Strange Tales #166

(March 1968)

Nothing Can Halt... Voltorg! (Table of Contents)

Dr. Strange / comic story / 11 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Dan Adkins (plot); Jim Lawrence (dialogue)

Pencils:

George Tuska

Inks:

Dan Adkins; Jim Steranko (see notes)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

Occult; Science fiction

Characters:

Yandroth; Voltorg; Dr. Strange; Victoria Bentley; The Ancient One (cameo)

Synopsis:

A running battle ensues between Strange and the lightning-hurling Voltorg, which nearly destroys Yandroth's lab before Strange finally takes it out. Yandroth grabs Victoria and uses a "Teleportation" machine to instantly send the two of them to a far-distant world. Strange tries to alter the destination setting so they'll end up on Earth, then follows, winding up in Stonehenge, the very place where his mentor apparently met his demise. But suddenly, a vision of the Ancient One appears before him, leaving Strange wondering if his master lives again, or if it's some "evil phantasm"...

Reprints:

• in Giant-Size Doctor Strange (Marvel, 1975 series) #1 (1975) [minus 3 pages]
• in Essential Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (December 2001)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #2 [Regular Edition] ([September] 2005)

Reprint Note before Migration:

• in Giant-Size Doctor Strange (Marvel, 1975 series) #1 (1975) [minus 3 pages]
• in Essential Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (December 2001)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #2

Indexer Notes

Part 20 of 22; part 3 of Yandroth sequence. On page 4, Jim Steranko inked panel three and inked the heads on panels four and five. (Referenced in a letter from Dan Adkins printed in Amazing Heroes #167 (June 15, 1989). While Jim Lawrence did little work for Marvel in the 60's (apparently only writing dialogue over two Dan Adkins' plots), he wrote the JAMES BOND 007 newspaper strip from January 1966 to the late 1970's. (see the Titan Books reprints.)

If Death Be My Destiny! (Table of Contents)

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. / comic story / 11 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jim Steranko

Pencils:

Jim Steranko

Inks:

Joe Sinnott

Colors:

Jim Steranko

Letters:

Sam Rosen

Content Information

Genre:

Spy

Characters:

Nick Fury; Dum Dum Dugan; Jimmy Woo; Suwan; The Yellow Claw

Synopsis:

Using a H.A.W.K. Harness (High Altitude Wing Kits), Fury pursues the Claw's escaping airship, latching hold with magnets just as a skyscraper-sized whirlpool whisks into the air, leading the ship below the water. There, Fury discovers The Claw's secret hideout is in the middle of New York Harbor. High above, the Heli-Carrier's vortex beam holds The Sky Dragon stationary, as SHIELD mops up The Claw's men. Fury uses a "Pyro-Band" to burn himself a doorway into The Claw's lair, then finds himself in a complex maze. He takes out a pair of heat-seaking missiles with an incendiary flare. Meanwhile, Jimmy Woo is ambushed by some of The Claw's men, then teleported to his lair, where against the protests of Suwan, the villain prepares to kill him using a "Thermo-Frigid Intensi-Ray Machine" in which he will be "polarized to death". But Fury arrives! As Suwan seeks to free Jimmy, Fury & The Claw struggle, the villain claiming "Even at this moment, your folly amuses me!" However, Suwan has succeeded at the cost of her own life! In tears, Jimmy vows vengeance against both The Claw and Fury...

Reprints:

• in Captain Britain (Marvel UK, 1976 series) #15 (January 19, 1977) [pages 1-6; pp. 1-6], #16 (January 26, 1977) [pages 7-12]
• in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2000 series) #[nn] (May 2000)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2007 series) #2 ([December] 2009)

Reprint Note before Migration:

• in Captain Britain (Marvel UK, 1976 series) #15 (January 19, 1977) [pages 1-6]
• in Captain Britain (Marvel UK, 1976 series) #16 (January 26, 1977) [pages 7-12]
• in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2000 series) #nn (May 2000)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2007 series) #2

Indexer Notes

Part 8 of 9. The palm-magnets used by Fury were previously used by Captain America in TALES OF SUSPENSE #80 (August 1966). Dugan saying "Our best man's workin' on it right now!" is a tribute to a line from the pre-credit sequence of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967); Jimmy pursuing a thug down into a subway station also pays tribute to another scene in the same film. The "maze" page inspired a similar page in GIANT-SIZE MASTER OF KUNG FU #2 (December 1974). Jimmy's line about Burt Lancaster refers to the fact that Fury now resembles Steranko's favorite actor. The large figure of Fury on page 10 would become the cover corner box pic beginning with NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1968).

["Dear Stan, Jim Steranko is great!"] (Table of Contents)

Strange Mails / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Letters:

typeset

Indexer Notes

Letters of comment from Lee Roy Windsperger; Jack Hogston; Shirley Gorman; and Rickey Dunkum.