Set Description:
Synopsis: This set currently consists of 54 books from 8 titles.
Background: Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as the Sorcerer Supreme, the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats-yeah, I know, right out of Avengers Infinity Wars. Strange was introduced to bring a different kind of character and themes of mysticism to Marvel Comics.
The character starts as an intelligent and egotistically arrogant neurosurgeon who is injured in a car accident. Because his hands had suffered severe nerve damage from the accident, he was told that current medical therapy and rehabilitation would not be enough to enable him to practice again as a surgeon. Unable to accept this prognosis, he travels the world searching for alternative ways of healing, which leads him to the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange becomes his student and learns to be a master of both the mystical and the martial arts. He acquires an assortment of mystical objects, including the powerful Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation, and takes up residence in a mansion referred to as the Sanctum Sanctorum, located at 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Strange assumes the title of Sorcerer Supreme and, with his friend and valet Wong, defends the world from mystical threats.
In live-action adaptations, the character was first portrayed by Peter Hooten in the 1978 television film Dr. Strange. Since 2016, Benedict Cumberbatch has portrayed the role of Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This set picks up all of Doctor Strange’s 57 appearances in Strange Tales (#110-167), his 15 issue run in Doctor Strange (#168-#183), and his guest appearances in ASM (2), Avengers (2), FF (2), Daredevil, JIM and X-Men, a total of 81 books.
Our Collection: I honestly don’t recall ever seeing this set before or even registering our books, maybe my son did, but I must admit it is a rather cool set since it pulls books from eight Marvel titles. I have to assume it is a new category just established by CGC and that the big Doctor Strange collectors have not discovered it of yet, since one with a high grade Strange Tales #110, and there are several, would immediately jump to the top of the class.
From our standpoint, we have long collected Strange Tales, although quite frankly it is our poorest collection of those we started over 20 years ago and still has many holes. But we do have the books in the set from other Marvel titles where Doctor Strange makes an appearance. And I am a big fan of how Marvel integrated the character into the MCU, so maybe this is one where we will try to put together something. But again, that ST #110 is very expensive in high grade and is a book I feel like the market is over-pricing currently.
But the long and short of it, is that, while we have about 2/3 of these books, there is simply no way we should be leading the registry as there are multiple collectors with better sets of these books, they just have not discovered this one yet.
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