Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina: MAGIK appreciation 2021

[sunofdarkchild]

Nathsyr not sym

Oops. You're right.

Anyways, it seems we get a bit more of this 'I actually feel good about myself for once' Illyana with her description of her relationship with Limbo instead of the usual 'I was taken her as a slave and left as its ruler/god.'

[sunofdarkchild]

Some quotes from professional reviews of today's issue of Cable.

Illyana is one of those characters that’s just fun and the more writers start to let loose with her, the more entertaining those interactions become.

Can I just say; there is just something about Magik that great writers can utilize which makes a story pop even without action or violence.

The first is from a review that gave the issue an overall bad score.

[Fokken]

oooooh, worth the purchase?

Scene: spoilers:

Illyana and Nathan are walking through Limbo and Illyana addresses a demon with some choice vulgarity, followed by Nate's inquiry about whether she'll be able to know if Stryfe was here (in Limbo) to which she replies: "Oh yeah. I'm like the landlord, the cop and the Beyonce of this place"

end of spoilers

[Andru]

This is from Cable, not Strange Academy.

Scene: spoilers:

Illyana and Nathan are walking through Limbo and Illyana addresses a demon with some choice vulgarity, followed by Nate's inquiry about whether she'll be able to know if Stryfe was here (in Limbo) to which she replies: "Oh yeah. I'm like the landlord, the cop and the Beyonce of this place"

end of spoilers

Thank you both! I ended up buying it digitally

[sunofdarkchild]

Illyana stood alone in the casting circle, her sword lighting up the symbol where it was placed.

Most of the other chosen champions were out retrieving their blades, but a few, like her, had their swords already. Despite this, she was still the only one at the Voltus Garden. Polaris, who had crafted the circle from the remains of Rockslide, had left soon after her task was done, unable to bear the thought of the youngster who had been lost in Otherworld. Gorgon, despite having both of his swords, would appear only at the last moment. He did not care about Santo, he simply felt that he had better things to do with his time. Doug, who also had his sword, did care about the first casualty Krakoa had suffered, but Illyana knew that what was keeping him away was a very different concern, a concern she shared.

Illyana never liked Santo. He was loud obnoxious, arrogant, and not all that bright, a bad combination of traits in her eyes. In addition, he and his group of 'New X-Men' were a reminder of the period of her life of which she was most ashamed, the time when she had become just like Belasco. But she had only wanted him to stay out of her hair, not dead.

A hulking figure appeared from the woods behind her, breaking Illyana out of her reverie. She did not have to look to know who it was. There was no way her brother would let her go off to war without seeing her first.

"How are you, Piotr?"

He grinned. "That should be my line. But it does not surprise me that I am more worried than you are."

She turned to look up at him. "Actually, this time I'm very worried. Just not about myself."

Piotr put one of his enormous hands on her shoulder. "Come, tell your big brother what's bothering you."

The sat down together against a large tree, and Illyana explained: "It's Doug."

"You're worried about his safety?"

She nodded. "He's not a fighter. He never was. And he'll have to face the children of Apocalypse, warriors who have been fighting nonstop for thousands of years."

Illyana grimaced. "I always looked out for him when we were with the New Mutants. He was as brave as any of us, but he couldn't defend himself. So I took it on myself to do it for him."

"Can you do that again?"

lllyana shook her head. "I failed last time. I let him die - the same day you and the rest of the X-Men died in Dallas." She clenched her fist in anger. "For all my power, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do for any of you."

Piotr nodded. "I've felt the same way about you so many times."

"But I'm not helpless," Illyana insisted. "Not like I was when I was small, and not like Doug is."

Piotr looked away for a moment. It was still hard for him to accept that his little sister did not want or need his protection anymore. He was a protective person by nature, and while the gentleness had been beaten out of her over years of torture in Limbo, in her heart so was Illyana.

"So what will you do?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "If it turns out to be a battle royale, then I can stick close to Doug and protect him. But if it's one on one, there won't be anything I can do but watch him die again." She looked at the casting circle which had once been Santo. "And this time there will be no coming back."

"You'll find a way," Piotr assured her. "You're not just not that helpless little girl anymore. You've grown so much since that day Doug and I both died. And I know how far you'll go to protect your friends."

Illyana reached up and pulled her brother into a tight embrace. "Spasiba, Piotr."

She stood up and walked back to the circle, where she pulled her sword from the ground.

"I'd better get to work. There are plans to be made, contingencies to prepare for. I need Scott here."

Piotr stood up as well. "I'll leave you to it. I'd say 'good luck,' but you don't need it. So instead I'll leave with with that American expression: 'give em hell.'"

Illyana grinned.

"I always do."

[irlkittypryde]

yesss she simply is that b#ch.

[sunofdarkchild]

So I was listening to this podcast called X if for Podcast and they were discussing Wolverine Black White and Blood and at the end one of them goes: "If we've learned anything in the past year with the X-Books, its 'when in doubt, bring Illyana into it. She makes everything better."

https://www.cageclub.me/xbloodtom/

The specific episode title is THIS IS THE REIGN OF X -- Strange Academy, King In Black Marauders, & Wolverine Black White Blood!

[Fokken]

^^^ Into it? This podcast, I mean.

I'm keep test driving X-Men related pods and for the most part, whenever I come across one that discusses current issues, its a whole lot of "Yeah I like this one. I like the art. Its good. Its really good. I liked it. I think so-N-so is cool, so yeah, I like this issue." And I'm like, ".....next?"

[sunofdarkchild]

Not sure how I feel about them just yet. I only discovered this yesterday. It seems to me that they are willing to criticize things they don't like, and they seem to have had this conspiracy theory that Doug should be this uber-villain who understands the language of reality and how to break it before X of Swords.

[Fokken]

Not sure how I feel about them just yet. I only discovered this yesterday. It seems to me that they are willing to criticize things they don't like, and they seem to have had this conspiracy theory that Doug should be this uber-villain who understands the language of reality and how to break it before X of Swords.

Ah. Thanks.
My current X-content pod is CEREBRO which is a character study thing with the host and one guest, discussing whomever the guest requests, which fairly regularly spirals into discussion/connection/rant about Madeline Pryor. haha.

I'm very eager for them to discuss Illyana eventually.

[lunarmagik]

Ah. Thanks.
My current X-content pod is CEREBRO which is a character study thing with the host and one guest, discussing whomever the guest requests, which fairly regularly spirals into discussion/connection/rant about Madeline Pryor. haha.

I'm very eager for them to discuss Illyana eventually.

I support this, it's a very good podcast.

The host also mostly resonates with how I see Illyana so THATs very enjoyable for me, admittedly. And they have already talked a bit about her on like the Kate Pryde or Rachel Summers episodes.

Also, very nice little scenes sunofdarkchild!

[sunofdarkchild]

https://www.cbr.com/x-men-cable-magik-limbo-queen/

Interesting take since Illyana has mostly been seen as a pretty neglectful ruler of Limbo, with the only time she actually a lot of time there doing any ruling being when she was missing all of her soul. It makes sense given that she has spent most of her life hating the place. Despite her neglect of Limbo the demons seem to really like her. There were the demons who were begging her to stay and rule them during Inferno when she was in her Darkchild form, and there were the demons who tried to rescue her when she was imprisoned on Utopia.

But in terms of leadership, she's always had the tactical skills. It's the inspiring others to follow her that's always been her problem. The New Mutants beat the Demon Bear very quickly once she decided to take charge and tell them all what to do, and she came up entirely with the plan that defeated the Shadow King after deciding Dani wasn't willing to do what was necessary. We've seen her long-term planning in the Zeb Wells run and her ability to make quick decisions in the heat of battle in the Bendis run. Dead Souls showed her team constantly not listening to her because they didn't trust or feared her, even though she was almost always right. In the Krakoa era this has changed, with most people listening whenever she takes charge - the only exception so far has been the teen bullies in the most recent New Mutants who were very quickly put in their place.

The big question is, how much of this is due to her own growth and becoming the sort of leader people listen to, and how much of it is just respect for the office of the captain.

[sunofdarkchild]

[Cane_danko]

They should make a storm and illyana book. A new one but this time with the real storm and they have to do something in limbo for 4 issues. Hickman can write it or he can give it to someone else i just want it.

[Damien]

I mostly lurk on the forums and rarely comment but one thing I've wanted for years is a sequel series to Storm & Illyanna! A mission in Limbo that involves the two of them a sparks a curiosity in Storm in regard to her mystical heritage? Yes Please! Illyanna as a hard-nose mentor figure to current Storm, flashbacks to early lessons with Old Women Storm I would love it so much.

I had hope that because of her childhood experiences that Illyanna and and Storm would have a better connection with each other but it never really materialized. I doubt they know much about each other at all nowadays.