Issue(s): Doctor Strange #174
Cover Date: Nov 68
Title: "The power and the pendulum"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Tom Palmer - Inker

Review/plot:
This issue follows an old school format of having Strange invited to some castle or such only to find that the person inviting him has ulterior motives.

In this case it's a neighbor of Victoria Bentley's, so Strange heads there while dropping her off. The bad guy, Lord Nekron, in return for increased power, has promised his soul to Satannish if he can't get another mystic to take his place within one year (which is nearly up by the time Strange accepts the invite). After getting trapped in a Dali dimension...

...Strange defeates Nekron by speeding up time so that his agreement with Satannish is up (this is the first time we've seen Satannish on panel, if even only vaguely).

Satannish warns strange that Nekron was not the only mystic on Earth to make bargains with him.

One thing's for sure: despite the reintroduction of both Victoria Bentley and Clea in the last arc, there's no danger of an annoying love triangle being set-up here. Strange is barely aware that Victoria exists...

...and seems more than happy to drop her off back in England this issue.

One really nice thing about this issue is it actually takes the time to show Clea getting adjusted to living in a new dimension. This mainly means showing some conflict from the locals...

...but it's more than i would expect of a book from this time, and i'm impressed that Roy Thomas took the time for it.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Satannish

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A