Clea should be on the next Savage Avengers book because boi, she invented the concept of SAVAGE
Btw Iâll add a few TWs because⌠yeah, that happened in a Strange comic. Iâm still shocked.
Iâll get into personalities later but first letâs see whatâs happening.
The chapter starts with Clea facing the Harvestman as seen in the previews/sneak peek. And when she says she is far more brutal, sheâs not exaggerating.
The Harvestman forbids Clea to resurrect Stephen and the chapter changes to earlier that morning with the preview featuring Doom. Things, mm, escalated more than I could have predicted haha
So we learn afterwards that Clea is actually lying here. Itâs not like Stephen gave the mantle to Clea to make sure that Victor doesnât become SS (which, imo, itâs not so odd to consider here because yeah, we all know that Victor would be⌠shady as a Sorcerer Supreme, to say the least). But he also has a point, the Tournament didnât happen. And then again, Clea has an even better point because true, Victor was not around when Stephen died (chronologically speaking, he was definitely in space âfightingâ Dormammu with the Guardians of the Galaxy). Also, true. Stephen did fight for the Vishanti for five thousand years, and thatâs another brilliant reference Jed brings here, showing that he truly knows the characterâs background (which I deeply appreciate).
From Doctor Strange - Sorcerer Supreme #80.
But for real, she touched a nerve there. She really hurt his feelings, and so he leaves in utter defeat lmao. Iâm shocked with her savagery and sassiness, like, Clea, my love???? Even Aleister and Anton join her, I cant.
So Wong also shows up and gods, he spent all night drinking at the Bar With No Doors mourning Stephen. Iâm just SO NOT OKAY. Friendly reminder that losing Stephen was one of Wongâs most dreaded fears, as established back in v4. Imagine his pain and grief ahahahaha :â)
Clea doesnât accept Wongâs terrible state and so she convinces him to go for some *real* coffee. Wong says thereâs a Goblin Market nearby and off they go. Clea also reveals that she is determined to bring Stephen back. This dialogue happens and Iâm laughing and crying at the same time haha :â)
And so Wong takes Clea to the Shrouded Bazaar.
They talk about the wonders of the market and the fact that no one rules the place, itâs a communityâs safe space even though some bad people tried to take it by force. The shop owner mentions two known names: Kingpin and the Hood both made their attempts to control the market but failed. The same goes for the Blasmephy Cartel, which infiltrate the market while the owner talks about them.
They start shooting and thigs get⌠graphic. Clea is really pissed.
I am speechless. She⌠She went full Evil!Stephen and bounded a demon through the Eye of Agamotto. And this is just the first chapter!! CLEA, MY QUEEN?????
Aaaaaaand she transmuted the last survivor into butterflies, just like Stephen in IW!!!
Talk about using beauty to be mortal oooooooof, my queen???
Next, theyâre back to the Sanctum and Batsâ smile is the most important thing to me rn, do not touch me.
Wong is truly priceless here. Thatâs what Iâve talking about all this time xD every hero dies at some point haha
Clea casts a spell to detect necromantic energy in hope that Stephen manages to return from the dead by himself as many others did.
And finally, they have THE talk. You know, about murder?
But before they could continue, Cleaâs spell activates, which means necromantic energy was detected. Clea hurries to the place while Wong is⌠Poor Wong⌠I want to hug him so so so bad.
While Clea is heading towards the source, she reflects upon the events that brought her here.
So this is what I was talking about when I said Clea was lying to Victor. Indeed, she really cheated in order to get the mantle without a new contest, and Iâm kinda concerned about it because entities are⌠complicated. But Iâm also glad because, although a bit extreme, Clea is resorting to the same thing that matters the most to Stephen: love. Sheâs using her Faltine heritage, the desire to conquer, in a good way. And Iâm not saying sheâs been altruistic about it. Sheâs not. Itâs quite petty but this is not a bad thing imo. Because I donât want Clea to be like Stephen. I love their differences. I adore the fact that Stephen uses love as a guideline to do good while Clea sees love as a powerful weapon. Same strong feeling, different perspectives.
Iâm not so sure how she used her desire to conquer love in order to convince the Vishanti that she should be the next Sorcerer Supreme but⌠Weâll have to wait and see.
PS: mmm, maybe Victor would understand the concept of love if you mentioned his mommy, Clea xD thatâs his weak spot for sure haha.
PS²: this is literally how I describe Stephen pleaaaaase.
And lastly! We return to the beginning of the chapter, where weâre introduced to the Harvestman andâŚ
Thunderstrike is a character related to Thor and even had a team-up with Stephen.
He was supposed to be dead so itâs understandable that the Harvestman is using necromancy to fight her. But judging by the first page, I think Clea finished him (you can see a hand on the floor next to Harvestman). So yes, Iâm predicting that Clea basically defeated a Thor. This woman, I swear.
Iâm gonna be honest, Iâve never seen Clea this savage. And I kinda like it. Because it really makes sense, sheâs been fighting Dormammu for decades and he pretty much killed dozens, if not thousands of her rebels in front of her. She was not raised by the morals of Earth, even though she learned a lot with Stephen, about empathy and life and such. But sheâs also enraged at fate for keeping them apart. Sheâs tired of being in his shadow and she will use her inner nature to conquer Death and end her whole career.
Iâm excited for this book because mostly I want to see some character development. This seems to be a Clea that just arrived in the middle of a storm and has to learn how to adapt and grow in a world without Stephen. Iâm glad Wong is around but it will be hard for her to listen to him, even though they both want Stephen back.
Also we never managed to have a darker book (except maybe for Thor MAX? And Magic Bullets, but itâs not something that comes from Stephen himself). Iâm still shocked and impressed, and I hope this is a good thing.
Those are gonna be long months of waiting without our beloved little meow meow but Iâll take my time to enjoy Clea. I love her.
