Strange Tales #110

Strange Tales #110 (1963)
by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

The cover doesn’t make it immediately clear that this is an important moment for the Marvel Universe.

Not because of the cover story, which I’ve already reviewed, but because the backup feature is… strange.

We begin with a guy who can’t fall asleep because he’s surrounded by awesome Ditko art.

So he goes to Doctor Strange. Little known fact, he’s a master of the mystic arts AND a somnologist (which only sounds like a fake profession).

He has clearly seen something like this before. Despite never opening his eyes.

Before working on the case, Strange demonstrates what is possibly his most recognizable ability: Astral Projection.

He does this to get some counsel from his teacher (not yet named the Ancient One).
Who doesn’t seem to have anything particularly useful to tell him.

That night, Doctor Strange travels into the dream…

…which is actually a nightmare. THE Nightmare, even.
Despite being his first appearnce, Nightmare has evidently already met Strange; I don’t think that the specific story of their first in-universe encounter has been told yet.

Nightmare is a crafty one. He can’t directly affect the real world, but he can influence you in your sleep.

While Strange knows he’s about to get shot, rather than returning to his body (maybe Nightmare is preventing it), he decides to call his master.

I’m guessing it’s faster to call his master to activate the amulet from the other side of the planet rather than doing it from his own body or from Nigthmare’s realm.

Doctor Strange saves himself, and the guy tormented by Nightmare realizes he was using the guilt over the crimes he has committed.

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Historical significance: 10/10
The Marvel Universe really wouldn’t be the same without Doctor Strange.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.

 Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
For once, being a short story actually helps. While these are only FIVE PAGES, they do tell a complete story with a chilling atmosphere perfectly attuned to the required mood.

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How close is this to the modern character? 6/10
For once we DON’T have a big dispute over who created the character.
Steve Ditko said in 2008:

On my own, I brought in to Lee a five-page, penciled story with a page/panel script of my idea of a new, different kind of character for variety in Marvel Comics. My character wound up being named Dr. Strange because he would appear in Strange Tales.
STEVE DITKO

Stan Lee is quoted as giving Ditko the credit even before the story appeared, writing to Jerry Bails (a foundational figure in the establishment of fandom) in 1963:

Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales (just a 5-page filler named Dr. Strange); Steve Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him– ’twas Steve’s idea and I figured we’d give it a chance, although again, we had to rush the first one too much. Little sidelight: Originally decided to call him Mr. Strange, but thought the “Mr.” bit too similar to Mister Fantastic — now, however, I remember we had a villain called Dr. Strange just recently in one of our mags, hope it won’t be too confusing!
STAN LEE

Stan is referring to the original Doctor Strange: a one-off Iron Man villain from earlier in 1963.

Doctor Strange wasn’t an immediate hit. After his first story he appeared in #111 and #114, after which he received his full origin story in Strange Tales #115.

The Sanctum Sanctorum doesn’t show up until Strange Tales #117.

A lot of Strange lore LOOKS familiar in his first story, but it takes a while for everything to be clearly established.
The Ancient One is not named until #115 and Wong until #119, and the amulet that Strange is wearing is the Amulet of Agamotto: not the EYE of Agamotto, which doesn’t make it debut until Strange Tales #128 in 1965.
It’s ALSO the first story where Strange begins to consistently use the red cloak, instead of the original blue.

The title of Sorcerer Supreme comes even later in his career.
His official initial title was “Master Of The Mystic Arts”: the Sorcerer Supreme was the Ancient One. Strange received the title upon the Ancient One’s sort-of-death in 1973, in Marvel Premiere #12.

But apparently it wasn’t REALLY official until Triumph and Torment in 1989.

I couldn’t POSSIBLY go through the ENTIRE history of Doctor Strange; not only because it gets VERY complex, but because the poor doctor hasn’t had the best luck at keeping a regular series.
He would remain on Strange Tales until #168, but he had to share the book.
With the Human Torch from issues 110 through 134, and with Nick Fury from 135 to 168.

The book was renamed Doctor Strange from #169 in 1968 , but this would only run until #183 the following year.

With Strange Tales ending, a new split book featuring Strange and Iceman (of all people!!!) was proposed but never released.
After a few appearances, during one of which he founded the Defenders, Strange would get another series by featuring in Marvel Premiere #3-14 from 1972 to 1974.

That sold well enough (and for good reason, that’s an AMAZING run) to get a second volume of a Doctor Strange series the same year.
It would last a remarkable 81 issues, from 1974 to 1986.

With the series ending, Doctor Strange returned to his origins… of being in a split book called Strange Tales, this time with Cloak&Dagger of all people. It only lasted 12 issues.

Finally in his own book again in 1988: “Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme”, beating the previous record by lasting 90 issues until 1996.

That is still the longest Doctor Strange run. He’s bounced around quite a bit:
-Volume 3 is a 4-issue miniseries from 1999
-Volume 4 is a 37 issue series from 2015 to 2018
-Volume 5 is a 20 issue series from 2018-2019
-Volume 6 is a 18 issue series from 2023-2024
-Volume 7 is a one-shot from 2025
-Volume 8 is the one going at the time of this review

Notice there are HUGE gaps over these years, especially between 1999 and 2015? That’s because while Strange has had a ton of miniseries (some of which are sometimes counted as full volumes), he REALLY struggled to keep a regular series for the longest time. And even now, he still has problems keeping those for long.

I’ve always liked Doctor Strange, despite not being a huge fan of fantasy.
But the mythology surrounding him is fascinating, he has a very recognizable personality, and he’s one of the cornerstones of the Marvel Universe.
Mostly because at SOME point, everyone ends up asking his help.

And I do mean EVERYONE.

He’s basically friends to some degree with all heroes. Not unexpected for the magic-based ones or for the Defenders, but I’ve always appreciated two in particular.
His friendship with Mister Fantastic: which works despite them approaching everything from opposite points of view…

…and especially his friendship with Spider-Man.
On the surface these two shouldn’t have ANYTHING in common, but somehow, they REALLY sell their friendship more often than not.

On the surface, Doctor Strange should be absolutely terrifying if you know even less than 1% of what he’s done in his comics.
But he’ll welcome you into his weird house and solve your magic problem, finding the time to squeeze your visit between fighting a horde of super-Cthulhus and having tea with Death.