Marvel Premiere #5
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Premiere #5 (November 1972) marks the first on-panel appearance of the Vishanti — the cosmic trinity of Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur — the three godlike entities who underpin virtually all of Doctor Strange's invocations and whose names had been spoken aloud by sorcerers since the character's debut in 1963 but had never been depicted as actual beings until this issue. The same story introduces the serpent-demon Sligguth (in full appearance after a prior mention) and his dark priestess Ebora, and it also contains the first textual reference to Shuma-Gorath, the Great Old One whose eventual full emergence would drive the whole Marvel Premiere Doctor Strange arc toward one of the Bronze Age's most celebrated supernatural storylines. By fusing the Vishanti's visual debut with the earliest seeding of Shuma-Gorath's threat, the issue simultaneously gave Doctor Strange's cosmology a tangible face and pointed the title toward the legendary Englehart–Brunner run that followed.
In "The Lurker in the Labyrinth!", Doctor Strange narrowly escapes a sacrificial ritual to the demon Sligguth, only to uncover the ancient, dormant threat of Shuma-Gorath. Weakened from channeling power to Strange, the Ancient One is taken by the Shadowmen of the sunken city of Kaa-U. Written by Gardner F. Fox and illustrated by Irv Wesley with inks by Don Perlin, this 1972 Marvel Premiere issue features a cover by Mike Ploog.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was cover-dated November 1972 and went on sale August 22, 1972, as the third chapter of a multi-part Starkesboro/Shuma-Gorath arc that began in Marvel Premiere #4. It was written by veteran DC architect Gardner Fox — whose scripts for this arc were explicitly credited as featuring concepts drawn from Robert E. Howard and were steeped in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos — under editor Roy Thomas, who had overall charge of the Doctor Strange revival running through Marvel Premiere #3–14. Interior art was penciled by Sam Kweskin, working under the pseudonym 'Irv Wesley,' and inked by Don Perlin (one of his earliest Marvel freelance credits), while the cover was painted by Mike Ploog. The title itself was one of three tryout anthology books conceived when Stan Lee stepped back from day-to-day editing, designed to test a character's commercial legs before committing to a full series.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First on-panel appearance of the Vishanti as a trio — Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur — who appear to Doctor Strange in mortal guises rather than their true forms to preserve his sanity.
- First full appearance of Sligguth, the serpent-demon spawn of Set; the character had been mentioned (but not seen) in Marvel Premiere #4.
- First appearance of Ebora, dark priestess of Sligguth and primary antagonist of the Starkesboro arc.
- First textual mention of Shuma-Gorath as the slumbering ancient evil that Sligguth's cult seeks to resurrect — Shuma-Gorath does not appear visually in this issue.
- Story title: 'The Lurker in the Labyrinth!' Written by Gardner Fox; penciled by Sam Kweskin (credited as 'Irv Wesley'); inked by Don Perlin; cover art by Mike Ploog; edited by Roy Thomas.
- The issue's narrative explicitly credits concepts created by Robert E. Howard, and the arc draws heavily on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos in its cosmology.
- Reprinted in: Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 2 (2005); Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 4 (2010); Doctor Strange Epic Collection Vol. 3 — A Separate Reality (2016); and an early Italian reprint in L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #87 (1973).
- Published as part of Marvel Premiere, a tryout anthology series proposed by Stan Lee to evaluate a feature's audience without the full investment of launching a standalone title — a run that ultimately proved successful enough to graduate Doctor Strange into his own second ongoing series in 1974.
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Reprints
Reprinted in L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #86 (1973), L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #87 (1973), Le Fils de Satan #5 (1976), Superaventuras Marvel #4 (1982), Essential Doctor Strange #2 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange #4 (2010), Doctor Strange Epic Collection #3 (2016), Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Omnibus #1 (2024)
Key issues in Marvel Premiere
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