Writer – Steve Englehart
Artist – Gene Colan
Inker – Klaus Janson
Colours – Petra Goldberg
Letters – Tom Orzechowski

After the events involving Silver Dagger, Stephen and Clea have earned a little rest and relaxation. Being the Sorcerer Supreme though, it lasts but a moment as they are first accosted by a man who seems to be nothing more than a drug addict and then an old lady who transforms into Umar the Unrelenting – sister of Dormammu. Thus begins another epic by Steve Englehart and the arrival of legendary penciller Gene Colan who few can match when it comes to the realms of horror and the fantastic. Umar is looking to put the hurt on the good Doctor and yet, thanks to his latest power influx, he is stronger than ever and is soon able to banish Umar back to Dormammu’s domain – unknowingly as a part of her plan all along. Thinking on it, Stephen decides that he needs to go to that dreaded realm to see if Dormammu is ready to rear his head once again. It is then that Clea voices her reticence and opts to stay behind – she cannot go back to that place ever again and Stephen understands her concerns completely. It is here that Englehart sends the two magicians on two completely different quests and yet, by the time they are finished, they will find that they are not so different after all and that one will lead to the other. The nice thing about this issue is that we get to see a little bit of Clea going solo during the latter half of the book. She has a new found confidence about her and she is not afraid to use her magic when the occasion suits. The only problem is that Clea is not as adept at harnessing her powers as well as Stephen is and when she heads off on what she thinks might be a simply mission, she manages to get herself in more trouble than she realizes. Though Silver Dagger was a handful, it is nice to see Englehart breaking out the big guns for Doctor Strange to go up against. With a huge cliff-hanger ending, this issue has been the best one yet, aided in no small part thanks to Gene Colan and his amazing pencils.

4.5 out of 5