*Marvel: When the misjudged appeal of the Human Torch’s solo strip in Strange Tales started to falter, the series needed a new star to come along, and fortunately Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, already the creators of hugely popular twist-ending tales in a plethora of Big Panty Monster comics, turned their talents to an eldritch hero, and Doctor Strange was born! Unheralded on the cover – honestly, is anyone really bothered if Paste-Pot Pete’s Invincible Paste-Gun does finish the Torch off? – the stylish back-up story introduced the Sorceror Supreme to the Marvel Universe, commencing a lengthy career which has crossed over into the blockbuster film starring Bandersnatch Chamberpot. Now that the good Doctor is a multi-media phenom, his earliest appearances are spiralling up in price – but if you’re going to get one, this is the one to get! This copy is GD+, cents with no pence stamp or overprint. Sound and tight, firm, staples, the only drawback preventing a higher grade is the fact that a large number ‘6’ has been drawn on the cover centre, and a smaller ‘x’ in the upper left cover corner. At some point an attempt has been made to erase these, we suspect, with the result that they are fainter than might be expected – but the erasure attempt has not damaged the underlying cover colour. If not for that, this copy would be firmly in the FN zone. Dr. Strange’s debut, on sale at £700. Front and back cover and splash images are shown below; high resolution images are available on request.