Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #10

History

The issue was produced by the writing team of Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, and Jean-Marc Lofficier, with Butch Guice handling both the cover and the main story's penciling and inking, and David Day and Dan Day on the backup feature. Thomas had returned to the Doctor Strange title — relaunched in 1988 as Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme — after more than twenty years away from the character, steering the book under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco and editors Ralph Macchio and Mike Rockwitz. The backup story, 'The Book of the Vishanti: The Curse of the Darkhold Part II — The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans,' was later revealed (in the letters page of issue #15) to have synthesized material from Dracula Lives! #2, Marvel Team-Up #76–77, and Marvel Fanfare #42 with new material depicting Marie Laveau's encounter with the wizard Cagliostro.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Victor Strange (Earth-616), Stephen Strange's brother, who had been cryogenically frozen after dying ten years prior and was unknowingly turned into a vampire by Strange's botched resurrection magic.
• Victor Strange goes on to become Baron Blood in subsequent issues, taking on the mantle and costume of the original Baron Blood (John Falsworth).
• Morbius the Living Vampire returns to full predatory vampirism in this issue, described by Key Collector as his first return as a vampire 'after nearly a decade of being cured of the disease.'
• The main story is titled 'The Vampire Strikes Back!'; the backup is 'The Book of the Vishanti: The Curse of the Darkhold Part II — The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans,' continuing a multi-part Darkhold-focused backup series.
• The backup's source notes (revealed in the letters page of issue #15) confirm that most of the Marie Laveau history recapped stories from Dracula Lives! #2, Marvel Team-Up #76–77, and Marvel Fanfare #42, while the Cagliostro meeting was entirely new material.
• Written by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, and Jean-Marc Lofficier (credited as R.J.M. Lofficier); penciled and inked on the main story by Butch Guice, with David Day and Dan Day on the backup; cover by Butch Guice.
• Characters appearing in the backup include Marie Laveau, Cagliostro, Dracula, Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel), Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel, in recap/cameo), Silver Dagger, and Spider-Man (in cameo).
• The issue has been collected in at least three reprint editions, and the broader arc it initiates is collected in the Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus Vol. 1 and the Epic Collection: The Vampiric Verses.

Cast · 18 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme

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#44 1st appearance — Cyttorak

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#6 1st appearance — Mephista

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#9 1st appearance — Donna Strange