Marvel is reviving Strange Tales, a title used by the company for decades — even before they were Marvel — for a “mystical mystery” story by Jeremy Whitley and Bayleigh Underwood.
The four-issue miniseries will feature magical heroes like Scarlet Witch, Wiccan, Nico Minoru and Doctor Strange in a story that “blends Marvel Comics storytelling with elements of popular tabletop role-playing games.”
“I’ve always been a fan of the spookier side of the Marvel Universe and to get to play in that playground was a ball,” Whitley said. “And to get to add aspects of table-top role-playing games on top of it – who could resist? Then I found out we’d get to see all of the excitement penciled by the amazing Bailey Underwood! Strange Tales is a treat I think all Marvel fans will enjoy!”
The world always need more funny parody names for Dungeons and Dragons, and this one fits the bill:
It’s Halloween, and Nico Minoru joins her girlfriend Karolina Dean, and friends Teddy Altman and Billy Kaplan for a rousing round of RPG Hoosegows and Hydras. But when a dice roll leads to goblins materializing in real life and her friends all disappearing, Nico Minoru is soon left running through NYC’s streets with a very real dragon hot on her tail. Desperate for help, she finds herself at the Scarlet Witch’s Last Door. Will these two witches find the missing heroes and piece together how this board game came to life, or will their adventure end in a critical loss?
Annie Wu and Gretel Lusky provide the variant covers for the first issue:
Strange Tales, as a title, was first used by Marvel predecessor Atlas Comics in the 1950s. The horror anthology featured content similar to what EC Comics was publishing, but that was toned down when the Comics Code was passed. The title later featured monster stories by Jack Kirby and introductions of characters who would later become part of the Marvel Universe, including Ulysses Bloodstone and Fin Fang Foom. And when the Marvel Age of Comics launched in the 1960s, it became a superhero anthology, with stories featuring the Human Torch, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury and more — those latter two characters made their debut in Strange Tales.
The title ended in the late 1960s but has been revived several times since then, often as a “split book” or anthology. Two Strange Tales miniseries published about 15 years ago featured stories by alt comix/indie creators like Stan Sakai, Jason, Michael Kupperman, Dash Shaw, Jhonen Vasquez and more; those are worth your time tracking down.
The new Strange Tales miniseries will kick off on Oct. 8.