Doctor Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?

Doctor Strange (1974) #34

by P. Craig Russell

Magical tales from a spellbinding artist! Multiple award-winner P. Craig Russell brings his distinctive style to Doctor Strange in an Eisner-winning tale decades in the making. It's a psychedelic story of sorcerous seduction that will take you from the arcane shadows of the Sanctum Sanctorum to the dizzying spires of the mystical city of Ditkopolis! The Master of the Mystic Arts puts Clea to the test, faces a challenge to his title as Sorcerer Supreme and battles a hoary host of foes.

COLLECTING: DR. STRANGE: WHAT IS IT THAT DISTURBS YOU, STEPHEN? 1; DR. STRANGE ANNUAL 1; MARVEL PREMIERE 7; DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) 34; MATERIAL FROM DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) 46; MARVEL FANFARE (1982) 5, 6, 8; CHAMBER OF CHILLS 1-2; JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1972) 4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Fantasy, Sequential Art, Comic Book

205 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Philip Craig Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Since 1972 his work has won multiple Kirby, Harvey, and Eisner Awards, and Cartoon Crossroads Columbus presented him the Master Cartoonist Award in 2019.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Doctor Strange opens a fortune cookie to reveal the message "What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?" he finds himself crossing dimensions to the city of Ditkopolis and caught in the middle of a family feud...

There isn't a ton of Doctor Strange material out there in trade paperback form so I've had my eye on this one for years. P. Craig Russell's art really impressed me in the Sandman Omnibus I read a couple weeks ago so I finally pulled the trigger on this one.

This volume contains the title story, plus the story in its shortened form from a Doctor Strange annual in the late 1970s. P. Craig Russell wanted the story reprinted and wound up redrawing the entire thing with a tweaked plot and slightly different characters. There are also other contents but I'll come back to that.

PCR's art in the title story is gorgeous, minimalist but still able to draw a mean minaret or onion dome when the occasion requires. He knows his way around a pencil and brush, drawing alien landscapes as well as Strange's home on Bleeker Street. The original version of the story is a curiosity. It's quite interesting to see the story, and P. Craig Russell's artwork, in its embryonic stages. While it's good, Russell still had a lot to learn.

There are other P. Craig Russell Doctor Strange stories in the mix, although he's "only" the inker on most of them. However, you do get to see PCR ink Michael Golden, Marshall Rogers, Carmine Infantino, and even Rob Liefield in a pinup. A couple horror tales, PCR's first Marvel work, round out the collection.

Doctor Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? leaves me hungry for more Doctor Strange and more P. Craig Russell. Four out of five stars.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty cool! We get to see the original comic P. Craig Russell published with Marvel way back in the day - one of his first personal projects for the company which he was obviously unhappy with. Then we get the remastered edition where years later he tackles the same story and perfects it.

The original from 1976 is Russell's Opus 3. That's pretty dang early! It's a good looking book for that era of comics. It stands out for sure.

The remaster is 1996 and is Opus 43. For over 20 years he had this project in his mind. The artwork is quite different. It's more refined and has color by his long time collaborator Kindzierski.

I'm not much of a Doctor Strange fan. The story is mostly a journey where Strange goes to a... strange world called Ditkopolis. An homage to Strange creator Ditko... but it's a stupid name.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Craig Russell completist, and a fan of Doctor Strange and his creator Steve Ditko. I must still get to Russell's Oscar Wilde adaptations... But I can tell you this is the most, well, operatic set of twinned Doctor Strange stories out there: one from 1976 and a similar story from 1996. And the setting: Ditkopolis!
Fascinatingly, this anthology rounds out those stories with Russell's great work as an ink artist, inking over the fine pencil art in Doctor Strange stories drawn by Michael Golden (five pages), and the late, great Carmine Infantino, Marshall Rogers, and Tom Sutton (one story apiece). I read and savored all these upon original publication, with thanks to writers Chris Claremont, Roger Stern, Peter Gillis, et. al.
But what really makes this an eye-opener for the Craig Russell completist is - not only the earlier 1972-3 story by Gardner Fox featuring a bizarrely designed Lovecraftian foe for Doctor Strange - but three or four earlier stories, Russell's first publications teamed with ink artist Dan Adkins, in mystery anthology comics from 1972-3.
Add Russell to the pantheon of Doctor Strange artist after Ditko: Gene Colan, Frank Brunner, and Russell.
Highest recommendation.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma celebração do trabalho de P. Craig Russel a ilustrar histórias de Doctor Strange. Uma colectânea curiosa, que mostra o panorama da evolução do traço marcante deste ilustrador em sentido inverso. Começa por publicar uma história totalmente ilustrada no estilo único de Russell, e continua com outras histórias onde o ilustrador teve a cargo o desenho ou a aplicação de cores. É intrigante ver em caminho inverso a evolução do estilo gráfico, da iconografia elegante e feérica que é apanágio deste autor aos desenhos em estilo comics convencional do início da sua carreira. Diga-se que a elegância surreal de Russel se aplica muito bem ao tipo de histórias de Strange, tantas vezes a passar as fronteiras do real para mundos fantásticos.

[Daniel Kibblesmith]

Cool!

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were interesting. It was fun seeing a lot of the older Doctor Strange comics. But a lot of them were boring. Not to mention we'd get one or two stories of them and then they wouldn't finish it? What's the point of giving us the beginning and not the end? And the last 50ish pages or so weren't even Doctor Strange? Granted I liked the Scarlet Witch one, though damsel in distress? Ugh but still.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

And THAT is how you write for Doctor Strange. Strange used to be the best character in the entire Marvel Universe.

Marvel should have made Jason Aaron take lessons form Russell before he wrote "The Last Days of Magic". I hoping that Donny Cates's current story-line is the first step to rebooting Strange and getting him back to the place he was before, so we can have more great stories like this one.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read.
Okay at best.

[Letizia Loi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Più che una raccolta di storie su Doctor Strange si tratta di una raccolta dei lavori di P. Craig Russell per la Marvel. Se amate questo illustratore non potete farvelo sfuggire! Se invece vi interessa solo Strange, è buono sapere che gli ultimi issue di questo volume non hanno nulla a che fare con lui. Io amo entrambi, quindi mi è piaciuto molto.
Il volume prende il nome dalla prima storia, che è un remake di un'annual disegnato dallo stesso Russell negli anni '70. Entrambe le versioni sono presenti ed è interessante confrontarle, vedere come lo stile dell'autore/illustratore è maturato, ma anche cosa ha modificato per tenere la storia al passo con i tempi.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for classic Doctor Strange, but this is a weird little collection. It's supposed to be a highlight of the work of P. Craig Russell, but only about half of the stories feature his story work and pencils. The rest seem to be a random assortment of issues where he provided the ink work. Now, I'm not downplaying the importance of a good inker, but that's not exactly my go-to when it comes to a portfolio of an artist known for his psychedelic pencils.

[Christopher McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a showcase for the artist than anything Doctor Strange story-related, but that made it a really cool read. Just a bunch of snapshots and short stories of Doctor Strange getting mixed up in mystical and cosmic struggles with amazingly colorful and trippy art. Some of the stories aren't even about him!
It all looks great though and the stories are serviceable enough that I really liked it.

[Aditi]

Phenomenal art! Oh my, oh my! Every panel is superbly drawn!

[Angelika Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Strange was sorta weird in the 70s...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very uneven collection, but a neat time capsule of some older Doctor Strange stories. Though, I must admit that older comics are usually pretty hard for me to get into.

[Andi Chorley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning art from P Craig Russell especially in the title story and there are two early stories by the late lamented Steve Gerber including one of a space vampire.

[D Corbishley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of separate stories, not necessarily connected and includes some that don't have Doctor Strange in them.

[Khabeer Rashad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to read some old school Doctor Strange stories. Some were good, others were boring. The artwork was lit tho.