BY THE HOARY HOSTS OF HOGGOTH, LET MAGIC REIGN!54 years ago today, in the long-gone year of 1972, the third issue of Marvel Premiere was published. This issue, starring one Doctor Stephen Strange, kicked off a nine-issue arc that saw the titular magician taking on his now-legendary title and becoming the earthly realm's Sorcerer Supreme. How he got there is quite the tale-- one that I'm very eager to share with others!I'll be storytiming the entirety of that tale in this very thread, collecting issues #3-11 of Marvel Premiere, and I'll cap off the storytime with a convenient way to read more Dr. Strange if this story intrigues you.So, without further ado, let this grand anniversary storytime begin... while the world spins mad!
For some context as to why the cover is proudly proclaiming that Dr. Strange "lives again:" this is Strange's first purely solo story in nearly two and a half years. Strange had been relegated mostly to a supporting role on the newly-formed Defenders from July 1969 'til now, and his most recent solo appearances involved him donning a mask and trying to change his name to Stephen Sanders in a failed attempt at giving him a secret identity. (Despite Dr. Strange making prolific use of memory-wiping powers around this era.) Since the character only debuted in April 1963, a break that long was a pretty big deal at the time.The title of this story really is "While the World Spins Mad!", by the way, despite the cover insisting otherwise. Anyways, this splash page is mostly unrelated to the rest of this story...
...which opens on a dark and rainy night, beautifully illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith.
Some concerned passers-by worry for the strange man in red, but find their fears misplaced.
Writers in the early days of Strange tended to go back and forth on referring to Strange's astral form as an astral form vs. an "ectoplasmic" form. The basic idea was just that it was vaguely ghostly and detached from his physical body, so I suppose that prompted various writers to take liberties. Nevertheless, the intent is the same: this is Dr. Strange entering the Astral Plane.
The Ancient One-- current Sorcerer Supreme-- does what he can to prepare his student, but not even mystical video conferences can prepare Strange for what's to come...
Good thing Windsor-Smith never clarified whether this was the Orb of Agamotto, or every comic after this one would've had a problem.
Just in case you forgot that Stan Lee was technically co-writing this...
This entire page is great. Look at that top sequence!
Yet more beautiful art.
And now... madness!
SURRENDER! Won't you please, anon?
It's not very secret if it's in his name, is it?
Probably a good call from future writers to ignore that 'spell of invulnerability.'
bumping for interest
Here's some of that memory-erasure I was talking about earlier in action. Doc did this to almost any normal person who heard or saw his spellcasting, very consistently, up until the Roger Stern years. Thereabout, he started asking for permission and doing it less frequently. After that, it was only a matter of time until writers kind of just forgot that it ever happened. With dangerous memories erased and a foe to chase, thus ends issue #3...
...and begins issue #4: The Spawn of Sligguth!!(The cover name is accurate this time.)
Now, you'll notice that the credits here are very different: Lee is little more than a "producer," while the writer is now one Archie Goodwin. Barry Smith is still on art, but newly joined by the ever-underrated Frank Brunner (who will go on to illustrate half of this saga, the entirety of the one immediately following it, and the first few issues of Strange's second ongoing). Get used to this-- unsteady credits are a constant throughout this saga.That little thank-you to Robert E. Howard may look a little misleading to those only familiar with his Conan work, but it will give you a good indication of where this story is going if you know him for more...
>>153386248(Thank you, anon!)
Ah, yes, a small town in New England. Surely nothing can go wrong there.
More memory-wiping, in case you thought I was exaggerating when I said "almost every normal person."
Can't blame the man for relishing in the taste of food after spending lord-knows-how-long being harassed by Nightmare.
Welcome to Starkesboro, anons! Hope you survive the experience!
Oh cool.
The Ancient One, in his old age, mispronounces the name of his masters. At least he makes a cool-looking Mufasa.
Another lost habit of Strange's: the man used to disguise his caped outfit while out and about with a simple glamor. I'm halfway certain that Ditko started this, but I think it was inconsistently done up until this very issue (as you can see in issue #3, where Strange is walking around in his cape completely undisguised). After this, I'm pretty sure it became a relatively constant trait of his through to Peter Gillis's run. I guess it became kind of redundant with Marvel's "superheroes as celebrities" angle from the 2000s onwards.
Brunner's inks really shine here. The second and final panels are especially great.
Sssso beginsss the climax!
Have I mentioned how good the coloring is yet? I don't think the colorist is credited, but he did a really damn good job. The last three pages may be its best exemplars: the stark red when Ethan starts panicking, the halo behind Strange when he's explaining things to Stoddard, and the yellow-green blend in this page's last panel are especially evocative.
Betrayal!
Sssstephen Ssstrange fallssss! So ends issue #4...
...and so begins issue #5, the Lurker in the Labyrinth!
Written and drawn by an entirely different team of people, of course. Brunner and Goodwin have vanished, to be replaced with Irv Wesley and Gardner Fox respectively. Brunner is sorely missed, but won't be gone for long. Goodwin, on the other hand, is gone for good. Gardner will be replacing him for the next four issues. Not even the letterer's gotten away unscathed-- John Costanza has been replaced with Sam Rosen. For this issue only.
Editorials aside, this issue wastes no time in giving the threat a face... and naming the puppetmaster behind all of this directly!
And now: ekssspossssition!
What do you do when confronted with a demonic servant of an Elder God? Sock it in the face, of course!
Cyttorak's Crystals show up very occasionally. This is only their second-ever appearance, and they would go on to be largely forgotten after the 70s.
The art improves, if slightly...
Meanwhile, the Ancient One withers...
...while Clea quivers...
...and Wong watches his master!I guess that was the Orb of Agamotto after all.
The first and second panels here evoke the same atmosphere that the last issue was drenched in. They're good.
One might say his cape can't work under these conditions.
As usual, the Vishanti are total dicks. Even in their first-ever appearance.
At least they tried to help a little this time?
Issue #5 ends with our hero on the ropes, exhausted and near drowning...
...which, of course, lends itself to a really cool cover.
Brunner's back! And Sal Buscema's tagged along with him, too! The letterer's been thrown out once more, with Gaspar Saladino taking over Rosen's work, but the team otherwise remains the same. Gardner Fox lives to see another day.
Hell yeah, cape! I don't know why Strange feels the need to incant here, given that the Cloak was already established to be controlled with mental thought alone by this point, but it adds to the scene so it's not irritating so much as it is amusing and confusing.
THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! Or, well, anti-Christ.
Now enters: N'Gabthoth! Probably one of Strange's coolest one-off baddies. He sort of looks like a cross between the original Beetle and He Who Sleeps but Shall Awake.
All is not as it seems back in Starkesboro...
...nor is it so obvious back in Kaa-U...
...but that won't stop Doctor Strange from saving the day!
Or at least trying to.
(This is the part where I remember that storytime OPs cannot bump their own threads, and I ask anyone in the audience to please bump this thread for me while I post.)
Finally, Strange succeeds! With a little help from the Ancient One, of course!
N'Gabthoth stoops to cowardice...
...or so it seems!
And, of course, it all returns to England! With our course set, issue 6 ends...
...and issue 7 begins!
>>153387069reading
Brunner's been banished once more, replaced with Craig Russell on pencils and three separate inkers. This is the last time Brunner'll be kicked off of Premiere, but not the last issue without him on art.
You know shit's real when 70s Dr. Strange starts freaking out. With good reason, too.
The scene shifts to yet another rainy town, just as small in merry Old England as it was in the New...
>>153387249Thank you for the bump!
"Nonsense," says the man from the Marvel universe. "Magic can't be real."
And now: Dagoth!
Dr. Strange enters the fight with a splash!
Yet another lost spell. The Hook of Hoggoth never appears again.
Another trick that Dr. Strange used to employ plentifully: illusions, specifically of himself. He didn't always use them like he does here, generally preferring to split himself into tens of different "selves" as opposed to Gardner's get-out-of-jail-free card, but they used to be one of his main implements. I'm not sure why they stopped being used. They were prominent even into the Stern years, though I think Gillis eased off on them quite a lot. I don't think I've seen them in a single comic published past the 90s.
Some really great art from Russell. He's got a knack for depicting terror.
"Kulthas" actually goes by a different name... one that you will know very soon.
Somehow, Clea and Wong are here too!
And the civilians are more scared of an angry man in a cape than the giant man-fish monster! Ah, Marvel.
There he goes.
Stephen's trip to Stonehenge is derailed again! Issue 7 comes to a close...
...and issue 8 opens with Kulthas's true name, revealed! Kathulos!His name was just changed in-between stories, but I thought it might be cooler to pretend it was an in-universe alias.
This issue has Jim Starlin on art, and 2/3 of the previous issue's inkers return to finish his pencils. The letterer is different, again, and the colorist has been changed once more... but this is the last issue with such drastic creative shake-ups, and marks the point where the story starts to get really good. This specific issue is rather infamous for reasons you will soon be enlightened to...
Can't dispel spirits with a single spell? Just set them on fire!
Can't beat a haunted house at its own game? Just blow it up!
Finally, Strange remembers that he was here for Stonehenge...
...and arrives unharmed!
But not unarmed!
Calling on half of the Octessence for a single spell? You better believe it's going to be strong.
Kathulos's identity is revealed...
bump
The vines seem... more than sentient...
...and so, Strange finds himself up against his most daunting opponent yet: an entire fucking planet!
A sadistic one, too!
Yes, even the LIVING PLANET is subservient to He Who Sleeps But Shall Awake!
And Dr. Strange has managed to kill it!
Marooned on an alien planet with no way back home... how will Dr. Strange find his way out of this? Issue 8 is finished...
...but issue 9 has just begun. Enter: The Creatures from The Crypt!
Finally, Steve Englehart takes the reins! Brunner joins him, too, and the two will continue writing and drawing every issue until the end of this arc.It's a shame that Gardner was kicked off just as he was starting to get the hang of this... but saying I don't prefer Englehart's every word would be a complete lie. The end approaches!
Stranded on a dead planet, what's a man to do other than meditate?
Oh, of course-- how could I forget the old Witch House special?
Suddenly-- a space demon, in the flesh!
Or is it really?
HE SPEAKS!
Four days later, Strange finally makes his way to the Ancient One's prison...
There's that old-school chanting Gardner was finally getting around to doing! If only it had any use here...
FOOT DIVE!
Strange and the Ancient One finally meet again, but the master is not well...
The two manage to hold off the hordes, until...
...HE WHO SLEEPS, AWAKENS!As life slips away from the Ancient One, he reveals the truth to Stephen Strange! So issue 9 ends!
The penultimate issue of the saga begins!
Finally, SHUMA-GORATH! He Who Sleeps slumbers no more! His form may seem unfamiliar to you, but rest assured: you gaze upon a visage of the almighty Elder God himself!
If I've got my chronology right, this is the very first appearance of the term "Sorcerer Supreme"! It's purely an Englehart thing, from what I understand-- Gerber never touched upon it around the same time, and neither Ditko nor Thomas ever brought it up. The Ancient One was always Strange's superior, but it was never so directly stated as it is here.
Who needs Pym Particles when you've got MAGIC? The determined doctor dives deep into the dying Ancient One's brain...
...becomes one with himself...
...and goes to fight... Dormammu?
...no, of course not. He's here to fight the master of magical power-scaling, the almighty betentacled one, the one and only: SHUUUMA-GORAAAATH!!
One must imagine the Japanese happy.
Once more, Strange must decide: save that which he loves, or save the wellbeing of the universe? It's no contest-- and so, the good doctor resolves to murder his adoptive father and long-time mentor for the sake of us all.
Shuma-Gorath realizes what Strange has done... and even he is intimidated! As he approaches his destination, the master of the mystic arts is wracked with apprehension...
>>153388498WASTE OF FLESH
...but, in the end, he does what he must! Strange puts an end to Shuma-Gorath's presence on Earth-- and the life of his master-- once and for all!
Overcome with guilt, Strange nearly makes a very foolish decision--
--only to be stopped by the Ancient One himself!
And so, the threat of Shuma-Gorath is kept at bay... by paying the greatest price of all! Stephen Strange stands alone, triumphant... now, Sorcerer Supreme.
The battle is over, but the day is not yet won. There is news to be delivered, and only one messenger remains to do it.This issue is technically an anthology, sandwiching two reprints of Ditko's Strange Tales stories between an original introduction and conclusion. The reprints were likely included as a way to familiarize new readers with Strange's origins-- or, since this issue was published 10 years after the character's introduction, it might have been some kind of belated anniversary compilation (not unlike this very storytime). I'm not sure of any specifics, as I'm not old enough to have lived through the original publication of this.I will only be storytiming the new material, as it's all that is relevant to this story arc. It'll be a short epilogue, but easier to read without the Silver Age stories cluttering up the pacing.
Immediately after this come the reprints, so I'm going to skip ahead...
...to the very end of the Shuma-Gorath saga, and the beginning of Strange's endless years as Sorcerer Supreme. Thank you all for reading along with me-- I hope you enjoyed this 54-year old yarn. It's one of my favorites, and it's a shame that it seems to have fallen by the wayside as of late.I promised a convenient way to read more Dr. Strange at the beginning of this lengthy trip, and I'm a man of my word: aside from the usual methods, feel free to follow the link below to a small introductory package of Dr. Strange stories.http://www.mediafire.com/download/araspaddej639ae/Doctor+Strange+Introductory+Package.zipI promise it's safe, even if it's mediafire. It was compiled by a saintly anon a little over 12 years ago and still works today. Within this .zip, you'll find a small collection of some of Dr. Strange's best books-- including the entire saga I've storytimed here! All you need to read them is a program that can open .cbzs and you're good to go. With all that said... thank you for reading! May the Vishanti smile upon you!
Englehart's Strange is one of the best comics Marvel's ever published.>>153387999I wonder how much of that was Fox and how much of that was him just scripting Starlin since this is Starlin right as he's also starting Captain Marvel and thus doing the stuff which is really going to make him a big name. Fox is like the definitive Silver Age DC writer for me: wacky ideas executed in a very dull and uninteresting way so I have a hard time thinking he suddenly "gets it" the second Starlin comes on boad.
>>153388679Agreed, and I have no idea! The letters column included at the end of issue #11 gives a little bit more detail on why Gardner left (apparently he wasn't kicked off of the title, which surprises me since it certainly seemed like he was), but doesn't elaborate enough to make any distinctions.You're probably right that it was more Starlin than Fox making issue #8 as good as it was, but I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure.
>>153388809Oops, I was going to add that column to my post and forgot. Here it is.
Thank you for the storytime OP
>>153385992Thanks for this OP, I need to read more Strange stories
>>153385992Bump
bumpity bump
>>153387069Reading bump
Bumping to spite RLM faggot
Glad so many anons turned out for today :)>>153390112You do! He has a lot of great stuff. I find it hard to call any solo story from <1985 outright bad. I'm probably going to be storytiming lots more of these on various anniversaries. Not enough to fatigue the board, hopefully, but some big stories here and there. The graphic novels for sure, some of the important arcs maybe, my favorite stories only if anons actually like me doing this and I can shove my weird picks in their faces. Sise-Neg started in October, so if I want to do its anniversary I'll have to wait a very long time, but I also want to do a sequel to this thread soon because it was really fun to do...
>>153387069r-r-readinggood stuff OP
>>153387069Reading
>>153388678how could you link the introductory package but forget the recommendation image?here, i’ll post it for you
Man I wish Shuma-Gorath was still this cool
>>153398306He's not even cool enough to have his own name anymore
>>153396041not him, but thanks anyways.
>>153386020Thank goodness it was magic, if it had been any other force the driver might have been hurt from the sudden stop
>>153387069Bumping cause I'm still reading dammit
>>153398644being a fan is suffering
>Classic Dr StrangeHell yeah
>>153387386And not played by Andre the Giant this time!
>>153393984A worthy cause
>>153405395The evil has been vanquished!
Brunner bumpper
>>153406110Hooray!
What was Dr Strange's greatest ever feat?
>>153407291Banging Clea
>>153407291>>153388061
Bump
>>153388829>that first letterkek what even
>>153385992>HOGGOTH It's 'Hogarth,' actually.
>>153415405It was the 70s
>>153404901kek
