Strange Tales 1951 #167 - 6.0 - $17.00

While Jimmy Woo cradles the body of Suwan in his arms a SHIELD Suicide Squad bursts in via The Dreadnought, a colossal tunneling machine. The Claw vanishes but Fury uses a Pseudo-Elliptoid Wrist Tracer to find him, but arrives just as the villain escapes into the Space-Time Continuum in an Infinity Sphere. Fury finds a Prototype Warp-Vest and follows The Claw as they have a psychic duel. Fury wins and uses The Satan Claw to peel open The Claw's armor, only to discover he was actually a robot. Unknown to SHIELD Dr. Doom was playing a cosmic chess game using automatons to confuse the agents.

The Ancient One is alive and tells Strange he made Zom believe he was dead so he could pass on his powers to his disciple. With the Cosmic Balance restored he was able to shatter the spell that bound him. In his Himalayan retreat Strange and the Ancient One discover that Victoria Bentley is a prisoner in the Dimension of Dreams. Using a mystic gem and with his mentor to mentally guide him Strange travels to Victoria. Strange catches up with Yandroth and Victoria and faces a giant behemoth and a pair of Viking warriors while Yandroth raises a gun and prepares to fire.

On-sale date from 1968 Periodicals, Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

• - Steranko coloring per checklist in Comic Book Marketplace # 28, October 1995. Advertised in previous issue's coming attactions box as "Mighty Marvel's first venture into psychedelic artwork." Nick Fury is a dead ringer for Burt Lancaster (Steranko's favorite actor) on this cover.
• Armageddon! - Part 9 of 9. Features comics' 1st 4-page spread (requiring 2 issues side-by-side for full effect). SHIELD's invading The Yellow Claw's underground HQ pays tribute to the climax of the film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) with the heroes coming thru the floor instead of the ceiling. SHIELD's Dreadnought, which takes its name (ironically) from the HYDRA killer robot is in the tradition of tunneling machines used by Cave Carson in BRAVE AND THE BOLD #31 (DC Comics, September 1960), The Hate Monger in FANTASTIC FOUR #21 (February 1963), International Rescue on the TV series THUNDERBIRDS (1965) and Japan's Science Patrol on the TV series ULTRA MAN (1966). The Claw's Infinity Sphere is similar to The Legion Of Super-Heroes' Time Bubbles in ADVENTURE COMICS. With Dr. Strange battling a science-fiction villain and Fury hurtling thru other dimensions the two series in STRANGE TALES had more similarities than usual. Baron Strucker's Satan Claw was last seen in STRANGE TALES #159 (August 1967). The Prime Mover returned in GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3 (January 1975). While the ending of this story would be long debated among fans, writer Steve Englehart brought back the real Yellow Claw in CAPTAIN AMERICA #164-167 (August-November 1973).
• Come 'n Get It, Tiger ? Here's Our New Year's Gift to You!! - Items; Stan's Soapbox!; The Mighty Marvel Checklist; Let's Meet 26 More M.M.M.S. Members!
• This Dream --- This Doom! - Part 21 of 22; part 4 of Yandroth sequence. Inspired by Steranko Dan Adkins begins using bizarre page layouts that resemble overlapping photos.
• More Triumphs for Marvel..! - House ad for Not Brand Echh (Marvel, 1967 series) #7 (April 1968) and Daredevil (Marvel, 1964 series) #38 (March 1968), with covers shown, and both advertised as "Now On Sale".
• - Date of Filing: October 1, 1967. Total Paid Circulation: Average number of copies during preceding 12 months: 241,561.
• - Letters of comment from Robert Klein; Michael Lawrence; Michael Pleasant; and John E Mullen.