STRANGE TALES #126

Cover shows moderate wear typical of a 1965 silver-age book: soft, slightly rounded corners, a vertical crease/spine roll visible along the left edge, and mild surface wear with some loss of gloss. There is minor edge wear along the top and right border with a couple of small nicks, and the cover appears to be housed in a protective sleeve which obscures fine detail slightly. No major tears, stains, or color breaks are evident, but interior pages and back cover were not assessed.

Strange Tales #126 (November 1964) delivers the debut of Dormammu, the interdimensional despot who would become Doctor Strange's most enduring antagonist across six decades of Marvel continuity. The story, scripted by Stan Lee with art by Steve Ditko, arrives during the Lee-Ditko run widely regarded as the foundation of the Doctor Strange mythos, and it sits alongside Ditko's other cosmic and mystical creations from the same period as a benchmark of his visual imagination. The issue also carries a Human Torch backup feature typical of the split-book format Strange Tales used before Doctor Strange graduated to his own title.

Market data shows a large, well-populated census of nearly 1,500 universal copies, reflecting the book's status as a widely sought but not scarce Silver Age key. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade in a narrow, accessible band, consistent with heavy circulation and a collector base that includes both villain-origin completists and general Doctor Strange readers. Values accelerate sharply above the 8.0 grade threshold, and the gap between the upper mid-grades and the handful of 9.4–9.8 copies is pronounced, driven by the small number of high-grade survivors relative to demand from Silver Age specialists and character-key collectors.

The book functions as a strong mid-tier anchor for any Doctor Strange or Ditko-focused collection, with steady liquidity across all grade brackets due to its recognized key status. Entry-level and mid-grade copies remain reasonably priced and trade frequently, making the issue approachable for collectors building toward higher spots in a Marvel villain or Ditko run; the extreme top end, where certified 9.6 and 9.8 copies are essentially unicorns on the census, is reserved for advanced registry-level buyers willing to pay a substantial premium for condition rarity rather than character significance alone.