the good doctor was given a second chance (without the ugly mask) as both the leader of the Defenders (see my review of the Essential Defenders) and with a new solo series in the springboard title Marvel Premiere, and he took advantage of both. A rather large stable of writers and artists sent Strange on one continual globetrotting quest from New England to Tibet that reads like one part Lovecraft, one part Indiana Jones, and one part good ol' Silver Age Marvel magic. Strange fights several new arcane monsters, from shambling undersea demigods to the one-and-only Shuma Gorath. You may have played him in one of the Marvel/Capcom arcade games. He's the one-eyed octopus thing. In the final tale in this collection, Strange and Mordo both try to exert their influence on an extremely powerful sorcerer who is prepared to journey back to the dawn of time and remake the universe. It's good stuff and why Dr. Strange is here to stay.

I liked the Marvel Premiere tales very much, but I wished the writers hadn't used so many real-world religious icons as props. Stonehedge was said to be a gateway to a hell-like realm and 5000-year old demonic cults used an inverted cross as their symbol (Huh, talk about creative anachronism!). The Ancient One was even held hostage by the Living Buddha. Man, basing comic book characters on current spiritual figures just isn't cool. They should just stick to ancient Norse or Greek mythology (See my review of the Essential Thor #2 for more on how well that works. I review a lot of these, don't I?).

The missteps of Doc's first solo series were absolutely tragic, but the Marvel Premiere stories make this Essential collection, starring the archmage of the Marvel Universe, worth owning by any classic comic fan. Go ahead and summon up a copy today.

If you noticed a slow and steady decline in the quality of Doctor Strange stories toward the end of Essential Doctor Strange vol. 1, don't expect relief to come early on in this volume. While we've seen the last of abysmal stories like the one where Doctor Strange battles a corny mad scientist and his monsters on an alien planet, it takes this volume an incredibly long time to hit its stride. Fortunately, Essential Doctor Strange vol. 2 does eventually get there.

This volume begins with the start of Strange's first (short-lived) series. While one would expect this to be an exciting time to be reading the adventures of the good doctor, the stories are only pale imitations of what Steve Ditko already did best in the first volume. The cosmic battles are neither as exciting, well-executed, nor visually interesting, and yet Roy Thomas keeps conjuring up cosmic villains, new and old, in an attempt to repeat the success found when Strange faced off against Dormammu and encountered the likes of Eternity and the Living Tribunal. The fact is that Ditko had already taken the cosmic theme as far as he could. Strange had already encountered the most impossibly powerful forces in the most impossibly abstract dimensions. To attempt to repeat this was futile. And while Thomas's tenure on Doctor Strange was not completely devoid of entertainment (I found the New Year's Eve story quite touching in some respects), it was a delay in the necessary development of the Doctor Strange premise. Clearly, a new conceptual direction was needed, but all Thomas could provide was a new (quickly discarded) costume.

Fortunately, the Marvel Premiere stories waste no time in taking Doctor Strange in new directions. In Marvel Premiere #4, Archie Goodwyn takes Doctor Strange out of his Sanctum Sanctorum and out on the road, trotting the globe in search of the occult and taking on human companions when necessary. Sure it's a bit corny and reminiscent of Scooby-Doo, but it allows Goodwyn and later writers to expand the scope of the traditional Doctor Strange story. No longer just abstract battles between the Doctor and some evil cosmic entity, Doctor Strange stories were now free to introduce carefully laid plots and make better use of supporting cast and setting, all grounded in reality but free to ascend into astral occult as need be. Unfortunately, after only one issue, Goodwyn turns the reigns over to Gardner Fox, a legend of the Silver Age, but a man out of place in a bronze age title. His continuation of the same sweeping story arc feels a bit more campy and non-senseical, frequently contradicting itself and misunderstanding aspects of the Doctor Strange mythos. Still, it's far better reading than much of what came after Ditko and before this.

Finally, in Marvel Premiere #9, on the tenth anniversary of Doctor Strange's first appearance, the reigns are turned over to writer Steve Englehart and penciller/co-plotter Frank Brunner. With Roy Thomas using his past experience on the character to guide them as editor, Englehart and Brunner transformed Strange, bringing back Ditko's cosmic struggles, but with a far wiser, more introspective, and surprisingly spiritual Stephen Strange serving as protagonist. Under their guidance, Doctor Strange stories no longer needed to depend solely upon how easily a cosmic opponent can destroy the Earth. Instead, it's Doctor Strange's reactions that make the adventure worth experiencing. How does the good doctor react to having to kill his mentor in order to save the world? How does he react when confronting a time-traveling god that can reshape the very history of mankind? You'll just have to read volume 2 in order to find out.

Though some of the earlier stories in this volume will feel tiresome, The last few stories are the ones that truly make this volume worthwhile. Read Essential Doctor Strange volume 2 to experience the beginning of a new, bolder, and more character-intensive era for Stephen Strange. Essential Volume 1 may have shown you the beginning, but this is where the modern day Doctor Strange truly begins.

Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystics Arts, was one of those Marvel characters who always seemed to be more popular with the writers and artists than with the comic book buying public. This explains why it was that when the character was given all of "Strange Tales" starting with issue #169, and co-tenant Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. got its own comic book, it lasted all the way to issue #183. That also explains why in "The Essential Doctor Strange, Volume 2" you also have Doctor Strange apearing in "Avengers" #61, "Sub-Mariner" #22, "Marvel Feature" #1 (with the first appearance of the Defenders), "Incredible Hulk" #126, and "Marvel Premier" #3-14. The key thing here is to just keep in mind this collection saves the best for last, so hang it there to get to the really good stuff.

To help everybody along the first story in this collection happens to retell the origin of Doctor Strange. Roy Thomas writes everything that the "Marvel Premiere" stories, with most of the artwork being drawn by Gene Colan and inked by Tom Palmer (issue #171 is interesting because Palmer did the pencils with Dan Adkins, who drew the previous two issues, providing the delineative inking). The Master of the Mystic Arts has a couple of encounters with Nightmare, another big battle with the dread Dormammu, gets betrayed by Clea, and then suddenly looks like a superhero with a mask and big gloves. That was the point where I figured the comic book was in trouble, although the team of Colan and Palmer was providing the same great artwork they would on "Tomb of Dracula." At that point Doctor Strange was kicked around the Marvel universe as a guest star until he was given another shot in "Marvel Premiere."

As a result of what happened in these twelve issues Doctor Strange would get his own comic book again. There was an immediate shot in the arm because in "Marvel Premiere" #3 the story came from Stan Lee and the artwork was by Barry Smith, in one of his rare stints for Marvel after his epic run on "Conan the Barbarian." By the next issue Frank Brunner was sharing the artistic duties and after quest stints by Craig Russell and Jim Starlin, in "Marvel Premiere" #9 Brunner took over as the strip's artist with Steve Englehart as writer. This was the 10th anniversary of when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first created Dr. Strange and they started off with a great story line.

Now known as the "Separate Reality" story-line, Dr. Strange gets cosmic as the Ancient One dies and passes on the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme to his disciple. Then he is battling a powerful magician who is traveling back in time so that he can absorb all of the magic in the universe and become all-powerful (which leads to an inevitable conclusion). But Strange is not already dealing with the threat of this magician, he also has to do his own trip through the mystical looking glass. This was certainly an ambitious storyline, and rather controversial given its conclusion. If this is not the best Dr. Strange (notice that "Doctor" becomes "Dr." at this point) storyline of all-time it is definitely in the running. It certain had people talking about it at the time.

Final Notes: My cover of this tradepaperback is not Brunner's cover for the next issues, "Dr. Strange" #1 but Barry Smith's cover for "Marvel Premiere" #3. Also, "Marvel Premier" #11 was basically a reprint issue, consists of a pair of Lee & Dikto tales ("The origin of Dr. Strange" from "Strange Tales" # 115 and "The Many Traps of Baron Mordo" from #117) with a few pages by Englehart & Brunner added. The reprinted stories are not included here, but, of course, you will find them at the start of "The Essential Doctor Strange, Volume 1," which should already be sitting on your shelf waiting for this companion volume. Just do not hold you breath, even using mystical means, for Volume 3.

Dr. Strange just got better as the years went on. The late 1960's early 1970's sensibility works for this character under the pen of Roy Thomas and the issues drawn by Gene Colan are the best of the bunch. I really enjoy these black and white compellations because it allows the strength of the artwork to show through without the distraction of often gaudy colors.

Some guys are saying that the stories of DR STRANGE's 68-70s book are pretty lame, but this was absolutely the period I first got seriously hooked on the Doc.
Of course I was always more of an art-freak and these mags had the best run of cool visuals. Ditko's work is amazing (I still find his stuff better in new ways each time I go back & look at it) but #s 169-183 kick butt.

The two DAN ADKINS pencilled tales have Dan's awesome composition and superb use of black areas (two of his greatest strong points along with his excellent facial representations).In 171 excellent inker TOM PALMER turns in one of his serviceable pencilling jobs.
... and then there is GENE COLANs 11 ish run. I'm a Colan fan for sure, probably my favorite MARVEL artist ever and his unusual layouts, dramatic angle and lighting choices, and electrifying visualizations of battles between mystic energies are pretty spectacular.
BARRY SMITH also turns in some nice work during the reboot but is followed by some seriously awful stuff (Irv Wesley??? Craig Russell---yeeesh!)
Is it amazing to ANYONE else how DON HECK managed to work on virtually every MARVEL title during these silverage years? His stiff,vague, poorly composed flat-awful art takes me "out" of every story he ever drew.

Yeah, Roy Thomas was actually my favorite writer from this period, even turning in better work than Stan at times. But the costume-change was a pretty obvious attempt to superheroize the Doc to try and boost sales. And since Colan had a tendency to ramble about working in the "Marvel Method" the stories are not nearly as tight as they were when Ditko's beautifully paced and economic storytelling ran the show.

The Marvel Essential series puts monochrome versions of its comic-book series in trade paperbacks. These provide the "essential" artwork and the stories.

Doing any story about a real magician (i.e., one who wields actual magical forces) is difficult, as anything can happen in such stories, particularly in comic books. The Doctor Strange character is even more difficult to handle, as he often travels to other "dimensions," sometimes referred to as "planes" by some mystics.

From what Stan Lee wrote elsewhere, the character evolved in part from feedback by scholars who wondered the origins of some of the mystic phrases uttered by the magical characters. In time, even the writers even understood that "black magic" meant stuff full of negativity, rsther than just "magic."

Toward the end of the book, two sequences tended to elevate the character from being just another comicbook superhero. The first was a storyline "based on Robert E. Howard" concepts. Actually, Robert E. Howard was writing stories that were part of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and so the sequence was ultimately influenced by Lovecraft. Eventually, the story progresses tio the ultimate menace, an extradimensional entity known as Shuma-Gorath. How Strange ultimately deals with this menace elevates him to the rank of Sorcerer Supreme. By this time, Frank Brunner has become the principal artist, and the story raises its sights, metaphycically.

The final sequence in the book is the best, with Dr. Strange and his human archenemy, Baron Mordo, contending with Cagliostro, who turns out to be somebody else. The actual person, they learn, is an ultrapowerful magician from the future who has a mind-boggling ambition. Since what he might achieve could change the entire cosmos, both Mordo and Strange accompany the other magician as he executes his plan. The ultimate outcome is rather spiritual, and the highpoint of the book.

For those interested in the storylines, the best part of the book is these latter stories, which are likely to be the only ones a reader will remember.

Fabulous and trippy. Some of Colan the master's best, work. Thomas was no slouch with the incantation, either! I love the magic, and his art and that whole vibe it had going. Almost wants to make you run away and study under the Ancient One. There is no doubt Colan is best in black and white, so this is fabulous.

well vol. 2s artwork is much improved over vol.1 .a bit weak in spots but overall quality work. the storylines in both volumes good but i like vol.2 with clea and victoria was a interesting i like it the cult of satannish storyline was way better than i expected.unfortunately back in the 70's i was 5 at the time so i got the chance read the early comics and caghts up on the strange history of strange. the alternate reality storyline kinda urk me with the mask strange ended up being mordo and being a lovecraft reader i love the omage to him in the second volume.the vishanti appearing echos the 90's comics with the war of the seven spheres story. overall better than vol 1 because i perfer a more detailed artwork and i like the storyline including the buddha one its comic you all and you forget it was a different time didnt have the pc police in play. the older stories have something the new one dont, character yes marvel took indecent liberities but they just did it without fear of offending it was not to offend it was to entertain. by the eternal vishati i dare say i like strange more now after reading vol.2 .x-men who and spider whatits give me stange and the might thor anyday but thats me

Dr Strange. 1965 and I have to read a book and write a report for a college english assignment. I neither wanted to read a book nor write about it. I preferred reading Marvel Comics. Well the instructor never said what kind of book to read and the comic is a comic Book so I wrote the report on an edition of Dr Strange. I turned in the only "A" paper for that assignment. I still read and collect comics. I encourage the reading of comics. Parents of the world, please do not throw out your kids comics. They are neither a waste of time or money.

It's pretty good but most of the storys follow a formula and i found the caracter of doctor strange to be a little boring. The storys are entertaing but they wont rox your sox and there are better Marvel Essentials out there. All in All, it's ok. Worth reading, but a little forgetable.