It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Marvel Omnibus fans – time for the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot! This post explains every Doctor Strange omnibus that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.
For the next two weeks, I’ll be covering Marvel’s entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your Marvel oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot on Near Mint Condition on April 28, 2025.
Marvel announced a pair of Doctor Strange omnibuses for 2025 – the next oldest possible omnibus and the newest possible omnibus! First, last month we got Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 1 collecting the beginning of the Bronze Age and inching us closer to the hotly-desired Roger Stern material. And, in September we’ll be seeing Doctor Strange by Jed MacKay, collecting the recently-concluded run that saw Strange’s death and return.
What’s left in the middle of Doctor Strange? More Bronze Age and 80s books, and some coverage for his uncollected 2000s runs!
If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to Marvel’s collected editions on the planet.
Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about Marvel’s history and find some great comics to read!
The book titles and mapping in this post were curated with the help of BrandXK! BrandXK proudly supports The Hero Initiative, an incredible charity that helps to support comic creators in their times of need – especially with medical expenses.
This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:
- Bronze Age Doctor Strange
- Doctor Strange: Clea (1964 – 2023)
- Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 2 (1977 – 1983) [MMW 7-9 AKA by Roger Stern Vol. 1]
- Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 3 (1983 – 1988) [MMW 10-12, includes Strange Tales, fits before Sorcerer Supreme Vol. 1]
- Modern Era Doctor Strange
- Doctor Strange: The Oath & Other Tales (1997 – 2011) [AKA by Vaughan, JMS, et al]
- Doctor Strange in All-New All-Different Marvel & Marvel Fresh Start
- Doctor Strange: All-New, All Different (2016 – 2018) [AKA Aaron Companion AKA Damnation by Cates; includes Magic Bullets, Sorcerers Supreme, etc]
- Doctor Strange by Mark Waid (2010 – 2020)
Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how Marvel could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes on the Tigereyes poll. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of Marvel creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.
Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.
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Doctor Strange Omnibus Mapping: Bronze Age Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange: Clea (1964 – 2023)
Clea is Strange’s partner and a powerful sorcerer both in her home dimension and on Earth. She has had many plot-significant stories with Strange in his comics, as well as some solo adventures of her own.
A vote for this book is a vote to collect all of Clea’s material in one place – convenient if she’s about to return to the MCU played by Charlize Theron, as teased in a past after-credits scene.
This book would collect Strange Tales (1951) #126-127, Marvel Feature (1972) #2; Defenders (1974) #24-25, 39, 53; Doctor Strange (1974) #6-9, 35-39, 45-46, 71-74; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #76-77 & 80-81; Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (1988) #2-5, 12-13, 67; Doctor Strange (2015) #389 & Annual 1; Strange (2022) #1-10; and material from Marvel Premiere (1972) #12, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #20, Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (1988) #22, Annual 2, & 4, Midnight Suns Unlimited (1993) #6, Epic Anthology (2004) #1, and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (2008) #2.
The first three Doctor Strange omnibuses are Doctor Strange Vol. 1, Doctor Strange Vol. 2, and the recently-released Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 1, which collect from his debut in 1963 through 1977 – see Guide to Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 2 (1977 – 1983) [MMW 7-9 AKA by Roger Stern Vol. 1]
By some strange twist of fate, we have received three classic Doctor Strange omnibuses that have collected only six Masterworks worth of material instead of nine.
That breakdown seemed wild when we received our first brief Doctor Strange Vol. 1 omnibus in 2016, but now it makes slightly more sense. Strange’s Silver Age material was over 1,100 pages – more than Marvel prefers to collect in a single Silver Age omnibus. And, there was a clean break afterward to so Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 1 could start cleanly with the beginning of his Bronze Age material.
Now, why is that omnibus so short? That remains a complete mystery. The only explanation I can find is that Roger Stern’s run starts midway through the next Masterworks volume with Doctor Strange (1974) #27, and Marvel didn’t want to break the volume in half or start Stern’s run at the end of this volume, so they truncated this book to just two Masterworks.
Fortunately, I think our struggle with short Strange omnibuses is now over. This volume should collect the contents Masterworks Volumes 7-9, and a next volume will collect Volumes 10-11 and a to-be-announced 12, which would perfectly meet up with the Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme omnibus line on the other side.
A vote for this book is to finally get Doctor Strange by Roger Stern in omnibus – a book that has been demanded since the second annual Tigereyes poll in 2014!
This would collect Doctor Strange (1974) #23-57; Man-Thing (1979) #4; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #5; What If? (1977) #18; and material from Chamber of Chills (1972) #3-4, Defenders (1972) #53, Marvel Comics Calendar 1980, Marvel Fanfare (1972) #6, Crazy [Magazine] (1973) #88, and entries from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 3 (1983 – 1988) [MMW 10-12, includes Strange Tales (1987), fits before Sorcerer Supreme Vol. 1]
Our policy on this poll is that if there are two obvious volumes to finish mapping a run, we’ll map them both! Now that we have Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 1, the mapping for the rest of Strange’s material through 1988 is completely obvious.
While we don’t yet have Masterworks Volume 12, Strange just doesn’t have many other appearances from 1987 to 1988 other than Strange Tales (1987). However, there is one notable twist in this omnibus! It will need to collect Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) No. 49 AKA “Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989)”. That extremely acclaimed graphic novel wasn’t included in the Sorcerer Supreme omnibus line despite being released in that timeframe, but it is collected along with that material in Epic Collection.
A vote for this book signals that we want Marvel to go full speed ahead on filling this two-book gap in Doctor Strange so we have him completely covered in omnibus through 1998!
This would collect Doctor Strange (1974) #58-81, Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #23 AKA “Into Shamballa”, Strange Tales (1987) #1-19 (Strange stories only, except #7), Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) No. 49 AKA “Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989)”, and material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) #8 & 31.
That brings us to Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Vol. 1-3, which completely collect the good Doctor’s 1988-1996 ongoing series… and delivers us to a 19-year gap in his collections! See Guide to Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange Omnibus Mapping: Modern Era Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange: The Oath & Other Tales (1997 – 2011) [AKA by Vaughan, JMS, et al]
Doctor Strange did not have a single ongoing series from the end of his 1988 series in 1996 and the start of his All New All Different Marvel series in 2015. However, he did have quite a string of limited series, in addition to appearing with The Defenders and being retconned into being a member of The Illuminati.
We wouldn’t suggest collecting all of Strange’s appearances in various Defenders series into his own omnibus line. However, his plot is a huge part of The Order (2002) (effectively the final arc of Defenders (2001) and he is the lead character of Fear Itself: The Deep (2011) #1-4, so we’d probably want to see both of them here.
A vote for this book is a vote to finally collect all of these disparate Doctor Strange mini-series in one place, after which Marvel can get underway on a Doctor Strange Modern Epic Collection line!
This would collect Doctor Strange [Flight of Bones] (1999) #1-4; Spider-Man: Lifeline (2001) #1-3; The Order (2002) #1-6; Witches (2004) #1-4; Strange (2004) #1-6 [AKA “Beginnings and Endings”]; New Avengers: Illuminator (2006) #1, X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) #1-5; Doctor Strange: The Oath (2006) #1-5; The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange (2010) #1; Spider-Man: Fever (2010) #1-3; Fear Itself: The Deep (2011) #1-4; and material from Tales of the Marvel Universe (1997) #1, Shadows and Light (1997) #1-2, and Marvel Double-Shot (2003) #4.
Because Strange (2004) #1-6 is an origin retelling, it probably makes sense for it be first in this map. There is an argument to be made that Strange is prominent enough in Defenders (2012) #1-12 that it should be included here in full.
From 2013-2015 Doctor Strange’s primarily role is in Hickman’s New Avengers (2013). He has huge role to play in that series, but not one that it makes sense to excerpt into his own omnibus line. See Guide to Avengers (2010 – Present).
Doctor Strange Omnibus Mapping: Doctor Strange in All-New All-Different Marvel & Marvel Fresh Start
The first portion of Doctor Strange’s All-New All-Different Marvel series is collected in Doctor Strange by Aaron & Bachalo. – see Guide to Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange: All-New, All Different (2016 – 2018) [AKA Aaron Companion AKA Damnation by Cates; includes Magic Bullets, Sorcerers Supreme, etc]
The tricky think about the Doctor Strange by Aaron & Bachalo omnibus is that it is creator-centric instead of collecting an entire series. It collects through Doctor Strange (2015) #20 – the end of Jason Aaron’s run on the title. There’s a lot of other Strange material that runs alongside and beyond that run!
First we have Doctor Strange/Punisher: Magic Bullets (2016) #1-4, written by John Barber and running alongside Aaron’s series. There’s also Robbie Thompson’s all-Sorcerer team-up title, Doctor Strange and The Sorcerers Supreme (2016) #1-10.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing 2015 series, after Aaron there is a run of Secret Empire tie-in issues penned by Dennis Hopeless, followed by a two-issue fill-in by John Barber.
But wait, there’s more! Then, Donny Cates takes over the book with legacy renumbering for a memorable arc with Loki before steering into the Damnation mini-event, itself a sequel to one plot thread from Secret Empire. We’ve had a paperback Complete Collection of Damnation, but never a hardcover! And, to make things even more frustrating, some collections leave off the final issue of this series – issue #390 – even though it’s written by Cates!
Whew! When all is said and done, we’ve got 44 issues – a sizable omnibus with a several distinct arcs of strong, enjoyable material.
A vote for this book is vote to complete the oversize collection of Doctor Strange’s 2015 ongoing title, while also picking up a pair of supporting series and all of the Damnation event in perfect reading order!
This would collect Doctor Strange/Punisher: Magic Bullets (2016) #1-4; Doctor Strange & The Sorcerers Supreme (2016) #1-12; Doctor Strange (2015) #21-26; Doctor Strange (2016) #381-390; Doctor Strange: Damnation (2018) #1-4, and Damnation tie-ins (Johnny Blaze: Ghost Rider (2018) #1; Iron Fist (1975) #78-80; Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider (2017) #15-17); and material from Doctor Strange (2015) Annual #1 (2nd story).
Doctor Strange by Mark Waid (2010 – 2020)
You might be looking at this year range and feeling slightly confused. Haven’t we already covered 2010 through 2018? Haven’t I said there’s nothing to collect from 2013-2015 while Strange was in Hickman’s New Avengers.
That’s all true! However, we need to reevaluate that year range for one reason: Mark Waid.
Mark Waid writes the next sequential Strange runs in 2018 and 2019 before Jed MacKay takes over for Death of Doctor Strange (2021). that accounts for 27 issues, which makes a fine smallish omnibus.
However, if we’re going to collect a pair of Mark Waid Doctor Strange stories in one book, we ought to include his other two Doctor Strange stories.
One of those is Strange (2010) #1-4 AKA “The Oath,” with Emma Rios. That’s probably the most-famous material from Strange between 1998 and 2014, which is why we titled a volume after it above! However, for that same reason, readers will expect it to be in any Doctor Strange book with Waid’s name on the spine.
The second story are two issues of Waid’s S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015) #5-6, which are a full-on Strange story right on the cusp of Secret Wars (2015).
A vote for this book is a vote for a complete collection of Mark Waid’s work on Doctor Strange, which also happens to fill half of the gap between Doctor Strange by Strange/Bachalo and Doctor Strange by Jed MacKay.
This would collect Strange (2010) #1-4 AKA “The Oath”; a Strange mini-arc in S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015) #5-6; Doctor Strange (2018) #1-20 & Annual 1; and Dr. Strange (2019) #1-6.
We already have two omnibuses that follow the conclusion of Mark Waid’s run on Doctor Strange – Doctor Strange by Jed MacKay and Strange Academy! That takes us into 2024. It’s too soon to try to map the scant handful of Strange Academy series we’ve had since then, and we so far only have two further Doctor Strange issues! See Guide to Doctor Strange.
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