Doctor Strange: Don't Pay the Ferryman - Softcover

Roger Stern enjoyed well-regarded runs on Doctor Strange, as well as on Avengers, Captain America, Incredible Hulk, and Amazing Spider-Man, in which he introduced Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and the Hobgoblin. He launched West Coast Avengers and wrote numerous tie-in miniseries starring Earth's Mightiest Heroes. At DC, he relaunched the Atom and co-created Starman (Will Payton) before collaborating in one of comics' most talked about stories: the 1992 "Death of Superman." He later returned to Marvel to write Marvel Universe, Marvel: The Lost Generation, Iron Man, Amazing Spider-Man and related titles.

Peter B. Gillis began as a 1970s freelancer on Marvel Two-in- One, Super-Villain Team-Up, and other titles. Later, he became regular writer on Defenders, Eternals and Strange Tales, in which he subjected Doctor Strange to a soul-searching gamut of good and evil magic. Elsewhere in the Marvel multiverse, he wrote the short-lived Micronauts: The New Voyages and launched Strikeforce: Morituri with Brent Anderson, telling tales of a universe in which superhumans must embrace death to protect the Earth. He has also written for First Comics, TSR Games and others; he co-created Shatter, the first digital comic.

After a start as inker to his older brother John, Sal Buscema penciled Captain America, Defenders, Incredible Hulk and more. Famed for his ability to meet tight deadlines, he spread his talents across multiple genres, ranging from Ms. Marvel and Nova to Sub-Mariner and Spider-Woman's first appearance in Marvel Spotlight. He was the uninterrupted artist on Spectacular Spider-Man for more than 100 issues. After handling more team-ups in the Thing's Marvel Two-in-One, he reunited with brother John on Fantastic Four. He later provided inks for Spider-Girl and Thunderstrike.

Chris Warner has served as artist on Moon Knight and Doctor Strange. He has worked on such diverse properties as Aliens vs. Predator and Barb Wire for Dark Horse Comics.

"With the announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch will play Doctor Strange in the upcoming Marvel movie, now is the time to familiarize yourself with Marvel's Master of the Mystic Arts. There have been some  runs of Doctor Strange over the years that redefined the boundaries of the Marvel Universe. At the center of it all was Stephen Strange, the man who mastered all forms of magic and mysticism to become the Sorcerer Supreme.... Roger Stern was really the first writer to turn the spotlight inward and focus on Doctor Strange the man." -- Marc Buxton

"Peter Gillis tackled Doctor Strange's multi-faceted humanity and brought stories to bear which exalted in Strange's dichotomy of mystic and man. Gillis' handling of the character dealt almost exclusively with Strange's flaws, and used the magic and mysticism as but a canvas upon which he painted the story of human drama. But the drama was the paint. The personal angst and growth was the portrait. Stephen Strange; Hero, Mystic, and all-too-flawed human being was the subject." -- Ptor

"From the [end of the] great Roger Stern-written era of amazing Doctor Strange stories, collecting Doctor Strange (1974) #75-81 ... where Doc joins Reed and Sue Richards in battling Mephisto, while the enchanting sorceress Topaz is freed from hell -- but her soul is still in torment. Plus, Strange's famous cloak is clawed to pieces by demons, so he's unable to make random ravishing assistant-women appear until he gets a new one from the demon tailor Urthona. (Oh wait, he's not? I really need to re-read these stories. If only there was a collection of them...)" -- KC Carlson

"This era of Doctor Strange [is] held in high regard and mostly out of print. There's a lot of Doctor Strange material coming before the movie hits, so starting off with Stern and Buscema (amongst others) seems promising." -- Doug Glassman

"Roger had the Midas touch with just about everything he wrote for Marvel. Spider-Man, Avengers, Hulk, Doctor Strange, you name it." -- J.M. DeMatteis