Greetings fellow mortals! I have recently embarked on a mystical journey through the fantastical realm of the good Doctor Steven Vincent Strange, and thought I would catalog my adventures for any fellow uninitiated Time Warpers who wish to become more familiar with his character. In this first installment of a continuing saga, I will briefly delve into the details regarding how the Stupendous Steve Ditko and Scintillating Stan Lee worked together to construct his character.
The year was 1963! After the successful launch of the Human Torch’s solo recurring series in Strange Tales, Ditko and Lee were working to create a character that would continue to boost sales and bring new readers to the magazine. Ditko answered the call of duty with Strange Tales #110, the first appearance of Doctor Steven Strange. In the story, a tormented man seeking a mystical solution to a terrifying recurring dream comes to Doctor Strange for answers. The story takes place in a universe where Doctor Strange’s magical powers and mystical teachers have already been established—his origin story was not revealed until a few months later with Strange Tales #115.
As Lee and Ditko became more familiar with the character his universe quickly became quite densely populated with characters, mythologies, and languages. Stan Lee tasked himself with creating spells that rang true to Doctor Strange’s persona and did not disrupt the rhythm of his character. Thus, by the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, Doctor Strange’s characteristic alliterative incantations were born. From the start Stan Lee was plagued with meticulously researched questions regarding the origins of some of these phrases and spells—but alas! They were plucked from Lee’s prolific and peerless mind. According to the man himself, “there’s always the chance that an alien power from some distant dimension had taken control of my senses when I started writing Dr. Strange. The reason I say that is—the spells must have come from somewhere. Perhaps I couldn’t have made them up. After all, if you’ve read all the stories, you know as well as I do, that they always work!”
But what of Steven Strange’s beginnings? In an eight-page story four issues after his first appearance, Lee and Ditko go on to reveal his origin.
Thus ends the first installment of Georgia’s Doctor Strangification! I will continue my journey into the magical worlds of Doctor Strange next week, turning my attention to his origin story as told in Strange Tales #115.