Despite this, they did share something in common. They both sprung from the same minds: writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Peter first started slinging and swinging on webs in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), and Stephen starting slinging magic spells in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). And since they were created by the same men, it made sense that they would eventually meet and have an epic adventure together. And that's what we're going to look at here!
The cover is...I'll be honest. It feels kind of lazy to me. Really. It's just a bunch of Spider-Men crawling around a large Spider-Man head and Spidey next to it. It's weird. Ditko was known for his crazy, practically psychedelic work on Doctor Strange, and the cover would have been a wonderful opportunity to give a tease of it. Show Spidey and Strange in a cosmic landscape while the villain looms over them. This cover feels like it was done at the last minute. "Ehhh, I'll just draw Spidey a bunch of times. Good enough!" Not a fan of the cover.
"The Wondrous World of Doctor Strange!"
Writer: Stan Lee (with Steve Ditko plotting)
Artist: Steve Ditko
Inker: Sam Rosen
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Editor: Stan Lee
Our story begins with Spider-Man patrolling the city.
Seeing no crimes, not even a jaywalker, Spidey decides to web off and call it a night. Sure, Pete. New York City having a night with no crime going on whatsoever. I get proven right here as unbeknownst to the Wall-Crawler, a man is walking towards a pool hall. And just as it goes in stories like these, there's a bar brawl going on. I think there's something in the drinks fictional bars serve that make people want to fight each other.
In the bar, the man finds exactly what he's looking for: two big strong dumb tough guys.
He approaches the dumb tough guys and basically tells them they will work for him. Being dumb, the dumb tough guys laugh at the man and tell him to beat before he gets a fat lip. The man basically tells the dumb tough guys to shut up. His name is Xandu, and he uses a hypnotic voice to make the dumb tough guys fall under his command.
He uses a magic spell to make the dumb tough guys even tougher and be able to feel no pain. He tests this by having one of the dumb tough guys smash an oak table with one Mighty Punch. Satisfied with this, Xandu heads back to his lair, the dumb tough guys obediently following him. It is then that Xandu reveals what he is up to: He wants half of a magic wand known as the Wand of Watoomb.
Yes, the Wand of Watoomb, which made its debut in this very issue. The Wand has appeared in various Marvel publications over the years, and even got an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Xandu has one half of the mighty magical trinket, and he knows who has the other: one Stephen Strange...the Sorcerer Supreme. He sends the mystically-enhanced dumb tough guys to fight Doctor Strange. You know, I'm gonna give them names. It'll make things much easier. The black-haired one is Bob, and the brown-haired one is George. Those are their names now.
In his Sanctom Santorum, Dr. Strange is examining a scroll, one of the many mystical artifacts stored in his Sanctum. I can't help but wonder, though. Where did he get all those things? Did the Ancient One entrust this stuff to him? Did he go around collecting these things after he was trained?
Bob and George bust in, despite the Sanctum's supposed mystical defenses. Strange tries to use a magic spell to send them packing, but evidently Xandu somehow made them immune to magic. Strange tries to confuse them with an illusion that makes it seem like there's lots of copies of him everywhere. I think this may have been the first time he used the Images of Ikonn spell, even though it was not called that here. That's what I thought of when I saw this.
However, Xandu is mystically watching over Bob and George, and is able to tell them where the real Strange is. The two are able to take down Strange...despite the fact that Strange is also supposedly trained in the martial arts on top of his mystical knowledge. Bob and George search the place, and find the other half of the Wand.
On their way out, they're spotted by Spider-Man. Spidey notes that Bob and George seem to almost be like zombies. He swings down to take a look, and Xandu orders the two hypnotized mooks to take the Webhead out. Spidey tries to fight back, but his punches, despite being quite a bit stronger than a normal human's, don't do very much against the ensorcelled mooks. Spidey tries to web up George, but he's easily able to rip them off him. The two mooks then beat Spider-Man into unconsciousness.
Bob and George go on their way. However, Spidey's not quite out of it yet. He's able to plant one of his Spider-Tracers on one of the mooks' leg. Bob and George return to Xandu's lair and give him the other half of the Wand. Xandu assembles it, and feels the Wand's power coursing through his veins. Showing off its power, Xandu casually opens up a few portals to other dimensions, one of them giving him a view of the still out cold Doctor Strange.
Thanks to the Spider-Tracer on George's leg, Spider-Man is able to follow the mooks to Xandu's lair. Xandu tries to blast Spider-Man with the Wand, but Peter Parker's spider-powered agility allows him to dodge the attack and web up Xandu's face. This makes Xandu drop the Wand. Deciding not to play around, Xandu casts a spell to trap Spidey in another dimension.
However, before he completely fades out, Spider-Man is able to use his webbing to get the Wand of Watoomb in his grasp, taking it with him, to Xandu's rage. He sends Bob and George to the dimension to get the Wand back, knowing they were able to deal with Spider-Man last time. Spidey finds himself in a new place, and rather disoriented.
This panel here? This is a better idea of what the cover of this comic should have looked like. It definitely would have stood out in the newsstands better than other superhero books of the time. I know I would have gotten it if I saw this as a kid in 1965. And hey, look! Saturn can float!
Bob and George follow Spider-Man into the dimension and Spidey engages them, saying that he's ready for them this time. Yeah, I get that Spider-Man would learn from the last time he fought Bob and George, but there's another problem. Spidey is in completely unfamiliar terrain. And since we can assume he was only there for about a minute or so, we can safely assume that he never got any real time to learn about this strange world he's in. He still would have some problems. Despite this, Spidey engages Bob and George, seemingly being able to better fight them off this time.
Back in his Sanctum Santorum, Dr. Strange wakes up, and realizes that Xandu has assembled the Wand of Watoomb. Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to find Xandu, and grabs his Cloak of Levitation. In the strange dimension, Spidey does his best against Bob and George, but like last time, Spidey's blows have no effect. Xandu presses his two ensorcelled mooks along, saying that even Peter Parker's spider-enhanced stamina can only last so long.
Doctor Strange shows up, and he and Xandu have a magic fight.
Xandu is unable to stand against the Sorcerer Supreme, but then Spidey, Bob, and George return. This distracts Strange, allowing Xandu to get his hands on the Wand of Watoomb.
His power boosted by the Wand, Xandu is able to thrash Strange. Strange realizes he needs to take another approach. He finds somewhere to hide, and uses astral projection to scout around. His spirit sees Xandu using the Wand to try and find him. Strange then spots Spider-Man valiantly fighting Bob and George. Strange telepathically tells Spidey to grab a nearby power line and use it to shock Bob and George. He has no idea if this will stop them, but it's worth a shot. Spidey shocks them and...by the power of plot convenience, it works.
Bob and George wonder what's going on, and why they are so tired. Spidey decides to go after Xandu, as Bob and George are no longer a threat. Strange knows Spidey is in over his head, and rushes back to his body to help. Spidey returns to Xandu's lair. Xandu prepares to blast Spidey with the Wand of Watoomb, but the Webhead is saved by one of Strange's spells. Spidey and Strange use their powers to keep Xandu off-balance.
The plan works. Spidey webs up Xandu's legs, making him stumble and drop the Wand. Before he can retrieve it, Spidey shows off his webshooting skills by webbing up Xandu's hands. Strange then uses the Eye of Agamotto to drain the power from the Wand of Watoomb, turning it into a simple trinket. I did ask myself, why didn't he do this sooner, until I remembered Strange only had one half of it. It could be presumed he had no idea where the other half was, and couldn't drain the power from it until it was whole. Because magic trinket.
Strange then uses his magic to read Xandu's mind to find out why he wanted the Wand.
He learned of the Wand's power and wanted it himself. However, Xandu's future battles with Spidey and Strange would reveal his desire for the Wand's power was for more than just simple power lust. More on that later. Strange uses his magic to make Xandu forget this battle and his evil intentions. Strange then compliments Spidey on his courage and tells him he has a friend in the Sorcerer Supreme. The two heroes part on good terms, Spidey telling him "And may your amulet never tickle!" ...I think Peter Parker said that very line when he and Strange teamed up in the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. Had no idea that was a nod to the comics at the time. Nice.
This issue is...pretty enjoyable, although there are moments that do make me scratch my head. However, there is something that has to be kept in mind here. This was a story that is 50 years old. It's really unfair to try and hold it up to modern storytelling standards. For what it is, it's perfectly fine. The story does have its flaws, including what could be considered moments of lack of genre-savviness from Strange and what could be considered a moment of power abuse from Strange. Otherwise that, I liked this story for what it was. It was not meant to stand up to serious critique, just tell kids a fun story, and I felt it did that. Steve Ditko turns in some good art for this issue, and we do get a hint of the psychedelic, imaginative stuff he regularly did for Strange at the time.
The really cool thing about this story? It ended up becoming a decades-long epic tale of sorts. Yup, over the next few decades, the story would be followed up on a couple of times. Marvel Team-Up #21 (May 1974) would go more into depth as to why Xandu wanted the Wand of Watoomb. Marvel Fanfare #6 (January 1983) would also drag the Scarlet Witch into it, and the saga would reach a climax and ending with the 1992 Graphic Novel Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death and Secret Defenders #7-8 (September-October 1993). You can find a more detailed write-up of Xandu's history here. Kind of interesting how one Annual can lead to a decades-spanning saga, isn't it?
Next time, we'll come back to Earth-712 and see more into the lives of the Squadron Supreme...
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