200 POSTS - SPECIAL EDITION! Something Old - Something New! (In Search Of... Doctor Strange # 200!)

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I'm in the middle of several series of posts this month so I really wasn't aware of the fact that I've now hit my...

200th POST !

However, I didn't want the occasion to pass without any notice...

and so, I am using this occasion for two things:

1) Showcase the new 3-column format for the blog.
(I DO plan on making it more cohesive and design-friendly, but for now, this will do.)

2) to commemorate what would have been Doctor Strange's 200th issue...
(as you may know, Doc had never actually had a 200th issue... heck, he never even made it to 100... but as Marvel does when it wants to pump up a character's/title's issue number count, we'll do a cumulative count of all the various volumes that Doctor Strange has had and add up the totals until we find what issue would have been # 200.)

Well, let's see... adding Doc's "titles" is a tricky bit of business, as he's popped all over the marvel landscape at one point or another - with his narrative being distributed fairly uniformly amongst the various titles with which he's been associated.

So, the question is...
"What constitutes an actual 'Dr. Strange' comic?"

Do we include ALL of his "sequential" issues?
ie;

• Strange Tales v1 (#110, 111, 114 - 168)
• Dr Strange v1 (# 169 - 183)
• Marvel Premiere (# 3 - 14)
• Dr Strange v2 (#1 - 81)
• Strange Tales v2 (#1 - 19)
• Dr. Strange v3 (#1 - 90)

Do we only count comics that bear his name - and/or do we omit anything that isn't a "full-issue" (where he shared the title with another);

• Strange Tales V1
• Marvel Premiere
• Strange Tales v2

What do we do then with self-titled mini-series?

• Doctor Strange : Flight of Bones
• Strange v1
• Doctor Strange : The Oath
• Strange v2

What about issues of comics that are in sequence, but only a portion of the issue is "important"?

• Marvel Feature # 1 (2nd story, "The Return" - wherein he regains his use of magic)

(although the primary story in that issue is the formation of The Defenders, and while "important" isn't a part of his true narrative)

But if we add the issue where he regains his magic, should we not include the issues wherein he forgoes his use of magic? Even if those issues were cross-overs with part of other character's titles - but where his narrative resumed after his 1st volume was canceled and before his return?

• Sub-Mariner # 22
• Hulk # 126

But if we do that then we would need to include issues where his comic crossed over with continuing stories, like:

• Tomb of Dracula # 44
• Man-Thing v2 # 4

So, no. We can't take those into consideration.

And then what about "special" cases, like his "Giant Size" or Annual issues?

• Giant Size Dr. Strange # 1
• Annuals # 1 - 4

And what about his own graphic novels - or special all-new content issues:

• Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa
• Dr. Strange & Dr. Doom : Triumph and Torment
• Spider-Man & Dr. Strange : The Way to Dusty Death
• Strange Tales (deluxe format, acetate cover) # 1
  
• Doctor Strange: "What is it That Disturbs You, Stephen?"
• Stan Lee Meets Dr. Strange # 1
• Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange # 1
  

Obviously, we can't use mini-series where he might not be named in the title, but is truly a/the star of the show - can we?

• Black Knight
• Thor : Vikings
• Witches
• X-statiX presents : Dead Girl
• (and the new) Spider-Man : Fever
  

And we certainly do not use reprint volumes:

• Strange Tales v 1.2 (a 1973 "continuation" of the title) # 182 - 188
  
• Doctor Strange -vs- Silver Dagger # 1
• Doctor Strange Classics # 1 - 4
• Dr. Strange / Ghost Rider Special # 1
• Dr. Strange -vs- Dracula # 1
• Marvel Watch # 0
• Marvel Milestones : Strange Tales # 1
• Marvel Milestones : Doctor Strange / Defenders # 1

And, there's no way we should count ash-can editions:

• Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme ashcan
• Dr. Strange: Sorcerer's Apprentice ashcan (came with limited editions of his animated DVD)

Heck, we certainly can't (but should) be able to count:

• Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 2 (a truly awesome Spidey - Doc team-up special by Steve Ditko - although it was reprinted in dr. Strange v1 # 179, so... at least the story "counts".)
  

No.

This undertaking will only allow for a possible two (or three) "true" results.

At best we should omit anything too extraneous, such as non-named minis, graphic novels (no matter how awesome. (And no collected volumes or books, as it should go without saying.)

Obviously we need to ignore things like 'Marvel Team-Up', 'Marvel Two-in-One', 'Marvel Fanfare', 'Marvel Comics Presents' and even the various incarnations of 'Defenders' or 'Midnight Sons' (or especially not the 'Illuminati'), and we can't even take into account comics or issues that feature Strange as a regular in a stable of rotating features, like "Over the Edge", or even treat him as a solo star like his issue of "Uncanny Origins" ... because we're not looking for his 200th appearance, but his 200th "published issue".

So, to this end we are left with either:

ONLY full stories of comic titles that bear his name...

-or-

ALL sequential comic runs.

Let's run it down:

IF ONLY full stories of comic titles that bear his name:

• Doctor Strange v1 - (# 169 - 183)
  
• Dr. Strange v2 (Master of the Mystic Arts) - (#1 - 81)
• Dr. Strange v3 (Sorcerer Supreme) - (#1 - 90)

... but that only leads up to 196 issues?!?!

So. then we need to add what is considered to be Dr Strange v4

(at least according to checklists and price guides)

• Dr. Strange : Flight of Bones (mini-series) - (# 1 - 4)

Which would make FLIGHT OF BONES # 4 ...

Doctor Strange # 200!

However, if we take into account ALL sequential comic runs:

• Strange Tales v1 (#110, 111, 114 - 168)
• Dr Strange v1 (# 169 - 183)
• Marvel Feature (# 1) * (do we count this or not?)
• Marvel Premiere (# 3 - 14)
• Dr Strange v2 (#1 - 81)
• Strange Tales v2 (#1 - 19)
• Dr. Strange v3 (#1 - 90)

We would find that either

Doctor Strange v3 (Sorcerer Supreme)

# 16

* or *

#17
(if we do not include Feature # 1 into the count)

to be...

Dr. Strange # 200!

*sigh*

This entire enterprise should confirm what we die-hard Doc-fans have known all along...

... it isn't easy being a Dr Strange fan.

Sadly, he may never get an issue #200... but as a "Founding Father" he most certainly deserves one, so I'm giving him MINE.

Happy # 200, Doc!

(Hey! Did I do the math right on this? Any Doc fans out there want to posit an argument or counter? LMK)

MIDNIGHT IMAGES Original Comic Artwork (2nd in a series)"Secret Defenders" - 1993

A few days ago (in a post seen [HERE]) I showed a little "mathematical equation" featuring a two-image teaser of Doctor Strange and Man-Thing as drawn by yours-truly.

That teaser was to hint at the contents of this post, which, while more revealing, is in itself but a teaser of the real content that can be found on my other - art blog - the MIDNIGHT IMAGES blog - found at this link ([HERE] - or click the Midnight Images logo at the end of this post).

Now, before you get upset at my shunting you onto my other blog (which is really the proper place for my artwork - like my Doctor Strange - Wizard magazine cover art samples that I presented here only a few days ago [HERE]), I will ask you...


How can you NOT want to know what the heck is going on with THESE image samples?

* click images to make more... "strange" *

Yeah... that's right.

Doctor Strange, Man-Thing, Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man in my very own "Secret Defenders" story.

It's odd. It's twisted. It's touching.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be glad you clicked this link for my "MIDNIGHT IMAGES" blog.
.





Well?
Are you still here?

What are you waiting for?
Go check out the FULL 11-page story art over at my MIDNIGHT IMAGES art blog!

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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

---

Tamam Shud!
~P~

IDOL PURSUITS : ROM: SPACEKNIGHT (REDUX) - or - It's my (birthday) PARTY, and I'll ROM if I want to - AGAIN.

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ROM-TOR : SPACEKNIGHT!
Just how awesome would this costume / playset be?
Especially the Neutralizer!

This "costume" was inspired by those old
"Ben Cooper: plastic mask and
smock-with-an-image-of-who-you're-supposed-to-be-on-the-front-of-it-like-an-idiot"
old Halloween costumes.
(For those who don't quite know what I'm riffing on, I had showcased the complete sets of Dr. Strange Ben Cooper costumes way back [HERE])

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It's my birthday today and, due to a strange series of events, I find myself able to address an item that was discussed in my birthday post of last year (in a mega-awesome entry - found [HERE]). An item has been found and a burning question is now answered - one that has plagued me for nigh unto two decades!

It deals with ROM : SPACEKNIGHT, and specifically, with the ROM "action figure!"

In last year's birthday post, I showcased - quite extensively - not only the history of ROM : SPACEKNIGHT as a toy and a Marvel comic book title, but also of my epic journey of acquiring my own ROM figure(s).
(I ALSO posted a video that shows how the ROM figure worked - if you haven't seen it or read last year's ROM mega-post check it out after you read this one.)

Looooong story short, I mentioned how one day, sometime in 1990 (or so), after seeing a ROM figure on display in an antique toy dealer's shoppe (oddly enough on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village, NYC), I was talked out of buying it right then and there by my oldest, dearest friend; Adam.

I then told the story of how the next day, as a birthday gift for that year, he presented me with... a ROM figure!

He swore to me that despite my protestations about accepting it, that he hadn't spent his own money to buy that same figure we had seen the day before - an action that would not have been beyond his generous nature - but that he was bequeathing to me the ROM figure that he claimed was HIS as a youth.

Like the ROM in the toy store, the ROM he gave me had no box.
It was also missing the NEUTRALIZER gun, but was perfect and complete in every other way.
He said he probably had used the gun in an experiment or something (also, a very likely possibility knowing him - as he was always up with the science!) and had misplaced it.
(I had no idea if the ROM in the store had any of its accessories or not.)

I would never go to the toy shoppe again to check his tale (because it would have been rude to do so) and over the many years since, whenever the subject would arise, he never once deviated from his "story" that the item was his own from his youth (even after he read last year's post).

A more nebulous guy than Adam you may never meet, so I was always left with an air of uncertainty as to the veracity of his claim. Instead, I treasured the gift and admire it to this very day.

---

Jump ahead to a mere few days ago, and while visiting Adam and helping him take care of some family matters, we were clearing out his family's home of his old stuff.

While clearing out a desk, we opened a drawer and in the midst of a bunch of random bits and bobs of gadgetry I saw... THIS!

ROM's NEUTRALIZER!

It was hard to suppress the sense of childlike joy that I felt as I saw this.
With the discovery of this one simple piece of plastic, a mystery would be solved ("I told you it was mine." Adam said immediately afterward) - and my beloved ROM would be made whole.

.

Whole and Complete-ly awesome!

It's not that I didn't believe that it was his ROM, but I knew that it was even more likely that due to his kind and generous nature, he might have purchased that one from long ago.

Yes, as I mentioned last year, I do have a 2nd ROM. One that I found and purchased complete, in box, several years after Adam presented me with (what I now know for a fact was) his own.
But, while that 2nd one sits, "unloved" in a display case, nothing could ever replace the treasured gift my friend gave to me. A gift that I do take out of its case and "play" with every so often.

It makes me quite happy, even more so now, that I know that as a kid, my friend and I shared yet another comic-book-related interest - without ever knowing it.


(Remind me to tell the tale of how, as stupid kids, we actually tried to get into the super-hero biz...the tale is "polarizing"!)

---

Remember to check out last year's ROM birthday post [HERE] if you haven't yet.
You won't be disappointed.

MIDNIGHT IMAGES Original Comic Artwork (1st in a series) Wizard magazine covers - 2000

A month ago, I teased (in a post found [HERE]) that I'll be showcasing some artwork that I have done (starting with some old stuff, even going as far back to my youth) featuring Doctor Strange and his worlds.

Well, this month will see (hopefully all of) those artworks in a series of posts that I am co-hosting with my other ART-BLOG.... the "MIDNIGHT IMAGES" blog.




While, I'll showcase the finished pieces here on this Sanctum Sanctorum Comix blog, I also show them on the Midnight Images art-blog, as well as the multiple sketches and roughs that led to each piece, along with detailed descriptions of what the heck was going on throughout the process.

So, feel free to check out the finished pieces on this blog.
But, if you like what you see, go over to the other blog and delve into the detail - in a post found [HERE].


I can almost guarantee that if you have any questions about these illustrations, there is an answer in the post over there (and if not, feel free to leave comments).
And if you're a lover of comic art (or any kind of art - as there is to be more there than just comic art) feel free to join my "followers" there as well, as there will be more to come.

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Produced for a cover contest hosted in the year 2000 by WIZARD magazine, these 4 images were my submission entries.
Of course, they all feature Doctor Strange.

Click pics to embiggen.

Doctor Strange - cover 1
April 13, 2000
graphite pencil over blue-line pencils
on vellum-finish bristol board
approximately 8 x 11.5 inches

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Doctor Strange - variant background
May 20, 2000
graphite pencil over blue-line pencils
on vellum-finish bristol board
approximately 8 x 11.5 inches

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Doctor Strange - vs- Mindless Ones
May 21, 2000
graphite pencil over blue-line pencils
on vellum-finish bristol board
approximately 8 x 11.5 inches

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C'mon... who doesn't love the Mindless Ones?
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Doctor Strange - "Art Nouveau"
May 22, 2000
graphite pencil over blue-line pencils
on vellum-finish bristol board
approximately 8 x 11.5 inches

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That's all for that series of cover contest entries.
I will add that I didn't win.
Actually, I never received notice from my delivery confirmation that they had even made it there (whether on time or at all).

I'll be showcasing some other Dr. Strange related artwork in the days ahead.
But remember, if you want to see the multiple work-ups and sketches and read how and/or why I did certain things, go on over to the other blog [HERE].

As I was a comic book artist for some small independent companies (and was also a featured artist in many "artist alleys" in ComiCons in the 1990's), I'll be showing some of that non-Doc comic art over on the art blog in the days to come as well.

However, if you like (or dare I say loathe) what you see here, let me know.
And if you perhaps might want to commission some original artwork for your very own, drop me a line.

I'll be adding a button for that feature on the blog soon as well.

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The finished illustrations, and many of their work-in-progress stages, can be seen in their entirety over at my MIDNIGHT IMAGES blog.

---

Well?
Are you still here?
What are you waiting for?
Go check 'em out over at my MIDNIGHT IMAGES art blog!

---

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

---

Tamam Shud!
~P~

Something DIRE This Way Comes...

Lest anyone forget that one of the "Holy Trinity" of this site's blog-focus is;

ROM : SPACEKNIGHT

(the other two being Dr. Strange & Man-Thing, natch!)

I thought it important to share some new revelations that have been occurring in the ROM-centric universe over at Marvel as of late.

As I mentioned here just over a year ago (in this old post found [HERE]) it was hinted that a return of the DIRE WRAITHS; a race of shape-shifting aliens (and Rom's primary enemies) was imminent.

That first clue was made in the DARK REIGN FILES oneshot.

*click to make more eeevil*

Dark Reign Files : Know Your Foes

It's your basic database style reference comic; in this case showing the various baddies that are currently active in the Marvel Universe.

The pretense is that it is Norman Osborne's reference logistics about each of these villains, and what the powers/ threat level / allegiances / expendability for each may be.

Among the list is THIS entry:

DIRE WRAITHS!

Since then, many ROM fans have been on high-alert for a return of the Wraiths... a vigil that has finally paid off.

Two new revelations had been made in two of this months comic issues of SPIDER-WOMAN # 7 and FANTASTIC FOUR # 577.

First, in the last pages of Spider-Woman, as she wraps up her current mission (and arc...andthe series), her boss; Agent Brand of S.W.O.R.D. sends her a text message.

*click pic to read*

 

Spider-Woman v2 # 7

Brian Bendis (words), Alex Maleev (art)

I'll retype it here:

Agent Brand types:

"Are you ready for your next assignment?

I got Dire Wraiths.

I got Spaceknights.

I got a microverse outbreak.

I got a symbiote cult.

What are you in the mood for?"

How awesome is that?
Bendis seems like he was going to bring the Spaceknights and/or the Wraiths soon enough.

I had blogged exactly one year ago (seen [HERE]) about Bendis' deep desire to bring Rom back, but without the ability to do so he seems to have kept true to his deisre and offered forth this teaser of what he might have wanted to do.

However, with that being the final issue of the truncated series, such developments would either have to wait, or be shunted over to another title.
Or, perhaps, the events that S.W.O.R.D. was monitoring is the same that what was revealed in the pages of the new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR # 577

The Dire Wraiths appear to be one of 5 races who make up the "Universal Inhumans"!

* click pics  to make Celestial in size! *

The 5 races are the INHUMANS, The CENTAURIANS, the BADOON... 

...the KYMELLIANS and the DIRE WRAITHS, who all seem to be the direct result of genetic tampering by the KREE.

Never saw female Wraiths wearing clothes before... or with breasts.
That's gonna cause some nightmares right there, I can tell you.


The revelation is that these four other races will have their queens mate with (or rule alongside) the Inhuman King; Black Bolt, in order to forge a new union to a new destiny...

...take over the Earth!

Fantastic Four's creative team; Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dale Eaglesham (art) and Paul Mounts (colors) have been doing excellent work on that title, and (to this reader, anyway,) bringing it back to a level of grandeur of Lee/Kirby proportions.

According to the date-text in the back-up page (ipad type feature), there are currently 44,500 Dire Wraiths living in the Inhuman city-ship. 13,250 are female (the red ones) and 31,250 are male.
I don't see the typical white blobby "Pillsbury doughboy"-type of male Wraiths in the issue.
Perhaps the males have evolved into a new form?

Could that be what the blue hairy Wraith was?
Or maybe that basic white putrid form was done away with in some way?
(at the very least, it's safe to assume that any Wraith without breasts is probably be male. That still weirds me out a bit though.)

I guess we'll find out in subsequent issues.

While a return of ROM himself seems unlikely (due to red-tape of property rights as seen in this old post [HERE] - and some follow-up posts - all found at that link), we will definitely see more of the WRAITHS... and there is more likely of a chance to see SPACEKNIGHTS in our future as well.

Tamam Shud!
~P~

Glimpses of the PAST... for the FUTURE!

But a brief hint at some content soon to come:

+

÷

1993

=

?

*UPDATE *
The answer can be found in this post [HERE].

Live a Poem or DIE a FOOL!

Greetings..

I'm not here today. 

I'm away for several days, actually, and have had several posts in the hopper to automatically post on certain days. Thus proving that I had thought ahead... and am SMART.

Whilst others who come here... well.... they might just be FOOLS!

So, if so, you should watch out for this guy.

The FOOLKILLER!

Originally from Man-Thing volume 1 (issues # 3 and 4), with several incarnations and even a series (or two) of his own.
A wonderful Steve Gerber creation (of sorts).

Here's the wiki brief description:

"The Foolkiller is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer Steve Gerber and first appeared in the pages of 1974's Man-Thing. He also had a ten-issue limited series that ran from 1990 to 1991, followed by another in 2007. There have been four different individuals to adopt the mantle of the Foolkiller. The character was inspired by a Southern legend that was the basis for a short story by O. Henry. This in turn was the inspiration for a later novel by Helen Eustis. The novel was made into a film featuring Anthony Perkins. A character of the same name also appeared in L. Frank Baum's The Enchanted Island of Yew."

Marvel's Foolkiller came equipped with a vaporizer gun and would smoke those whom he judged to be sinners, or living non-poetic, unworthy lives... or just FOOLS (depending on the incarnation's particular psychotic Raison d'être) - reducing them to piles of ash.

Imagine finding THAT on your windshield?

Well... at least it's not in "comic sans".

Then, he'd have to kill his typesetter, printer and himself.

The ominous calling card that the Foolkiller would give to his intended victims a full day BEFORE he would kill them... unless they were able to prove themselves to NOT be fools and thus save their lives.
(Pop Quiz: Guess how many successfully did so?... Yup. Not many.)

Oh, crap.  I used wikipedia as an actual "resource"... does that make ME a fool?
I think it might.

Shit.
Good thing I'm not really here today, or I'd be toast.

Still...

HAPPY (or not-so-happy) APRIL FOOLS to you all!