(vol. 1) June 1968 – November 1969 (vol. 2) June 1974 – February 1987 (Sorcerer Supreme) November 1988 – June 1996 (vol. 3) February 1999 – May 1999 (vol. 4) December 2015 – April 2017 (vol. 1 cont.) January 2018 – July 2018 (vol. 5) August 2018 – December 2019 (Dr. Strange) February 2020 – October 2020
Doctor Strange is a series of several comic book volumes featuring the character Doctor Strange and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original Doctor Strange comic book series that debuted in 1968.
Publication history
Doctor Strange vol. 1
The original Strange Tales series ended with issue #168 (May 1968). The following month, Doctor Strange's adventures continued in the full-length Doctor Strange #169,[1] 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.[2][3]Roy Thomas wrote the run of new stories, joined after the first three issues by the art team of pencilerGene Colan 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."[4] Thomas recalled in 2000 that he returned to work a day late from a weekend comic book convention to find that Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky had assigned Doctor Strange to writer Archie Goodwin, newly ensconced at Marvel and writing Iron Man. 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 [by the time it was canceled] 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 [but] at the time you needed to sell even more."[5]
Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts (Doctor Strange vol. 2)
Doctor Strange's feature in the Marvel Premiere 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).[6]Doctor Strange #14 featured a crossover story with The Tomb of Dracula #44, another series that was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time.[7] In Englehart's final story, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin.[8] In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's work on Doctor Strange with artists Frank Brunner and Colan ninth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels."[9]
The series ended with a cliffhanger as his home, the Sanctum Sanctorum, 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.
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).[10] The initial creative team was writer Peter B. Gillis and artists Richard Case and Randy Emberlin, with storylines often spanning multiple issues. During this time the series became part of the "Midnight Sons" group of Marvel's supernatural comics.[11]
Jackson Guice's cover for Doctor Strange #15 (1990) used Christian music singer Amy Grant's likeness without her permission,[12] 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.[13][14][15]
Doctor Strange vol. 3
As part of the Marvel Knights imprint, the third volume of Doctor Strange was released in 1999. Given the subtitle Flight of Bones, the volume was written by Dan Jolley and Tony Harris, and briefly ran for four issues.
Doctor Strange vol. 4
In 2015, Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo teamed up for the fourth volume of Doctor Strange.[16] Writers Dennis Hopeless and Penciler Niko Henrichon took charge during the Secret Empire 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 renumbering, writer Donny Cates and pencilers Frazer Irving and Chip Zdarsky took over at issues #381-390.[17] Considering the legacy renumbering, the fourth volume actually has a total of 36 issues.
Doctor Strange vol. 5
A fifth Doctor Strange series was launched by writer Mark Waid and artist Jesus Saiz in August 2018.[18]
Dr. Strange, Surgeon Supreme
A short-lived sixth series, Doctor Strange: Surgeon Supreme, launched in December 2019 by writer Mark Waid and artist Kev Walker follows immediately after the storyline completed in the fifth series.[19] The series was cancelled after six issues.[20]
Death of Doctor Strange
Being a mini-series, Death of Doctor Strange was written by Jed MacKay, and penciled/inked by Lee Garbett.[citation needed] With focus on the temporary death of the heroic sorcerer and the reactions of fellow heroes, the 5-issue series lasted from November 2021 to March 2022.
Doctor Strange vol. 6
This series (debuting with Doctor Strange #1, May 2023), headed by writer Jed MacKay and artist Pasqual Ferry,[citation needed] features the continued trials and tribulations of the recently revivified Stephen Strange as well as Clea's position in the series.
Timeline
Doctor Strange is featured or co-featured in the ongoing series:
Doctor Strange #180–183; Sub-Mariner #22; Incredible Hulk #126; Marvel Premiere #3–10, #12–14; Doctor Strange #1–2, #4–5; material from Marvel Feature #1; Marvel Premiere #11; Doctor Strange #3
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #41–59, Annual #2–3, Spider-Man/Dr. Strange: The Way to Dusty Death, Silver Surfer vol. 3 #67, Morbius: The Living Vampire #9, Secret Defenders #1–11, and material from Incredible Hulk Annual #18, Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #2, and Silver Surfer Annual #5
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #60-90, Annual #4 and Ashcan Edition; Strange Tales (1994) #1; Midnight Suns Unlimited #6; Dr. Strange: What is it That Disturbs You, Stephen? GN; Untold Tales of Spider-Man: Strange Encounter GN
Doctor Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?
Doctor Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?, Doctor Strange Annual #1, Marvel Premiere #7, and Doctor Strange (1974) #34; and material from Doctor Strange vol. 2 #46, Marvel Fanfare #5–6 and #8, Chamber of Chills #1–2, and Journey Into Mystery vol. 2 #4.
Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers (2021) #1, Strange Academy Presents: The Death of Doctor Strange (2021) #1, Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man (2021) #1, Death of Doctor Strange: White Fox (2021) #1, Death of Doctor Strange: Blade (2021) #1, Death of Doctor Strange: X-Men/Black Knight (2021) #1, Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone (2022) #1
^DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1960s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 128. ISBN978-0756641238. Hailing 1968 as the beginning of the 'Second Age of Marvel Comics,' and with more titles to play with, editor Stan Lee discarded his split books and gave more characters their own titles...Strange Tales #168 [was followed] by Dr. Strange #169.
"Hailing 1968 as the beginning of the 'Second Age of Marvel Comics,' and with more titles to play with, editor Stan Lee discarded his split books and gave more characters their own titles…Strange Tales #168 [was followed] by Dr. Strange #169."
"The great Marvel artist Gene Colan was doing superb work illustrating both Doctor Strange and The Tomb of Dracula. So it made sense for Strange writer Steve Englehart and Tomb author Marv Wolfman to devise a crossover story."
"The year 1976 was the 200th anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence. So it was appropriate that several of the major events in Marvel history that year dealt with political themes… In September, just before departing from Marvel for DC Comics, writer Steve Englehart sent Dr. Strange back through time to meet one of the men responsible for the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin.
^Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #60 (December 1993) to #68 (August 1994) Christiansen, Jeff (August 27, 2015). "Midnight Sons". The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015.
