Strange #142
Strange #142 is a representative artifact of how a generation of French readers first encountered Bronze Age Marvel storytelling — delivered monthly by Editions Lug as a translated anthology that served as the primary gateway to the Marvel Universe in France throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Most significantly for character history, the Daredevil chapter reprinted here is the French-language debut of Paladin, the roguish mercenary-for-hire who made his first Marvel appearance in Daredevil #150 (cover-dated January 1978), introducing a morally ambiguous archetype — the charming, amoral vigilante-for-profit — that would recur across Marvel for decades. Coming at the peak of what historians consider Editions Lug's finest years, the issue also delivered a key chapter of the Michelinie/Layton/Romita Jr. Iron Man run to French audiences, further cementing Strange's role as the single most durable conduit for English-language superhero comics in Francophone Europe.
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Editions Lug, founded in 1950 in Lyon — whose name derives from Lugdunum, the city's Gallo-Roman antecedent — launched Strange in January 1970 after earlier Marvel anthology titles (Fantask and Marvel) were cancelled following pressure from French censors who objected to violent content; Strange avoided that fate and ran for over two decades. By October 1981, the series was well into what scholars of the Lug imprint regard as its most commercially and creatively robust period, with the French Marvel line also including Titans, Nova, and Spidey. Lug's in-house studio routinely made targeted editorial alterations to reprinted artwork and, from early in the run, commissioned original painted covers — many by French artist Jean Frisano — giving the anthology a distinct visual identity separate from its American source material.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published 5 October 1981 by Editions Lug, Lyon, France; issue #142 of the long-running Strange anthology series (January 1970 – December 1996).
- Reprints four complete Marvel stories in French translation: Daredevil #150 ('Catastrophe!', Jan. 1978), Iron Man #139 ('Facades, Ruses & Masques', Oct. 1980), The Amazing Spider-Man #189 ('Mayhem By Moonlight!', Feb. 1979), and ROM #11 ('Standoff!', Oct. 1980).
- Contains the French-language first appearance of Paladin — his US debut was Daredevil #150 (cover date January 1978, on-sale October 1977), written by Jim Shooter and pencilled by Carmine Infantino, in which the mercenary clashes with Daredevil while both pursue the Purple Man (Zebediah Killgrave).
- The Iron Man chapter, from the celebrated Michelinie/Layton/Bob Layton run, features Tony Stark, Bethany Cabe, James Rhodes, Madame Masque, Spymaster, Dreadnoughts, and references to Count Nefaria and Nick Fury — bringing a dense cast of supporting characters to French readers.
- The ROM chapter, scripted by Bill Mantlo, features Rom and his fellow Spaceknight Firefall in a confrontation with Dire Wraiths at Project Safeguard, continuing the science-fiction/horror hybrid storyline that distinguished the ROM series.
- Issue includes a bonus Thor poster insert (verso: small-ads page), one in a recurring series of character portrait supplements Lug bundled with Strange throughout the early 1980s.
- Strange #142 was also collected in Lug's companion 'Strange Album' recueil format (Album #47, covering Strange #140–#142), making the content available in a squarebound compilation shortly after the monthly issue.
- Editions Lug routinely made artwork retouching ('retouches') to reprinted pages via their in-house studio, meaning the French versions of these stories could differ visually in minor details from their original Marvel printings.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Rom has been captured and brought to Project Safeguard which is run by Dire Wraiths. Dr. Sweet plans on experimenting on the Spaceknight to see what makes him tick but the Wraith high command tells her that he should be killed immediately. As the Wraiths move in to kill Rom and Firefall (also a prisoner at Safeguard), they are able to escape and fight back. Firefall gives his life to free Rom's neutralizer from the Wraith sphere that surrounds it. Rom blasts Dr. Sweet with his weapon just as the humans who work at the project burst through the door.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).