In a year-long storyline published in 1994 in "", Doctor Strange creates the Strangers out of aetheric energy a part of a plan to defeat the demon sorceress Salomé. The storyline began a year previously in "Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme" #50 (February, 1993), in which Doctor Strange loses access to the extradimensional entities who give him his magical abilities, following his refusal to participate in the War of the Seven Spheres. In "Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme" #60 (December, 1993) Doctor Strange cannot prevent his Sanctum Sanctorum from being destroyed, leaving him open to an attack by Salomé. The events were part of the "Siege of Darkness" crossover running through the Midnight Sons comic books.