Staff of Dravid (magic item; used by Dr. Strange)

staff_of_dravid-mshiii12-bazaar STAFF of DRAVID

Classification: Talismans of Mystic Power

Creator: Unrevealed

Possessors: Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), unidentified alien at the Bazaar at the End of Unreason

First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes III#12 / aka Winter 1992 (January, 1993)

staff_of_dravid-mshiii12-strange-use Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Staff of Dravid allowed the mystically weakened Dr. Strange to project force shields to deflect mystic attacks.

The Staff may grant other abilities, but they were unseen in its sole appearance.

History:

(Marvel Super-Heroes III#12) - The "Staff of Dravid" came into the possession of an unidentified extraterrestrial +/- extradimensional being who worked out of the Bazaar at the End of Unreason.

(Marvel Super-Heroes III#12) - Seeking to help rid Augustyne Phyffe of the cursed Diary of the Ancient Genghis, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange, transported Phyffe and the Diary to the realm known as the Bazaar at the End of Unreason.

    Presumably aware that he would be progressively weakened by the Diary's curse, Strange purchased the Staff of Dravid from the its unidentified possessor.

    When Wandor and his allies began tormenting Augustyne at the Den of Shadows, Strange generated a burst of energy from the Staff that gave the assailants pause.

    Wandor subsequently pursued Augustyne and Strange, who began to suffer from the curse. After Strange transferred the Diary to a Grogronk, who took it to Gronk for disposal, he was assaulted by Wandor, who wished to make a name for himself by defeating Strange.

    Wandor assaulted the weakened Strange who used the Staff of Dravid to form a shield against the attacks.

    Even with the Staff of Dravid, Strange had been so affected that he was forced to drink the addictive Orphium to temporarily boost his mystic powers to defeat Wandor.

    Strange and Augustyne then returned to Earth (see comments).

staff_of_dravid-mshiii12-strange Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, R.J.M. L'Officier, Brian Postman, and Armando Gil.

According to the online Free Dictionary, Dravid is presumably derived from the word Dravidian, which refers to either a member of one of the aboriginal faces of India, pushed south by the Indo-Europeans and now mixed with them; or a family of languages spoken in South and Central India and Sri Lanka, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Gondi

Dr. Strange presumably took the Staff of Dravid with him when he returned to Earth, but it was not seen following his conflict with Wandor. Perhaps it was destroyed.

Ever since this story came out, I thought it said "Staff of David," and I assumed it be derived from the biblical King David (father of Solomon). I was debating including it with the Staff of Solomon profile, because it would seem quite likely that if David had a magic staff, and then after his death his son used a magic staff, that it was the same one. It was only the morning of the day I was planning on working on the profile (nearly 27 years after the story came out) that our own Wolfram Bane disabused me of this misperception and explained the likely meaning of the term.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Staff of Dravid should be distinguished from:

STAFF of the CREATOR - wielded by Adam K'admon--Man-Thing III#3
STAFF of IBIS - Wielded by Karanthes, channeled power of Ibis (Thoth), allowed banishment of demons and other magical feats--Marvel Feature I#6
STAFF of ONE - wielded by Nico Minoru (and her parents before that), powered by mystic being dwelling within it. Able to cast virtually any spell, but only one time each--Runaways I#1
STAFF of POLAR POWER - wielded by Nebulos--Strange Tales I#151
STAFF of SOLOMON - used by Moses, Solomon, Solomon Kane, and many others--Torah: Exodus; Weird Tales: Red Shadows; Bible Tales; Nova I#7
ROD of AARON - wielded by Moses' brother Aaron; thrown down before Pharaoh Ramses II and transformed into snake, consuming those snakes similarly formed by Ramses' priests; in the Marvel Universe, it may be that it is the same as the Staff of Moses--Torah: Exodus: 7: 9
other staffs, rods, etc.

images: (without ads):
Marvel Super-Heroes III#12, pg. 8 (Strange purchasing the Staff of Dravid from merchant at Bazaar at the End of Unreason);
pg. 16, panel 3 (Strange with Staff, full);
pg. 17, panel 5 (Strange wielding Staff against Wandor)

Appearances:
Marvel Super-Heroes III#12 / aka Winter 1992 (January, 1993) - Roy Thomas and R.J.M. L'Officier (writers; based on a plot by Stuart Hopen), Brian Postman (penciler), Armando Gil (inker), Dan Cuddy (assistant editor), Rob Tokar (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First posted: 11/17/2019
Last updated: 11/17/2019

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Items