Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2022

[sunofdarkchild]

The preview for the next issue is already out.

https://www.cbr.com/new-mutants-intr...-sword-marvel/

[sunofdarkchild]

A bit of speculation that is very unlikely, but might explain Illyana's thought processes here.

Last year, Old Cable found another hell realm that was almost exactly the same as Limbo and said Illyana was welcome to it once he was done fighting Stryfe. It even has similar effects on time to Limbo. What if Illyana decided that ruling this other Limbo would come with the benefits of of ruling the OG Limbo but without all the baggage of having been abused there for years? A place where she can still be the sorcerer supreme and command demons, allowing her to still do things only a sorcerer supreme can do like in Death of Dr. Strange. From Illyana's POV that would be trading up and it would mean she'd be just as powerful and still have a demon army to counter Maddie if she goes crazy in Limbo.

The reason I think this is highly unlikely is that I doubt any writer will ever reference that scene in Cable. Even the most continuity-conscious writers will ignore certain things and I'm sure that other Limbo will be one of them.

[Fokken]

Speaking of being Continuity-conscious,


I'm still crossing my fingers so tightly they're developing hair line fractures that the marker(?) Cable gave her back in issue 11, and the "needing it someday" will come into play during this arc -- especially with Maddie involved. That'd be terrific!

[sunofdarkchild]

Speaking of being Continuity-conscious,


I'm still crossing my fingers so tightly they're developing hair line fractures that the marker(?) Cable gave her back in issue 11, and the "needing it someday" will come into play during this arc -- especially with Maddie involved. That'd be terrific!

Have they ever revealed just what the markers are for? I don't believe they have. Also, what did you think of issue 25? You're one of the foremost 'Yana authorities here.

[Fokken]

Have they ever revealed just what the markers are for? I don't believe they have. Also, what did you think of issue 25? You're one of the foremost 'Yana authorities here.

I've been under the impression that the markers are intended as a form of debt tokens. Calling in a favor. An I Owe You.

I very much enjoyed issue 25.
I really enjoy the dark fairytale storytelling angle Vita used here, echoing that of Blindfold's recounting during the first issue of the Quest for Magik, back in New X-Men.
Illyana's gradual ascendance into 'Brawler of the New Mutants' (the Logan, if you will) wasn't into back when it gained heavy traction during the Bendis era (primarily leaping about and savagely chopping with her surfboard), but seeing it executed in these Krakoan era training montages (sparring with the Star Jammer Raza, training Doug during X of Swords, giving lessons to Krakoa's kiddos in Cable, and now here with Dani and Rahne) legitimizes just how impressive her hand to hand combat skills are and harkens back to her earliest years in Limbo being forced to "brawl" with Cat.

Vita continues to impress with their additive approach to Illyana's back story, and the continuity guitar string plucking is never a tune I grow weary of. I anticipate this arc making its way into my top tier pantheon of Illyana stories alongside the Zeb Well's run, and the preview for next issue promises to get pretty wild with Old-Woman-Yana (a thing I never really thought I'd see)

[sunofdarkchild]

I've been under the impression that the markers are intended as a form of debt tokens. Calling in a favor. An I Owe You.

I very much enjoyed issue 25.
I really enjoy the dark fairytale storytelling angle Vita used here, echoing that of Blindfold's recounting during the first issue of the Quest for Magik, back in New X-Men.
Illyana's gradual ascendance into 'Brawler of the New Mutants' (the Logan, if you will) wasn't into back when it gained heavy traction during the Bendis era (primarily leaping about and savagely chopping with her surfboard), but seeing it executed in these Krakoan era training montages (sparring with the Star Jammer Raza, training Doug during X of Swords, giving lessons to Krakoa's kiddos in Cable, and now here with Dani and Rahne) legitimizes just how impressive her hand to hand combat skills are and harkens back to her earliest years in Limbo being forced to "brawl" with Cat.

Vita continues to impress with their additive approach to Illyana's back story, and the continuity guitar string plucking is never a tune I grow weary of. I anticipate this arc making its way into my top tier pantheon of Illyana stories alongside the Zeb Well's run, and the preview for next issue promises to get pretty wild with Old-Woman-Yana (a thing I never really thought I'd see)

I think I've said that my big problem with the surfboard sword was how there's nothing you can do with it but use it as a club or a bat. I've been very happy that Rod Reis has drawn it as an actual sword that can be used like a real sword would be used, and thereby have more finesse. In terms of the sparring match, I've been surprised that there's been no complaints about Illyana so easily taking on Dani and Rahne at the same time, while blindfolded at that. I've seen the misconception that Illyana has no fighting skills or training back during X of Swords, and few writers have done anything to dispel that notion between 1984 and 2019. Even Claremont seemed to forget how Illyana was trained by Cat in Limbo and was skilled enough to kill her with her bare hands after the Magik mini was over. But she should be a better hand to hand fighter than anyone whose training was limited to the Danger Room. Logan also is someone whose been trained extensively in Japanese sword-fighting styles and krav maga, so he's supposed to have a real skill that rarely comes across nowadays.

The 2-3 year period where Illyana was living in Belasco's castle has gone almost completely unexplored. Claremont established that she would go to the library a lot to try to find a way to kill Belasco and that S'ym punished her once and it was so horrible she'd rather die than be punished by him a second time. Simonsen showed that punishment in more detail, and that's it. But this is the only period where she interacted with Belasco on a regular basis and are probably the most formative years of her life, and it's almost entirely blank, a timeskip between issues. But beyond that, the backup story makes the issue much more new reader friendly. It establishes Illyana's tragic past, her relationship with Belasco, and shows how young she was when she was kidnapped to Limbo for people who never read the Magik mini.

My theory for why Dani and Rahne are so against this transfer of power in Limbo is not that they don't trust Illyana, but that they in a sense trust her too much. All they really have to do to put the concerns they are voicing about Madelyne at ease is ask what the terms of the contract are. They haven't been doing that because that's not the point. There's a comfort to Illyana ruling Limbo that will be gone if anyone else takes over. The change itself is what is scary, because once they get to know her, Illyana is someone who makes others feel safe with her presence, at least since the Bendis run. When a situation seems hopeless, she's the one who creates a feeling that everything will be ok just by showing up. There is that initial distrust and fear, but once that's overcome people feel safe specifically because she's there. This may also be why Dani is so ok with Illyana being a captain instead of her. I'd love to see a conversation between Dani and Madelyne where Dani admits this and discusses what Illyana means to her and the rest of them. We can always use more of that 'New Mutants are family' stuff.

[sunofdarkchild]

I saw this suggested on Twitter as Illyana's theme song and it fits basically perfectly.

[Fokken]

I've felt the same way about that song! I was just listening to her the other day and then decided to reread the Storm & Illyana mini series

I mean no disrespect to the original by any stretch of the imagination but I often wonder how a modern retelling of that mini would look under a current and active Marvel artist's style.

I feel some of today's talent would do wonders with the horror elements in particular

[sunofdarkchild]

Until now I went with this as my main Illyana theme song, but that Demi Lovato one really seems like it was made specifically for Illyana.

[sunofdarkchild]

I've felt the same way about that song! I was just listening to her the other day and then decided to reread the Storm & Illyana mini series

I mean no disrespect to the original by any stretch of the imagination but I often wonder how a modern retelling of that mini would look under a current and active Marvel artist's style.

I feel some of today's talent would do wonders with the horror elements in particular

My current dream is to have a 4-part Disney-Plus animated show retelling the Magik mini. 1 episode per issue, with the animation solving the problems of casting someone to play Illyana at every age from 6-13/14. The main problem would be how to get all the exposition that comes from Illyana's thoughts or her narration translated to a video format. The part that would need it the most is her realization that she's different from Storm which led to her creating the soul sword. That piece of character development needs to be expressed in words.

I see the opening credits starting with the focus on a single snowflake against a black background before showing more snow falling as something like this plays.



Then at the 19-second mark where the music picks up it a stepping disk makes the Magik logo appear the way the transporter is used to make the Star Trek logo appears in some of the Star Trek movies. Maybe the snowflakes turn to flaming embers at that point.

[Fokken]

My current dream is to have a 4-part Disney-Plus animated show retelling the Magik mini. 1 episode per issue, with the animation solving the problems of casting someone to play Illyana at every age from 6-13/14. The main problem would be how to get all the exposition that comes from Illyana's thoughts or her narration translated to a video format. The part that would need it the most is her realization that she's different from Storm which led to her creating the soul sword. That piece of character development needs to be expressed in words.

I see the opening credits starting with the focus on a single snowflake against a black background before showing more snow falling as something like this plays.



Then at the 19-second mark where the music picks up it a stepping disk makes the Magik logo appear the way the transporter is used to make the Star Trek logo appears in some of the Star Trek movies. Maybe the snowflakes turn to flaming embers at that point.

Couldn't they have the voice actresses do narration, just like Veronica Mars would do on her show?

LOOOOVE the imagery of the snowflakes and the flaming embers

[sunofdarkchild]

Couldn't they have the voice actresses do narration, just like Veronica Mars would do on her show?

Maybe. In general that's considered a lazy way of handling exposition which is why it's usually confined to the very beginning or very end of a show, like the 2002 Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire's narration bookends the movie but is absent from all but the first and last minute. Another option is to take Illyana's talking to the tree which was shown in the comic and expand it to her talking to Ororo the way Tom Hanks talked to 'Wilson' in Cast Away. It makes sense for someone stranded for months with no one to talk to, not even an animal, to do that.

[WallStreeter]

A bit of speculation that is very unlikely, but might explain Illyana's thought processes here.

Last year, Old Cable found another hell realm that was almost exactly the same as Limbo and said Illyana was welcome to it once he was done fighting Stryfe. It even has similar effects on time to Limbo. What if Illyana decided that ruling this other Limbo would come with the benefits of of ruling the OG Limbo but without all the baggage of having been abused there for years? A place where she can still be the sorcerer supreme and command demons, allowing her to still do things only a sorcerer supreme can do like in Death of Dr. Strange. From Illyana's POV that would be trading up and it would mean she'd be just as powerful and still have a demon army to counter Maddie if she goes crazy in Limbo.

The reason I think this is highly unlikely is that I doubt any writer will ever reference that scene in Cable. Even the most continuity-conscious writers will ignore certain things and I'm sure that other Limbo will be one of them.

Clearly, Illyana had some sort of provisions, or else there wouldn’t be the contract.

And while I certainly see her wanting to move on beyond Limbo, I would think she is still going to be a sorcerer Supreme somehow.

So we will wait to see.

[rcaguy]

I've felt the same way about that song! I was just listening to her the other day and then decided to reread the Storm & Illyana mini series

I mean no disrespect to the original by any stretch of the imagination but I often wonder how a modern retelling of that mini would look under a current and active Marvel artist's style.

I feel some of today's talent would do wonders with the horror elements in particular

If Hellfire Gala is anything to go by, the only thing that'll happen is that the mini series will get screwed up big time.

The crowd you're talking about are not capable of pulling something like this off without it looking silly in the process.

[sunofdarkchild]

With Joe Quasada leaving Marvel and Illyana giving up Limbo it got me thinking that Marvel could use Illyana to undo One More Day now. Just have a story where at the end she's in control of Mephisto's hell and undoes many of bad faith deals he made like she offered to do for Man-Thing's deal with Belasco. They could kick her the next day, but she'd go down in history as the character who restored the Spider-marriage. It'll never happen, but it would be great if it did.