Rating: 
Summary: History Comes Alive
Review: If you're a fan of Dr. Strange and don't have a comprehensive collection of the early Strange Tales stories, this book is for you. It collects the original Strange Tales run from issue 110 (1963) to issue 168 (1968). It is a monumental collection of some of the most inspired, fantastic and downright weird comic stories ever written. My only complaint about this volume is the black and white presentation and the fairly cheap paper it is printed on. Be careful when you handle this.
Rating:
Summary: History Comes Alive
Review: If you're a fan of Dr. Strange and don't have a comprehensive collection of the early Strange Tales stories, this book is for you. It collects the original Strange Tales run from issue 110 (1963) to issue 168 (1968). It is a monumental collection of some of the most inspired, fantastic and downright weird comic stories ever written. My only complaint about this volume is the black and white presentation and the fairly cheap paper it is printed on. Be careful when you handle this.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing study of Steve Ditko's art
Review: Inside these covers includes all the Dr. Strange material before it became its own magazine. Stan Lee is at his best defining the bravery and stamina of Steven Strange as one with absolute moral conviction and bravery. Strange is often outmatched and outwitted but always comes through at the end using smarts rather than muscle power. Since he explores magic and wizardry you see spells instead of endless fistfights. That makes this unique material indeed. Steve Ditko is amazing as both penciller and inker casting the mood of the series as dark and imaginative. This is indeed Steve's masterpiece. It is unfortunate that Steve left Marvel so early in his career. Sadly comic artists even today to not get the recognition they deserve. No comic works without the artists. This book is not only about Dr. Strange it is also the preserved works of one of the most unusual and amazing artists of the 1960's. If you like Steve Ditko's work, Essential Spiderman 1 & 2 capture the 38 issues that Steve Ditko drew the Amazing Spiderman. Check them out!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing study of Steve Ditko's art
Review: Inside these covers includes all the Dr. Strange material before it became its own magazine. Stan Lee is at his best defining the bravery and stamina of Steven Strange as one with absolute moral conviction and bravery. Strange is often outmatched and outwitted but always comes through at the end using smarts rather than muscle power. Since he explores magic and wizardry you see spells instead of endless fistfights. That makes this unique material indeed. Steve Ditko is amazing as both penciller and inker casting the mood of the series as dark and imaginative. This is indeed Steve's masterpiece. It is unfortunate that Steve left Marvel so early in his career. Sadly comic artists even today to not get the recognition they deserve. No comic works without the artists. This book is not only about Dr. Strange it is also the preserved works of one of the most unusual and amazing artists of the 1960's. If you like Steve Ditko's work, Essential Spiderman 1 & 2 capture the 38 issues that Steve Ditko drew the Amazing Spiderman. Check them out!
Rating: 
Summary: Halfway brillant...then it falls off a cliff!
Review: Most of the previous reviews talk about how great the Lee/Ditko run is (Strange Tales 110-146): I fully agree, it's brillant stuff that I think is even better than their run on Spiderman. Unfortunately, the post Ditko issues (147-168) are just awful (frequent writer+artist changes and pedesterian rehashes of previous ideas...Stan Lee wrote some of these issues, but he seemed bored of the series by this point.) Marvel should have saved the paper, and collected only Strange Tales 110-146.
Rating:
Summary: Good fun.
Review: There isn't much to say, as much lengthier reviews have already said it better. This is a very enjoyable read. Simply: A few quiet evenings alone spent reading this book would not be wasted evenings. Great stories and nice art for a very reasonable price.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite Marvel Characters gets Essentialized!
Review: This massive edition of Essentials is the first that collects the adventures of Doctor Strange, the Master of the Mystic Arts. These collect the good Doctors Earliest Adventures from the days of Strange tales including his very first appearance in Strange Tales 110, and including a full run from #114 to 168 spanning the hey day of the 1960's.
In these pages wer first learn of Strange's Origin, meet the Ancient One and Clea, and also Docs greatest villians including Dormammu, Satannish, Baron Mordo, and others. Doc's 1960's adventures really played well in the 1960's. Steve Ditkos unique style fit the psychadelic era to perfection with his rendering of the strange and fantastic realms that Doctor Strange would visit along with some of the most terrifying entities in the Marvel universe.
Doctor Strange has always been among the most underrated of Marvel Characters. He always had pretty good writers and artists doing his stories. Artists like Ditko, Brunner, Gene Colan, and Paul Smith who captured the feel of the mesmerizing world of Doctor Strange.
Of course his world was always so vibrant that it suffers a bit from the Essential B&W format but I stll heartily recommend the book for any Doc fan.
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