Strange Tales #150
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeStrange Tales #150 (November 1966) is a double-barreled Silver Age key: it delivers the first appearance of Umar — Dormammu's sister, a Faltine sorceress of world-threatening power who would become one of Doctor Strange's most durable and complex antagonists across more than five decades of Marvel storytelling — while simultaneously marking the Marvel debut of John Buscema, one of the defining artists of the company's Bronze Age. The Doctor Strange half of the issue closes out the Kaluu arc and pivots the entire Dark Dimension mythology in a new direction, as Umar seizes control of the Mindless Ones and vows to outdo her brother's conquests, instantly establishing her as a villain with genuine menace rather than a one-off threat. On the Nick Fury side, the issue launches the return of HYDRA in a new guise, setting up story threads that would carry the espionage feature forward through the rest of its Strange Tales run. As the launchpad for Buscema's Marvel career — a career that would include The Avengers, Silver Surfer, Thor, and Conan — this issue carries unusual weight beyond its two specific debut events.
In "Hydra Lives!", Nick Fury takes a risky stand to prove a sonic weapon can trigger an atomic missile—just as SHIELD's worst fears about HYDRA's reach come to life. With Fury away at a mysterious party in the Sahara, an undercover agent's warning sets off a chain of events that tests loyalty and leaves SHIELD HQ vulnerable. Written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with art by Kirby and John Buscema, and a cover by Bill Everett, this 1966 issue delivers high-stakes intrigue and a chilling sense of unseen danger.
In "Hydra Lives!", Nick Fury takes a risky gamble to prove that a sonic weapon can trigger an atomic missile—just as he’s summoned to a mysterious party in the desert city of Karnopolis by Don Cabellero, a man with secrets beneath his charming surface. With Dugan recovering and SHIELD on edge, Fury leaves Sitwell in charge, only to hear the distant thunder of the Overkill Horn testing its deadly power from afar.
In "The Conquest of Kaluu!" from Strange Tales #150, Stephen Strange and the Ancient One race against time to reclaim the Book of the Vishanti in ancient Babylonia, where Kaluu’s dark magic threatens to consume reality. With the fate of the multiverse hanging in the balance, a desperate return to the present unleashes a spell that seals Kaluu’s doom—while in the Dark Dimension, Umar rises from the ashes of Dormammu’s fall, her ambition already turning the tide.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue went on sale August 9, 1966, with a November 1966 cover date, during a transitional moment for Strange Tales: Steve Ditko had drawn his final Doctor Strange story just four issues earlier (issue #146), leaving the feature in need of new creative direction. Writer Roy Thomas and artist Bill Everett — who also painted the cover — handled the Doctor Strange story, with Everett contributing to both plotting and art; Thomas would go on to become one of Marvel's most important editors and writers of the 1970s, and Everett, creator of the Sub-Mariner, was himself a foundational Marvel talent. The Nick Fury feature was scripted by Stan Lee from a Jack Kirby co-plot, with Kirby supplying page layouts that John Buscema then finished as penciler — a collaboration that served as Buscema's formal return to Marvel after roughly eight years away in commercial illustration and advertising, where Stan Lee personally recruited him back to the company in 1966. The Grand Comics Database notes that the issue's new masthead was designed by Sol Brodsky, a small production detail that reflects the broader visual refresh Marvel was undertaking at the time.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Umar, Dormammu's sister, created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Bill Everett; she debuts in the Dark Dimension seizing control of the Mindless Ones after Dormammu's defeat, instantly vowing conquest that will surpass her brother's.
- First artwork at Marvel by John Buscema, who penciled the Nick Fury story over Jack Kirby layouts, inked by Frank Giacoia; Buscema would go on to become one of Marvel's flagship artists on The Avengers, Silver Surfer, Thor, and Conan the Barbarian.
- Umar is retroactively established as the mother of Clea (Doctor Strange's eventual wife and successor as Sorcerer Supreme), a reveal that deepens the genealogical stakes of the entire Dark Dimension mythology.
- The Nick Fury story, 'Hydra Lives!', is scripted by Stan Lee with co-plotting by Jack Kirby and features the first appearance of the new Supreme Hydra, disguised as the mysterious 'Don Cabellero,' later revealed as the organization's true leader all along.
- Key Collector Comics notes this issue marks the first time Doctor Strange's name appears in the title banner (corroborated by Key Collector only — see flagged).
- The Doctor Strange story, 'The Conquest of Kaluu!', was written by Roy Thomas with Bill Everett co-plotting and drawing; it concludes the Kaluu arc by banishing him to Limbo, then pivots directly to Umar's debut — a deliberate soap-opera-style cliffhanger noted in the Grand Comics Database.
- Cover art is by Bill Everett; the issue carries a 12¢ cover price and runs 36 pages.
- The Doctor Strange story from this issue has been reprinted in Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 2 (multiple printings), the Doctor Strange Omnibus Vol. 2, and the Doctor Strange Epic Collection: I, Dormammu; the Nick Fury story was collected in Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema (2019).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Terrific! #39 (1968), Terrific! #40 (1968), Terrific! #43 (1968), SHIELD [Nick Fury and His Agents of SHIELD] #3 (1973), Eclipso #47 (1974), Vengeur #18 (1976), Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #[nn] (2000), Essential Doctor Strange #1 (2001), Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange #2 (2005), Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema #[nn] (2006), Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2007), Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange #2 (2013), The Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection - Classic #8 (2014), S.H.I.E.L.D. by Lee & Kirby: The Complete Collection. #[nn] (2015), S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete Collection Omnibus #[nn] (2015), Die offizielle Marvel-Comic-Sammlung #8 (2016), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #124 (2018), Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema #[nn] (2019), Doctor Strange Omnibus #2 (2021), Doctor Strange Epic Collection #2 (2024), Agente Internacional #16, Marvel Série I #15
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