MASTER of the MINTED ARTS - The DOCTOR STRANGE U.S.P.S. COIN MEDALLION

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With the revelation, earlier this month on July 4th, that DOCTOR STRANGE was an integral part of ensuring that our nation achieved its Independence (as seen [HERE]), it should come as little surprise that Doctor Strange was commemorated with a limited edition solid silver coin, minted by the U.S. Government (well, the United States Postal Service)!

Minted in 2008, and made of 0.7 oz of .999 Fine Silver, this coin, while not legal tender, is a limited edition of the ULTIMATE MARVEL COLLECTION.

 The coin came with a certificate of Authenticity that doubles as a character information sheet.

Unfortunately, they erroneously credited the artwork on the coin as being drawn by Dave Cockrum, when in fact it was by Bill Everett from the cover of Strange Tales # 148.

This coin was but ONE of a series of medallion coins and stamp ingots.

The ingots using artwork from the 2008 Marvel Comics stamps series (which we'll discuss in a post very soon), while the other artwork - on the coins - is from other assorted sources taken directly from the comics. Why is Doctor Strange a part of this series? Well... he was featured as a part of the Post Office's commemorative stamp promotional material (which we shall look at in that aforementioned near-future post).

Here's how The ULTIMATE MARVEL COLLECTION was advertised on the USPS site for the series:

"On July 26, 2007, the United States Postal Service issued a sheet of 20 postage stamps featuring the greatest Marvel Comics Super Heroes, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Elektra, the Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four. Marvel’s Super Heroes have entertained and inspired generations of Americans … providing an escape from every day life and making the world a safer place. 

Now, for the first time, the United States Postal Service has authorized each of the Marvel Comics Super Heroes stamps to be minted as a fully colorized solid silver ingot. The collection also includes 20 officially authorized pure silver medallions that feature colorized images of famous Marvel Super Heroes and villains like Captain Marvel, Thor, Green Goblin, and Dark Phoenix. 

The Ultimate Marvel Collection is the only collection of its kind in the world, and is a strictly limited edition. It is officially licensed and authorized by both Marvel and the United States Postal Service."

I was aware of this series when it was first announced, but soon found that ordering the items was next to impossible. I eventually gave up, thinking that it was an abandoned enterprise, and it wouldn't be for another 5 years that I would see this (and a few others) listed for sale in an online outlet.

Luckily for me, Dr. Strange was cropped out of the cover art for Fantastic Four 243 (Everyone vs Galactus, by John Byrne) or else I'd have had to hunt down another of these.

However, as it is, I'm thrilled to have this piece and no matter what its actual value, to me... it's worth a "mint". (Get it? "Mint"...? Ah... the cheap coinage of puns.)

Lo! The TAX-MAN Calleth! Financial Wizardry - 2010

Perhaps no arch foe in all of the world is as fierce, unrelenting and utterly evil as...

...The TAX MAN!
He who rides a steed as dark and sure as DEATH itself!
(But unlike Death, leaves you writhing in agony, never granting you a final release from his miserly grip as he picks the flesh from your bones, day after day, year after year... until his darker companion finally takes you away.)

While Doctor Strange isn't frequently seen filling out his 1040's, 1099's (those are U.S. tax forms for those wondering readers overseas), and his IT-203 (NY tax form) he has had a run in or two with those who would require payment - for bills, repairs, assessments, and even employees.

Good thing Strange is solvent and only one time is required, in order to bring his Sanctum "up-to-code", to pawn off his possessions (just how much does a "Wand of Watoomb" go for on the secondary market?)...

*click the pix to read the fine print *

"That flaming brazier of Faltinian flames is a fire-code violation!
And board up that bottomless pit of eternal darkness! Or at least put up a "warning" sign."

Starting first in Strange Tales v1 147 Stan Lee (taking on the writing chores full-time, once Steve Ditko left the title) with artist Bill Everett tried to insert some of Stan's time-tested; "hero has money woes" into Strange's life... to... mixed results.
It's a FAIL at Doc failing, still, it establishes that Strange has secret caches of jewels and trinkets worth a fortune.

So, perhaps Strange's next cash-withdrawal method might be brought into question. It seems at least, unconventional, and at most... illegal.

(Wong had always suspected his master of cheating at board games. He suddenly knows just how Strange always has the cash to buy Boardwalk and Park Place and afford all those hotels in Monopoly.)

Strange Tales v1 # 151 has Stan (and Bill) fly the money-woes idea up the flagpole again... but seemingly realizing that it wasn't a good fit, shows that Strange can just conjure funds from out of thin air.
(How come that little trick isn't in the "Professor Wonder's 1,001 Party Magic Tricks Set" that I ordered in the mail?)

Possible theft or mystical counterfeiting methods aside, Strange will not have to call again on the "ATM Card of Aggamon" any time soon, for the next time he is questioned about his finances, we see that Strange is all-up like Fort Knox!

"Yes, Sara. I am loaded. That's how I can afford this fine vintage bottle of Courvoisier."

Dr. Strange (v2) Master of the Mystic Arts # 42, writer Chris Claremont and artists Gene Colan and Dan Green have Strange hiring his neighbor, Sara Wolfe, as his business secretary, and despite Doc's bank account being at near zero, he shows her that he is the King of Bling.

So, while the rest of us have to do what we can to eke out a living, and have the TAX-MAN banging on our doors to collect "their share", rest assured that Doctor Strange is financially secure.

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A Public Service Announcement:
Don't forget U.S. residents, today; APRIL 15th is Income Tax Day...
you have until Midnight tonight to file... or Beware the wrath of the Terrible TAX-MAN!!!

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Tamam Shud!
~P~

HOUSING CRISIS : SANCTUS INTERRUPTUS Part II - Welcome to the Neighborhood: Strange (Tales) Days Indeed

*Part I in this series: here*

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Welcome, and enter freely the Sanctum Sanctorum!

No need to wipe your feet before you come in, since we'll be going over the many times the building has been destroyed over the years.

Wong won't care about footprints so much as the I-beams and broken glass falling all around.

For those of you coming in late, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, this is to be a series showcasing the MANY times over the history of the building that the Sanctum Sanctorum (in it's many forms) has been destroyed, raised back up and destroyed again (time after time after time).

"Surely"; you're now thinking, "I can't recall the Sanctum being decimated more than once before. Isn't this new situation with the "Starbucks" one of the first such times this has happened?".
Well, friends, it might be hard to recall, but my facts show that the Sanctum (in any number of it's forms) has been demolished
well over 9 TIMES !
That doesn't include multiple trashings, infiltrations, sigil-window breakage or varied stymied attempts at it's destruction. However, it DOES take into account at least TWO (of the many) times that the Earth was wiped out - "in toto" - only to be reconstructed as it was.

(Now, it might even have been destroyed MORE times than that, but I'm just going by Doc's own series'. If it happened in a different series, like the DEFENDERS or something, I'm not including it here.)

Of course, we will also go over a few of those aforementioned near-ruinations from his series', just for flavor and context.

Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

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This is a fairly well-known sequence that shows the origins of the building itself.
When purchasing the building, Strange finds that it has a sordid history, including being built on an Native "American" Indian ritual and burial site, and that any structure that is erected on this spot is razed; usually by fire.

ALL images in this post can be *clicked* to be enlarged.

Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts # 56.
Story by Roger Stern, Art by Paul Smith and Terry Austin

While not actually from issues of Strange Tales (vol 1),
this sequence takes place in that series' time-frame in continuity.
(Uh oh. The "C"-word.)

*UPDATE*

In a direct follow-up to the sequence of events shown in that issue, Roger Stern teamed with artists Neil Vokes & Jay Geldof to portray Doc's actual purchase of the house and his first night spent therein.
The issue of which I speak being a one-shot special: DOCTOR STRANGE: From The Vault # 1.
In it, it is explained that the site has had 6 previous edifices built and that this is the 7th (a magic number).

 

 

DOCTOR STRANGE: FROM THE VAULT # 1

Roger Stern (writer), Neil Vokes (pencils), Jay Geldof (inks)

---END UPDATE---

Still, it's the perfect spot to perform his mojo and the Sanctum Sanctorum is built.

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The first time that the Sanctum is shown to be in peril is in Strange Tales # 117.
Mordo creates a replica (voodoo fetish) of the Sanctum Sanctorum and casts a sympathetic spell upon it. He then sets the spell into the world where it affects and merges with the real Sanctum. The spell is as such wherein once Doctor Strange has stepped within the domicile, it will vanish from this world. Forever.



Strange is able to travel along dimensional corridors back to Earth where he tricks his foe and overpowers him, thusly releasing the spell upon the Sanctum.

Pages from Strange Tales (vol 1) # 117.

Stan Lee (script) / Steve Ditko (plot and artwork)

While not damaged, the Sanctum was removed from this realm and as such is a borderline case of "destruction", and as such, not counted as "official" for the purposes of this blog.
Still... it's darn close.

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When next we see the Sanctum threatened is in Strange Tales # 141 & 142, where Mordo's minions - led by Demonicus "The Demon" - have placed a mundane explosive device inside one of the braziers and plan to detonate it while Strange is in his chambers.

Sequence from Strange Tales vol 1 - # 141 - 142.
A Stan Lee / Steve Ditko joint.

This incident is important for a few reasons. While Dr. Strange DID indeed discover the incendiary device before it went off, it did show two very important things:

1) At this time, Strange had not yet cast any special wards to keep unwanted intruders out of the Sanctum. In fact, in those early Strange Tales issues, the Sanctum was invaded quite a few times, by mystics and robbers alike. Future break-ins would more than likely cause major house damage.

2) In his haste to dispose of the bomb (at least no nuns or ducks barred his way) Strange breaks through his sigil-window. The first such instance of that transpiring (and by far not the last).

However, the Sanctum was NOT destroyed and as such, doesn't count in this blog series.

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This NEXT situation DOES!
Strange Tales # 149 saw a pitched war between the forces of light (Doc & the Ancient One) and those of darkness (Kaluu - the Ancient One's own past menace) and while Strange and his Master are hiding out and attempting to find a way to defeat him, Kaluu unleashes a spell that decimated the Sanctum, totally trashing it (if not without - although it sure looks like he caused some structural damage - , then most definitely WITHIN).

To take care of this wreckage, Doctor Strange needs no earthly workmen!

Sequence from Strange Tales (vol 1) # 149 & 151.
Written by Dennis O'Neil. Art by Bill Everett.

A wave of the hand and voila! Instant "Home Makeover" and as a bonus, he conjures forth all the cash he might need to pay off nosy house inspectors.
(One of the early missteps in the characterization of the Master Mystic. It was an early trope that ALL Marvel characters had to have money troubles or something. This wasn't the first time finances was brought up, however, it was nearly the last time for well over 20 years.)

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Don't think that the Sanctum was safe for long.
FOUR issues later, we see the invasion of the Earth by UMAR the Unrelenting (Sister to Dormammu & Mother of Clea), who cast a devastating blast against the Sanctum, completely leveling it!

SKRAKKK!

Not to let that be the end of it, she also blasts a path straight through the PLANET to get to Strange's mentor!

(Wow. Now THAT is overkill. What a bitch.)

It takes another 3 issues before Strange has time to return home, but all he finds is a sanctum-sized crater.


Luckily, this time he's able to fix the situation (without Bob Vila anywhere in sight) by reversing her spell, upon which she neglected to put her finishing seal.

Entire sequence of events from Strange Tales (vol 1) # 156 & 159.
Story by Roy Thomas. Art by Marie Severin.

Quickly flying inside, he checks on the status of the Earth's peril via the Orb of Agamotto (although, back then, it was more of a mystic globe and less of a crystal ball).

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However, we'll find out tomorrow, that he might have more IMMEDIATE concerns.

Chief among them being, as the Orb will show...
that all might not be what it seems... and home safety - just is not a reality!



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Series Continues - here in:
HOUSING CRISIS : SANCTUS INTERRUPTUS
- Part III - The Shadows on the Wall
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