| Author |
|
Rick Whiting
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Posts: 2188
|
| Posted: 28 April 2016 at 9:04pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
In a discussion about the white washing of the Ancient One in the upcoming Dr. Strange movie, Kurt Busiwk tweeted out his theory that Dr. Strange was originally intended to be Asian based on the way that Ditko drew him in his first few early appearances. Do you guys think that Dr. Strange was originally intended to be Asian? Here's the link to the articlr that reposted Busiek's tweets.
https://culturewarreporters.com/2016/03/04/for-your-consider ation-asian-doctor-strange-kurt-busiek/
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132279
|
| Posted: 28 April 2016 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
Not intended to be Asian at first, but Steve might have intended him to turn Asian! Marvel did this with Dr. Droom, later transformed into Dr. Druid, with his race-morphing deleted. There's an amusing tale there. One of Roger Stern's first jobs at Marvel was Reprint Editor. He chose the stories that ran in the various reprint titles. But being the diligent devil he is, Rog didn't just grab stories and shuffle them into issues, he cleaned up the art and occasionally modified the script. This was the case with Dr. Droom. Originally his story was much like that of Dr. Strange, with a White guy traveling to the Far East to learn the Mystic Arts. His success in this was demonstrated with a panel in which he held his hands to his face and exclaimed "My skin! It's becoming yellow! My eyes! They're becoming slanted!" Sensing the sh*t storm this could unleash if presented to a modern audience, but needing pages for the issue, Rog transformed Droom to Druid, and rewrote the potentially offensive dialog as "My mind! It's as if I've been asleep all my life!"
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
|
| Posted: 28 April 2016 at 10:26pm | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
Looking back at those early appearances in STRANGE TALES, even
after the origin story where Stephen Strange appears to be a white guy,
Ditko continues to draw him with "Asian" features as Dr. Strange.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Rick Whiting
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Posts: 2188
|
| Posted: 28 April 2016 at 10:56pm | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
Not intended to be Asian at first, but Steve might have intended him to turn Asian! Marvel did this with Dr. Droom, later transformed into Dr. Druid, with his race-morphing deleted.
_______________________________
Busiek posted the panels from that Dr. Droom story that showed him transforming from a white guy to an Asian guy. So yeah, I think that your theory is most likely the reason why Dr. Strange looked Asian in his early stories.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2292
|
| Posted: 28 April 2016 at 11:15pm | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
I can't possibly explain the Dr. Droom sequence, but is it possible that Dr. Strange's early Asian-like appearance (and I don't think it's in every panel) was just visual shorthand for making Strange look mystic and wise ("inscrutable")?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 11:25am | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
If you're Steve Ditko, you draw characters with mostly square heads, and an inconsistently vague Asian appearance. It's what you do.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 4:57pm | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
This question was raised before on the board years ago. Doctor Strange wasn't given an origin for a few issues after he appeared first in "Strange Tales" #110, so I did wonder if Steve Ditko meant for Strange to be Asian, while Stan Lee had a different idea about it?
Ok, I found that older thread on this subject:
LINK!
Edited by Matt Hawes on 29 April 2016 at 4:59pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
Brian O'Neill wrote:
| ...If you're Steve Ditko, you draw characters with mostly square heads, and an inconsistently vague Asian appearance. It's what you do.... |
|
|
Um.... no.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
BTW, I had forgotten that I posted a comparison of Dr. Strange and how Ditko drew him before and after the origin story. It is on PAGE 2 of the old thread mentioned above.
The origin is important because I don't believe the name "Stephen" was given to the doctor before that story. The origin makes it clear that Dr. Strange was not Asian, but there isn't anything I recall that was written before the origin to confirm his ethnicity.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 6:43pm | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
BTW, I had forgotten that I posted a comparison of Dr. Strange and
how Ditko drew him before and after the origin story. It is on PAGE 2 of
the old thread mentioned above.
------
While Strange is drawn differently in Strange Tales #115, he continues
to look "Asian" in the present-day stories until Strange Tales #121.
It's like a combination of Yellow Peril and 80's Satanic Panic: "Don't
mess with the occult kids, or else you will turn Asian!" Is Jack Chick still
around? He should make a tract.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
|
| Posted: 29 April 2016 at 9:28pm | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
Yep... Jack Chick is still around. I don't know how he'd handle a tract about Doctor Strange, but if it's as hilariously bad as "Dark Dungeons," it would be an unintentional riot, I am sure.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132279
|
| Posted: 30 April 2016 at 7:48am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
Ditko had a wide range of faces, accomplished with what was basically shorthand. Compared to artists like Neal Adams, or Joe Kubert, or even Jack Kirby, Ditko was able to create multiple different faces with just a few simple strokes. Strange's early, heavy lidded eyes are an example of this. He was making the good Doctor look "exotic."(I am reminded of when I was working on CHAPTER ONE, and mentioned that Spider-Man does not "move" to New York until several stories into his run, and to Queens even later. As first seen, the city/town where Peter Parker lives is clearly not NYC. There is a rocket base on the outskirts, for one thing! And, significantly, the same cop turns up at three different points in the story, even tho the events portrayed would have been in three different precincts in NYC. (This didn't stop people arguing that Ditko "intended" the guy to be three different people, even tho he was drawn with the same mustache each time he appeared!)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Topic Closed)
