Reflections

It came as something of a surprise to witness the departure from the pages of Doctor Strange of the character we know as Clea--the lover and disciple who had become a fixture in the sorcerer's life since 1964, after he liberated her from the Dark Dimension of the Dread Dormammu. Perhaps equally surprising were her reasons: feeling that she was ill-suited to be a disciple to Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, and also having become convinced that another woman harbored even greater love for Strange than herself. A presence in both of Strange's series (as well as, to some degree, in The Defenders), Clea's exit created a void in his life as depicted by writer Roger Stern, shattering his resolve and leaving him vulnerable to despair. Only after prevailing in a life-or-death struggle was Strange able to put the episode behind him--effectively reclaiming his book's solo status after over seventeen years of having Clea featured in it.

But would her absence create a void in Doctor Strange? While I feel obliged to raise the point, I can't bring myself to argue in its favor, since I've admittedly never warmed to Clea as a compelling character in her own right. Once the "disciple" trigger was pulled by Steve Englehart, it would have been difficult to sever Clea's status with Strange or with the book, short of the character's death; but I still felt that her position as Strange's disciple should not have been the reason for her becoming a mainstay in the book and factoring her into all of its plots. Eventually, you wind up with covers like this one, carrying a caption which virtually grants her co-star status:

Can you say you were shelling out 50¢ to read the adventures of "Doctor Strange and Clea"? Looking back, I can see the wisdom of locating Strange, himself a disciple at the time, half a world away from the Ancient One and having Strange be the one to take point on whatever threat needed dealing with.

Curiously, it was a story in this very issue--taking place just seven issues before Clea would depart--which had me wondering if Stern might have been thinking out loud (through Strange) about Clea's viability in both the book and at Strange's side. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the story's focus--mostly a one-shot which supplements the issue's main tale--but it adds some interesting perspective to a situation which wouldn't be long in coming. This could of course just be me reading between the lines here... but feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts on the subject, and on Clea in general.