An obscure Marvel villain is officially returning for the first time since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created him 62 years ago.
That would be the Gulgol, who made a single appearance in 1964’s Strange Tales #122. Summoned from the Netherworld by Doctor Strange, the supernatural creature represents an existential threat to Nightmare because it never sleeps. And now, after all this time, he’s back to show the lord of bad dreams what for in Doctor Strange: Endless Nightmare.
New Doctor Strange Graphic Novel Brings Back Obscure Villain, the Gulgol
“Actually, it was Marvel’s idea,” the book’s writer, acclaimed science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson (Saga of Seven Suns), exclusively told SYFY Wire. “They brought him to my attention, ‘By the way, this guy has never been seen again since the original appearance, just in case you want to use him.’ He fit right in, and it was very exciting to do something so classic and so fresh.”
Endless Nightmare marks a reunion between Anderson, illustrative duo Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín and publisher Abrams ComicArts following their collaboration on the graphic novel adaptation of Dune.
While he had his pick of nearly every character in the Marvel litter, Anderson went with the Sorcerer Supreme because, “there has always been something different, cerebral, and awe-inspiring about Dr. Strange, who fought villains that challenged reality itself.”
“It gives me a nostalgic thrill,” he added, “to leave a footprint in the storyline of a superhero I used to read as a young boy.”
A sendup to the tentacled, madness-inducing cosmic dread of H.P. Lovecraft, the book sees Strange coming into contact with a raving hospital patient who claims all of reality is nothing more than the dream of a sleeping god.
It’s a concept associated with Cthulhu Mythos entity Azathoth, whose slumbering consciousness forms our very existence. Indeed, he must be serenaded at all times, lest he wake up and cause the universe to blink out of existence.
“With Dr. Strange’s opponents on various planes, including the Nightmare Realm, I thought a Lovecraftian twist and dreaming god would be a perfect fit,” Anderson explained. “I have always been intrigued by the vastness of the cosmic terror in Lovecraftian fiction. I love the creepy, nightmarish monsters so weird they are ‘beyond imagining’ and it gives so much room to work with. [Plus], I had an artistic team that was up to the challenge.”
The god may be slumbering, but humanity is very much awake, cursed with collective insomnia that won’t go away unless Strange travels into the Nightmare Realm via the madman’s mind to search for answers.
The standalone story falls under the Marvel Arts line Abrams launched with legendary writer/artist Alex Ross, who consulted on the project, “to add his suggestions and inspiration,” Anderson revealed. “He helped us develop the twisted, surreal world of the Nightmare Realm, and it came out wonderfully disorienting.”
Doctor Strange: Endless Nightmare is on sale from Abrams ComicArts Sep. 8.
