STRANGE TALES #1 (1994): 1st modern day Orrgo

Something’s wrong here. This is a one-shot published in 1994 and Ghost Rider’s not in it. Wolverine’s not in it. Spider-Man and Punisher aren’t in it.

How odd.

This comic is basically Kurt Busiek’s love letter to the 1960s Strange Tales series, which had short stories about Human Torch, Nick Fury, Kirby monsters, etc. They all appear here, as does a civilian in a trenchcoat named Terry Szenics–which was the name of a golden age letterer.

The framing sequence is a poker game.

Each of the players at Thing’s poker game tells a story about one of their adventures. The stories are all the kinds of things we got from old issues of Strange Tales.

It’s an absolute joy.

(But why would someone trust Doctor Strange enough to let him play cards with them?)

The adventures are a bunch of fun flashbacks where they fight guys like Golden Gator–a mystic enemy who puts alligators in toilets.

Another one of the menaces is Orrgo the Unconquerable, who will return for numerous appearances after the turn of the century.

He was a Kirby monster from the 1960s.

None of this matters, and I loved it.

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