P Craig Russell - Dr. Strange 1972 Marvel Comics portfolio application piece

If any piece could be considered the FIRST professional art of Dr. Strange produced by P Craig Russell, than this is it:

P Craig Russell's first Dr. Strange 

Maybe you do not believe me. Or think that such a statement is hyperbole.

Well, would you believe himself?

back of P Craig Russell Dr Strange portfolio piece

PCR provenance statement

I am a big fan of P Craig Russell. His art is amazing. It has the delicate and generally thin linework that I like the most in my comics artists. But he takes that style of linework and makes it all his own. The quirky jagged edges and lean lithe figures. The man is an artist in any medium or field and I am glad he chooses to create comics.

In fact one of my all-time desires for original art, yes the dread "grail" for me, is a piece drawn by PCR. Check out this amazingness -

But if I cannot have that, at least I can have the other. It is not the work of the PCR as I came to love him, but knowing the provenance of the art makes owning this a real treat for me. When I bought it from Craig's representative off ebay in 2008 I asked if I could get a short note from Craig detailing the reason for its' creation. The reply was that he would write a nice note on the back of the page and in fact continues to do this on all ebay sales to this day as far as I know. I think that is a great contribution to the hobby and am pleased to have the note from the artist on the art. I have debated its' place in The Fifty and have not yet anointed it as such. The technical aspects of the drawing would not warrant it to me but the history of the piece makes it very special in my collection. In either case it is not going anywhere anytime soon.