Debuting in 1963's Strange Tales #110, a book that was split between himself an the Human Torch (and, later, Nick Fury), Doctor Strange has since rarely appeared in a comic book on his own. There was a period where he was the premiere character in the comic, and crossed over into other high-profile titles like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, but a Doctor Strange solo series only ran for some 15 issues back in the day. There were a couple of other attempts in the intervening years but - when the sixties with over, weirdly - Strange has almost always been a supporting cast member. He's since played integral roles in J Michael Straczynski's Spider-Man run (which involved the wall crawler discovering his powers may be somewhat mystical in origin) (don't worry, that was soon retconned) and appeared in a couple of pretty cool miniseries, but otherwise? Strange has basically been a narrative tool drafted in by writers any time they decide to dip into the magical side of the Marvel Universe, with the Sorcerer Supreme acting as a literal deus ex machina who comes in to sort everything out. It'll be interesting to see if, with the film, he'll finally get a chance to headline a book again.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
