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Doctor Strange

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Doctor Strange is a fictional comic-book sorcerer and superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Additionally, the name had been used for a different Marvel character two months earlier.

Dr. Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth dimension, responsible for defending it from mystic threats. He is a master of the mystic arts, using his abilities to battle evil magicians and other supernatural villains. He is also often consulted by other superheroes on supernatural matters.

Publication history

After debuting in Strange Tales #110 and returning in the next issue, the 9- to 10-page feature "Dr. Strange" skipped two issues and then returned permanently with #114 (Nov. 1963). Steve Ditko's surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly head-trippy visuals helped make the feature a favorite of 1960s college students, according to contemporaneous accounts. Ditko, as co-plotter and later sole plotter, in the "Marvel Method", would eventually take Strange into ever-more-abstract realms that nonetheless remained well-grounded thanks to Stan Lee's reliably humanistic, adventure/soap opera dialog. Doctor Strange shared the "split book" Strange Tales with solo adventures of Fantastic Four member the Human Torch (whose feature had begun in issue #101), and, beginning with #135, with its replacement feature, "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.".

While Lee and Ditko themselves interacted less and less as each went their different creative ways, Doctor Strange's storyline culminates with what historians consider one of modern comics' great moments: the introduction, in issue #146 (July 1966), of Ditko's grand and enduring conception of Eternity, the personification of the universe, depicted as a majestic silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos. It was a groundbreaking creation at a time long before such cosmic conceits were commonplace, and Ditko's final bow on the feature.

Dr. Strange #178 (March 1969): The full-face cowl and "Dr. Stephen Saunders". Art by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer.
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Dr. Strange #178 (March 1969): The full-face cowl and "Dr. Stephen Saunders". Art by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer.

"Doctor Strange" continued to the end of the book's run, when the "Fury" feature was spun off into its own title and Strange Tales was renamed Doctor Strange with issue #169 (June 1968). Note: This is the title as given in the book's postal indicia; Dr. Strange's various series have confusingly changed their cover-logo titles much more than most series. See the Bibliography for details.

Doctor Strange's first namesake comic book, written by Roy Thomas with art by penciler Gene Colan, lasted only until issue #183, by which point in the low-selling series Strange was wearing a full-face cowl in an effort to more resemble a Marvel superhero. That look was short-lived and subsequently abandoned.

Strange's next series began in the 1970s showcase title Marvel Premiere, which spun-off the solo title generally listed as Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts. (The original 1968 comic had also used that subtitle for a time, though not in the indicia.) An acclaimed early arc by writer Steve Englehart and penciller/co-plotter Frank Brunner, beginning in Marvel Premiere featured the death of Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, and led Strange to meet God at Creation. Reflecting that era's trend toward "cosmic" characters and stories — a trend ironically begun in the Lee-Ditko '60s stories — this turn away from more traditionally occult, supernatural stories helped propel the soon-to-be-spun-off series through 81 issues, under various teams.

Through 1987-88, the character returned in Strange Tales Vol. 2, #1-19, appearing in 11-page stories in this "split book" shared with the feature "Cloak and Dagger". This was followed by Strange's third solo title, generally listed as Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme, which lasted 90 issues from 1988-96. Doctor Strange also appeared in various miniseries and two graphic novels, and in major recurring roles in the 1970s feature and later comic book The Defenders and in the 1990s comic book Nightstalkers.

Character biography

Dr. Stephen Strange was born on November 18, 1930Biograhical dates are taken from Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Marvel Knights, except for Strange's birth month, November, taken from the cover of Doctor Strange Vol. 1, #176 (Jan. 1969). in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A few months later the Stranges moved to a farm in Nebraska. There Stephen was brought up alongside his brother Victor and sister Donna.

He became an accomplished but arrogant surgeon until he suffered subtle, though profound, neurological damage in an automobile accident in 1963. His hands in particular were no longer able to make the precise, fine movements necessary for surgery, although their overall mobility remained. Unable to continue his profession and too hubristic to accept subordinate medical assignments, he became unemployed and destitute. Learning of a hermit called the Ancient One who could possibly cure him, the desperate Strange ventured to the man's isolated Himalayan abode and asked for aid. The Ancient One instead offered to take on Strange as an apprentice. Strange refused, but could not leave immediately due to a sudden blizzard.

While staying for the duration of the storm, he witnessed the Ancient One's apprentice, Baron Mordo, secretly attack the teacher with mystically summoned skeletons, which the old man easily dispelled. Strange, his skepticism eroding, confronted Mordo about the treachery; Mordo responded with restraining spells that kept Strange both from warning the Ancient One or attacking Mordo physically. Amazed by these displays of magic, alarmed by Mordo, but frustrated by the mystic restraints, Strange underwent a change of heart. Deciding the only way to stop Mordo was to learn magic himself in order to challenge Mordo on his terms, Strange accepted the Ancient One's offer. Pleased by Strange's acceptance for unselfish reasons, the Ancient One removed the mystic restraints, explaining he was well aware of Mordo's treachery, but preferred to keep Mordo close by in order to control and possibly change him. Strange studied magic under the Ancient One for seven years and returned to the United States in the 1970s.

Silver Age Strange

Based in his "sanctum sanctorum" mansion in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, Strange used his new abilities to fight such mystic enemies as recurring nemesis Mordo; the flame-headed otherdimensional ruler Dormammu, with whom he clashed often; and Strange's first recorded foe upon returning to America, Nightmare. He encountered such cosmic beings as the Living Tribunal, and the personification of the universe itself, Eternity, as well as numerous superheroes and even, at one Times Square New Year's celebration, longtime family friend and author Tom Wolfe, (who allowed his likeness to be used in Doctor Strange Vol. #180, May 1969). On one journey to Dormammu's realm, Strange met and eventually fell in love with Clea, the tyrant's human-appearing niece.

When the demon Asmodeus briefly impersonated him, Strange dons a superheroic-looking full-face cowl and a "secret identity" as Dr. Stephen Saunders from Vol. 1, #177 through the final issue, #183 (Feb.-Nov. 1969).

Death of the Ancient One

When the demonic entity Shuma-Gorath (first mentioned in Marvel Premiere #5, Nov. 1972) tried to cross into the Earth's dimension from within the mind of the Ancient One (#9, July 1973), Strange was forced to sacrifice his mentor in order to save humanity's collective soul (#10, Sept. 1973). After his mentor's death — in which the Ancient One became "one with the universe" and a lingering presence — Strange inherited the mantle and power of Sorcerer Supreme of Earth's plane.

After taking his lover Clea as his disciple (Marvel Premiere #12, Nov. 1973), one of his first tasks as Sorcerer Supreme is to confront Death. After proving himself worthy, Strange was granted the immortality befitting his new role. (As Sorcerer Supreme, he is near ageless and immune to dying from natural causes. His predecessor, the Ancient One, had lived for over five centuries.)

Defenders and Nightstalkers

Also during this time Doctor Strange gathered the anti-heroes the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer to form the sporadically summoned superhero "non-team", the Defenders.

In a 1982-83 arc (Doctor Strange Vol. 2, #56-62), Strange successfully invokes the "Montesi Formula" that eliminated all vampires in the Marvel Universe. Though this was considered permanent at the time, Strange in the early 1990s found it necessary to organize, in Defenders fashion, a group of vampire hunters dubbed the NightstalkersFrank Drake, Blade and vampiric private detective Hannibal King. The three were told they were formed to fend off supernatural threats, and only later learned it in fact to prepare for the weakening of the Montesi Formula and the expected return of Dracula. By the time vampires indeed came back, throughout various Marvel occult comics in the mid-1990s, Strange had been temporarily usurped as Sorcerer Supreme by the demonic Salome.

His position restored shortly afterward, Strange, by the mid-2000s, then served chiefly as a supporting character to whom Marvel superheroes might turn for matters concerning magic and the supernatural. Other times, he directly intervenes in crises. In one instance, S.H.I.E.L.D. psionic personnel were hunting the Dire Wraiths with help of Rom the Spaceknight, and were being killed by the enemy's wizards. Strange appeared of his own accord to give the psionic personnel improved resistance to the attacks.

Powers and abilities

Dr. Strange performing an incantation. Art by Mike Deodato
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Dr. Strange performing an incantation. Art by Mike Deodato
Dr. Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth dimension; he has unparalleled mastery of the mystic arts, which he uses to defend his reality from otherworldly threats; his primary magical patrons are a group of entities known as "the Vishanti." The Vishanti are a trinity of godly beings comprised of Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur. Although he has, on rare occasions, called upon the power of the demon Dormammu, he no longer does so. He holds an M.D. in neurosurgery, although his ability to perform such delicate tasks has been compromised due to his accident. Stephen is also an accomplished martial artist.

Dr. Strange's powers are all magical and take several forms. Several main manifestations include:

The canon suggests that virtually every human is capable of learning and harnessing magic — considered simply a form of energy in the Marvel universe — through training; however each person has a different potential. The Ancient One saw in Stephen an incredible potential, quite likely the greatest on Earth.

Strange's own power is often amplified by the numerous magical artifacts that are in his possession or by artifacts that he uses in the course of his adventures. The two artifacts he carries with him at all times are the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation.

Other artifacts include the Amulet of Agamotto, which functions much like the Eye; the Orb of Agamotto, which he uses daily to monitor the surrounding dimensions for trouble; the Wand of Watoomb, which amplifies his power; and the Book of the Vishanti, which contains some of the multiverse's most powerful and secret spells and counter spells. There are countless other artifacts that he owns that can be brought out in times of need.

Note that some other (non-human) sorcerers, such as Dr. Strange's former apprentice/wife Clea, have an additional source of power. Clea naturally generates mystical energy, which she can then use (or, it is assumed, 'lend' to supplicants calling on her). When the Vishanti asked him to fight as a soldier in the War of the Seven Spheres, and refused to allow him to call upon them when he declined, Dr. Strange briefly tapped into this type of energy by immersing himself within the Earth's mystical Gaian aura. However, this energy source was exhausted in his service to the Vishanti during his service in their five thousand year war. His refusal prior to the deal resulted in the Vishanti abandoning him in his role as the Sorcerer Supreme. After doing without the Vishanti's help in protecting Earth, he finally acceded to their demands that he fight for them, but only if they promised to return him to the place in time when he entered their service, and not 5000 years hence at the conclusion of the battle.

For a brief period, research from the Vishanti library led Dr. Strange to tap into catastrophe magic by invoking a syzygy of all the planets, but this source of magic was limited and he ceased using it specifically as a source of his power.

The mansion where Dr. Strange lives, his Sanctum Sanctorum, is located at 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, which was the actual address of the apartment building in which the writer of the series lived at the time the story was published. The mansion is almost a magical entity unto itself now that Dr. Strange has imbued it with all sorts of spells mostly protective, but some can be pro-active. It has been used as a way to attack Dr. Strange several times, by Umar most notably.

Doctor Strange's magic has shown the ability to affect even the most powerful of entities, leading many to believe Dr. Strange is Marvel's most powerful superhero.

Sorcerous phrases

Co-creator and longtime original scripter Stan Lee wrote many alliterative exclamations and incantations that Dr. Strange would utter. Lee and later writers often created characters and storylines based on these casually created phrases.

Character as There have been many arguments that Dr. Strange is simply a plot-device.#redirect Joe Quesada said:
"...you can place Dr. Strange in peril but it never really seems like much because at any moment he can cast a spell of crimson bands of what have you and he's out. There are no rules to his universe and from a storytelling perspective that's problematic. When you look at imaginary situations, worlds like the world of Toy Story or even Roger Rabbit have rules of their universe clearly define. Heck in Roger Rabbit it's very clear how to kill a ‘toon, so the viewer gets the feeling that the characters can be placed in peril and have their backs placed against the wall. This is exactly what I'm looking for in regards to our magic characters. Rules that govern them. How do you kill Doctor Strange? How do you hurt him?"#redirect
In the Marvel canon, there are no clearly defined limits of what Dr. Strange can or cannot do. The stories themselves contradict one another. Dr. Strange is shown easily altering memories, complete power over time by either stopping it all together and rewinding it or traveling into the past in one story, then stating that his magic cannot do so in another. In some appearances he can stand against something as powerful as the Infinity Gauntlet, and in others he appears defenseless against simple physical attack by another person.

Major villains

Dormammu attacks Eternity in a Steve Ditko Strange Tales panel.
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Dormammu attacks Eternity in a Steve Ditko Strange Tales panel.

Major supporting characters and allies

Doctor Strange as supporting character

Dr. Strange is often used as the all-in-one solution to the many world-altering events that occur in other character's comic books. Prominent examples include:

Ultimate Doctor Strange

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Dr. Strange is Doctor Stephen Strange, Jr.. His father is Doctor Stephen Strange, Sr. According to Clea, Strange Sr.'s former student and ex-wife, the elder Strange mysteriously vanished (he suddenly "wasn't there anymore") twenty years ago. Clea tried to raise her son away from magic (and still refuses to discuss it with her son), but ultimately Stephen, Jr., discovered his father's secrets. He currently studies with the Ultimate version of Wong and supports himself as a new age guru who helps the elite and powerful find their own personal salvation. He has had several run-ins with Ultimate Spider-Man. In each case, Ultimate Dr. Strange has bemoaned his lack of knowledge in things mystical and usually only barely saves the day with a last desperate, untried spell.

Doctor Strange in other continuities

Appearances in other media

VHS release of the telefilm Doctor Strange (1978), starring Peter Hooten (at left, above)
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VHS release of the telefilm Doctor Strange (1978), starring Peter Hooten (at left, above)

Previous Doctor Strange

Marvel's first Dr. Strange: Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963), cover art by Jack Kirby (pencils) & Sol Brodsky (inks)
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Marvel's first Dr. Strange: Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963), cover art by Jack Kirby (pencils) & Sol Brodsky (inks)

Only two months before the debut of the sorcerer-hero Doctor Strange, Stan Lee (editor and story-plotter), Robert Bernstein (scripter, under the pseudonym "R. Berns") and Don Heck (artist) introduced a criminal scientist and Ph.D. with the same surname. In their story "The Stronghold of Dr. Strange", in Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963), he was one of Iron Man's earliest antagonists. After gaining mental powers in a freak lightning strike, this Dr. Strange established a force field-protected island base staffed with corrupt scientists and mercenaries. He attempted world domination, but was thwarted by Iron Man and by Strange's own estranged daughter, Carla.

This Silver Age story was reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #4 (Aug. 1966) and the hardcover collection Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man from Tales of Suspense Nos. 39-50.

Bibliography

Note: The series' subtitles and the varying use of "Doctor" and "Dr.", is per both each series' indicia and their varying cover logos.

Series and miniseries

:Doctor Strange, also known as Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #169-175; Dr. Strange #176-181; and Dr. Strange: Master of Black Magic #182-183
  • Marvel Premiere #3-14 (July 1973 - March 1974)
  • Doctor Strange Vol. 2, #1-81 (June 1974 - Feb. 1987)
  • :Dr. Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #1; Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #2-50; and Doctor Strange #51-81 (Note: #30, 34, 36-37, 40, 42-46, 48 missing subtitle)
  • Dr. Strange Annual #1 (1976)
  • Doctor Strange Classics #1-4 (March-June 1984; reprints only)
  • Strange Tales Vol. 2, #1-19 (April 1987 - Oct. 1988)
  • Doctor Strange Vol. 3, #1-90 (Nov. 1988 - June 1996)
  • :Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #1-4, and Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #5-90 (Note: Following issue #4, subtitle appears only sporadically)
  • Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Annual #2-3 & Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Annual #4 (1992-1994)
  • Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Special (1992)
  • Doctor Strange: The Flight of Bones #1-4 (Feb.- May 1999)
  • Witches #1-4 (Aug.-Nov. 2004)
  • Strange #1-6 (Nov. 2004 - July 2005)
  • X-Statix Presents Deadgirl #1-  (Dec. 2005 -  )
  • Guest appearances

    Excalibur (v2) #13-14 (July 2005), Secrets of the House of M (2005, past in House of M described), House of M #1 (August 2005), House of M #5-8 (October 2005-December 2005), Civil War #1 (July, 2006), She-Hulk #8 (July, 2006)

    One-shots and graphic novels

    See also

    Footnotes

    References

    External links

     


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