Before any other heroes (including Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four)...
...this MD-turned sorcerer protected the Silver Age Marvel Universe from mystical menaces!*
BTW, note the guy in panel 3 is the guy in the first panel...but that ain't mascara around his eyes!
Keep reading...
Wait a second...
"My Eyes! They're becoming slanted!"
"I have given you an appearance suitable to your new role!"
What sort of "reverse racism" is this?
Did writer Stan Lee, penciler Jack Kirby, or inker Steve Ditko theorize only an Asian-looking person could manipulate magic?
At least they didn't give him any sort of cliched Chinese/Japanese speech pattern...
The good Doctor's strip lasted five issues, including this one from Atlas' Amazing Adventures #1 (1961)
Many of the elements were reused in the origin of Dr Strange, (who was created by the guy who inked this tale, writer/artist Steve Ditko!) Perhaps Steve looked at this concept and said "Well, this part works, but this one sure as hell doesn't!" and reworked the concept.
At any rate, "Doctor Droom 2.0" aka Doctor Strange turned out to be one of the longest-lasting characters at Marvel, and Droom disappeared, never to be seen again.
Hah!
Fooled you!
In the mid-1970s, reprint editor Roger Stern decided to revive the character to host a horror anthology, but with some modifications, like a costume (Droom always wore street clothes), eliminating the whole "asian look" aspect, and making him a descendant of Druids (hence the name change)!
Here's his revamped reintroduction from Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #19 (1976)
Dr Druid became an ongoing guest-star in the Marvel Universe, even briefly leading the Avengers, and helming his own miniseries....where he was killed off!
But, with Marvel rebooting their entire multiverse several times over the past decade, the good Doctor is, in fact, alive again, and living in retirement, assisting Doctor Strange upon occasion.
Medical Trivia: Though Droom's medical credentials were never specified, Druid received his MD from Harvard and completed a residency in psychiatry.
Note: We were caught by the Dreaded Deadline Doom due to preparing for our nephew's nuptuals this weekend, so we're re-presenting this feature about one of Marvel's less-known medicos because we didn't want to disappoint our fans...who are increasing in number again!
*Note: this doesn't count Timely/Atlas/Marvel's Golden Age characters, none of whom were being published in 1961!
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