Strange #1
Strange #1 marks the first time French readers could follow the X-Men, Daredevil, and Iron Man in a dedicated, ongoing monthly publication in their own language — characters who, because of censorship battles, had never before found a stable home on French newsstands. By surviving where its predecessor Fantask had been shut down in 1969, it proved that Marvel's superhero universe could be adapted and sold successfully within France's restrictive youth-publication laws. The magazine's editorial choices shaped how an entire generation of French-speaking fans understood the Marvel universe: it was through Strange that the original X-Men lineup became far more prominent in France than they ever were in the United States during the same era. Running for 335 issues over 28 years, the series that started here became the backbone of Marvel publishing in the French-speaking world.
In this early tale from Strange #1, Jo and the X-Men—fresh from training and a meeting with Jean Grey—embark on their first mission: stopping Magnéto from seizing an Air Force base. With tension simmering and mutant tensions rising, the team must act fast before the situation spirals.
In "Iron Man est né !", Tony Stark—playboy industrialist and arms inventor—finds himself captured by communist forces in Korea after being wounded. While pretending to build a weapon for his captors, he secretly crafts a powered suit to keep his injured heart beating, then uses it to escape and confront the enemy commander.
In "Les origines de Daredevil !..," Matt Murdock, a college student and aspiring lawyer, gains heightened senses after surviving a radioactive accident while saving a blind man. Haunted by the murder of his father—killed by Slade on orders from mob boss Joe Lacombine—Matt channels his grief into becoming Daredevil, a vigilante armed with a unique radar sense and a striking costume. As he hunts those responsible, the line between justice and vengeance begins to blur.
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Éditions Lug, a Lyon-based publisher co-founded in 1950 by writer Marcel Navarro and businessman Auguste Vistel, had already attempted a Marvel reprint title — Fantask — in early 1969, but French authorities cancelled it after seven issues, judging its science fiction 'terrifying' and its fights 'traumatizing.' After several months of deliberation, Navarro re-launched Marvel characters in January 1970 under the new title Strange, this time with a built-in self-censorship studio that airbrushed out weapons, removed violent sound effects, and occasionally excised entire panels to pre-empt regulatory objections. Claude Vistel, Auguste's daughter and a key editorial figure at Lug, had personally negotiated the licensing arrangement with Marvel through Transworld Features. The title's name itself required an editorial workaround: since Doctor Strange's rights were held by a rival French publisher (Artima), Lug renamed X-Man Jean Grey from 'Marvel Girl' to 'Strange Girl' to give the magazine title a character hook it could call its own.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released January 5, 1970 by Éditions Lug (Lyon, France); cover-dated January 1970 — the first issue of a series that ran for 335 issues through March 1998.
- Pocket-format digest printed in bi-chrome (black-and-white alternating with one spot color per spread) for the first ten issues; from issue #11 onward the series shifted to full-color comics format.
- Contents of #1 (per GCD and comicsvf.com): French translations of Uncanny X-Men #2 (Stan Lee/Jack Kirby), Tales of Suspense #39 / Iron Man's origin (Stan Lee/Larry Lieber/Don Heck), Daredevil #1 origin (Stan Lee/Bill Everett/Jack Kirby), Silver Surfer #1 origin excerpt (Stan Lee/John Buscema/Joe Sinnott, 9 pages only), and Silver Surfer #7 (Stan Lee/John Buscema/Sal Buscema).
- First French publication to regularly feature the X-Men, Daredevil, and Iron Man — these characters were absent from Fantask, which had focused on Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, and Spider-Man.
- Jean Grey's codename was changed from 'Marvel Girl' to 'Strange Girl' throughout the run because the Doctor Strange character name was licensed to a competing French publisher (Artima), necessitating a different 'Strange' identity to justify the magazine's title.
- Bobby Drake (Iceman) was renamed 'Iceberg' in French translation, a localization retained throughout the magazine's run.
- Lug's in-house retouching studio practiced systematic self-censorship to comply with France's Loi du 16 juillet 1949 on youth publications: the cover of #1, adapted from Silver Surfer #7, had a mummy airbrushed off the operating table; throughout the series, sound-effect lettering, bladed weapons, and violent panels were routinely altered or removed.
- A 20th-anniversary facsimile of Strange #1 was published by Semic (Lug's successor) in December 1990, confirming the issue's landmark status in the French comics market.
Cast · 27 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Tales of Suspense #39 (1963), The X-Men #1 (1963), Daredevil #1 (1964), The Silver Surfer #1 (1968), The Silver Surfer #7 (1969), Strange #2 (1970)
Reprinted in Strange #200 (1986)
Key issues in Strange
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