Strange Tales #173

History

Brother Voodoo was conceived when Marvel publisher Stan Lee proposed a hero rooted in voodoo practice, editor-in-chief Roy Thomas suggested the name 'Doctor Voodoo,' and Lee countered with 'Brother Voodoo' — a name Thomas and art director John Romita Sr. then helped flesh out with writer Len Wein. Wein scripted all five Strange Tales issues under the Marvel method, with Gene Colan providing pencils and Dick Giordano inks on the interior story 'Sacrifice Play!'; the cover was penciled by Rich Buckler with inks by Ernie Chan. Roy Thomas is credited as editor, and letterer Gaspar Saladino is pseudonymously credited as 'L.P. Gregory' in the issue. The series had launched as a vehicle for Strange Tales' revival after a five-year publishing hiatus (the title had been suspended in 1968 when Doctor Strange and Nick Fury graduated to solo books), and #173's cliffhanger ending — with Brother Voodoo bound to an inverted cross above a captive Loralee Tate — signals that cancellation from Strange Tales was at least partly a planned editorial handoff rather than a simple chop, since the conclusion was scripted for the magazine format that could sidestep Comics Code restrictions on zombies in color comics.

Trivia · 10 facts

• First appearance of Black Talon (Desmond Drew) — a fraudulent voodoo priest and millionaire cult leader who is secretly the son of Mama Limbo and who uses an elaborate rooster-themed costume to impersonate a living Loa for his cult followers.
• First appearance of Mama Limbo — a powerful Mamaloi (voodoo priestess) who secretly organized the Cult of the Dark Lord, directing her son Desmond as the Black Talon, and manipulated Brother Voodoo into a cultist ambush.
• Final Brother Voodoo story published in Strange Tales; the cliffhanger plot thread — Jericho Drumm and Loralee Tate bound for sacrifice — was continued and resolved in Tales of the Zombie #6 (July 1974), a black-and-white magazine format that was not subject to Comics Code restrictions on zombie content.
• The issue's letters column explicitly noted that zombies were prohibited from appearing in Code-approved color comics at the time, which explains why the character's adventures migrated to the magazine format.
• Written by Len Wein; penciled by Gene Colan; inked by Dick Giordano; colors by Glynis Oliver (credited as Glynis Wein); cover pencils by Rich Buckler, cover inks by Ernie Chan; edited by Roy Thomas.
• Letterer Gaspar Saladino is credited under the pseudonym 'L.P. Gregory' — a quirk noted across multiple sources but not fully explained in available coverage.
• The issue's next-issue blurb announced Man-Wolf as the next Strange Tales feature, but that character instead appeared in Creatures on the Loose — an editorial shift that reflects the title's instability following Brother Voodoo's departure.
• The story has been reprinted three times: in black-and-white in Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 2 (2008), in Marvel Horror Omnibus (2019), and in full color in Marvel Masterworks: Brother Voodoo Vol. 1 (2021), which collects all five Strange Tales issues alongside later Brother Voodoo appearances.
• The issue contains Marvel Value Stamp Series A #45 (Mantis).
• The story's title is 'Sacrifice Play!' and the cover tagline is 'Black Magic — Beneath a Blood-Red Moon!'

Cast · 7 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Strange Tales

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#169 1st appearance — Jericho Drumm

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#179 1st appearance — Pip the Troll

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#172 1st appearance — Loralee Tate

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#178 1st appearance — Matriarch

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#180 1st appearance — Gamora