Illyana Rasputina: Magik Appreciation 2020

[Andru]

Woozie, obvs we missed the "post-Krakoa" comment. So our bad!

However, only Pandafarmer mentioned "loose cannon". So when you replied "you guys", I (and I am assuming Fokken) were basing our replies off multiple posts including GORM & Fokken's own comparison with Wolvie.

Little heavy on the aggression this AM...Friday's should be easy breezy my friend

[sunofdarkchild]

When people say 'Magik is going to be the Wolverine of the New Mutants' they usually mean she's going to be the most popular character when the movie finally comes out. I've also said that Dani will have the 'Rogue' role in being the point of view character brought into the facility like Rogue was with the X-Mansion in the first X-Men movie. It doesn't mean that Dani is now basically Rogue, it means that they have a similar archetype. I've never seen her called the 'Wolverine of the New Mutants' in any other context before, certainly not when talking about the comics.

I think the current complaint comes from this week's X-Men where she growled when Scott asked if she could hold the line against the Brood. There have been a few weird moments for her since the current run started, but I don't understand why this is being traced back to Bendis or what it has to do with the movie. The one big line she has from the teaser earlier this week is a direct quote from the Demon Bear Saga nearly 40 years ago. She also fought and stabbed the bear with her sword multiple times. I don't see why doing the same things she did in the Claremont days basically makes her a female Wolverine now unless she was always a female Wolverine.

As for the loose canon thing, she's also always been a loose canon, and has been becoming less and less so since Bendis first started writing her. In this I'll agree with Woozie, on Krakoa she's done everything by the book and it's people under her who have been the loose canons, particularly Boom Boom. Even her 'make out with me or die' line was her dotting her i's and crossing her t's to abide by Krakoan law. The only time she's done anything not by the book was a throwaway joke for an amateur sporting event.

[pandafarmer]

And honestly, by loose cannon I'm mentioning her post-Krakoa actions. Cheating in the fight club and the whole New Mutants coffee/space adventure stuff. They seem to be leaning heavily on the "she's cray" thing.

[sunofdarkchild]

There's a difference between eccentric and loose canon. Boom Boom is a loose canon because she takes action she has no authority to without consulting anyone and may cause an international incident. Sunspot is a loose canon because he decided to romance one of the most dangerous and powerful women in the universe, a former empress and adviser to the current empress. Magik has been obeying orders and following the chain of command more than she ever has in her life. If she was gallivanting to the future without consulting anyone to bring back the future X-Men she'd be a loose canon. Hogging the coffee or fighting dirty in a brawl is nothing of the sort. In the current New Mutants run she's the authority figure who has to keep the actual loose canons in line.

[pandafarmer]

Okay, sure. I used poor wording. I still think that they are leaning in the "she's scary" thing lately more than they have since Bendis (Rosenburg Uncanny being the exception since she was killing people). I agree though that it's likely because they are positioning her as a strong leader for the Sextant.

[sunofdarkchild]

It's a little hard to judge how far they're going with 'she's scary' right now since every instance of 'scary' has been for a joke. There's been no 'there are no snowflakes in hell' moment or instance of her pointing her sword at a trainee like she did Eva Bell back when Bendis started his run. And Mondo and Chamber saying she's crazy or scary doesn't have anywhere near as much weight as Emma Frost saying 'she scares the hell out of me.'

Bendis found a great balance between Illyana's dark and empathetic sides. Lemire leaned way too much into the empathetic side and forgot the darker side. Dead Souls brought the darker edge back but combined it with angst over her role as leader and responsibility for other people's lives. The current run has shown she's badass and powerful, but the only moment that really seems dark at all to me is her off-panel fight with the boarding party.

[pandafarmer]

It's a little hard to judge how far they're going with 'she's scary' right now since every instance of 'scary' has been for a joke. There's been no 'there are no snowflakes in hell' moment or instance of her pointing her sword at a trainee like she did Eva Bell back when Bendis started his run. And Mondo and Chamber saying she's crazy or scary doesn't have anywhere near as much weight as Emma Frost saying 'she scares the hell out of me.'

Bendis found a great balance between Illyana's dark and empathetic sides. Lemire leaned way too much into the empathetic side and forgot the darker side. Dead Souls brought the darker edge back but combined it with angst over her role as leader and responsibility for other people's lives. The current run has shown she's badass and powerful, but the only moment that really seems dark at all to me is her off-panel fight with the boarding party.

Agree with all of this. You've obviously put a lot of thought into it for sure. But I think that's why I loved the Bendis run so much is it felt so very much like a balanced Illyana. I didn't want her to feel like a teenager anymore and I think by making the "Revolution" team a small core group it allowed him to give her a bit more depth than in other runs. It might have ended in a great big ball of fire and facepalming, but what promise that first half gave me.

[Andru]

Bendis' Illyana is still my favorite version since she returned...just slightly inching out Wells.

People can rag on the guy all day, but I thought his Magik was perfect.

[pandafarmer]

Yeah I feel like a loner when I hear people complain about that run, but I also recognize that most of the hate is aimed towards the O5 sticking around longer than they should have. Great concept at the start, but they should have gone home during that Battle of the Atom event.

[G0RM]

Bendis' Illyana is still my favorite version since she returned...just slightly inching out Wells.

People can rag on the guy all day, but I thought his Magik was perfect.

I still feel Zebb creating No Snowflake stands a bit above, but I admire Bendis deeply: no one else captured the contradictory nature of Illyana as perfectly.

The part where Illyana humbly begs past alternate Dr. Strange for help after curbstomping Dormammu feels to me like the original Claremont run at the very best, as with Days of Future Past or God Loves, Man Kills.

[ericng]

When people say 'Magik is going to be the Wolverine of the New Mutants'

That's interesting. Actually some of the original five New Mutants is a counterpart image of some X-Men.

Moved to New Mutants thread.

[sunofdarkchild]

[juan678]

SAVAGE AVENGERS #14

GERRY DUGGAN (W), PATCH ZIRCHER (A), Cover by VALERIO GIANGIORDANO

Conan leads a team of Savage Avengers against an Asgardian dragon in a quest for treasure. Get out your twenty-sided dice and roll to attack with Conan, Magik and new Savage recruits the Black Knight and Juggernaut!

[juan678]

[Andru]

Magik is booked all June!

Empyre: X-Men #3
Empyre: X-Men #4
True Believers: X-Men - Soulsword #1 (UXM #171 reprint)
Trye Believers: X-Men - Magik #1 (Magik #1 reprint)
New Mutants #12
Savage Avengers #14

Who knows, possibly more!