Dweller-in-Darkness

The Dweller-in-Darkness is an ancient fear lord — a demonic entity that feeds on the terror of mortals. One of Marvel's primordial cosmic horrors, he operates in the shadowy mystical realms and has frequently clashed with Doctor Strange.

Few villains in the Marvel cosmos feel as genuinely primordial as the Dweller-in-Darkness, a Bronze Age terror conjured by Gerry Conway and Rich Buckler when they unleashed him upon an unsuspecting Thor in 1974. A creature whose very name suggests something ancient lurking at the edges of perception, he has since migrated into the darker corners of the Marvel Universe, becoming most at home in the mystic pages of Doctor Strange — sharing that shadowy stage with the likes of Strange himself, Nightmare, and D'Spayre, a rogues' gallery that tells you everything about the rarefied, fear-drenched company he keeps. Nearly five decades of appearances, a key issue to his name, and a presence that stretches from the Bronze Age through modern runs like Doctor Strange by Mark Waid — the Dweller-in-Darkness is one of those slow-burn Marvel menaces that rewards the collector who goes digging.