Doctor Strange - From Comic to Movie

 

One of the more interesting of Marvels superheroes Doctor Strange is finally getting the recognition he deserves with a new movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The good Doctor has been around since the early sixties having been created and drawn by two of comicdom's greatest talents Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Doctor Strange originally appeared in Strange Tales # 110, though his actual origin did not appear until #115. Strange Tales was an anthology book which Doctor Strange shared with the Human Torch (from the Fantastic Four) and Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD respectively until Marvel got it's new distributor and was able to expand their range of comics in 1968.



Stephen Strange was a rich successful surgeon who was somewhat vain and selfish until an accident prevented him from carrying out surgery as his hands were irreparably injured. Searching for a cure Strange heads for the mystics of the Himalayas and meets the "Ancient One".

The struggle for magical supremacy begins.

Steve Ditko's artwork makes these early adventures the best of the run, though those that follow do their best and as the Marvel universe expands we meet The Living Tribunal and Eternity amongst others who will form an essential part of the "backbone" of the "Marvel Age of Comics".

Sadly the first solo volume of Doctor Strange (using the numbering inherited from Strange Tales)only lasted 15 issues.

 

Of course like all good heroes Doctor Strange doesn't just disappear. Over the years there have been several solo series,  but most of all there was..The Defenders, Marvels "non-team" starring not just the "Doc", but the Hulk, Prince Namor, the Sun-Mariner and the Silver Surfer just to name the core members. that had many a weird and wonderful adventure.

 

Needless to say this isn't the first time Doctor Strange has been committed to film (though the first attempt should have simply been committed full stop). A TV film (best forgotten) appeared in 1978 as Marvel tried to capitalise on the success of The Hulk.

Much better (and one that I already have on DVD) is the animated version released in 2007.

 

But now we are at last seemingly to get the real deal. Can't wait for this one and here's the first official trailer.

Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly (Marvel UK/1980)

Despite the success of The Hulk TV show, his won solo title which at the beginning contained original strips but soon became a reprint title like most Marvel output didn't last that long. The inevitable merger came and off went the Hulk to join Spider-Man in a joint weekly comic simply called Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly.

Gone where the unique glossy covers that made British Marvel stand out on the new stands and a new innovation made them look like more traditional comics. A mistake in many fans eyes.

Actually the Hulk was the only UK Marvel I picked up around the late seventies but in the end transferred fully to the full colour US editions that were readily available not just in shops but in the only comic shop I knew at that time Dark They were and Golden Eyed in Soho when I was a student. Great place, sadly missed!

 

The two main strips in this comic were pretty obvious from the title, but the other stories appearing here were Daredevil and She-Hulk (alternating with Spider-Woman). At least in the issues I picked up.

Marvel were experimenting with other formats for it's comics bringing out non-superhero titles such as Fury, Valour and Forces in Combat none of which lasted that long. Even Marvel Comics, previously their flagship title Mighty World of Marvel had gone. The era of the monthlies was upon us.

Both Spider-Man and The Hulk are still on the news-stands today in their own full colour US sized editions (but with many extra pages), but for me Marvels golden era was coming to an end.

I miss the weeklies.

 

Valiant and Knockout (1963)

One of my favourite British comics was Valiant which published two well know characters Captain Hurricane and The Steel Claw. Of course this particular issue came out when I was quite young so I hadn't seen this or the second merged issue before, but was keen to pick them up when they came up for sale.

Published in February 1963, Valiant, then quite a new comic only having been launched the previous year was merged with the long-running Knockout which had started way back in 1939! Knockout had itself merged with Magnet in 1941, the home of the famous Billy Bunter who of course continues in this merged comic.

 

Knockout was home to the famous Battler Britton who I only recall from appearances in the various Fleetway "pocket picture libraries". In this combined comic he co-stars with captain Hurricane and the adventures begin!

Also of interest is an early take on "Jurassic World", From The Vaults of Time featuring dinosaurs which in Knockout had seen them rampage across Southern England as a result of the rash actions of a certain Professor Kraken. This time they're back or are they? Is this something else.

Other strips include the long running Kelly's Eye, The Man called 39 and Jack O'Justice. Plus of course humour from the The Nutts.

The "golden age" of British comics indeed!

Archie's "Mighty" superheroes in Alan Class comics

The great thing about picking up comics published by Alan Class is the sheer variety of "Silver Age" material that these contained and despite their horror orientated titles, they actually ran superheroes from a variety of sources.

One of my favourites back in the sixties and seventies were the Archie line of Superheroes that briefly appeared under the "Mighty Comic Group" label for a while in an unsuccessful attempt to emulate Marvels success.

Some of the stories are outrageously camp and corny featuring The Fly (a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby that pre-dated Spider-Man), The Shield (a patriotic hero that pre-dates Captain America), The Hangman, The Black Hood, The Fox and who could forget the hen-pecked hero The Web whose nagging wife wanted him to hang up his cape.

 

All these stories and more were published at random across Alan's range of black & white anthologies that were such good value for a shilling when pocket money was so limited for us kids.

Added to these stories of super heroics were mystery and horror stories from a wide range of US publishers such as Charlton, AC and Marvel.

Other companies heroes appeared here. Reprints of Early Fantastic Four, Avengers, Spider-Man plus Tower's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and King Features Mandrake, Phantom also appeared randomly across the line.

Each and every issue contained surprises and are well worth collecting

 

Wow! (1982)

Rummaging through old British comics I came across Wow!, which I had vaguely heard of but never seen, so decided to pick up a couple of copies to see what it was like. I have to say the cover story Shipwreck School did appeal!

Published in the regular format of IPC/Fleetway this was a short lived title that ran from 1982 to 1983 for just 56 issues before merging with the better selling and more popular Whoppee!. 

This was a humour only comic, something that seems unique to British comics and contained a number of strips that were fairly standard fair. Kid Comic (the stand up type), Adam and his Ants, Creepy Comix, Boy Boss and Barney's Badges were amongst the features that would amuse us "kids" and (ahem) older readers alike.

Just one drawback. The centre colour pages are devoted to a certain discredited Australian artist but we were none the wiser back in those days.

Whilst not high on my collecting list I'm happy to have a couple of examples of this comic in my collection.



The first and last issues of Wow!

 

Buster (1963)

When I came across the cover of Buster dated 3rd August 1963 I was intrigued by the Dome of Doom caption. I'd have been 5 when this was published so would have been unlikely to have read this. Probably on the Beano & Dandy at the time. I don't recall getting a comic until 1964 when the first issue of Wham! was published, but I've covered that before.

I managed to get a copy and it's very different to the Buster I grew up with.

For starters it's quite a larger size (with fewer pages) and the internal pages consist of one story a page, being a mixture of adventure adventure and comedy that made Buster such a good read.

The story Dome of Doom is about aliens invading the Earth (via the UK of course!) and whilst the British army stands powerless outside the forcefield there are two lads inside. I'd guess that the future of mankind depends on them!

Other adventure features included Maxwell Hawke, Phantom Force 5, The Boy Who Knew Too Much and Nick Shannon. There was comedy from Buster himself, Sonny Boy and (a sign of the times) celebrity strips with Bruce Forsyth, Charlie Drake and Jimmy Edwards in Whacko which I have vague memories of.

Excellent stuff all round.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century # 2 & 3 (Gold Key/1979)

Buck Rogers In the 25th Century #2 (Gold Key)

Paul Newman (w) Frank Bolle, Al McWilliams & Jose Delbo (a)

One of the must see TV shows in the late seventies was Buck Rogers in the 25th Century starring Gil Gerard and the fabulous Erin Gray. This story about an astronaut from the 20th century who woke up in the far future only lasted for two seasons, but was memorable all the same.



Inevitably Buck Rogers spawned some comic spin-offs. In the UK Buck appeared in ITV's "junior TV Times" Look-In between 1980 and 1982 in no less than 64 weekly instalments. In the USA Gold Key picked up the licence and started the series with #2, which may sound odd but they originally published their first Buck Rogers comic way back in 1964!

The "first" two issues of this comic re-told the original movie length story before moving on to a regular series using the characters from season one of the TV show. There were 15 comics published in a 16 issue run. For some reason although prepared and ready for use #10 was never published and #17 never made it to press either, the series being cancelled.

 

Nevertheless if these two issues are anything to go by, they are well worth picking up and have decent art and scripting for the time they were published. Certainly Gold Key went to town on the covers so worth collecting.

Later issues were published by Whitman.

Here's a reminder of the show as Buck meets....Twiki?