Appearing in "To Have Loved... and Lost!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Clea (Vision or hallucination)
- Dakimh the Enchanter (Vision or hallucination) (also as Doctor Keem)
- Ancient One (Vision or hallucination)
- Baron Mordo (Vision or hallucination)
- Ted Tevoski (Vision or hallucination)
- Les Tane (Vision or hallucination)
- Defenders (Vision or hallucination)
- Daimon Hellstrom (Vision or hallucination)
- Hellcat (Vision or hallucination)
- Valkyrie (Vision or hallucination)
- Gargoyle (Vision or hallucination)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "To Have Loved... and Lost!"
Still lamenting the loss of Clea, Dr. Strange has had himself sequestered to his quarters and has refused to eat or talk to either Wong or Sara Wolfe about his feelings. After being haunted by an illusion of Clea, he is visited by Dakimh the Mystic who forcibly takes Strange's astral form on a vision quest to see what the world would be like if he had never trained in the mystic arts. Taken to the temple of the Ancient One, Strange's master dismisses Dr. Strange as merely another ghost come to haunt him, and does not listen to Strange's warnings that Baron Mordo will eventually betray him.
Strange then suddenly finds himself bound in a straitjacket in an insane asylum, and Dakimh is really the facilitator and Wong and Sara are workers in the place. The asylum director tries to convince Stephen that he is a paranoid who has taken on the guise of a fictional character, and mockingly gives him mock up of his costume. Refusing to believe this, Strange flees and finds himself in Time Square, where he is horrified to see that Doctor Strange is apparently a fictional character and he is swarmed by fans of the latest Dr. Strange film, but manages to escape.
Stephen is once more found by the director who takes him to the creators of the Doctor Strange stories, however Strange continues to refuse to believe the apparent truth and when he strikes one of the creators he is shocked to find that he was merely an illusion cast upon a cut out. The director reveals himself to be Dahkim in disguise, who tries to convince Strange that his entire life is but a fiction that all his allies are merely actors and everything about him prop pieces. When Strange begins to give into the despair, Dakimh suggests that Strange kill himself to end his suffering.
Realizing what's going on, Strange strikes out at "Dakimh", who is really the demon D'Spayre, who was using this moment to try and strike out at Dr. Strange. After a furious battle, wherein D'Spayre tries to best Strange with illusions of the N'Garai and Clea, Strange manages to defeat D'Spayre and banish him from his Sanctum. Hearing the battle from down below, Wong and Sara arrive to see what all the commotion is about, and find Dr. Strange, who has begun to accept the loss of Clea and move on with his life. With the battle over, Strange asks Wong to bring him something to eat.
Notes
- D'Spayre previously appeared in Uncanny X-Men #144. He will appear next in Incredible Hulk #360.