Merge:Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is a sorcerer and superhero in the. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Additionally, the name had been used for a different Marvel character two months earlier.

Dr. Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of our Universe, responsible for defending it from mystic threats. He is a master of the mystic arts, using his abilities to battle evil magicians and other supernatural villains. He is also often consulted by other superheroes on supernatural matters.

Publication history
After debuting in Strange Tales #110 and returning in the next issue, the 9- to 10-page feature "Dr. Strange" skipped two issues and then returned permanently with #114 (Nov. 1963). Steve Ditko's surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly head-trippy visuals helped make the feature a favorite of 1960s college students, according to contemporaneous accounts. Ditko, as co-plotter and later sole plotter, in the "Marvel Method", would eventually take Strange into ever-more-abstract realms that nonetheless remained well-grounded thanks to Stan Lee's reliably humanistic, adventure/soap opera dialog. Doctor Strange shared the "split book" Strange Tales with solo adventures of Fantastic Four member the Human Torch (whose feature had begun in issue #101), and, beginning with #135, with its replacement feature, "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.".

While Lee and Ditko themselves interacted less and less as each went their different creative ways, Doctor Strange's storyline culminates with what historians consider one of modern comics' great moments: the introduction, in issue #146 (July 1966), of Ditko's grand and enduring conception of Eternity, the personification of the universe, depicted as a majestic silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos. It was a groundbreaking creation at a time long before such cosmic conceits were commonplace, and Ditko's final bow on the feature. "Doctor Strange" continued to the end of the book's run, when the "Fury" feature was spun off into its own title and Strange Tales was renamed Doctor Strange with issue #169 (June 1968). Note: This is the title as given in the book's postal indicia; Dr. Strange's various series have confusingly changed their cover-logo titles much more than most series. See the Bibliography for details.

Doctor Strange's first namesake comic book, written by Roy Thomas with art by penciler Gene Colan, lasted only until issue #183, by which point in the low-selling series Strange was wearing a full-face cowl in an effort to more resemble a Marvel superhero. That look was short-lived and subsequently abandoned.

Strange's next series began in the 1970s showcase title Marvel Premiere, which spun-off the solo title generally listed as Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts. (The original 1968 comic had also used that subtitle for a time, though not in the indicia.) An acclaimed early arc by writer Steve Englehart and penciller/co-plotter Frank Brunner, beginning in Marvel Premiere featured the death of Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, and led Strange to meet God at Creation. Reflecting that era's trend toward "cosmic" characters and stories &mdash; a trend ironically begun in the Lee-Ditko '60s stories &mdash; this turn away from more traditionally occult, supernatural stories helped propel the soon-to-be-spun-off series through 81 issues, under various teams.

Through 1987-88, the character returned in Strange Tales Vol. 2, #1-19, appearing in 11-page stories in this "split book" shared with the feature "Cloak and Dagger". This was followed by Strange's third solo title, generally listed as Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme, which lasted 90 issues from 1988-96. Doctor Strange also appeared in various miniseries and two graphic novels, and in major recurring roles in the 1970s feature and later comic book The Defenders and in the 1990s comic book Nightstalkers.

Character biography
Dr. Stephen Strange was born on November 18, 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A few months later the Stranges move to a farm in Nebraska. There Stephen is brought up alongside his brother Victor and sister Donna.

He becomes an accomplished but arrogant surgeon until he suffers subtle, though profound, neurological damage in an automobile accident in 1963. His hands in particular are no longer able to make the precise, fine movements necessary for surgery, although their overall mobility remains. Unable to continue his profession and too hubristic to accept subordinate medical assignments, he becomes unemployed and destitute. Learning of a hermit called the Ancient One who might possibly cure him, the desperate Strange ventures to the man's isolated Himalayan abode and asks for aid. The Ancient One instead offers to take on Strange as an apprentice. Strange refuses, but cannot leave immediately due to a sudden blizzard.

While staying for the duration of the storm, he witnesses the Ancient One's apprentice, Baron Mordo, secretly attack the teacher with mystically summoned skeletons, which the old man easily dispells. Strange, his skepticism eroding, confronts Mordo about the treachery. Mordo responds with restraining spells that keep Strange both from warning the Ancient One or attacking Mordo physically. Amazed by these displays of magic, alarmed by Mordo, but frustrated by the mystic restraints, Strange undergoes a change of heart. Deciding the only way to stop Mordo is to learn magic himself in order to challenge Mordo on his terms, Strange accepts the Ancient One's offer. Pleased by Strange's acceptance for unselfish reasons, the Ancient One removes the mystic restraints, explaining he was well aware of Mordo's treachery, but prefers to keep Mordo close by in order to control and possibly change him. Strange studies magic under the Ancient One for seven years and returns to the United States in the 1970s.

Silver Age Strange
Based in his "sanctum sanctorum" mansion in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, Strange uses his new abilities to fight such mystic enemies as recurring nemesis Mordo; the flame-headed otherdimensional ruler Dormammu, with whom he clashes often; and Strange's first recorded foe upon returning to America, Nightmare. He encounters such cosmic beings as the Living Tribunal, and the personification of the universe itself, Eternity, as well as numerous superheroes and even, at one Times Square New Year's celebration, longtime family friend and author Tom Wolfe, (who allowed his likeness to be used in Doctor Strange Vol. #180, May 1969). On one journey to Dormammu's realm, Strange meets and eventually falls in love with Clea, the tyrant's human-appearing niece.

When the demon Asmodeus briefly impersonates him, Strange dons a superheroic-looking full-face cowl and a "secret identity" as Dr. Stephen Saunders from Vol. 1, #177 through the final issue, #183 (Feb.-Nov. 1969).

Death of the Ancient One
When the demonic entity Shuma-Gorath (first mentioned in Marvel Premiere #5, Nov. 1972) tries to cross into the Earth's dimension from within the mind of the Ancient One (#9, July 1973), Strange is forced to sacrifice his mentor in order to save humanity's collective soul (#10, Sept. 1973). After his mentor's death - in which the Ancient One becomes "one with the universe" and a lingering presence - Strange inherits the mantle and power of Sorcerer Supreme of Earth's plane.

After taking his lover Clea as his disciple (Marvel Premiere #12, Nov. 1973), one of his first tasks as Sorcerer Supreme is to confront Death. After proving himself worthy, Strange is granted the immortality befitting his new role. (As Sorcerer Supreme, he is near ageless and immune to dying from natural causes. His predecessor, the Ancient One, had lived for over five centuries.)

Defenders and Nightstalkers
Also during this time Doctor Strange gathers the anti-heroes the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer to form the sporadically summoned superhero "non-team", the Defenders.

In a 1982-83 arc (Doctor Strange Vol. 2, #56-62), Strange successfully invokes the "Montesi Formula" that eliminates all vampires in the Marvel Universe. Though this is considered permanent at the time, in the early 1990s Strange finds it necessary to organize, in Defenders fashion, a group of vampire hunters dubbed the Nightstalkers - Frank Drake, Blade and vampiric private detective Hannibal King. The three are told they have been brought together to fend off supernatural threats, and only later learn it is in fact to prepare for the weakening of the Montesi Formula and the expected return of Dracula. By the time vampires indeed come back, throughout various Marvel occult comics in the mid-1990s, Strange has been temporarily usurped as Sorcerer Supreme by the demonic Salome.

His position restored shortly afterward, Strange, by the mid-2000s, serves chiefly as a supporting character to whom Marvel superheroes might turn for matters concerning magic and the supernatural. Other times, he directly intervenes in crises. In one instance, S.H.I.E.L.D. psionic personnel are hunting the Dire Wraiths with help of Rom the Spaceknight, and are being killed by the enemy's wizards. Strange appears of his own accord to give the psionic personnel improved resistance to the attacks.

Civil War
In New Avengers: Illuminati, it is revealed that Doctor Strange has been a member of the Illuminati, a secret alliance of several prominent superheroes, since just after the Kree-Skrull War. In the final meeting of the group, Strange vehemently opposes the proposed Superhuman Registration Act, and informs Iron Man and Mister Fantastic that they are never to call on him again. As seen in Civil War #3, Wong tells Hank Pym and the Wasp that Strange has no intention of supporting the SRA. He is currently in seclusion somewhere in the Arctic, though recently also spend some time confronting Ghost Rider.

Powers and abilities
Dr. Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth; he has unparalleled mastery of the mystic arts, which he uses to defend his reality from otherworldly threats; his primary magical patrons are a group of entities known as "the Vishanti." The Vishanti are a trinity of godly beings comprised of Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur. Although he has, on rare occasions, called upon the power of the demon Dormammu, he no longer does so. He holds an M.D. in neurosurgery, although his ability to perform such delicate tasks has been compromised due to his accident. Stephen is also an accomplished martial artist.

Dr. Strange's powers are all mystical and take several forms. Several main manifestations include:
 * Personal abilities. As a result of his mystic training, Doctor Strange is capable of a great many abilities such as astral projection, telepathy, hypnotism etc.  These are put in a separate category because he seems to perform these functions as a telepath would, not needing to manipulate magic to do it.  These abilities can be amplified by mystic energy (as against Moondragon) and/or the Eye of Agamotto (done countless times) to afford Stephen incredibly powerful psychic abilities.


 * Universal sources. By manipulating the ambient mystical energy of the universe, Dr. Strange can perform a great many functions.  Commonly this is seen as mystic bolts, transmutation, telekinesis,  standard shields, etc.  He can also use this mystical energy to cast spells of a near infinite variety.  These spells seem to be quicker to perform but lesser in power than spells using divine energy.

The canon suggests that virtually every human is capable of learning and harnessing magic - considered simply a form of energy in the Marvel universe - through training; however each person has a different potential. The Ancient One saw in Stephen an incredible potential, quite likely the greatest on Earth.


 * Divine sources. Dr. Strange can channel energy from countless mystical beings in countless dimensions to empower his spells. This can take the form of standard spells ("Crimson Bands of Cyttorak") or just stating what he wants to occur and channeling some being to make it happen.  It is unknown at this time what debt, if any, he incurs by invoking the powers that be. There is no quid pro quo, though some entities will feel he is obliged to heed their call when they need help in their conflicts as did the Vishanti.


 * By sheer force of will "take" the power of another entity. This does not require the use of a spell. He used this ability against Arioch and Shuma-Gorath during the Strange Tales Volume 2 run. The fact that Stephen can do this is a testament to his incredible will-power and strength of mind. This is considered black magic and as such he rarely employs this. Also when taking the powers of celestial entities he absorbs the mind and assumes their duties and roles in the dimension in which they exist.  If his will falters, he can lose all sense of self.

Strange's own power is often amplified by the numerous magical artifacts that are in his possession or by artifacts that he uses in the course of his adventures. The two artifacts he carries with him at all times are the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation.


 * The Eye of Agamotto (which resides within the Amulet of Agamotto worn at Dr. Strange's throat) is a powerful and valued artifact that has many functions. Using the Eye, Strange can see through any lie, deception or illusion, and free others from their own illusions. It is often used to amplify his mind's eye, giving psychic abilities that rival the most powerful of telepaths. It is also often used to play back an area's past events and open dimensional portals.  Evil can hardly withstand its light and it is often used as a weapon of last resort.


 * The Cloak of Levitation allows him to fly without using any magic. It responds to his thoughts as if it were part of him. Dr. Strange has used it many times as a "third set of hands" to attack a foe when his own body has been incapacitated. The cloak is nearly indestructible. It often escapes damage during even the most violent confrontations.

Other artifacts include the Orb of Agamotto, which he uses daily to monitor the surrounding dimensions for trouble; the Wand of Watoomb, which amplifies his power; and the Book of the Vishanti, which contains some of the multiverse's most powerful and secret spells and counter spells. There are countless other artifacts that he owns that can be brought out in times of need.

Note that some other (non-human) sorcerers, such as Dr. Strange's former apprentice/wife Clea, have an additional source of power. Clea naturally generates mystical energy, which she can then use (or, it is assumed, 'lend' to supplicants calling on her). When the Vishanti asked him to fight as a soldier in the War of the Seven Spheres, and refused to allow him to call upon them when he declined, Dr. Strange briefly tapped into this type of energy by immersing himself within the Earth's mystical Gaian aura. However, this energy source was exhausted in his service to the Vishanti during his service in their five thousand year war. His refusal prior to the deal resulted in the Vishanti abandoning him in his role as the Sorcerer Supreme. After doing without the Vishanti's help in protecting Earth, he finally acceded to their demands that he fight for them, but only if they promised to return him to the place in time when he entered their service, and not 5000 years hence at the conclusion of the battle.

For a brief period, research from the Vishanti library led Dr. Strange to tap into catastrophe magic by invoking a syzygy of all the planets, but this source of magic was limited and he ceased using it specifically as a source of his power.

The mansion where Dr. Strange lives, his Sanctum Sanctorum, is located at 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, which was the actual address of the apartment building in which the writer of the series lived at the time the story was published. The mansion is almost a magical entity unto itself now that Dr. Strange has imbued it with all sorts of spells mostly protective, but some can be pro-active. It has been used as a way to attack Dr. Strange several times, by Umar most notably.

Sorcerous phrases
Co-creator and longtime original scripter Stan Lee wrote many alliterative exclamations and incantations that Dr. Strange would utter. Lee and later writers often created characters and storylines based on these casually created phrases.


 * "By the Flames of the Faltine!"
 * "By the Sons of Satannish!"
 * "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!"
 * "By the Ruby Rings of Raggadorr!"
 * "By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!"
 * "By the Deathless Vishanti!"
 * "By the Vapors of the Vishanti!"
 * "By the Eye of Agamotto!"
 * "By the Vapors of Valtorr!"
 * "By the Images of Ikonn!"
 * "By the Demons of Denak!"
 * "By the Fangs of Farallah!"
 * "By the Mystic Moons of Munnopor!"
 * "By the Shades of the Seraphim!"
 * "By the Omnipotent Oshtur!"
 * "By the fires of Ikthalon!"
 * "By the Wondrous Winds of Watoomb!" [and] "By the Wondrous Wand of Watoomb!"

Character as deus ex machina
There have been many arguments that Dr. Strange is simply a plot-device. Joe Quesada said in early 2006 for comic book fan site Newsarama: "...you can place Dr. Strange in peril but it never really seems like much because at any moment he can cast a spell of crimson bands of what have you and he's out. There are no rules to his universe and from a storytelling perspective that's problematic. When you look at imaginary situations, worlds like the world of Toy Story or even Roger Rabbit have rules of their universe clearly define. Heck in Roger Rabbit it's very clear how to kill a 'toon, so the viewer gets the feeling that the characters can be placed in peril and have their backs placed against the wall. This is exactly what I'm looking for in regards to our magic characters. Rules that govern them. How do you kill Doctor Strange? How do you hurt him?" In the Marvel canon, there are no clearly defined limits of what Dr. Strange can or cannot do. The stories themselves contradict one another. Dr. Strange is shown easily altering memories, complete power over time by either stopping it all together and rewinding it or traveling into the past in one story, then stating that his magic cannot do so in another. In some appearances he can stand against something as powerful as the Infinity Gauntlet, and in others he appears defenseless against simple physical attack by another person.

Major villains

 * Baron Mordo - A dark sorcerer and frequent threat. He had a change of heart prior to dying, but then reverted to his antagonism.
 * Dormammu - A fallen Faltinian being. When outcast, he chose to take a form of pure mystical energy to maintain most of his Faltine essence. He took over the Dark Dimension from the Mindless Ones and consistently tries to expand into other dimensions through conquest. Dormammu is a being of immense power and one of Strange's most frequent foes.
 * Umar - A fallen Faltine. Sister of Dormammu, she choose to take a lesser and more conventionally human physical form in order to experiment with physical pleasures. She is the mother of Clea.
 * Nightmare - Ruler of the dream dimension, father of Dreamqueen and inspiration for Gaiman's Sandman. Though he is a threat to Strange and to humanity, his existence is necessary, since without Nightmare humanity would go insane.
 * Shuma-Gorath - A vastly powerful extradimensional being of chaos magic, and the ruler of thousands of realms. It ruled the Earth ages ago. Unable to be destroyed, its essence is taken on by its supplanter. Shuma-Gorath crossing over into our dimension would be disastrous, and Dr. Strange has been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop it.
 * Death - Personification of Death in Earth's dimension. It was in Dr. Strange's fight against Death that he proved himself worthy to be Sorcerer Supreme.  Death has claimed that when Stephen finally fails in his duty she will take him; however, it is more likely he will become one with Eternity, as have the Sorcerer Supremes before him.
 * Satannish - One of the demon rulers of the dead. Strange's duties have occasionally led to confict with this being.
 * Mephisto - One of the demon rulers of the dead, originally introduced as a Silver Surfer foe, but who has since become a major entity in story arcs here and in Daredevil, Ghost Rider and other Marvel series. Strange's duties have occasionally led to confict with this being.

Major supporting characters and allies

 * Agamotto
 * The Ancient One - mentor
 * Clea - wife
 * Eternity
 * The Living Tribunal
 * Rintrah - former apprentice
 * The Vishanti
 * Wong - manservant and closest friend

Doctor Strange as supporting character
Dr. Strange is often used as the all-in-one solution to the many world-altering events that occur in other character's comic books. Prominent examples include:


 * In Uncanny X-Men #190-191 (February-March 1985), the ancient wizard Kulan Gath magically transformed NYC into an approximation of his own ancient time. Everyone in the city, save for Strange and a handful of others, forgot who they were and assumed roles appropriate to such a reality. The spell was broken and proper reality was restored by Dr. Strange and Magik.
 * In Micronauts, Dr. Strange was instrumental in helping The Micronauts defeat ancient demons from Earth's past. As he kept the Demons at bay Commander Arcturus Rann rushed the Keys to the Enigma Force to the tomb of Prince Wayfinder...the creator of the Microverse. After opening the Tomb, Strange and Rann encountered the Sword in the Star who merged them into a single entity, Captain Universe in order to save the rapidly deteriorating Space Wall between Earth and The Microverse.
 * In Infinity Gauntlet #TK/date, Dr. Strange recruited the heroes to stop Thanos, was one of the few heroes to survive Thanos' decimation of his opposition, and was responsible for rescuing the few survivors in the final battle against Thanos and Nebula. Strange was one of the few people to remember that these events had occurred.
 * In Guardians of the Galaxy #TK/date, Dr. Strange brought Vance Astro back to the 20th Century where Charlie-27 was about to be murdered by a Badoon Captain named L'Matto. The long standing battle, which was appearing to be in L'Matto's favor, suddenly went in Vance and Charlie's favour when Aleta became the new Starhawk and with Dr. Strange's help, defeated the Captain Universe-empowered L'Matto and then exorcised the Uni-Power from L'Matto's body and returned with it to the 20th Century where they parted ways with Strange going back to his studies and the Uni-Power heading off to find a new host.
 * In House of M #TK/date, Dr. Strange and Emma Frost prevented the Scarlet Witch from imposing her will on the entire mutant world. Driven insane by her powers, the Witch turned almost all mutants into ordinary humans. Only a few who were shielded by Dr. Strange's spell and Frost's psychic powers were protected and retained their memories of the reality & what had happened.
 * In The Amazing Spider-Man #TK/date, Dr. Strange appeared during an invasion by Dormammu and the mindless ones on New York City. Reed Richards, of The Fantastic Four, inadvertently released Dormammu from his "prison" by making a gun that would send the mindless ones back to their dimension.  Doctor Strange appeared in time to fight Dormammu and, with the help of Spider-Man, Dormammu was sent back to his dimension and the mindless ones were sent back as well.

Ultimate Doctor Strange
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Dr. Strange is Doctor Stephen Strange, Jr.. His father is Doctor Stephen Strange, Sr. According to Clea, Strange Sr.'s former student and ex-wife, the elder Strange mysteriously vanished (he suddenly "wasn't there anymore") twenty years ago. Clea tried to raise her son away from magic (and still refuses to discuss it with her son), but ultimately Stephen, Jr., discovered his father's secrets. He currently studies with the Ultimate version of Wong and supports himself as a new age guru who helps the elite and powerful find their own personal salvation. He has had several run-ins with Ultimate Spider-Man. In each case, Ultimate Dr. Strange has bemoaned his lack of knowledge in things mystical and usually only barely saves the day with a last desperate, untried spell.

Doctor Strange in other continuities

 * In the Marvel 1602 miniseries, Sir Stephen Strange, the court magician of Queen Elizabeth I, senses that there are unnatural forces at work. He is the replacement in the 1602 universe for John Dee, and is married to a version of Clea. Here he cannot use his 'Astral Projection' (which he refers to as a magic mirror) as well as the modern one could, lacking modern materials, and is often physically drained after it is finished, and lacks memory of what he saw in astral form. Eventually, when Elizabeth is dead, he allows himself to be executed for Witchcraft and Treason, having gone under a vow of silence while he lived that can be bypassed when he is resurrected.
 * In Marvel 2099, the Sorceress Supreme of Earth is a young woman who calls herself "Strange". She secretly shares her body with a monstrous demon.
 * In the Amalgam Comics universe Dr Strange was combined with Charles Xavier and Doctor Fate into Dr. Strangefate. As the only character aware of the nature of the Amalgam Universe he was the chief opponent of Access, who was attempting to separate the DC and Marvel Universes.
 * An alternate Dr. Strange helped the Exiles briefly. This character was not a mystic, but instead was still a practicing physician who specialized in superhumans.  This version of Doctor Strange was killed by an alternate version of Deadpool.
 * In the MC2 alternate future, Doctor Strange is retired and the title of Sorcerer Supreme has been passed to the younger Doc Magus.

Film

 * Doctor Mordrid (1992), a film starring Jeffrey Combs as the titular hero, was originally developed as a feature film by Full Moon Entertainment about Dr. Strange. However, rights to the character and name were lost, and the movie was reworked -- though fans of the comics character can easily see the similarities.
 * In Spider Man 2, J. Jonah Jameson tries to find a nickname for Otto Octavius, and considers "Doctor Strange" but then comments that there is already someone going by that name.

Television

 * A made-for-TV movie version of Dr. Strange ran on CBS in 1978. It was directed by Phil DeGuere and starred Peter Hooten as Dr. Strange. In many ways more faithful to the original character than the other Marvel Comics adapations of the period, the movie nonetheless changed some of the supporting characters.


 * Dr. Strange appeared in a 1996 episode of the Fox network's Spider-Man: The Animated Series and in the sixth episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, "7 Little Superheroes".


 * In 1997 Doctor Strange made a guest-appearance in the cartoon series The Incredible Hulk. The episode was titled Mind Over Anti-Matter in which Doctor Strange and She-Hulk went into the mind of Bruce Banner when he is possessed by an evil outside force.


 * Dr. Strange is to be the fourth direct-to-DVD movie project from Marvel to be released early 2007 (the first three are Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2 and Iron Man). There is a 2 minute preview of the Dr. Strange movie on the Ultimate Avengers 2 DVD.

Video games

 * Doctor Strange will appear in the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as a playable character.

Other

 * Dr. Strange and the Fantastic Four are mentioned in the song "Superbird" on the album "Electric Music for the Mind and Body", by Country Joe and the Fish (Vanguard VSD 79244; released January 1967).


 * Strange is also mentioned in Pink Floyd's song "Cymbaline" on the album More (released July 27, 1968), and in T. Rex song "Mambo Sun" on the album Electric Warrior (released September 1971).


 * Dr. Strange appears on the cover of Pink Floyd's album A Saucerful of Secrets (released June 29, 1968), and on the covers of the Al Stewart albums Past Present and Future (levitating into a dimensional portal) and Modern Times.


 * Allusions to Dr. Strange appear in Tom Wolfe's non-fiction book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968). Wolfe himself made a cameo appearance in Dr. Strange Vol. 1, #180 (May 1969).


 * In Jean-Luc Godard's film Sympathy for the Devil (1968), the camera pans across a Dr. Strange comic in the leftist bookstore.
 * Doctor Strange (1978), a TV-movie pilot for a possible television series, aired on the CBS network. Peter Hooten played the title role.


 * In the movie Spider-Man 2, a Daily Bugle employee suggests "Dr. Strange" as a potential nickname for the main villain, who later becomes Dr. Octopus. J. Jonah Jameson temporarily considers the name before remembering that "It's taken".

Previous Doctor Strange
Only two months before the debut of the sorcerer-hero Doctor Strange, Stan Lee (editor and story-plotter), Robert Bernstein (scripter, under the pseudonym "R. Berns") and Don Heck (artist) introduced a criminal scientist and Ph.D. with the same surname. In their story "The Stronghold of Dr. Strange", in Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963), he was one of Iron Man's earliest antagonists. After gaining mental powers in a freak lightning strike, this Dr. Strange established a force field-protected island base staffed with corrupt scientists and mercenaries. He attempted world domination, but was thwarted by Iron Man and by Strange's own estranged daughter, Carla.

This Silver Age story was reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #4 (Aug. 1966) and the hardcover collection ''Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man from Tales of Suspense Nos. 39-50''.

As well, the publisher Nedor Comics featured a character known as Doc Strange in the 1940s.

Series and miniseries

 * Strange Tales #110-111 & 114-168 (July-Aug. 1963 & Nov. 1963 - May
 * Doctor Strange Vol. 1, #169-183 (June 1968 - Nov. 1969)
 * Doctor Strange, also known as Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #169-175; Dr. Strange #176-181; and Dr. Strange: Master of Black Magic #182-183


 * Marvel Premiere #3-14 (July 1973 - March 1974)
 * Doctor Strange Vol. 2, #1-81 (June 1974 - Feb. 1987)
 * Dr. Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #1; Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts #2-50; and Doctor Strange #51-81 (Note: #30, 34, 36-37, 40, 42-46, 48 missing subtitle)


 * Dr. Strange Annual #1 (1976)
 * Doctor Strange Classics #1-4 (March-June 1984; reprints only)
 * Strange Tales Vol. 2, #1-19 (April 1987 - Oct. 1988)
 * Doctor Strange Vol. 3, #1-90 (Nov. 1988 - June 1996)
 * Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #1-4, and Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #5-90 (Note: Following issue #4, subtitle appears only sporadically)


 * Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Annual #2-3 & Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Annual #4 (1992-1994)
 * Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Special (1992)
 * Doctor Strange: The Flight of Bones #1-4 (Feb.- May 1999)
 * Witches #1-4 (Aug.-Nov. 2004)
 * Strange #1-6 (Nov. 2004 - July 2005)
 * X-Statix Presents Deadgirl #1-  (Dec. 2005 -  )

Guest appearances
Uncanny X-men Annual #4 (1980), Excalibur (v2) #13-14 (July 2005), Secrets of the House of M (2005, past in House of M described), House of M #1 (August 2005), House of M #5-8 (October 2005-December 2005), Civil War #1 (July, 2006), She-Hulk #8 (July, 2006), Ghost Rider #2 (October, 2006)

One-shots and graphic novels

 * Giant-Size Dr. Strange #1 (1975; reprints only)
 * Marvel Graphic Novel #23: Dr. Strange: Into Shambhala (1986 graphic novel)
 * Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989 graphic novel)
 * Doctor Strange & Ghost Rider Special #1 (April 1991; reprints only)
 * Spider-Man / Dr. Strange: The Way To Dusty Death (no number; 1992)
 * Dr. Strange vs. Dracula #1 (March 1994; reprints only)
 * Dr. Strange: What is It that Disturbs You, Stephen? (no number; Oct. 1997)
 * Doctor Strange Special Edition #1, also known as Dr. Strange/Silver Dagger Special Edition #1 (March 1983)