Doctor Strange, that fictional Master of the Mystic Arts and later Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Omniverse, first appeared in Marvel's science-fiction/fantasy/suspense comic book anthology series Strange Tales #110 in July 1963 as a creation of comic book legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. At that time Strange Tales already began featuring Marvel's Silver Age superheroes along with its sci-fi/suspense stories as backup and the first superhero regularly featured was the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, Johnny Storm. When Doctor Strange appeared, Strange Tales became a "split book" format, and Doctor Strange shared billing with the Human Torch until until issue #134 (July 1965), and then super spy Nick Fury until issue #168 (May 1968). Strange appeared in #111, skipped two issues then returned in #114 before his eight-page origin story appeared in #115 (Dec. 1963), continuously in 9-10 page features until #168; the following month Doctor Strange's adventures continued in the new full-length Doctor Strange #169 (the numbering from Strange Tales was just continued). In all these, I believe the Stan Lee-Steve-Ditko collaboration from Strange Tales #110 through #146 to be the best and the most original, especially with Steve Ditko's fantastic, surreal backgrounds and landscapes. All of Doctor Strange's feature appearances as handled by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko are included in this compilation, complete.
I came upon a link to this treasure in my inbox, forwarded by a friend who knows my fondness for Doctor Strange and my admiration for Steve Ditko.
As I've mentioned here before I was definitely a Marvel boy and grew up on Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Steve Ditko was already familiar to me since he was drawing Spider-Man and for me, Ditko and Jack Kirby (then drawing the Fantastic Four) were the only comic book artists in the world. It is absolutely fitting that Ditko became the artist who first drew Doctor Strange. His fluid yet strangely coiled characters, together with the psychedelic mixture of colors in his magical mythical backgrounds and visuals resonated with college kids in the U.S. then experimenting with drugs and the result is history.
But that was not why I was attracted to Doctor Stephen Strange; I thought he was so cool because with but a gesture, he could do weird things to just about anybody, including demons and magical villains such as the original Lee-Ditko creations Nightmare and the flame-headed dread Dormammu. There's this hand gesture of his that nobody but Steve Ditko could have drawn and that could determine the outcome of any conflict: start with the fingers of the hands spread and extended; bring the middle and ring (fourth) fingers together, and lower them still extended and together, all the while keeping the other fingers likewise spread and extended. Add a bit of a tight curl to to the fingers and that's it. And then there's one of the creative team's most enduring cosmic characters, introduced in an epic 17-issue story arc from Strange Tales #130 - #146: Eternity, the personification of the universe and depicted by Ditko as a silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos. Sadly, Ditko's run ended with the conclusion of that arc. There are gems of appearances by other Marvel super heroes in this run, and their stories are models of economy and efficiency. Most important of all, they are drawn in the unique style that can only be Steve Ditko's. So here we are--I'm sharing this and I hope you enjoy it.
Note: There are no covers included in this compilation, only the contents, and only featuring Doctor Strange. The covers I posted above alongside the first pages of the Dr. Strange's first appearance and of his last feature drawn by Steve Ditko are just for sample and effect.