History
Clea Lake was a young woman living in a one-room apartment in New York City. She had a mystical psychic bond with Stephen Strange, a psychiatrist with a talent for the mystic arts, although they had never met. Clea lived alone while attending University to get a degree in psychology. As she did not have much money, she bought second-hand books and looked for special offers.
Unbeknownst to Clea, the evil witch, Morgan le Fay had reached Earth from her exile and intended to murder the Sorcerer Supreme, Thomas Lindmer. Morgan saw Clea and seeing that Clea had an innocent soul, she decided to use her in her plan; Morgan possessed Clea, controlling her actions.
Thomas tried to stop Morgan on an urban bridge over the road, but Morgan disappeared. Clea then walked across the bridge as if she were a mere pedestrian and, when she had Clea at hand, she pushed him over the bridge's edge. Thomas was caught completely unaware and fell to his apparent death. The situation was so shocking that Clea broke the possession and screamed aghast. Morgan approached Clea and asked whether the old man was dead or not and Clea escaped. Clea was not even conscious that her own hands had pushed Thomas and she understood that the other woman was somehow responsible for that. This event was so traumatic that Stephen Strange perceived it as a dream; due to his bond with Clea.
Lindmer survived using magic, but he was too weakened to attempt anything like that again. But he understood that Clea that Morgan had used, was important for them because Morgan would go back to her, thus; Clea was in danger. Thomas sent his pupil, Wong, to find Clea. Although he did not know her name, he had drawn a portrait of her.
Clea was plagued by nightmares featuring Morgan. She woke up stressed and she still saw Morgan's face everywhere. Scared, she ran from her own home, leaving the door open and almost caused a traffic accident. A cab driver, seeing her distress, offered to help and then they both noticed that Clea was amnesic. The cabbie took her to the East Side Hospital ER, where she was assigned to psychiatry-under Dr. Stephen Strange. Strange recognized her from his vision but, being a rational man, he discarded the possibility. Clea insisted in telling about the bridge event, which Strange remembered vividly. Clea asked to not be given sleep-inducing drugs, and strange agreed to that (although he also ordered to test Clea for illegal drugs) but Clea become violent; when a nurse tried to give her one routine medicament. Strange sided with Clea at this. Morgan tried to stop Strange, but Strange had a ring with the symbol of light that protected him.
Wong also found Clea in the hospital and reported to Thomas. Thomas went to see Clea; as he could claim that he had met her previously, he had a valid reason and he used his magic powers to "convince" the nurses. Thomas finally talked to Strange and explained that Clea was in danger; due to magical forces, but Strange could help her if he accepted this heterodox vision of reality. Strange was sceptical, but friendly.
Chief of Psychiatry, Dr. Frank Taylor disagreeing with Strange's medical approach, gave Clea a tranquilizer. Strange angrily yelled at Frank; who replied that Lake was not Strange's personal patient but an aggressive patient in a public hospital. A second doctor sided with Frank, suggesting that Strange liked Clea, thus; he could not be objective.
But the drug was enough to make Clea sleep and Morgan took this chance to capture her; a sleeping person visited the lower astral planes, but Morgan took Clea's astral form to the higher astral planes, which she could not leave by herself and where she would be hounded by hostile dwellers; should they kill her astral form, her body would follow. Meanwhile, Clea's body fell into a comma and her state was critical. Strange quickly acted as a doctor and stabilized Clea, but he could not wake her up.
Strange visited Thomas at Thomas' mansion to see if he could help Lake. Thomas explained that Clea had been trapped in the astral plane and a magician could rescue her by travelling there - but Thomas himself had been recently weakened and was unable to do so. But Thomas could train Strange so that Strange could go, making use of his latent powers. Strange accepted because Clea was in danger. Thomas explained that Strange could track Clea using their psychic bond and once he grabbed her, he could wake himself and her by concentrating. Strange's ring, Thomas continued, would protect him against most of the inhabitants of the plane, but should any of them attack, Thomas taught Strange a spell, a plea to Raggadorr that would repel them.
Clea was found by Strange, but by then Morgan had already noticed and sent the monster, Balzaroth to retain them both. Balzaroth succeeded in separating Clea from Strange, but then Strange defeated Balzaroth with his spell. Strange then took Clea and both of them left the astral plane. Clea woke up in the hospital, remembering a vivid dream in which Strange valiantly saved her life.
In the hospital, Clea recovered completely and admitted to herself that she felt attracted to Dr. Strange. She decided to play billiards to while away the time; until Strange came to see her and see if he could walk her home simply for the pleasure of his company. Strange, feeling attracted to Clea to, agreed. Clea told him about her dream, but he suggested that he had only saved her using traditional medical reasons. Lake told him that she studied psychology and that he could babysit her to help with her homework. They agreed to have a date for dinner that same night.
Morgan then managed to defeat both Thomas and Wong, apprehending the latter and she magically appeared on Clea's apartment just; when she was receiving Strange for her date. At seeing Morgan again, Clea suffered another breakdown and she collapsed on her bed. Morgan then approached Strange and blackmailed him; she threatened to hurt Clea; unless he accompanied Morgan to another dimension. Strange agreed, worried about Clea, but then Strange defeated Morgan in her own domain and released Thomas. Strange then agreed to train as a wizard under Thomas, happy to know that he had no need to renounce to love.
Soon afterward, Clea dated Strange again - but she did not remember her previous date, her encounters with Morgan or even the conversation she had had with Strange when leaving the hospital. During a walk, they saw Morgan in a tv interview; the sorceress pretended to be a self-help expert using a secret method to "release the inner power" of her young followers. Clea did not recognize Morgan and claimed that Morgan's method looked like some dumb fashion.[1]Attributes
Powers
- Psychic bond: Clea Lake has a natural psychic bond with the wizard and doctor Stephen Strange. Due to this; they were especially linked to each other, and important events in their lives were perceived by the other as a dream, even before they met. Besides, the bond allowed Strange to find Lake in the astral planes. Apparently, the bond was natural.
Abilities
- A certain knowledge of psychology. She has also shown ability at playing billiards.
Weaknesses
- Clea Lake had a history of psychic problems; due to her encounters with Morgan le Fay. During her worst crisis, Lake suffered from somniphobia; because she correctly believed that Morgan could get her if she was sleeping.
- Clea Lake has limited resources and resorted to second-hand books, and special offers to buy study material.
Trivia
- In the movie Dr. Strange, Clea Lake is portrayed by actress Eddie Benton (born Edmonda Benton), who later changed her stage name to Anne-Marie Martin.
- In the movie, Clea Lake is a human student unaware of the magic-users around her, very different to the comic-book character; who is a magic-user woman from another dimension. The main similitudes seem to be that Clea is Dr. Strange's love interest and that she is a damsel-in-distress, repeatedly kidnapped and targeted by the villain.
See Also
Links and References
- Dr. Strange on
