Marvel Premiere #13
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Premiere #13 is the opening chapter of what collectors and historians call the 'Sise-Neg Genesis' arc — one of the most philosophically ambitious stories the Bronze Age produced in the superhero genre. It marks the first appearance of Sise-Neg, a 31st-century sorcerer whose quest to absorb all mystic energy in the universe and recreate creation itself pushed Doctor Strange into explicitly theological territory that mainstream comics had rarely dared. The storyline's audacity — and the creative team's behind-the-scenes maneuver to protect it from editorial retraction — gave it an afterlife in Marvel lore far beyond its original print run, cementing the Englehart/Brunner collaboration as the definitive Bronze Age interpretation of the Sorcerer Supreme.
In "Time Doom," Stephen Strange journeys to 18th century Paris with Mordo, chasing the enigmatic Cagliostro—only to uncover a shocking truth: he’s Sise-Neg, a time-traveling sorcerer from the 30th century wielding ancient mysticism to rewrite reality. Written by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner, with art and inks by Frank Brunner and Neal Adams, this issue blends occult intrigue with a bold temporal twist, all rendered in Brunner’s striking, dynamic style. The cover by Frank Brunner captures the eerie, otherworldly tension of the story’s central mystery.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Writer Steve Englehart and artist Frank Brunner had begun their celebrated Doctor Strange run with Marvel Premiere #9, and by issue #13 they were co-plotting stories that, in Englehart's own words, were designed to push the character into genuinely cosmic and spiritual terrain. The issue was inked by the Crusty Bunkers — a collective of artists associated with Neal Adams and Dick Giordano's Continuity Studios — who contributed to several consecutive issues in the run. Roy Thomas served as editor throughout. The cover art was entirely Brunner's own work (pencils, inks, and colors), unusual for the era. Brunner's run on the title spanned Marvel Premiere #9–14, after which the success of these stories directly drove Marvel to give Doctor Strange his own solo series in 1974.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Sise-Neg, a sorcerer from the 31st century (name is 'Genesis' spelled backwards) who travels back through time absorbing all mystical energy in his bid to become omnipotent.
- Written by Steve Englehart, penciled and cover-illustrated by Frank Brunner, inked by the Crusty Bunkers (a studio collective linked to Neal Adams' Continuity Studios), and edited by Roy Thomas.
- The issue's title is 'Not All My Power Can Save Me!' and it is the middle installment of the Sise-Neg arc that began in Marvel Premiere #12.
- The story involves Doctor Strange pursuing Baron Mordo to 18th-century Paris, where Strange impersonates Cagliostro; the ruse ends when the 'real' Cagliostro reveals himself as Sise-Neg, defeats Strange in combat, and departs into deeper time.
- Sise-Neg's concept — that magical energy is finite in the Marvel universe, and that traveling into the past lets him accumulate a larger share of it — is established in this issue and underpins the entire arc's logic.
- Lilia (the Witch Queen of the Gypsies) and the Living Gargoyle appear only in recap, while Clea appears as a supporting character in the main story.
- The issue was reprinted in the early 2000s TPB Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality, in Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 2 (2005), in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 5 (2011), and in the Doctor Strange Epic Collection: A Separate Reality (2016, with a new printing in 2021).
- The broader Sise-Neg storyline concluding in Marvel Premiere #14 famously prompted Stan Lee to order a published retraction after he objected to Sise-Neg's godhood; Englehart and Brunner instead fabricated and mailed a praising letter from a fictitious Texas minister, which Marvel printed, causing Lee to drop the retraction order.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Le Fils de Satan #9 (1978), Superaventuras Marvel #10 (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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