| Characters |
Doris Evans ("Dorrie"); Human Torch [Johnny Storm]; Yogi Dakkor; Handsome Harry Phillips; Bull Brogin; Thing [Ben Grimm] |
| Synopsis |
On the golf course, Doris nags Johnny by comparing him to "gentlemanly" Peter Parker. When the latest emergency arises, she says a girl like her should have her head examined. Johnny falls into a trap of The Terrible Trio, but manages to send out a distress signal to Ben, who takes on these losers and saves Johnny's life in a railway yard. "Dr. Doom would be so proud of us!" Yogi Dakkor said...guess again! |
| Genre |
Super-hero |
| Script |
Stan Lee (co-plot, dialogue); Dick Ayers (co-plot) |
| Pencils |
Dick Ayers |
| Inks |
Frank Giacoia [as Frankie Ray] |
| Colors |
Stan Goldberg |
| Letters |
Art Simek |
| Notes |
Third (and final) appearance of "The Terrible Trio"; previous appearance in STRANGE TALES #122 (July 1964). With his costume and flying carpet, Yogi Dakkor may have served as the inspiration for the 1967 SPIDER-MAN cartoon villain, "The Fabulous Fakir." Johnny & Doris have a run-in with The Beetle, Peter Parker (and Spider-Man) in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21 (February 1965) shortly before this story. |
| Reprinted |
in Marvel's Greatest Comics (Marvel, 1969 Series) #32 (September 1971); in Essential Human Torch (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003) [black & white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch (Marvel, 2006 series) #2; in Fantastici Quattro, I (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #30 |
| Characters |
Dr. Strange; Dr. Green (scientist); Mr. James (Producer, "The Twelth Hour" TV show); The Ancient One; Tiboro |
| Synopsis |
Despite repeated requests, Strange refuses to appear on the TV program, "The Twelth Hour." As a result, the panel of 3 scientists who do appear "reject" him as an authority on the supernatural. They continue to narrow-mindedly dismiss all magic as superstition, until in the middle of the show, the lights briefly go out and all three mysteriously vanish! When the police can find nothing, the show's producer calls Strange, this time for help! He arrives, and quickly discerns the "pagan idol" they were debunking is really a gateway to the dimension of Tiboro, an extrememly powerful entity who is ready to strike against Earth, as he did before, ages ago. After consulting his mentor, Strange goes to Tiboro's dimension to confront him directly, and a fierce, deadly battle commences! Strange manages to triumph, and returns with the three kidnapped men. But now that they have "proof" of the existence of magic, they want to do a TV show about it, with Strange as the star. Instead, he uses a "spell of forgetfullness," which actually causes time to unwind to the moment when the lights went out. As before, they arrogantly refuse to believe there's any such thing as magic. |
| Genre |
Occult |
| Script |
Steve Ditko (plot); Don Rico (script) |
| Pencils |
Steve Ditko |
| Inks |
Steve Ditko |
| Colors |
Stan Goldberg |
| Letters |
Sam Rosen |
| Notes |
Steve Ditko's art seems to take a leap forward with this episode. Without Stan Lee's dialogue, the tone and character of this story is much closer to Ditko's solo works from the 1970's and later. Similar to this story's ending, the 3rd-season cliffhanger-finale of CHARMED involved the media exposing the existence of magic, the chaos and danger it involved, and a spell turning back time to prevent it from happening. On this issue's letters page, Stan says he "asked Steve to come up with something really different for next issue," indicating that Ditko may have been plotting the series solo for some time. |
| Reprinted |
in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics (Marvel, 1965 series) #20 (April 1969); in Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts (Pocket Books, 1978 series) #nn [1]; in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #23 (1992); in Essential Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (December 2001) [black & white]; in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003) |