This is a review of Marvel Masterworks Doctor Strange Volume One. IMO, there are three classic Marvel titles to emerge from the early 1960’s. The first is Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four, the second is Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man, and the third is Mr. Ditko’s Doctor Strange. I suppose you can also include Jack Kirby’s Captain America and SHIELD runs, which I believe took place in the same time period. The rest of the Marvel output from the early 1960’s is uneven (Daredevil and The Avengers), and some of it is just plain bad – early Thor and Iron Man were wretched.
Anyway, Doctor Strange is a standout. The reason for this is Steve Ditko, whose art for this series is bizarre, distinctive, and surreal. Besides the artwork, it wouldn’t surprise me if Ditko did much of the plotting, leaving Stan Lee to write the dialogue. I believe Steve Ditko to deserve the lion’s share of the credit for the quality of this title, but YMMV. The stories here range from five to twenty pages. The shorter stories are marvels of efficiency. Not a panel is wasted.
Doctor Strange lives in a mansion in Greenwich Village. He is Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, a phrase that’s never really explained. The less said about his origin story – which is a take on a hoary old trope most people don’t use anymore – the better. Strange is written as an interesting mix of arrogance and humility – he will help anyone who asks, but there’s something that sets him apart from the rest of humanity. He’s not the type you’d like to have a drink with at a bar.
Doctor Strange’s foes include Baron Mordo, the Mindless Ones, and the Dread Dormammu. Strange has a cloak of levitation, and he can summon the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto and the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak. He’s a solitary figure, keeping to himself and not really fitting in with the rest of the Marvel Universe at that time. There’s an issue guest-starring Thor and also an issue where he shares the limelight with Spider-Man, but mostly the good doctor is a loner.
Highly recommended!
Abandoned Places 