It's a really nice and pertinent rating system, indeed ! I love it ! (But that activity reminds me the work too much with his dilemmas... How much for this student's work ?.. How will he take this rating?.. Do my ranking need to have a meaning for this very moment, or according to the next and previous ones in the long term?... And what criteria for the scale ?... In France it's from 0 to 20 btw... And I HATE doing that...)
For this issue, because it's the first, that the story is told in only 5 pages - but the character and world building are extraordinary, like in the "Tales" of the Atlas Era -, because the art is incredible, already surrealist yet in some details - the gloves ! - but stylized in a very Ditkoesque classic AND innovative way, and totally designed to serve the story-telling also, my ranking would be very very very high ! A maximum is possible - but then a different scale could be used for the next issues.
Ditko literally opens the reader's Eye in these few pages. He also opens a full new range of possibilities for his art too. Not to forget the very importance he had in the idea of the series. If what I've read elsewhere is true - and please, you erudite wizards of this thread, correct me if I'm mistaking - he's the one who has to be credited for the character more than Stan.
I'm sure this is well known here and I know it's easy to find elsewhere, but what follows could be useful for a thread promising to be "A Companion To The Doctor Strange Omnibus", so I quote here (from wikipedia) the 2008 Ditko's letter :
"On my own, I brought in to Lee a five-page, penciled story with a page/panel script of my idea of a new, different kind of character for variety in Marvel Comics. My character wound up being named Dr. Strange because he would appear in Strange Tales."
And the Stan Lee's letter to Jerry Bails of January 9, 1963
"Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales (just a 5-page filler named Dr. Strange) Steve Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him-- 'twas Steve's idea and I figgered we'd give it a chance, although again, we had to rush the first one too much. Little sidelight: Originally decided to call him Mr. Strange, but thought the "Mr." bit too similar to Mr. Fantastic -- now, however, I remember we had a villain called Dr. Strange just recently in one of our mags, hope it won't be too confusing!"
The full reproduction can be seen in this page of a site that seems to me absolutely wonderful :
http://themarvelageofcomics.tumblr.c...o-super-fan-dr
I hope I'm not an ugly pirate if I add the images too here...
Now I will need to read that letter in its entirety - it seems to be really interesting.
I'm also realizing that this letter is from January 1963, at a time where the character created in Amazing Fantasy #15 (dated of Aug. 1962) has the issue of his first own series surely already done and possibly published yet : Amazing Spider Man #1 is dated of March 1963 - the same date than the final issue of The Incredible Hulk #6, March 1963 which Ditko drew too.
Looking through the future, Ditko's run on ASM will end in the issue #38 dated of July 1966, same date than the last issue of his run on Dr Strange. But it's interesting to notice that it's also the conclusion of the story featuring Eternity - appearing in the issue of November 1965 : a time when Ditko was already working to Charlton, on his first cosmic character created in 1960. I mean Captain Atom - and need to quote the name of another doctor here, Doctor Manhattan of course : the first issue of his new run on this character is dated of December 1965.
Ditko was full of "questions" at the time. Look at the cover of ASM #31 (Dec 1965) :
(The one of ASM #30 (Nov 1965) is worth checking too, did he feel also like in "The claws of the Cat" ?)
Sorry for so many dates, but these facts (publishing dates are not that much reliable, and I hope also that I was accurate reporting them...) gave me an interesting context to fully appreciate the Ditko's work on the incredible character of the Sorcerer Supreme, at the light of his other creations, with or without Stan. Of course the words of Stan are incredible as always - he's such an extraordinary author !
I can't wait for the next review !
(I've also just understood why the French Marvel comics books of my childhood were all called "Strange" - with a French accent please ! - they collected several series and the first one was called "Strange" (1970, Xmen, Iron Man, Daredevil, Silver Surfer), it was simply because of Strange Tales...)