Strange #107
Strange #107 is a double-barrelled key-issue anthology by French standards: it delivers the French-language debut of two of Marvel's most enduring Bronze Age creations in a single package. The Spider-Man half of the issue reprints Amazing Spider-Man #129 — the first appearance of Frank Castle, the Punisher, and the simultaneous debut of Miles Warren as the Jackal — bringing these characters to a French readership for the very first time. The Daredevil half presents the origin and full identity reveal of Mandrill and his linked mutant partner Nekra, one of Steve Gerber's most politically charged story moves of the 1970s. For an entire generation of French Marvel fans who had no access to American newsstand copies, this was the definitive first encounter with characters who would go on to anchor decades of storytelling.
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Strange was the flagship title of Editions Lug, a Lyon-based publisher founded in 1950 by Marcel Navarro and Auguste Vistel that had secured a Marvel Comics licensing deal by 1970 after the collapse of its earlier Marvel-reprint attempts (Fantask and the first Marvel magazine) under pressure from French censorship authorities. Running monthly from January 1970, Strange reprinted four complete translated Marvel stories per issue, with covers provided largely by French painter Jean Frisano, who frequently produced original compositions based on the American material. Issue #107, dated November 1, 1978, was assembled during what historians regard as the best years of Lug's Marvel operation, when its line was expanding with companion titles such as Titans and Nova.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published November 1, 1978 by Editions Lug (Lyon, France); part of the long-running Strange monthly reprint anthology (1970–1996).
- Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974, Gerry Conway / Ross Andru) — the first appearance of Frank Castle, the Punisher, originally depicted as a hired antagonist manipulated by the Jackal to kill Spider-Man.
- Also reprints Amazing Spider-Man #130 (March 1974, Gerry Conway / Ross Andru), continuing the Punisher/Jackal storyline in the same issue and giving French readers both chapters back-to-back.
- Amazing Spider-Man #129 simultaneously introduces Miles Warren operating as the Jackal for the first time — the villain later central to the Clone Saga.
- Reprints Daredevil #110 ('Birthright!', June 1974, Steve Gerber / Gene Colan) — the issue that reveals Mandrill (Jerome Beechman) as the leader of Black Spectre and presents the shared radiation-mutation origin of both Mandrill and Nekra Sinclair.
- Reprints Iron Man #105 ('Every Hand Against Him!', December 1977, Bill Mantlo / George Tuska) — Part 3 of the Midas arc, featuring Jack of Hearts, Madame Masque, and Jasper Sitwell among its cast.
- Cover art attributed to Jean Frisano, the French painter responsible for the majority of Strange's original cover paintings throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.
- Strange was the only one of Editions Lug's three initial Marvel reprint titles to survive French censorship pressure; its companion magazines Fantask and Marvel were cancelled within a year of launch.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
The Thing returns Daredevil to New York after their failed attempt to defeat Black Spectre. Daredevil tangles with the evil organization once again and discovers that all of their soldiers are women with strange tattoos. The Widow is brainwashed into working for Black Spectre. Daredevil discovers that the Spectre's leader is Mandrill and is told an origin story of violence and intolerance of a white boy who was black (Mandrill) and a black girl who was white (Nekra).
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).