"Who am I? Oh, I’m the man in the looking glass. The player on the other side. My name... is Strange. And from this side, I’ve found a great many sights to see... and tales to tell."
— Victor Strange, Strange Tales: Clea, Wong & America
Strange Tales is a set of Infinity Comics webcomics from Marvel Comics, mostly centred around the Marvel Universe's mystical characters. The stories are introduced or narrated by Victor Strange, brother of Doctor Strange, acting in a Horror Host role.
Marvel's original Strange Tales series was the Anthology Comic that first introduced Doctor Strange - the Infinity Comic is one of several series to reuse the title.
The webcomics are positioned as one-offs under the Strange Tales banner, rather than a single numbered series. As of November 2022, the following stories have been published:
- Strange Tales: Clea, Wong & America ("Asynchronous"). Written by Al Ewing.
- Strange Tales: Victor Strange ("The Tale of Strange"). Written by Al Ewing.
- Strange Tales: Thor & Jane Foster ("Shared Lives"). Mister Hyde tries to hurt Thor by attacking Jane, with unexpected results. Written by Tim Seeley.
- Strange Tales: She-Hulk ("Blackheart of Ice"). She-Hulk finds herself defending a ghost in a supernatural court. Written by Steve Foxe.
- Strange Tales: Ghost Rider ("Dead Man's Curve"). Johnny Blaze finds himself ambushed by two other Ghost Riders, Danny Ketch and Robbie Reyes. But are things really as they seem? Written by Rich Douek.
- Strange Tales: Wakanda ("The Longest Journey"). T'Challa, the Black Panther, marks the summer solstice with a pilgrimage to the first altar of Bast. Other matters quickly disrupt his journey, though. Written by J. Holtham.
- Strange Tales: Rocket Raccoon ("Toy Boxes"). Rocket returns to Halfworld to try to reconcile different versions of his past. Written by Al Ewing.
- Strange Tales: Secret Invasion ("Mission Critical"). An Interquel set shortly before Secret Invasion, in which a Skrull infiltrator tries to undermine the Fantastic Four. Written by Jim Zub.
Although the writers change from story to story, the whole series is illustrated by Ramon F. Bachs, with color art by Java Tartaglia.
As with Marvel's other Infinity Comics, the comics are (at least initially) only available via the Marvel Unlimited app. The first story was released May 07, 2022.
Strange Tales contains examples of:
- All Just a Dream: The Ghost Rider's duel with his counterparts is a dream, but not just a dream, as his demonic enemy Nightmare is toying with him.
- The Bus Came Back: Strange Tales: Rocket Raccoon sees the return of Halfworld's villain Judson Jakes, making his first appearance since 2011.
- Character Focus: Strange Tales: Victor Strange puts Victor on centre stage and explains his past, rather than using him as a narrator framing someone else's story.
- Character Narrator: Victor Strange, playing the Horror Host role in each issue, directly talks to the reader.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When his Hyde Formula runs out and his powers fade, Mr Hyde makes one final angry charge at Jane. She casually knocks him out with a finger swipe.
- Dragged Off to Hell: The nameless Cute Ghost Girl of "Blackheart of Ice" can't move on until her trial's completed. She-Hulk, acting as her defence lawyer, gets a mistrial declared. But the girl did commit the three murders she's accused of - so, as soon as she's no longer bound to haunt the building, a fiery crevasse opens and Blackheart claims her soul for hell.
- Horror Host: Victor Strange, pacing the halls of a bleak house behind the mirrors, introduces and ends each story.
- Infinite Canvas: As with Marvel's other Infinity Comics, it’s presented in the vertical scrolling variant. Each issue is a single long page, with one column of panels.
- Interquel: "Mission Critical", the Strange Tales: Secret Invasion story, is set just before the original Secret Invasion event (published in 2008), with a Skrull infiltrator preparing to replace the Fantastic Four's Human Torch.
- Let's You and Him Fight: After defeating Mister Hyde, Thor and Jane Foster end up clashing when tempers fray. It turns out that they’ve both been dosed with the Hyde Formula, sending them into violent rage.
- Mirror Monologue: When we first see Jane in Strange Tales: Thor & Jane Foster, she's telling her reflection that she needs to stop doing double shifts.
- Missing Mission Control: Rocket loses his connection to Pete (Star-Lord) at the very start of "Toy Boxes", but keeps talking in the hope he can still be heard. He can't. Pete was never there, because 'Rocket' isn't really Rocket.
- Mugging the Monster: Mister Hyde attacks Jane Foster in her civilian identity, without realising that she's a Valkyrie. He gets an unpleasant surprise.
- Must Be Invited: Discussed. Victor, a vampire, jokingly invites the reader to enter freely and of their own will.
- Nightmare Weaver: Johnny's duel against the other two Ghost Riders is All Just a Dream, but that's because an old enemy, the demon Nightmare, is toying with him.
- Rage Against the Reflection: In Strange Tales: Thor & Jane Foster, Victor punches a mirror during his introductory speech. Although given his vampiric nature it may be closer to Rage Against the Lack of Reflection.
- Speech Bubbles:
- Victor's speech bubbles use a white background in the center, darkening to blue at the edges.
- The ghosts in the She-Hulk "Blackheart of Ice" story use speech bubbles with uneven edges rather than the usual ovals.
- Other stories have already established that Blackheart, the She-Hulk "Blackheart of Ice" story's main villain, speaks in white-on-black bubbles. The spectral judge presiding over the trial uses that style of bubble as well.
- Unfinished Business: The ghosts of She-Hulk story "Blackheart of Ice" froze to death in 1888, trapped in a courthouse and awaiting a public defender who never arrived. They can't move on until the trial is completed.
