WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Death of Doctor Strange #1, available now from Marvel Comics.

Doctor Strange has thrilled readers with his supernatural exploits as the Sorcerer Supreme for decades. Unfortunately, his tenure as the Master of the Mystic Arts has just run out with the titular events of The Death of Doctor Strange. As awful as his death might be, there is an even greater tragedy that he was never able to move past, and the lost love between himself and Clea, which this issue reveals haunted him right up until the very end.

The Death of Doctor Strange #1 by Jed MacKay, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela and VC's Cory Petit sees the titular Master of the Mystic arts begin his day. As he goes about his morning routine, a photograph stuck into the frame of his bathroom mirror catches his eye, and Strange is caught looking longingly at the one true love of his life in one of her happier moments. Unfortunately, this old polaroid might be all that is left of their relationship, considering it's the kind of moment that he may never share with Clea again.

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First appearing in 1964's Strange Tales #126 in the story "The Domain of the Dread Dormammu" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Clea hails from the same Dark Dimension as Dormammu. Born of an affair between Dormammu's own Faltine sister Umar and Prince Orini of the humanoid Mhuruuks, Clea's birth was something of a tragedy in itself. After bringing her daughter into the world, Umar found herself no longer able to transform into her Faltine form. Coupled with her general disdain for human types, this led her to disown her child. Though her father kept Clea's origin a secret, it wasn't long before she was nonetheless thrust into a world of magic and high-flying action when she met Doctor Strange during one of his treks to confront Dormammu.

After joining the hero, Clea and Strange had become romantically involved, and she traveled back to Earth with him to continue their relationship and train under him as a mage. The two were even wed following Clea ascending to the throne of the Dark Dimension before things began to fall apart. Strange's former lovers and lingering narcissism drove a wedge between the once happy couple, and Clea's new position left her without the need of her husband as a mentor.

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Doctor-Strange-and-Clea

Eventually, their relationship fell apart completely, with Doctor Strange returning to his duties on Earth while Clea went back to the Dark Dimension to continue battling Dormammu. It wasn't even all that long ago when the former couple met to discuss making their divorce official during 2016's Doctor Strange Annual by Kathryn Immonen and Leonardo Romero. Though they did share something of an intimate moment in which they affirmed their love for one another, there isn't any real hope left of the two ever reconciling. From the way Strange looks at Clea's photograph throughout his daily routine, that's not something he will ever be able to truly accept.

The fact that Doctor Strange and Clea's relationship wasn't able to last is one of the great romantic tragedies of the Marvel Universe, one which will undoubtedly become very important soon. It's impossible to imagine that Clea won't come running to help in any way she can as soon as she learns of Strange's demise, and with all of the power under her command, there is little chance she won't be a force to reckon with upon her arrival. With any luck, Clea can find some reconciliation in Doctor Strange's death where they couldn't in life. Or, at the very least, she will be able to find the killer before they strike again.

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