Clea | |
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Dr. Strange (left) and Clea (right), fighting as a team on the cover of Dr. Strange #46 (April 1981). Art by Frank Miller & Tom Palmer.
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance |
Strange Tales #126 (November 1964) |
Created by |
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In-story information | |
Alter ego | |
Team affiliations |
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Partnerships | Doctor Strange |
Abilities |
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Clea is a fictional character, a sorceress appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is the disciple and lover of Doctor Strange. Created by co-plotters Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Clea first appeared in the Doctor Strange feature in Strange Tales #126 (November 1964).
Clea is a human-appearing being and maternally related to the other-dimensional Faltine race of energy beings. The daughter of Umar and the niece of the demonic tyrant Dormammu, the noble Clea has been, sporadically, ruler of the Dark Dimension, the mystical realm to which Dormammu had been banished and which he subsequently conquered. She was ranked 28th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
The character was introduced during a story arc in which Doctor Strange confronted Dormammu for the first time. Clea remained nameless for several issues, referred to only as the "captive female", or the "mysterious silver-haired girl". It was later noted that her father is Dormammu's closest disciple. Her name was eventually revealed two years later.
Initially, nothing indicates that Clea and Umar are related to or even know each other. Indeed, Dormammu's sister mimics her brother's tactics and goes after Clea as a way of hurting Strange. Later, it was revealed that Umar was her mother, and that her father was Orini, a disciple of Dormammu and ruler of the Dark Dimension.
In 2004, Clea appeared in the Witches series along with Jennifer Kale, Satana, and Topaz.
Brian Michael Bendis has described Clea as: "...the mistress of the Dark Dimension and...Strange’s ex-girlfriend/wife. She was trained by Strange, right there in his home. She was his prized pupil. She was to Strange what he was to the Ancient One [Strange’s instructor in the mystic arts]. But as Mistress of the Dark Dimension she hasn’t been on this plane of existence a lot lately. And who’s going to take her serious [sic] in those pants?"