Marvel Premiere #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Premiere #12 serves as the first full-length new chapter of Strange's life after he ascended to Sorcerer Supreme — a direct consequence of the Ancient One's death in #10 — making it the opening act of his Bronze Age reinvention. The issue introduces three new characters (Lilia Calderu, Stavros, and the Living Gargoyle) and, crucially, debuts the Book of Cagliostro, a magical artifact that would reverberate through Marvel's mystical corner for decades and later appeared as a key prop in the 2016 Doctor Strange film. Within the story Strange also formally names Clea as his disciple, a character-defining commitment that reshapes their relationship going forward. Decades later, the issue gained renewed cultural attention when Lilia Calderu — introduced and killed in these very pages — was adapted for the Disney+ series Agatha All Along, portrayed by Patti LuPone.
In "Portal to the Past!", Doctor Strange embarks on a mystical journey across time, guided by his new disciple Clea as he seeks to reconcile with his old adversary Baron Mordo. Drawn into a web of ancient magic and deception, Strange is captivated by the enigmatic Gypsy Queen, whose connection to the stolen Book of Cagliostro sets the stage for a perilous adventure into the past. With art by Frank Brunner and inks by Neal Adams and others, this 1973 Marvel Premiere issue blends arcane intrigue with vivid storytelling.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue arrived in August 1973 (cover-dated November 1973) as part of a brief Marvel experiment to publish select bi-monthly titles on a monthly frequency that summer, though the accelerated schedule had left the creative team without enough lead time for issue #11, which resorted to reprints. For #12, the workload was split between the regular team: Steve Englehart co-plotted and scripted the first seventeen pages, while Mike Friedrich scripted the final pages, with Frank Brunner serving as co-plotter and handling pencils, inks, and colors throughout — John Costanza lettered. Editor-in-chief Roy Thomas oversaw the issue under the Marvel Premiere banner, which functioned as a tryout anthology allowing Marvel to gauge reader appetite for a character before committing to a dedicated series.
Trivia · 9 facts
- Story title: 'Portal to the Past!' — released August 21, 1973, cover-dated November 1973.
- First appearance of Lilia Calderu (the 'Witch Queen of the Gypsies'), who is both introduced and killed within this single issue.
- First appearance of Stavros, the Romani camp leader who shelters Strange.
- First appearance (and death) of the Living Gargoyle, the creature guarding Baron Mordo's castle.
- First appearance of the Book of Cagliostro, a mystic tome containing a spell to alter the past without changing one's future — a MacGuffin central to the subsequent Sise-Neg trilogy.
- Strange formally takes Clea as his disciple in this issue, the first explicit master-apprentice commitment between the two characters.
- Creative team: written by Steve Englehart (pages 1–17) and Mike Friedrich (pages 18–32), co-plotted by Frank Brunner, who also penciled, inked, and colored; lettered by John Costanza; inked in part by the Crusty Bunkers studio collective.
- The issue has been collected in Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 2, Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 5, Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality (2002), and the Doctor Strange Epic Collection Vol. 3, ensuring its wide availability to later readers.
- Lilia Calderu was adapted for the MCU's Disney+ series Agatha All Along (2024), portrayed by Patti LuPone — one of the character's very few appearances in any medium since her 1973 debut.
Cast · 6 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Comic Reader #99 (1973), Le Fils de Satan #9 (1978), Superaventuras Marvel #9 (1983), Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality #[nn] (2002), Essential Doctor Strange #2 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange #5 (2011), Doctor Strange Epic Collection #3 (2016), Doctor Strange : Une réalité à part #[nn] (2016), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #118 (2018), Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Omnibus #1 (2024)
Key issues in Marvel Premiere
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