Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina: MAGIK appreciation 2021

[Andru]

I think I like it! Hopefully we get a Dauterman design variant so we can get a better look.

Random thought...Has Illyana interacted with Piotr at all since being on Krakoa? Feel like I have not seen the two of them share a panel in such a long time...

[lunarmagik]

I think I like it! Hopefully we get a Dauterman design variant so we can get a better look.

Random thought...Has Illyana interacted with Piotr at all since being on Krakoa? Feel like I have not seen the two of them share a panel in such a long time...

Illyanas was done by Alex Lins, who is the artist that is doing interiors for New Mutants 19. The solicitations say:

CHARACTER DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY ALEX LINS

CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

RACHEL SUMMERS CHARACTER DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

also:
Attachment 107489

[sunofdarkchild]

I think I like it! Hopefully we get a Dauterman design variant so we can get a better look.

Random thought...Has Illyana interacted with Piotr at all since being on Krakoa? Feel like I have not seen the two of them share a panel in such a long time...

Nope. Last time they were seen together was the Guggs run when she ruined his wedding. First she was transmoded by Karma and Warlock and imprisoned by the US government. Then he was trapped in Nate's world when she was freed and joined Scott's suicide squad. The first thing he did when he returned from Nate's world was ask where she was, but by then she was full-on darkchild and that got solved off-panel. And since then there's been nothing. Somehow she didn't get involved at all when he was falsely imprisoned by Beast and he didn't show up to give some words of encouragement or anything before the tournament of swords.

[Kingdom X]

Nope. Last time they were seen together was the Guggs run when she ruined his wedding. First she was transmoded by Karma and Warlock and imprisoned by the US government. Then he was trapped in Nate's world when she was freed and joined Scott's suicide squad. The first thing he did when he returned from Nate's world was ask where she was, but by then she was full-on darkchild and that got solved off-panel. And since then there's been nothing. Somehow she didn't get involved at all when he was falsely imprisoned by Beast and he didn't show up to give some words of encouragement or anything before the tournament of swords.

They knew they had to exclude her from that plot because she technically would have been part of the trial too and then she would have done exactly what she did to Dark Beast to Hank.

[Andru]

Illyanas was done by Alex Lins, who is the artist that is doing interiors for New Mutants 19. The solicitations say:

CHARACTER DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY ALEX LINS

CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

RACHEL SUMMERS CHARACTER DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

also:
Attachment 107489

Thanks for clarifying! Larraz's IG post made it sound like he was only drawing Dauterman designs for his variant.

Nope. Last time they were seen together was the Guggs run when she ruined his wedding. First she was transmoded by Karma and Warlock and imprisoned by the US government. Then he was trapped in Nate's world when she was freed and joined Scott's suicide squad. The first thing he did when he returned from Nate's world was ask where she was, but by then she was full-on darkchild and that got solved off-panel. And since then there's been nothing. Somehow she didn't get involved at all when he was falsely imprisoned by Beast and he didn't show up to give some words of encouragement or anything before the tournament of swords.

Boo! Time for the Rasputins to reunite. Maybe the Gala!

[sunofdarkchild]

Piotr raised his paintbrush to add another stroke to his latest creation. He paused, holding the brush in midair as a bright light appeared behind him, illuminating the canvas he was working on. No sound accompanied this light, which did not surprise him. Piotr's face, which had been focused in intense concentration, lit up with joy before he had begun to turn around to face the newcomer who had teleported right behind him.

He quickly but carefully put the brush down and stood up, towering over his visitor before embracing her in a tight hug.

"Illyana!"

"Hey," she said, her tone far less jubilant than his. He knew immediately what had prompted this visit from his little sister.

"I just heard about what Hank did. Are you all right?" she asked as the siblings ended their embrace.

"Da," he answered. "It's over now."

Illyana shook her head. "No way. No one treats my brother like a circus sideshow and gets away with it."

Piotr chuckled. "And that's why he made sure to do it while you were away. Kayla's already taken her vengeance against Hank. You'd just be overkill at this point."

Illyana pouted, but said "fine."

Piotr put his hands on her shoulders, making her appear very small. "Something else is bothering you, isn't it?"

She sighed. "It's just. We're supposed to be building something better here. We're supposed to be better than we were before. Now we're persecuting Russians and holding show trials. Shan, Kurt and Ororo were all there, but none of them even thought to tell me about this. If it wasn't for Logan I wouldn't have known at all. This isn't what we were promised."

"I know," he said. "But no society is perfect. It's made of people, and people will always have weaknesses and prejudices. We're still trying to figure out what kind of nation we want to be."

"I know that! But this is the kind of stuff our people suffered under Stalin!"

Illyana looked away. "I'll raise this with the council, but..."

"You don't think they'll take appropriate action."

She shook her head. "If Storm and Nightcrawler went along with this then there's little hope they'll do anything."

"Jean and Logan have already made their displeasure with Hank known," Piotr said. "I expect that he won't do something like this again."

"To you," Illyana clarified. "But to people who aren't long-time X-Men or related to a captain, well, Hank never stops finding new ways to let us down."

"I wish I could disagree with you."

There was a long silence before Piotr brought up the aspect of his recent ordeal that troubled him the most.

"What do you think about what Mikhail is doing?"

"I don't," Illyana said in a dismissive tone. "Unless the council says otherwise, it's got nothing to do with me."

"He is our brother."

"I don't consider Mikhail to be my brother," Illyana declared. "I've never met him. I have no relationship with him, and after everything he's done I don't want to. If we ever meet, he'll be just another enemy, nothing more."

"I see," Piotr said sadly.

His older and younger siblings were similar in many ways, Piotr realized. Both were immensely powerful mutants. Both had spent years in an extra-dimensional exile, and both had committed acts for which they felt immense shame and guilt. But Illyana and Mikhail could not be farther apart. Where she had become one of the most responsible and trusted mutants on Krakoa, Mikhail had become an enemy of their people. Where she had grown from her tribulations, Mikhail wallowed in his misery. And where she was in all likelihood the hardest worker in all of Krakoa, Mikhail always sought the easy way out.

He loved both of them dearly, but when it came to which one he was proud of and which one he was ashamed of, there was no question who Piotr would choose. And Illyana was right: Mikhail was their enemy, and Piotr would deal with him accordingly when the time came.

"Well, I guess I won't tell him you say hi if I see him," Piotr said, cracking a smile.

Illyana smiled back. "Be well, Piotr. And give my best to Kayla."

She teleported away, likely to take on one of the many tasks she was charged with, and Piotr sat down in front of his canvas again.

He gave a wistful smile as he picked up his brush and dipped back in the wet paint.

So much had changed since the days when they lived together in Russia or at the X-Mansion. The world around them had changed, and they had changed as well. But no matter how powerful or important to Krakoa Illyana became, one thing would never change. She would always be his little snowflake.

[juan678]

[Fokken]

Sunofdarkchild! I love to read your "Krakoan Moments"!! I absolutely love to read these character beats you craft -- these between the panel moments.

Semi-related: HAS the Colossus thing been resolved? I feel like I missed an issue of X-Force if it has.

[sunofdarkchild]

Sunofdarkchild! I love to read your "Krakoan Moments"!! I absolutely love to read these character beats you craft -- these between the panel moments.

Semi-related: HAS the Colossus thing been resolved? I feel like I missed an issue of X-Force if it has.

Thanks.

The Colossus thing was resolved in the X-Force issue which immediately followed X of Swords. Jean did a quick scan of Colossus' mind and quickly determined he was innocent, so he was let go. Beast gave him some painting tools as an apology and asked him to join his efforts to investigate the Russia problem, though not before Kayla tortured Hank a bit by draining some of the water from his body.

I assume the whole thing took place before X of Swords even if the resolution was published afterwards. While I don't think Colossus showed up in X of Swords, Logan and Jean both had big roles in both stories and I don't believe they could have kept this a secret from Illyana for so long given the sheer number of people who knew about it.

[Fokken]

Yana, by way of Duggan, provides a charming self-summary (specific to her identity in Limbo) in the pages of Cable today.

[Andru]

Yana, by way of Duggan, provides a charming self-summary (specific to her identity in Limbo) in the pages of Cable today.

oooooh, worth the purchase?

Also, Sonofdarkchild, thank you for filling in the gaps

[sunofdarkchild]

Now we know what happened to N'Astirh after Hellbound. Though it seems like something she would have come up with only after getting her soul back

It seems this is what the demons are singing https://youtu.be/otXGqU4LBEI

[Andru]

Now we know what happened to S'ym after Hellbound. Though it seems like something she would have come up with only after getting her soul back

It seems this is what the demons are singing https://youtu.be/otXGqU4LBEI

Strange Academy? Does Magik herself make an appearance?

[sunofdarkchild]

Strange Academy? Does Magik herself make an appearance?

This is from Cable, not Strange Academy.

[Peace]

Now we know what happened to S'ym after Hellbound. Though it seems like something she would have come up with only after getting her soul back

It seems this is what the demons are singing https://youtu.be/otXGqU4LBEI

Nathsyr not sym