I’ve only read a handful of Doctor Strange’s adventures throughout his history, but one that certainly stands out is “To Have Loved… And Lost” in Doctor Strange #55 (Oct 1982). This standalone story, written by Roger Stern, sees Strange having an emotional crisis, as the love of his life, Clea (who was introduced all the way back in Ditko and Lee’s classic original run) has walked out of his life, to return to her home in the Dark Dimension. In a fit of rage, the Doctor wishes that he had never learned magic; and what follows is an “It’s a Wonderful Life” type morality plot where Strange’s wish is granted, and he must struggle with both figurative and real demons to recognize the value in his life, or forever be lost to the darkness of D’Spayre.
This was probably the first Doctor Strange story I ever read, when it was included in the ‘Very Best of Marvel Comics’ TPB in 1991. Going back now to reread it, I got so much more from the tale; particularly with my raised awareness of the character. The personal nature of the struggle gives a poignancy that none of his other adventures have matched, and Michael Golden’s phenomenal artwork has aged particularly well. In fact, the whole story seems more timely than ever, with Strange hallucinating that his adventures are fictional, and have been adapted into a series of blockbuster movies. This leads to a brilliant sequence, where the Doctor even meets up with the supposed creators of his fictional comic; Ted Tevoski (Steve Ditko) and Les Tane (Stan Lee). I think I’ve fallen slightly in love with the panel shown below; look at Ditko’s hand – he’s miming out an incantation gesture so that he can reference it in a drawing. Beautifully observed, which pretty much describes this whole issue.
