Strange Tales - Monsters and Magician

Monsters and Magician

The Marvel Comics series ran 168 issues, cover-dated June 1951 to May 1968. It began as a horror anthology from the company's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. Initially modeled after the gory morality tales of the popular and groundbreaking EC line of comics, Strange Tales became less outré with the 1954 imposition of the Comics Code, which prohibited graphic horror, as well as vampires, zombies and other classical monsters.

The comic changed again with the return of industry stalwart Jack Kirby, the artist who had co-created Captain America for the company then worked elsewhere for 17 years. Starting with #68 (April 1959), Strange Tales was revamped to reflect the then-current trend of science fiction drive-in movie monsters. Virtually every issue would open with a Kirby monster story (generally inked by Christopher Rule initially, then later Dick Ayers), followed by one or two twist-ending thrillers or sci-fi tales drawn by Don Heck, Paul Reinman, or Joe Sinnott, with the whole thing capped by an often-surreal, sometimes self-reflexive Stan Lee-Steve Ditko short.

Some characters introduced here in standalone, anthological stories were later retconned into Marvel Universe continuity. These include the extraterrestrial dragon Fin Fang Foom, who first appeared in issue #89 (Oct. 1961), and the extraterrestrial would-be world conquerors Gorgolla, introduced in #74 (April 1960), and Orrgo, introduced in #90 (Nov. 1961).

The anthology switched to superheroes during the Silver Age of Comic Books, retaining the sci-fi, suspense and monsters as backup features for a time. Strange Tales' first superhero, in 12- to 14-page stories, was the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, Johnny Storm, beginning in #101 (Oct. 1962). Here, Johnny still lived with his elder sister, Susan Storm, in fictional Glenview, Long Island, New York, where he continued to attend high school and, with youthful naivete, attempted to maintain his "secret identity" (later retconned to reveal that his friends and neighbors knew of his dual identity from Fantastic Four news reports, but simply played along). Supporting characters included Johnny's girlfriend, Doris Evans, usually seen only in consternation as Johnny cheerfully flew off to battle bad guys. Ayers took over the penciling after 10 issues, later followed by original Golden Age Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and others, with Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel scripting issues #112-113 (Sept.-Oct. 1963) under the pseudonym "Joe Carter". The Fantastic Four made occasional cameo appearances, and the Thing became a co-star with #123 (Aug. 1964).

The title became a "split book" with the introduction of sorcerer Doctor Strange, by Lee and artist Steve Ditko. This 9- to 10-page feature debuted in #110 (July 1963), and after an additional story and then skipping two issues returned permanently with #114. Ditko's surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly head-trippy visuals helped make the feature a favorite of college students, according to Lee himself. Eventually, as co-plotter and later sole plotter, in the "Marvel Method", Ditko would take Strange into ever-more-abstract realms, which yet remained well-grounded thanks to Lee's reliably humanistic, adventure/soap opera dialog.

Though Lee and Ditko themselves interacted less and less as each went their separate creative ways, the storyline culminated with what fans and historians consider one of modern comics' milestones: the introduction, in issue #138 (Oct. 1965), of Ditko's enduring conception of Eternity, the personification of the universe. Depicted as a majestic silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos, Eternity soon becoming a cornerstone of the Marvel mythos. It was a groundbreaking creation long before such cosmic conceits were commonplace. Issue #146 (July 1966) marked Ditko's final bow on the series. Bill Everett succeeded him through #152 (Jan. 1967), followed by Marie Severin (self-inked for four issues before being inked by future Hulk signature artist Herb Trimpe in some of his earliest Marvel work), and Dan Adkins taking over from #161 (Oct. 1967) to the final issue, #168 (May 1968).