Strange Tales #110

A filler with a black-magic theme

Strange Tales began in 1951 as a horror anthology from Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel, and ran 168 issues to May 1968. The Comics Code of 1954 drained it of gore, and by the early 1960s it was running monsters and science fiction. Its first superhero arrived with issue #101 (October 1962): the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, Johnny Storm, in stories of 12 to 14 pages.

Issue #110 went on sale on April 9, 1963, according to the publication date in U.S. Copyright Office filings, with a July 1963 cover date. It cost 12 cents for 36 pages, ten of them paid advertising. The cover, penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers, belongs entirely to the Human Torch, who faces the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete in the lead story, the first time those two villains teamed up. Behind it ran a two-page text story and a five-page science-fiction tale by Larry Lieber and Matt Fox.

Then, at the back of the book, came five pages titled 'Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic!' A man troubled by bad dreams calls on Doctor Strange, who enters the dream world and confronts Nightmare; the man's dreams reveal that he is guilty of fraud, and Strange makes him confess. The story introduces the Ancient One, called only 'the Master,' and Strange's servant Wong, not yet named.

Steve Ditko's idea

Both men involved described the character as Steve Ditko's idea. Ditko wrote in 2008 that he brought Lee a five-page penciled story with a page and panel script of his own idea for 'a new, different kind of character,' and that the character ended up named Dr. Strange because he would appear in Strange Tales. In a 1963 letter to the fan Jerry Bails, Lee called the feature 'just a 5-page filler,' said 'the first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him,' and credited the idea to Steve. He added that they had first planned to call him Mr. Strange, but dropped it as too close to Mister Fantastic.

Ditko was born November 2, 1927, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, studied under Batman artist Jerry Robinson, and began his career in 1953 in the studio of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. At Marvel he drew the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. Lee, for his part, said his take on Strange was inspired by the 1930s radio program Chandu the Magician; he supplied the incantations, such as 'Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!', and admitted he never knew what they meant.

Doctor Strange appeared again in #111, skipped two issues, and returned for good in #114. His origin, the surgeon whose ruined hands lead him to the mystic arts, was not told until #115 (December 1963). Ditko kept drawing the feature until 1966, when he left Marvel. He died in New York City around June 29, 2018, aged 90.

Spring 1963 and the counterculture to come

Issue #110 was on sale the week before Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' and in the weeks around its July 1963 cover month Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space and the United States introduced ZIP codes.

The feature found its audience later in the decade. Ditko's surreal landscapes made it a favorite of college students; historian Bradford W. Wright wrote that Doctor Strange 'remarkably predicted the youth counterculture's fascination with Eastern mysticism and psychedelia.' Roy Thomas recalled in 1971 that readers assumed people at Marvel must be using drugs, adding that he did not use hallucinogens and did not think any of the artists did.

From the back pages to $150,000

Strange Tales ended with #168 in May 1968, and the next month the numbering continued as Doctor Strange #169, the character's own title. The live-action story began with a 1978 television film starring Peter Hooten; since 2016 Benedict Cumberbatch has played Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Prices for top copies have climbed sharply. Reports put a CGC 9.6 at $66,000 in 2014 and $60,000 in 2016, but neither source says how those copies were sold. On April 7, 2024, a CGC 9.6 with off-white to white pages sold at auction for $150,000, the highest recorded price for the issue. In May 2025 another 9.6 was offered at auction, described by the seller as one of only seven at the top of the census and only the second 9.6 the house had offered in nearly 30 years.

Scarce at the top, and easy to miss

Strange Tales #110 is a far smaller population than other early Marvel debuts. On October 1, 2026, the CGC census listed 2,759 copies in all, 2,368 of them unrestored, against 6,222 for Avengers #1 on the same day. Only seven unrestored copies have reached 9.6, and none has been graded higher. Fifteen sit at 9.4 and 17 at 9.2.

Identifying the book means looking past the cover: the Human Torch dominates it, and Doctor Strange's name does not appear. The original is 12 cents, with Vista Publications in the indicia. A British variant exists. Marvel has reprinted the story many times, including a 1995 Marvel Milestone Edition of the whole issue, so a later copy should not be mistaken for the 1963 original.

The numbers

Cover price

12 cents

Pages

36, including 10 of paid ads; the Doctor Strange story runs 5

Print run

No verified figure found

Census, May 2025

Seven at 9.6, the highest grade, per a seller's listing

Census, October 1, 2026

2,759 graded (2,368 unrestored); seven unrestored at 9.6, 15 at 9.4, 17 at 9.2, none above 9.6

Signature Series, October 1, 2026

186 copies

Timeline

1. Jun 1951

   Strange Tales #1 is cover-dated June 1951, a horror anthology from Atlas Comics.

2. Oct 1962

   The Human Torch becomes the title's first superhero feature in #101.

3. 1963

   Stan Lee writes to Jerry Bails that Doctor Strange is 'just a 5-page filler' and was Steve Ditko's idea.

4. Apr 9, 1963

   Strange Tales #110 goes on sale, cover-dated July 1963.

5. Dec 1963

   Doctor Strange's origin appears in Strange Tales #115.

6. 1966

   Steve Ditko leaves Marvel.

7. May 1968

   Strange Tales ends with #168.

8. Jun 1968

   The numbering continues as Doctor Strange #169.

9. 1978

   Peter Hooten plays the character in the television film Dr. Strange.

10. Apr 1995

    Marvel publishes a Marvel Milestone Edition reprint of Strange Tales #110.

11. 2016

    Benedict Cumberbatch first plays Doctor Strange on film.

12. Jun 29, 2018

    Steve Ditko dies in New York City, aged 90 (date approximate).

13. Apr 7, 2024

    A CGC 9.6 sells at auction for $150,000, the issue's highest recorded price.

14. May 29, 2025

    Another CGC 9.6, described as one of seven at the top of the census, closes at auction.

15. Oct 1, 2026

    The CGC census lists 2,759 copies; seven unrestored at 9.6, none higher.

The world in 1963

• Apr 16, 1963

  Martin Luther King Jr. writes his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail.'

• Jun 12, 1963

  Civil rights activist Medgar Evers is assassinated in Mississippi.

• Jun 16, 1963

  Valentina Tereshkova, aboard Vostok 6, becomes the first woman in space.

• Jul 1, 1963

  ZIP codes are introduced in the United States.

• Aug 5, 1963

  The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is signed.

• Aug 28, 1963

  Martin Luther King Jr. gives his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Strange Tales #110 is number 29 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (36 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Doctor Strange is not on the cover of his own first appearance; the Human Torch has it to himself.
• Stan Lee almost called the character Mr. Strange, but thought it was too close to Mister Fantastic.
• Lee admitted he never knew what incantations like 'Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!' meant; they just sounded mystical.
• Wong appears in the first story, but nobody says his name.
• Strange's origin was not told until his fourth appearance, in Strange Tales #115.
• The same issue is the first time the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete teamed up, the start of what became a lifelong partnership.