The Classics - Untold Tales of Spider-Man: Strange Encounters #1

As always, we take requests here at Chuck's Comic of the Day, and last week Kyle mentioned this issue featuring the (retrofitted) first team-up between Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.

This story was part of the (sadly) short-lived series Untold Tales of Spider-Man, with writer Kurt Busiek telling the stories that happened in between the earliest issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

As I recall, this special issue from 1998 wrapped up that series, and this was a good note to end it on. Co-written with one of my favorite Spider-Man authors, Roger Stern, the story features a couple of hoods accidentally stealing a mystic artifact with incredible power.

Spider-Man encounters the crooks, but only when he teams up with the Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Strange, is he able to track down the thieves - but it's a journey that will take him and his friends to another dimension and some surprising revelations.

It's interesting to note that this is the early version of Dr. Strange, with Asian features, a blue cape (which apparently allows him to fly) and the small, square Amulet of Agamotto around his neck.

The art is by Neil Vokes with inks by Jay Geldhof, and they do a good job of capturing the spirit of Ditko without being an outright swipe of his style. They're especially good at capturing expressions, action sequences, and creating a truly strange alien dimension.

This is a solid, fun bit of work, and another good example of the odd way in which Spider-Man and Dr. Strange work well together in a team-up.

But that's about all there is to it. Otherwise it's just a solid example of good comics craftsmanship. So it's nothing outstanding - but it is a fun "read."

Grade: B