I: Feature Story: "The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange!"

Pages: 20

Script: Stan Lee
Plot: Stan Lee
Pencils: Steve Ditko
Inks: Steve Ditko
Letters: Artie Simek

First Appearance: Xandu

Villain: Xandu

Guest Appearance: Dr. Strange

Mystical Artifacts: Wand of Watoomb

Synopsis: While Spider-Man fruitlessly searches the city scene for action, little does he know that in another part of town a mysterious figure searches for the missing pieces needed for his evildoing. This shadowed figure walks into a bar, where two galoots have just finished mopping the floor of all comers in a barroom brawl; Xandu has found who he needs! He hypnotizes the lummoxes to force them to do his bidding, and spirits them away on a mission to retrieve the missing half of the Wand of Watoomb, a powerful mystical tool that will help him control the mystic arts.

Xandu's first command to them is to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Dr. Strange and subdue him. They race inside and take the doctor by surprise, and what with Strange being unable to influence their hypnotized minds, they are able to easily beat him into unconsciousness. Their next task is to turn the place over in search of the other half of the wand, and they quickly find it! Passing overhead Strange's Greenwich Village sanctum is Spider-Man, who correctly considers the two men to be burglars and tries to stop them. They resist, and a fight is on, but the Xandu-controlled behemoths are too much for Spidey, and they knock him down and out. Before they can leave the scene, however, Spidey is able to toss a tracer on them.

Having recovered both halves of the Wand of Watoomb, Xandu is now in control of the most powerful tool in the mystic arts. As he formulates his arrogant plans of evil, Spider-Man enters the scene having followed his Spidey tracer. Xandu is able to quickly dispatch Spider-Man to another dimension, but before the startled hero is completely teleported from reality, he grabs the wand and takes it with him. Xandu sends his two zombie-bruisers into the limbo dimension to get the wand back, and the battle is on!

While Spidey lands many punches while floating in limbo, Dr. Strange uses his many mystic tools to search for Xandu and the wand. He finally locates Xandu, and uses the opportunity to defeat Xandu while the villain lacks the wand. As they fight it out, Xandu's henchmen have returned to Earth's plane of reality with Spider-Man, bringing the wand back to Xandu (Spidey allowed them to carry his limp body back in order to return to reality). While Xandu controls the wand, Dr. Strange is well aware that he is out-powered, so he decides to stay his battle with Xandu in an attempt to help Spidey beat his foes. Backed against the wall by the two brawlers, Spider-Man receives mental coaching from Dr. Strange to use the electrical cables behind him to shock his assailants, which not only knocks them aside but brings them back to their sanity.

Now that he's free from fight, Spider-Man returns to battle Xandu, and both he and Dr. Strange are able to combine forces for their final stand. Spider-Man uses his webbing to separate Xandu from the wand, and Dr. Strange destroys all the mystical power of the wand so that it cannot be used for evil anymore. He also clears Xandu's memory of his evil ambitions and knowledge of these events. Spider-Man and Dr. Strange part company as friends and pledge future cooperation with each other.

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Spider-Man from
Amazing Spider-Man #20-30 and Annual #2

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