Tales of Suspense #41 for Sale - First Appearance of Dr. Strange - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #41
Publication date: May 1963
Key date: 1963-05-00
On-sale date: 1963-02-12
Indicia publisher: Vista Publications Inc.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Dr. Strange - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Carlo Strange - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Carla Strange - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	The Stronghold of Dr. Strange!	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Jack Kirby; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Iron Man, Tony Stark, Carla Strange First, Carlo Strange First, Dr. Strange First
2	The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!	comic story	13	script: Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Marty Epp	Iron Man, Nikita Khrushchev, Tony Stark, John F. Kennedy, Carla Strange First, Carlo Strange First, Dr. Strange First
3	Music Master	text story	2	pencils: Jay Scott Pike; inks: Jay Scott Pike; editing: Stan Lee	Joe; Gus; Angelo
7	The Sorcerer's Spell	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber; pencils: Larry Lieber; inks: Sol Brodsky; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	King Hapwell; General Kozar
11	The End of the Universe!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Terry Szenics

Plus 10 pages of advertisements and other matter across 14 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 9d [0-0-9 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #4	1966	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks #20 ISBN 0-87135-912-X	1992	On eBay ›
Essential Iron Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-0759-2	2000	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-1186-7	2003	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #4041 of 99#42 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com