Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1991-06-01 00:04:10 |
| Previous: Silver Surfer #51 | Up: Main | Next: Hulk #383 |
Doctor Strange #31
Issue(s): Doctor Strange #31
Cover Date: Jul 91
Title: "A gauntlet hurled! / A Gathering of Fear part one"
Credits:
Roy Thomas & Dann Thomas / Roy Thomas & Jean-Marc Lofficier,- Writer
Tony DeZuniga / Larry Alexander - Penciler
Tony DeZuniga - Inker
Barry Dutter - Assistant Editor
Mike Rockwitz - Editor
Review/plot:
This issue expands on the arrival of Silver Surfer to Dr. Strange's house at the beginning of Infinity Gauntlet.
Art in this issue is by Tony DeZuniga, and it must have been a rush job because this issue pre-empted the originally planned story that would have started with Clea confronting Dr. Strange over putting her to sleep in the previous arc. So instead we get something that looks like this.
It's also kind of bad because we have Rintrah doing celebrity impersonations during the time when Thanos was killing off half the universe. Talk about a tone clash.
To find out what's happening, Dr. Strange needs to talk to the Silver Surfer. But he's in a coma. So Dr. Strange needs to wake up him. To do that, Dr. Strange needs to go into his head. Yes, it's one of those kind of issues.
We just did this in Silver Surfer #50. But that issue actually gave us some new things to think about. This one recites the usual stuff. It would have been really great if this issue actually had Dr. Strange help Silver Surfer work through some of the issues that were raised in Silver Surfer #50 and Silver Surfer #48. But these tie-ins are not that coordinated. So instead Dr. Strange shows the Surfer an alternate reality where Norrin Radd never became the Silver Surfer, and Galactus destroys Zenn-La and then comes to Earth and destroys it, too. Then Silver Surfer wakes up.
It's complete filler. Completely skippable without any effect on Infinity Gaunlet or the characters of Dr. Strange or the Silver Surfer (who will have additional opportunities to explore his psyche in his own Infinity Gauntlet tie-ins).
More interesting is a back-up story where all of the demonic entities associated with fear are hanging out in a room together. It smacks a little bit of a Mark Gruenwald type of thing, but of course Roy Thomas was the original Mark Gruenwald, and i like the idea of creating a kind of Pantheon of Fear. Or Fear Lords, if you prefer.
The back-up is really a "saga" disguised as a story, with the characters sitting around a table introducing themselves. In this one, we hear from the Lurking Unknown...
...Fear Eater...
...and Scarecrow (no, not that Scarecrow).
Scarecrow is actually a good guy, and he warns the other Fear Lords to leave Earth alone.
These back-ups will continue for the next two issues, and then later the characters will be featured in the main story beginning with issue #38.
Quality Rating: C-
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place during Infinity Gauntlet #1. The intro page says that Dr. Strange had concluded a fight with Clea the same night as the Silver Surfer's arrival. More on that next issue (behind the scenes, next issue was already being produced when it was decided that this tie-in was needed, so that story got pre-empted). I'm not worried about lags in the conversation in whatever timeless dimension the Fear Lords are talking in.
References:
- This begins 3.7 seconds after Silver Surfer crashes through Dr. Strange's window in Infinity Gauntlet #1.
- We see scenes from the original Silver Surfer #1 and Fantastic Four #48-50.
- Norrin Radd became the Silver Surfer to prevent Galactus from destroying Zenn-La, but the Surfer later found out that Galactus destroyed Zenn-La later, in the next Silver Surfer #1.
- The Fear Lords (a box in the lettercol gives us the origins of all of them, not just the ones that have been introduced so far.):
- The Dweller in the Darkness "was prominent" in Doctor Strange #32 but had a number of other appearances.
- The Lurking Unknown was in Thor #136.
- Kkallakku the Fear Eater was in Marvel Comics Presents #1, Marvel Comics Presents #2, and Marvel Comics Presents #3-4.
- This Scarecrow previously appeared in Dead of Night #1, Marvel Spotlight #26, and Marvel Two-In-One #18.
- D'Spayre first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #68.
- Nightmare first appeared in Strange Tales #110.
- There's also a new Fear Lord called Nox.
- The Dweller in the Darkness "was prominent" in Doctor Strange #32 but had a number of other appearances.
Crossover: Infinity Gauntlet
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
- The Fear Lords (a box in the lettercol gives us the origins of all of them, not just the ones that have been introduced so far.):
Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: D'Spayre, Dr. Strange, Dweller In Darkness, Fear Eater, Lurking Unknown, Nightmare, Nox, Rintrah, Silver Surfer, Straw Man Previous:
Silver Surfer #51Up:
MainNext:
Hulk #383
Comments
"You are tearing me APART, Stephen!!"
^
╱╱┏╮
╱╱┃┃
▉━╯┗━╮
▉┈┈┈┈┃
▉╮┈┈┈┃
╱╰━━━╯
