Doctor Strange was created by concept-character artist, Steve Ditko and first appeared in a comic titled, ‘Strange Tales’ in July 1963.
Doctor Stephen Strange was a fantastic, but cocky, surgeon. He damaged his hands in a car accident and could no longer perform surgery.
He only ever wanted to be a surgeon. Because of this superior attitude, he could not show his hand in any other profession. The bones in his hands were shattered so he lived off of his money until it ran out – Dr Strange became very depressed, and so his search to find a way to fix his hands took him off to the Himalayas.
Basically, in his journey to find a way to get his hands fixed, he meets a sorcerer who teaches him the ways of the Mystical and Martial Arts
He has a magical cloak, and a magical eye, two magical friends and myriad of magical objects – protecting Earth from mystical and magical threats…well, come on now…this was the 1960’s…man…
Dr Strange, along with the Sub-Mariner, and The Hulk, became a Super-hero group called The Defenders. The Silver Surfer even joined them.
But, they were kind of rubbish. And re-vamp after re-vamp, calling themselves The New Defenders, Secret Defenders, The Last Defenders, they finally ceased to exist.
We first saw Dr Strange on our screens in a television movie, starring Peter Hooten, in 1978.
Benedict Cumberbatch is playing the part of Dr Strange in the new Marvel movie, being released in a couple of weeks. Cumberbatch is a great actor, but Dr Strange may be too boring a character.
Hopefully the makers of this movie have taken time out to concentrate on making a good story…not just special effects (although I’ve heard this film does have some great special effects).
But as said above, Strange is quite boring…well, he was in the comics – maybe the special effects are needed most in this film, to take the focus off of Dr Strange’s lack of personality.
by
Helena Bryanlith
