The most significant Doctor Strange comic on the market is Strange Tales #110 (July 1963), the first appearance of the Sorcerer Supreme created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: a CGC 9.6 copy reached $60,000 — a record documented by Sell My Comic Books at the height of MCU enthusiasm post-2017. This is a Silver Age comic, published in July 1963, seven years before the conventional end of that era. Our eBay estimator does not cover the Strange Tales, Doctor Strange, or Marvel Premiere series (parameters outside scope): no median from that tool is cited in this guide — all data comes from documented web sources.
Doctor Strange was co-created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko within the early Marvel of 1963. His first appearance spans just five pages in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963), an anthology shared with the Human Torch and later with Nick Fury. The character's origin — the fall of surgeon Stephen Strange, his journey to the Ancient One, his initiation into the mystic arts — is developed in Strange Tales #115 (December 1963). Strange took over his own title in 1968, when the anthology was renamed Doctor Strange starting with issue #169, continuing the Strange Tales numbering. A pivotal Bronze Age revival came with Marvel Premiere #3 (July 1972, art by Barry Windsor-Smith), followed by the dedicated solo series Doctor Strange vol. 2 #1 (June 1974, Frank Brunner). Since 2016, Benedict Cumberbatch has portrayed Stephen Strange in the MCU: Doctor Strange (2016, $677.8 million worldwide), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021, $1.92 billion), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022, $955.8 million) have established the character as one of the franchise's pillars.
This guide sticks strictly to the verifiable. Our eBay estimator returns no medians for the series involved (Strange Tales, Doctor Strange, Marvel Premiere). All market data cited below comes from documented specialist sources — Sell My Comic Books, GoCollect, Heritage Auctions, ComicConnect — or stays qualitative where no reliable figure was found.
Doctor Strange key issue ranking (documented market data, 2022–2026)
The data below reflects real sales documented by specialist sources. This site's eBay estimator covers none of the series involved: the eBay data column is therefore empty throughout, in the interest of honesty.
| Issue | Significance | eBay data (tool) | Documented market data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #110 (Jul. 1963) | 1st appearance of Doctor Strange, the Ancient One, Wong, and Nightmare | Series outside tool scope — no median available | $150,000 (CGC 9.6, Heritage Apr. 2024) · $42,500 (CGC 9.2, 2022 sale) · Sell My Comic Books |
| Strange Tales #115 (Dec. 1963) | Origin of Doctor Strange (first time told) | Series outside tool scope — no median available | $16,730 (CGC 9.6, Heritage, Nov. 2017) |
| Doctor Strange #169 (Feb. 1968) | 1st issue under his own title (continuing Strange Tales numbering) | Series outside tool scope — no median available | Active on Heritage and ComicConnect; no single publicly documented record found |
| Marvel Premiere #3 (Jul. 1972) | Bronze Age revival — Barry Windsor-Smith art | Series outside tool scope — no median available | ~$337 (CGC 9.6, recent documented sales) · GoCollect/DaleRobertsComics |
| Doctor Strange vol. 2 #1 (Jun. 1974) | 1st issue of the dedicated Bronze Age solo series | Series outside tool scope — no median available | Active market; higher CGC 9.8 population than Marvel Premiere #3 |
Sources: Sell My Comic Books (2024 update), Heritage Auctions, GoCollect, ComicConnect. This site's eBay tool does not cover the Strange Tales, Doctor Strange, or Marvel Premiere series.
Strange Tales #110 (1963): the Silver Age key of the Sorcerer Supreme
Published in July 1963 — three years after Spider-Man's debut — Strange Tales #110 is an anthology in which Doctor Strange fills only five pages, drawn by Steve Ditko from a Stan Lee plot. The cover, however, is by Jack Kirby and features the Human Torch. That modest editorial footprint is typical of great Marvel debuts of the Ditko-Lee era: Amazing Fantasy #15, Tales of Suspense #39. What makes this a premier Silver Age key today is the depth of the character Ditko built — he would draw Doctor Strange until 1966, constructing a visual grammar of mystical dimensions that had no equivalent in the comics of the time.
On the secondary market, the trajectory is well documented. A CGC 9.6 copy reached the record of $60,000 shortly after the MCU film announcements (documented by Sell My Comic Books for the ~2017 period). A more recent 2022 sale placed the CGC 9.4 at $42,500. In the mid-grade range, 2022 data shows: 8.5 at $19,000, 8.0 at $15,600, 7.5 at $13,200, 7.0 at $11,000. Sell My Comic Books describes this issue in its 2024 update as a "victim" of the double correction — speculative bubble and pandemic bubble — that hit MCU key issues between 2022 and 2024. Even so, a CGC 6.0 copy was documented at $11,100 post-correction: the floor remains high for a Silver Age first appearance.
Strange Tales #115 (1963): the origin of the Sorcerer Supreme
Published in December 1963, Strange Tales #115 contains the first origin story of Doctor Strange — the fall of brilliant surgeon Dr Stephen Strange, the accident that destroys his hands, the journey to Tibet, and the encounter with the Ancient One. Ditko and Lee lay out the narrative mechanics that would define the character across every iteration that followed, the MCU included. The issue is also notable for a Human Torch story featuring the Sandman's second appearance and a brief Spider-Man cameo.
Heritage Auctions documented a sale at $16,730 for a CGC 9.6 in November 2017 — before the pandemic peak, suggesting robust baseline value independent of speculative windows. The record for the same grade in 2011 was $7,278, more than doubling in six years (source: Heritage results). In lower and mid grades the issue remains accessible, though no eBay median is available through our tool.
Doctor Strange #169 (1968): the first solo title
When Strange Tales was split, the Sorcerer Supreme inherited his own title: Doctor Strange #169 (cover-dated June 1968) picks up the numbering directly from the anthology at #168. The issue retells the character's origin in a story by Roy Thomas with art by Dan Adkins. For collectors, this is a Silver Age transitional key — the first issue to carry only the character's name on the cover.
Copies at all grades circulate actively on Heritage Auctions and ComicConnect. The Overstreet Guide 2022 listed the CGC 9.2 (NM-) at $1,400. No single publicly documented auction record was found for this title in the sources consulted. It remains a logical collection key for fans of the first Doctor Strange solo Silver Age run.
The Bronze Age: Marvel Premiere #3 (1972) and Doctor Strange vol. 2 #1 (1974)
The Bronze Age revival opens with Marvel Premiere #3 (July 1972), the first appearance of Doctor Strange in that anthology, plotted by Stan Lee and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith in one of his final major Marvel contributions before his Conan era. The cover is by Windsor-Smith and Giacoia. The arc was subsequently taken over by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner — a pairing that defined the Bronze Age Doctor Strange with a psychedelic, cosmically ambitious approach that remains critically praised. Marvel Premiere #3 is genuinely scarce in high CGC grade: according to GoCollect and DaleRobertsComics data, a CGC 9.6 trades around $337 — modest in dollar terms but a reflection of a book that escaped the mass MCU speculation wave.
Doctor Strange vol. 2 #1 (June 1974, art by Frank Brunner) is the first issue of a dedicated Bronze Age solo series and introduced the villain Silver Dagger. It is a more accessible key, with a noticeably higher high-grade CGC population than Marvel Premiere #3. Both issues appeal to collectors building out the complete Englehart-Brunner run (vol. 2 #1-5) without competing at Silver Age price levels.
The MCU effect and 2026 market trends
Doctor Strange appears across six MCU films between 2016 and 2022. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2022, directed by Sam Raimi) grossed $955.8 million worldwide — $411.3 million domestically — without a release in China or Russia, making that figure particularly strong. The price trajectory of Strange Tales #110 closely tracked MCU announcements: a spike on the 2016 film announcement, a further peak around the production of Multiverse of Madness, then a clear correction as the 2022–2024 speculative market unwound. In 2026, the Doctor Strange market is in a consolidation phase after the broader MCU key correction. The robust Silver Age keys — Strange Tales #110 and #115 — retain structural demand from long-term collectors and institutional buyers, a demand that is distinct from the speculative wave tied to casting announcements. Where no confirmed MCU sequel announcement exists, any forecast about future price movement stays qualitative.
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