Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2022

[NOCTPHOENIX]

Glob Herman actively searching for a lighter.

Anyone would set their head on fire for a chance to make out with Magik. I know I would.

[WallStreeter]

As sunofdarkchild pointed out in the solicits thread, Belasco tends to sniff out the second Illyana is weakened or loses her grip on Limbo to try and make a play for it again, so even though we last saw him in Man-Thing's grip.....there's plenty of ways he could have gotten free and escaped into the wind offpanel since then, if Ayala wanted to go that route.

And in THAT vein, like.....imagine if the solicits are just doing their usual coy thing with 'an enemy she thought she had banished long ago' and Belasco's return ISN'T a surprise to her. Like, just musing here, but if Illyana somehow got word (or had a ward set up to alert her if Belasco made an appearance somewhere) that Belasco had gotten free again and was in hiding somewhere......rather than just sit on her ass and wait for him to inevitably pop up and make another power grab......this current scenario would work perfectly as a baited trap.

Like Illyana hatches a plan with Madelyne that puts Madelyne on the throne of Limbo, which Belasco is primed to see as a sign of Illyana being weak and vulnerable, how else could such a thing have happened.....but in actuality it was bait to draw Belasco out of hiding, allowing Illyana to take care of him once and for all, possibly while Madelyne for her side of the bargain gets a chance to take her ultimate revenge on S'ym for his attempts to manipulate and use her so long ago.

Probably Belasco. But could also be the soulester she killed. Either way, it looks like she has to step up her magical skills.

Come to think of it, it’s rarely that a villain like Belasco is kept dead for so long. The Darkchilde got him good. Lol

[BobbysWorld]

If Illyana's gonna explore magic for mutantkind, might be nice to bring Witchfire back in, and not just for the Belasco connection. She's got plenty of connections among mutants herself and I think she's a lot more interesting to play off of Illyana than say, other mutant-adjacent magic characters like Amanda Sefton.

[sunofdarkchild]

If Illyana's gonna explore magic for mutantkind, might be nice to bring Witchfire back in, and not just for the Belasco connection. She's got plenty of connections among mutants herself and I think she's a lot more interesting to play off of Illyana than say, other mutant-adjacent magic characters like Amanda Sefton.

I can't see Amanda ever being relevant in a Magik story again. The time when she and Illyana could have had a meaningful interaction about Amanda's time as Magik, ruler of Limbo, and wielder of the soul sword passed many years ago. Amanda did not develop any meaningful relationships with any X-Men characters during the years she was Magik and just continued her on-again, off-again relationship with Kurt. The retcons about the soul sword being her destiny instead of Illyana's creation have been consigned to the dustbin of history. Despite being Magik for over 6 years, she's completely irrelevant to the Magik mythos and left no lasting impact. It wouldn't surprise me if there are current X-Men writers who don't even know that she was ever Magik, and I am certain Marvel would like to forget that ever happened. If by some chance there came along a writer who was interested in having the 2 Magiks interact with an acknowledgement of Amanda's past, I suspect he'd have a hard time getting editorial to approve such a story. If Amanda does comes back I would expect her time as Magik would not be mentioned and she'd just be a supporting character for Nightcrawler.

Your idea about Witchfire has definite merit. While I think she's the character best suited to be Illyana's main recurring rival, she's also been absent for forever and there's also a lot of potential in a redemption story for her. Pixie would have to be part of such a story just as Karma had to be part of Farouk's redemption. Witchfire did the same thing to her that Darkchild did, only with even worse motives and without the excuse of having lost her soul in a literal sense. Coming to terms with Illyana required gaining a fuller understanding of the situation, recognizing how Illyana had changed by becoming a 'real girl' again, Illyana getting Pixie's soul gems back for her, and constituted a form of redemption for Pixie herself, in that recognizing the remaining humanity in Illyana who went through the exact same thing helped Pixie recognize the remaining humanity in herself. While Witchfire has the benefit of not being the first person who hurt Pixie, she has nothing else going for her if she turns over a new leaf. Pixie won't see herself in Witchfire the way she does with Illyana, she'll just see a megalomaniac who stole a piece of her soul and tried to enslave her in an attempt to destroy the earth. This could make for an interesting dynamic between Illyana wanting to give Witchfire a chance and Pixie being against it.

One thing I'm not clear on. Is Witchfire a mutant? That could effect how possible a redemption story is and especially whether she'd be welcome on Krakoa or not.

[BobbysWorld]

One thing I'm not clear on. Is Witchfire a mutant? That could effect how possible a redemption story is and especially whether she'd be welcome on Krakoa or not.

Honestly I've never been clear on that myself.....in fact the thread about are there any mutants who have mutant powers over magic is what made me bring her up here because I saw that and thought of her. She's never been explicitly stated as having a mutant power or her magic being in any way derived of a mutant power instead of just her heritage as Belasco's daughter, but she's been a recurring character in Alpha Flight books for decades and always treated as just another mutant recruit same as the rest of their Beta and Gamma Flight lineups. So I tend to think of her as mutant adjacent, but possibly just a magic-user....but I think its vague enough that any writer who wanted to could easily handwave her having a mutant power she doesn't prioritize because her magic is more potent, or her magic being part of her mutation. I personally fall into the camp of 'there are mutants with powers over other esoteric forces so no reason they can't be keyed to magic just as much as other fundamental forces of creation.'

[sunofdarkchild]

Variant cover for New Mutants 26 by Carmen Carnero

[sunofdarkchild]

Interesting that both covers have the soul sword shattering. It's of course symbolic of her sense of self shattering, but it could be literal. If Belasco has discovered how she created the soul sword in the first place, he could in theory come up with a way tp counter it. This would be a logical way to do it unlike the stupidity that was Wong's turning the sword off. It would be something new he developed which no one could have done before because no one else had the requisite knowledge of how the soul sword came to be. If the creation of Pixie's soul dagger is what provided him with enough information to figure out the rest, then it has the added benefit of Illyana's big sin coming back to haunt her. This would elevate Belasco back to the kind of threat he should be but currently isn't. And if anyone in the entire Marvel universe were to break the soul sword, it should be Belasco and no one else. Not Madelyn, not N'Astirh, and certainly not Wong.

[sunofdarkchild]

I recently purchased the trades of the Batman Eternal storyline from 2014, and these an Illyana easter egg I never noticed before because I had ignored the Killer Croc subplot when the storyline was current.

End of issue 19.

batman eternal 1.jpg

Beginning of issue 20.

batman eternal 2.jpg

The second pic is too small to read, but that little blonde girl with Illyana's hairstyle is being sacrificed by being sent through a circular extradimensional portal. There is no way that's a coincidence.

[ZephyrSurf]

I feel like belasco is a bit too on the nose AND played out. Witchfire though, that could work.

[sunofdarkchild]

I feel like belasco is a bit too on the nose AND played out. Witchfire though, that could work.

Not really. The last time Illyana and Belasco interacted was in 2007, and the last time before that was 1984. Most heroes wish their villains could be so 'played out.' Witchfire has far less reason to come back. Her attempt to follow in her father's footsteps by releasing the Elder Gods failed, and with the Beatrix medallion destroyed she's lost much of her power while Illyana has only grown stronger. Belasco has more motivation given his feelings for Illyana and he's a bigger and a more personal threat. If the story is that an old enemy has returned and is going to break Illyana so she can be built up again, Belasco is really the only option. His imprisonment in the Man-Thing's fear-scape could serve as an effective catalyst for his return, confronting him nonstop with what is both his greatest fear and his greatest desire.

Witchfire's only motivation at this point would be 'daddy loved you instead of me.' And while that's fine for a villain in general, for this kind of story Belasco works better in every every way than Witchfire. This story, if it is as advertised, needs both a bigger threat level and a more personal threat than Witchfire brings to the table.

[ZephyrSurf]

Not really. The last time Illyana and Belasco interacted was in 2007, and the last time before that was 1984. Most heroes wish their villains could be so 'played out.' Witchfire has far less reason to come back. Her attempt to follow in her father's footsteps by releasing the Elder Gods failed, and with the Beatrix medallion destroyed she's lost much of her power while Illyana has only grown stronger. Belasco has more motivation given his feelings for Illyana and he's a bigger and a more personal threat. If the story is that an old enemy has returned and is going to break Illyana so she can be built up again, Belasco is really the only option. His imprisonment in the Man-Thing's fear-scape could serve as an effective catalyst for his return, confronting him nonstop with what is both his greatest fear and his greatest desire.

Witchfire's only motivation at this point would be 'daddy loved you instead of me.' And while that's fine for a villain in general, for this kind of story Belasco works better in every every way than Witchfire. This story, if it is as advertised, needs both a bigger threat level and a more personal threat than Witchfire brings to the table.

You assume that I'm purely talking about Belasco's interactions with Illyana, which I'm not. I mean Belasco himself who has had more than a few appearances elsewhere mucking shit up.

Also I don't get how you can say "by what's advertised" cause the solicitation only states Magik is facing a villain that was banished while Madelyne is in charge of Limbo. There's no real through line that it's deeply personal for Illyana just that it's an old foe.

[sunofdarkchild]

You assume that I'm purely talking about Belasco's interactions with Illyana, which I'm not. I mean Belasco himself who has had more than a few appearances elsewhere mucking shit up.

Also I don't get how you can say "by what's advertised" cause the solicitation only states Magik is facing a villain that was banished while Madelyne is in charge of Limbo. There's no real through line that it's deeply personal for Illyana just that it's an old foe.

Even counting all of his appearances, Belasco doesn't have that much when compared to most other villains. The one big problem with his appearances in the period between Inferno and Quest for Magik is the fact that Illyana wasn't there, and so his story had nowhere to go. Of course anything he did in that period would be nothing more than spinning his wheels. He is an Illyana villain first and foremost - even factoring in that he first appeared in Kazar. His story with Illyana is not played out because this would be the first time in almost 40 years he'd interact with the Illyana of his desires. If you go by Quest for Magik, Illyana is the only person he's ever actually cared for. There's a ton that can be done with their relationship. And considering the soul sword retcons no longer apply and Marvel is pretending everything to do with Amanda becoming Magik never happened, most of his appearances from the 90s can be ignored. Very few of his appearances in which he doesn't interact with Illyana matter in the slightest. He is one of the least played-out villains in Marvel because he's had so little interaction with with his primary enemy and most significant relationship.

There have been 3 solicitations so far in addition to the various covers. The solicitation for the trade of of this story says it is going to "shatter" Illyana, and the multiple covers showing the soul sword shattering keep that motif going. If there is any truth to this motiff, then this is indeed a story designed to break, or if you prefer 'shatter' her. And in that case, Belasco is the only old enemy who could fit the bill. None of her other enemies could fit that kind of story right now.

[WallStreeter]

I feel like belasco is a bit too on the nose AND played out. Witchfire though, that could work.

Witchfire would definitely work. Because basically, she feeels she was screwed out of what she was entitled to. Being defeated and no longer having elder gods and losing her shot at getting a seat on the hell lord council?

Reasons to be pissed.

I think it might not be Belasco because Magik was given such a Victor over him. Plus Belasco is a pedophile and MeToo has hit the entertainment industry hard. I don’t think they can do any more stories about demonic pedophiles falling in love with little girls. Plus if it were Belasco I think they’d say it directly.

[sunofdarkchild]

After months of delays I finally have my copy of New Mutants omnibus Vol. 2.

[Fokken]

After months of delays I finally have my copy of New Mutants omnibus Vol. 2.

Congratulations, bud! If its got any cool bonus content, share share share