Why was DR.STRANGE not on the cover of STRANGE TALES #110? 2 2

[APDallas]

I love Dr.Strange and I know he first appears in Strange Tales #110 but I always wondered why he was not promoted on the cover. What is the story behind this. I know Stan Lee was a big promoter of any new character so it seems "strange" that he did not do so in this case. Does anyone know the back story? Did Ditko do a cover with him but was rejected? What is more surprising is that Dr.Strange himself does not appear on the cover until issue 118. Did Marvel not have any faith in this character at the time?

Edited May 24, 2022 by APDallas

[KirbyJack]

The absence was intentional.

The initial idea was for Dr. Strange to be kind of a secret; something you discovered, or heard about on the QT. The same feel they went for in the Doctor Strange feature, when Stephen hears about The Ancient One in "hushed whispers". Marvel itself was comparatively invisible in 1963, but gaining much word-of-mouth.

That was what they went for at first, but as you said, Stan just wasn't wired that way. It wasn't long before the old Lee Hard-Sell took over and Doc started getting cover blurbs and boxes. I personally think it was a cool thing to try.

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by KirbyJack

[APDallas]

Ah ha. That is interesting. A bit out of the ordinary. A theory I had was that strange was a strictly ditto creation and Stan only added his name in the end 

[the blob]

could it be that they did not know if he would become a regular in the marvel super hero world and this might have just been another fantasy/sci fi backup story like ST, TTA, JIM, etc. had before they became all super hero?

[buttock]

On 5/24/2022 at 5:43 AM, APDallas said:

I love Dr.Strange and I know he first appears in Strange Tales #110 but I always wondered why he was not promoted on the cover. What is the story behind this. I know Stan Lee was a big promoter of any new character so it seems "strange" that he did not do so in this case. Does anyone know the back story? Did Ditko do a cover with him but was rejected? What is more surprising is that Dr.Strange himself does not appear on the cover until issue 118. Did Marvel not have any faith in this character at the time?

Stan Lee also hated Ditko.  I've read a few articles with comments from both of them, and from Ditko's perspective Stan was intentionally sabotaging the character.  

[APDallas]

Did Stan Lee really hate Ditko? Wow.

[KirbyJack]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:07 PM, APDallas said:

Did Stan Lee really hate Ditko? Wow.

I had not heard that. I was aware of the creative tension between them, but  years later. 
In 1963, if Stan didn’t like Dr.Strange, I imagine he simply wouldn’t have introduced the character. 

[Jaylam]

I found this fan made cover recreation of what could have been. Too bad it's not the real deal, what a first appearance cover this would be. Image was taken from the Dr. Strange splash page and composed into a new make-believe cover. Very well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Callaway29]

On 5/24/2022 at 9:04 PM, Jaylam said:

I found this fan made cover recreation of what could have been. Too bad it's not the real deal, what a first appearance cover this would be. Image was taken from the Dr. Strange splash page and composed into a new make-believe cover. Very well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I’m not defending 110’s cover, this particular image has never done anything for me…

[shadroch]

Stan hated Ditko so much that of all the artists struggling to  find employment in the late 50s, he picked on Ditko by making him work.

[jcjames]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:04 PM, Jaylam said:

I found this fan made cover recreation of what could have been. Too bad it's not the real deal, what a first appearance cover this would be. Image was taken from the Dr. Strange splash page and composed into a new make-believe cover. Very well done.

 

 

Still too much Paste-Pot Pete.

 

 

[bronze johnny]

On 5/24/2022 at 7:43 AM, APDallas said:

I love Dr.Strange and I know he first appears in Strange Tales #110 but I always wondered why he was not promoted on the cover. What is the story behind this. I know Stan Lee was a big promoter of any new character so it seems "strange" that he did not do so in this case. Does anyone know the back story? Did Ditko do a cover with him but was rejected? What is more surprising is that Dr.Strange himself does not appear on the cover until issue 118. Did Marvel not have any faith in this character at the time?

Glad you mentioned Strange Tales 118 because Doctor Strange’s first cover appearance makes this issue the second most important Doctor Strange comic book.

[Jaylam]

Edited May 25, 2022 by Jaylam

[Dick Pontoon]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:31 AM, bronze johnny said:

Glad you mentioned Strange Tales 118 because Doctor Strange’s first cover appearance makes this issue the second most important Doctor Strange comic book.

I think #115 would be second most important since that was his origin, and probably #111 as third since it was the first appearance of long-time nemesis Baron Mordo. Or maybe third should be #126, for the 1st appearance of Clea and Dormammu.

[APDallas]

What's funny is that through out Dr.Strange's run in Strange Tales he had to share the cover with Human Torch and usually it wasn't much. It wasn't until issue 130 where he got most of the cover and not until 146 he actually get a full cover. I have a feeling someone at Marvel wanted to keep Dr.Strange down and it wasn't until much later after he became somewhat popular that he got his own series. Hell, Nick Fury of SHIELD got more promotion than Strange.

[Jaylam]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:28 AM, APDallas said:

What's funny is that through out Dr.Strange's run in Strange Tales he had to share the cover with Human Torch and usually it wasn't much. It wasn't until issue 130 where he got most of the cover and not until 146 he actually get a full cover. I have a feeling someone at Marvel wanted to keep Dr.Strange down and it wasn't until much later after he became somewhat popular that he got his own series. Hell, Nick Fury of SHIELD got more promotion than Strange.

Got to remember, James Bond was a big hit back in the 60's and Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD was Marvel's version so I'm not surprised they pushed 'ol Nick trying to ride that wave. I just don't know how they perceived Doc back in those days. They both eventually got their own books, but both got canceled within 2 years of their start. Personally, I was more of a Doctor Strange fan back in those days, especially when Gene Colan did the art and only liked Nick when Steranko did the art.

[bronze johnny]

On 5/25/2022 at 10:09 AM, Pontoon said:

I think #115 would be second most important since that was his origin, and probably #111 as third since it was the first appearance of long-time nemesis Baron Mordo. Or maybe third should be #126, for the 1st appearance of Clea and Dormammu.

I thought about those books but covers take precedence in the Slab-Age of Comics and the first ever appearance of Doctor Strange on a cover is no exception. Imagine if Spidey’s first cover appearance wasn’t until an issue after AF 15 and 10-12 issues prior to ASM 1? 

[KirbyJack]

I’d believe 118 could become the second most valuable Doc book, but I still like 115 as second most important.

[bronze johnny]

Origin issues are always significant and had a higher place in the hierarchy of most important types of books before third party grading. A first cover appearance of a significant character would place higher than an origin thanks to the effect slabbing has had on this hobby. You see Doctor Strange for the first time ever in the slab. Most people don’t or won’t open the slab so the first cover appearance is all you visually see and that’s significant and consistent with the preference many have for classic covers over classic art and stories inside the covers of a slabbed book. This is one major change that I’ve seen with slabbed books over the years.

[APDallas]

On 5/25/2022 at 5:05 PM, bronze johnny said:

Origin issues are always significant and had a higher place in the hierarchy of most important types of books before third party grading. A first cover appearance of a significant character would place higher than an origin thanks to the effect slabbing has had on this hobby. You see Doctor Strange for the first time ever in the slab. Most people don’t or won’t open the slab so the first cover appearance is all you visually see and that’s significant and consistent with the preference many have for classic covers over classic art and stories inside the covers of a slabbed book. This is one major change that I’ve seen with slabbed books over the years.

I agree. With slabbing the covers have become actually more important than the contents which I find ironic since comics were meant to be read. Out of all the silver age marvel debuts it seems that Dr.Strange got the short straw. I would love to know the story behind that.