MYSTIC GARB - DR. STRANGE APPAREL - SUPPLEMENTAL ENTRY # 4

Hello, Comic-apparel fans!

Once again, we go back to the very roots of this blog's original purpose and showcase some more swag from my Sanctum Sanctorum Comix collection.

This time we are adding to a series of posts originally begun back in October of 2009, wherein I catalogued my extensive collection of Doctor Strange (and related 6-Dimensions characters) apparel!
HATS! T-SHIRTS! TIES! and even SKIVVIES! (...psst... that's another term for underpants!) .


Today, I have 5 all-new garments to add to this series!


With the backlog of stuff I've been doing around here, these shirts have been arriving here to the Sanctum, one in every month or so, and once again, I waited until I had enough of them to showcase.

So let's go!

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Previous parts of this series:
MYSTIC GARB : DR. STRANGE APPAREL

- part 1 : CAPS and TIES
- part 2 : SOLO APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS
- part 3 : TEAM-UP APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS
- part 4 : THE "OTHERS" / "6-DIMENSIONS" T-SHIRTS

- part 5 : "THE END" of GARMENTS

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Today's installment adds to several of the previous entries - and they will be added to those pages as well as being featured here.

ONE is an awesome new addition to the
- part 2 : SOLO APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS post. 



THREE of these new items are to be included in the
- part 3 : TEAM-UP APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS installment.

And ONE of these garments is to be included in the

- part 4 : THE "OTHERS" / "6-DIMENSIONS" T-SHIRTS installment.

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Beginning with the entry for - part 2 : SOLO APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS...
Let's start this off with a shirt that is something of a rare item, due to several factors - all of them mildly annoying.
Produced as a LIMITED EDITION SERIES of shirts, renowned indie clothing brand; STUSSY, grouped many underground artists with their favorite MARVEL characters for the STUSSY x MARVEL project. Hosting an impressive assembly of talent, including the likes of; Will Sweeney, David Shrigley, Bill Plympton, Gary Panter, John K., James Jarvis, Todd James, Mister Cartoon and Noah Butkus, working on such characters as; Doctor Strange, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Human Torch & Crystal, The Thing, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Mystique, She-Hulk and others, the STUSSY x MARVEL project produced a couple of waves of product in April and May of 2011, and all items were available only via ordering from Stussy and only for a very limited time.

This first item is the DOCTOR STRANGE shirt showcasing a design by Noah Butkus.

 "Oh, man... I shouldn't have jokingly ordered 'magic mushrooms' on my pizza."

Doctor Strange- meditating in the lotus position, conjuring the Stussy logo amidst demonic creatures.
My shirt is on a plain white tee.
Other color choices included green, blue, red and black.

 Printed on the inside along the bottom seam is this code that dates the garment to April 16, 2011 (a week after my birthday) - along with the Stussy logo and all designed to emulate the old Issue #/  Date / Comics Code Authority box from nearly every Marvel comic in the 1980's.

One "strange" thing about this shirt is that the really cool image of Dr. Strange is ON. THE. BACK of the shirt. So if you're like me, and wear an open, unbuttoned button-down shirt (long or short sleeve) over a tee, no one can see the design on the back.
THIS photo here is of the FRONT of the shirt, which only displays a small, newly designed "logo" on the left breast.

One of the aforementioned "annoying" factors of the Stussy x Marvel project is that many of these shirts also came in an assortment of shirt colors.
Thus, if you are a nerdy, completist collector-monkey, like myself, you would find yourself hard-pressed (and broke) if you tried to get one in each shirt color.

Still, I'm not THAT bad with my mania (...much... anymore...) and am quite content to be MORE than satisfied with my single acquisition. ESPECIALLY, since it came to me as a gift of sorts, from my dear friend, and fellow Doctor Strange fan / collector - Howard Hallis!

Turns out Howard is a well-known Doctor Strange fan over on the West Coast, and he was tapped to dress up as Doctor Strange for the launch party for these shirts.

 "The Stussy Avengers"

So, when they presented him with this shirt as a gesture of thanks (and also as his payment?) he was magnanimous enough to send it to me since he knows my Doc-garment collection is 2nd-to-none. Not to worry, friends of fairness and barter-system buddies, as I promised Howard a special garment in exchange (something that will be revealed here in a forthcoming post).

(Thanks again, Howard! - and check out Howard in costumed-action on "G4's Attack of the Show" as they cover the Stussy launch party [HERE])

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Next we have some add-ons to the - part 3 : TEAM-UP APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS installment.

 This first shirt is a 2011 release from JUNK FOOD and features "THE MIGHTY MARVEL SUPERHEROES" with a blurb that says "MARVEL'S TV SENSATION!" That is because this shirt features all of the various Marvel heroes who have had their own TV SHOW (or in the case of Doctor Strange... a TV MOVIE - which was really a television PILOT episode for a show that wasn't picked up by the network).

Here's a close-up of the shirt graphic.

 

Hulk (who sported one live-action and one animated series), Spider-Woman (she had a cartoon series), The Thing (the FF have a few animated series under their belts), Doctor Strange (hugging up against Spider-Woman's hip), Captain America (a veteran of several made-for-TV movies/pilots), Invisible Woman (also of the FF shows) and of course, Spider-Man - he of live-action and animated fame.

Since these shirts are manufactured to be "stressed" and pre-faded, it may be hard to see Doctor Strange in there. To help you find him, they used this old John Romita Sr. artwork - just look for this pose:

Notoriously absent are Sub-Mariner, Thor and Iron Man who had their own "animated" series' in the 1960's (although, Iron Man did also have a cartoon in the 1990's).

Since I have only purchased one, and this isn't a design that I would wear around town, I have not removed mine from the packaging, and so here it is.

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This shirt, a 2011 release from MAD ENGINE reproduces the John Byrne cover artwork from the classic Fantastic Four v1 # 243.

From one of the very best issues of Fantastic Four - evah!

Doctor Strange joins with Avengers and Fantastic Four to battle Galactus!

For the same reasons as the previous shirt, here is mine, still in packaging.

However, I should note that there was one weird little tweak that Mad Engine did to the artwork. They added a figure of Spider-Man on the far right side. While Spidey does make a brief appearance in the comic story (with Daredevil), he does not join the fight against Galactus, nor is he actually on the cover.

This is the original comic cover.

 Doctor Strange kicking out kneecaps since 1963.

Story and artwork by John Byrne.

1000% awesome! (That is NOT a typo.)

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 The next "Team-Up" shirt is this one - also from MAD ENGINE in 2011 - that features a veritable 'Who's Who' of Marvel's super-heroes.

Allow me to present a close-up shot of the assorted members of the cape and cowl crowd.

 As many may immediately recall, this artwork was originally from the wrap-around cover for the first issue of (and poster for) "House of M" by Olivier Coipel. I present the color version below.

Mad Engine's design crew turned the "landscape" image into a "portrait" image by simply photoshopping the right side of the image to the bottom half on the new pic. They also, for some inexplicable reason, flipped the right side of the image which caused some heroes chest emblems to be seen in reverse (see YellowJacket, Dazzler and most obviously Daredevil). A little extra work and this could have been easily fixed. Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of Mad Engine because most of their designs are slapped together like this, with not quite enough work to make them of truly professional quality.

Still, since Doc is on it, I had to get one. Here's mine.

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This next shirt, an addition to the - part 4 : THE "OTHERS" / "6-DIMENSIONS" T-SHIRTS is perhaps one of my favorites in my collection. Something that is so friggin' cool, that I really NEED another one! (- as I will explain in a moment.)

Another of the limited edition exclusives by STUSSY x MARVEL, this shirt features classic Steve Ditko creation, and Doctor Strange entity - ETERNITY as redrawn by Will Sweeney.

Peace, man!

Black ink with details in SILVER on a simple, grey tee, this is perhaps one of the coolest of the Stussy shirts and one that I really, really, really want another of, so that I can WEAR it!

"But, PTOR..." I hear you ask, "Why not just wear the one that you have?"
Well, folks. But for two reasons, I would.

You see... even if I did want to wear this one - and thus cause its inevitable wear and tear and destruction (which I won't, since it is so cool, so don't ask me) I really can't wear THIS ONE... because it is in a size MEDIUM. I could probably fit onto a medium, as I am svelte of build, with a dancer's/swimmer's body, but I typically prefer my shirts to be in a LARGE (or sometimes an XL), as I like the freedom of movement and minor drapery that a larger size provides.

And so, I can only look upon my Eternity shirt entombed within its plastic sarcophagus -  thus, and dream of what might be.

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If these wardrobe items interested you, then don't forget to check out the IMMENSE collection of many more which I featured in this series:

Previous parts of the

MYSTIC GARB : DR. STRANGE APPAREL SERIES:

- part 1 : CAPS and TIES : [HERE]
- part 2 : SOLO APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS : [HERE]
- part 3 : TEAM-UP APPEARANCE T-SHIRTS : [HERE]
- part 4 : THE "OTHERS" / "6-DIMENSIONS" T-SHIRTS : [HERE]
- part 5 : "THE END" of GARMENTS  : [HERE]

and for the completists out there:
- Supplemental Entry # 1 : [HERE]
- Supplemental Entry # 2 : [HERE]

- Supplemental Entry # 3 : [HERE]

(but as this entry will be, all Supplemental Entries have been pasted into the main entries.)

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"Tamam Shud!"

~P~

MIDNIGHT IMAGES Original Comic Artwork (3rd in a series) "Doctor Strange" - 1989

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As I have done a few times this month, today's post showcases some (really) old comic art of my very own.

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For ALL of the installments in this series, visit these links:

1st in the Series - 4 Wizard magazine cover submissions - 2000

2nd in the Series - 11-Page "Secret Defenders" story- 1993

3rd in the Series - 6-Page "Doctor Strange" story - 1989
(with Stan Lee critique anecdote)
4th in the Series - "Doctor Strange" pin-ups - 1989 - 1980
(with John Byrne critique anecdote)

5th in the Series - web-site banner headers "Defenders" - 2002

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Today's entry is a 6 page "Doctor Strange" submission sample that I had "written" (a plot only) and penciled waaaay back in 1989 (although, it might have been drawn in 1988... I'm not 100% certain of the date/year).

As for the content of this post, I'll only show a few teaser images here... instead linking to my other ART blog (the Midnight Images blog) to show the full pages and the story breakdown (which can be found [HERE] - or click the Midnight Images logo at the end of the post).

However, I will confess that it was even critiqued, in person, by Stan "the Man" Lee himself.
(I'll spill the beans on that little tidbit at the end of this post - and on the art blog as well, where the actual 6 page story is shown.)

It's a quick little hit-and-run story, making sure to touch upon most of the big players in the Doctor Strange mythos:

Doctor Strange, The Ancient One, Clea, Dormammu, Eternity and a brief appearance by Nightmare.

It's "Atmospheric".
It's "Pan-Dimensional".
It's "touching".
(And not just because Doc and Clea embrace, kiss and end up in bed. *)
* (although, since it's not an official "story" I couldn't rightly include it into the "Clea Loves Sex" series)


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However, I will share for you now, the brief tale of my meeting with STAN LEE.

--- A FAMOUS CRITIC ---

I'll wrap up this entry with an anecdote about how I met STAN LEE (he who co-crated much of the Marvel comics characters, like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk and many others... including Doctor Strange) and how he gave me a portfolio review.

(That day, I also met JACK "KING" KIRBY - the man largely responsible for co-creating much of the same characters and worlds that Stan would write about - if not even more of the visual nature of comics themselves - but this isn't the time for the story of that meeting.)

From a period of 1988 - 1992, I would frequently travel to various comic conventions and have a table set up in either the dealer's room or, later, in the professional's "Artist's Alley".
One such convention both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were in attendance!
(For some reason, I seem to think this was either in Chicago or Boston - except that if both Stan and Jack were present - it was more likely in New York City.)

It was announced that Stan Lee would be conducting portfolio reviews for a few hours that day, and so, many artists in attendance registered, were assigned a time-slot and then had their own private freak-outs while waiting for their time.

When it was finally my turn, Stan was as boisterously pleasant and friendly as his public persona has always been. Quick with a smile and a handshake.

I sat down and he flipped through my book - I recall it being fairly daunting that many of the images that he was seeing - mostly pin-up style drawings - were of characters that he co-created with some of the greatest comic artists ever known.

Luckily, I didn't freeze up or panic (or worse... "geek out"). Stan made it easy to just be at ease.
As Stan flipped, and had a few "Ah... good." and "This is nice." comments, we finally reached the portion with the actual comic artwork.
The only problem is that, by now, the almost surreal nature of this meeting was starting to get to me a little.


When he reached this sample, and he got to page three, he simply said; "Ahh... Doctor Strange! His legs are too thin."

All I could say was..." No. I don't think so." (because I was thinking that as a sorcerer, Strange should be leaner and less bulked up - as opposed to the traditional "superheroes" in comics).
However, I immediately realized that my own, personal thoughts on the proper handling of a magic-user character, were not appropriate for this meeting, and so I quickly added, "Really? Hmmm... Well, I guess so. YOU would know, right?"

He took my gaff in stride, but I didn't hear anything else he said during my time with him.
I was far too shaken by my own hubris and kept repeating the blurted words over and over in my head.
Finally, we reached the end of the portfolio, he smiled and told me to keep up the good work ("Marvel needs up and comic young artists like you!" - or some words to that effect, were the last thing he said to me.)
We shook hands again (and I think he gave me his business card - I mean I have one of his for his then California offices - how else did I get it?) and I walked back to my booth.


Looking at these pages now, I know that Stan was being far too easy on me.
To only pick up on the fact that his character's legs were thin was a kindness!
It could have (should have) been much worse of a critique.
But, Stan was being nice to an idiot young guy.

(I can pick a multitude of flaws from the pages - all of which glare at me now.)

To this day, that small snippet of our meeting is the only thing that I can remember with clarity.
And even though, I really DO feel that Doctor Strange should be portrayed as a more "wizardly" character (spending more time reading dusty old tomes than getting out to walk - and when he does battle it isn't usually done physically) I learned the valuable lesson that unless you are being granted artistic license to do so, it is best to write or draw trademarked characters as they are - not how you think they should be.

At least when showing them to the guy that pretty much created them anyway.

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And that's it for now... don't forget to head over to my Midnight Images Art Blog to see the story and read up it all in greater detail.



Well?
Are you still here?
What are you waiting for?
Go check out the FULL 6-page story art over at my MIDNIGHT IMAGES art blog!

Tamam Shud!
~P~