Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2022

[WallStreeter]

It's easy when someone is basically tossing terms around without really understanding what they mean. Ilyana is not the typical Marvel Hellord even in her Darkchide incarnation. We basically saw that with Pixie. If anything she's more akin to being like Marvel's version of Loki at his very worst rather than being a Mephisto wannabe.

I agree with you. The Darkchikde used trickery and deception to destroy the Elder gods. She tricked Colossus into becoming the Juggernaut because she was annoyed at his codependency.

But she is not going to hang out with Mephisto or Hela for reasons so obvious it’s not worth getting into.

[WallStreeter]

It’s not like Magik answers to Mephisto. One stab of the souls word and he has a very nasty wound. He can be defeated by any major sorcerer.

[lucius121]

Looking forward to seeing Illyana vs the Goblin queen.

[sunofdarkchild]

Wish I had this idea. Top 10 Illyana moments of 2021. https://illyanarasputinfan.tumblr.co...oments-of-2021


My top 10 moments off the top of my head.

1: Illyana's letter to Xavier/the council. This is not only my favorite moment for Illyana, but my favorite moment of the entire Krakoa era. In a medium where so much character development happens off-panel, this is one of the most powerful moments of character development on the page I've seen in comics in many years. Illyana's letter has her accepting responsibility, admitting to a mistake, and most importantly calling out the people who failed her so badly. This is monumental for someone who used to worship the ground Xavier walked on even when he was neglectful or borderline abusive and whose self-hate led her to only blame herself even when she shouldn't have. Her misspellings, while humorous, only emphasize the point that Xavier and Magneto were not good teachers for her, and that's why she needs to do better than they did.

2: 'He doesn't matter.' Illyana has a history of putting so much weight into a few words. 'There are no snowflakes in hell.' 'How many sleeps?' Now these 3 words perfectly encapsulate her growth as a character and a person. The man who ruined her life, abused her in many different ways for years, corrupted her soul, stole her from her family, turned her into a person she hated with every fiber of her being - no longer mattered. There's no more fear of his return. No more overwhelming fear of becoming just like him. All the scars from the years of trauma and abuse remain, but they no longer define her. He no longer defines her.

3: Playing wingman for Karma at the Hellfire Gala. Everything Illyana says to and about Karma she could be saying about herself. And in a less extreme example than 2020 with Doug, it shows that Illyana's tough love really is love.

4. The 'Beyonce' of Limbo tortures N'Astirh with 'I'm Gonna Be.' More comedy gold and again showing how much more comfortable Illyana is in her own skin.

5. New Mutants group-chat/toast at the gala. It's just nice to see these characters show how much they love each other and how much they really are a family. Plus Illyana changing Doug's username to 'Dougie' is adorable.

6. Teleporting all of the fear pollen into the sun in Curse of the Man-Thing. Her best teleportation feat of the year and one of her best feats ever. Opening portals large enough to collect all of the pollen spores in various cities across the world at the same time and sending them all the way to the sun is a massive feat by any standard,

7. Forming the Dark Riders. This would be higher if it was explored more, but it again shows how far she's come that she can effectively mentor monster mutants now.

8. Dealing with the bullies. This stands out because it's one of the few times a New Mutant didn't royally screw up a situation with the kids this year. Between Dani's dismissal of Cosmar, no one having any idea how to reassure Gabby, and the disaster which was Dani and Karma's Otherworld excursion, there was a lot of screwing up to go around. Here Illyana knew the younger kids were lying to her, figured out exactly what happened, and dealt with the situation quickly and effectively, laying down the law that people should be good to each other even if that isn't one of the 3 laws.

9: Getting her revenge on Mojo for making her Pogg ur Pogg's love interest. It's cathartic to get something from the previous year paid off.

10: Stabbing and defeating Kulan Gath: This is another moment that would be higher if there was more to it. Unfortunately it's not a big character moment since she doesn't even know what the knife she uses is. She just happens to be the one who uses it since she can teleport it into her hand. The bragging rights are there, but it should have meant more.

[G0RM]

Wish I had this idea. Top 10 Illyana moments of 2021. https://illyanarasputinfan.tumblr.co...oments-of-2021

My top 10 moments off the top of my head.

9: Getting her revenge on Mojo for making her Pogg ur Pogg's love interest. It's cathartic to get something from the previous year paid off.

First off, thank you so much for this!

Secondly, and I feel extremely foolish for asking, when and where is the mojo revenge sequence? (The article lists it as X-Force #9, but I've gone through it twice, and it's not there.)

As a teleporter, Great Captain, and War (Leader?), Illyana can be wherever and whenever necessary, but that gives her tons of one page appearances, which would be frustrating if I didn't have deep pockets to pick up lots of side issues.

I like that people nag her for rides; she had an episode in 'Black White and Red' teleporting Wolverine to Mars, another one with Cable teleporting him to Limbo lite to fight Stryfe, and she always has nice little conversations each time as the magic bus driver.

(Also turning down Old Man Logan and Ms. Marvel when they asked for favors.)

[sunofdarkchild]

First off, thank you so much for this!

Secondly, and I feel extremely foolish for asking, when and where is the mojo revenge sequence? (The article lists it as X-Force #9, but I've gone through it twice, and it's not there.)

As a teleporter, Great Captain, and War (Leader?), Illyana can be wherever and whenever necessary, but that gives her tons of one page appearances, which would be frustrating if I didn't have deep pockets to pick up lots of side issues.

I like that people nag her for rides; she had an episode in 'Black White and Red' teleporting Wolverine to Mars, another one with Cable teleporting him to Limbo lite to fight Stryfe, and she always has nice little conversations each time as the magic bus driver.

(Also turning down Old Man Logan and Ms. Marvel when they asked for favors.)

X-Factor 9. https://www.comixology.com/X-Factor-...GlzdC9Jc3N1ZXM

[Aetherna]

Happy new year Magik thread!

So what did people end up thinking about Magik in Savage Avengers? I'll admit that I found the concept of Magik teaming up with Conan hilarious and I kinda want a mini that's just them hanging out in Cimmeria fighting evil sorcerers and other classic sword and sorcery stuff.

[sunofdarkchild]

Happy new year Magik thread!

So what did people end up thinking about Magik in Savage Avengers? I'll admit that I found the concept of Magik teaming up with Conan hilarious and I kinda want a mini that's just them hanging out in Cimmeria fighting evil sorcerers and other classic sword and sorcery stuff.

There are 2 aspects to the answer, one about the issues where she teamed up with Conan specifically, and her usage in Savage Avengers as a whole. Pretty much every team-up Illyana's had the last couple of years has been good fun, from Gorgon to Wolverine to Cable to Dr. Strange. Her teamup with Conan was no exception. The fight with Saudarang was good. The final fight with Kulan Gath was something of a letdown since even though she struck the winning blow it was pretty meaningless and for people who aren't Magik fans it probably came out of left field. She should have had a bigger role in setting up the final fight to justify her being the one to use the knife to stab Kulan Gath and to make the act more meaningful than 'have knife, will stab.' The series as a whole needed to do more with her both to justify having her be the one to defeat Kulan Gath and given her history with him.

[G0RM]

There are 2 aspects to the answer, one about the issues where she teamed up with Conan specifically, and her usage in Savage Avengers as a whole. Pretty much every team-up Illyana's had the last couple of years has been good fun, from Gorgon to Wolverine to Cable to Dr. Strange. Her teamup with Conan was no exception. The fight with Saudarang was good. The final fight with Kulan Gath was something of a letdown since even though she struck the winning blow it was pretty meaningless and for people who aren't Magik fans it probably came out of left field. She should have had a bigger role in setting up the final fight to justify her being the one to use the knife to stab Kulan Gath and to make the act more meaningful than 'have knife, will stab.' The series as a whole needed to do more with her both to justify having her be the one to defeat Kulan Gath and given her history with him.

I would have liked it had the killing been done by the 'Sword of Bone', which Illyana 1.0 briefly recovered for Ororo's ancient ancestor Ashake sort of between panels in TNM #32 when Illyana and Dani are lost in time while fighting Karma/Shadow King, in 'Mystic Arcana #1'.

The Sword of Bone was made out as if it were contemporaneous with Kulan Gath, tens of thousands of years old, one of the 'Cornerstones of Creation', although it could only be wielded by one 'Pure of Heart' which might have made it unavailable to most or all of the kill squad.

[ZephyrSurf]

Surprised that the defeat and recruitment of Sadurang wasn't on sunofdarkchild's list.

I would have called that the more substantial of Magik's time in Savage Avengers moment.

[sunofdarkchild]

I would have liked it had the killing been done by the 'Sword of Bone', which Illyana 1.0 briefly recovered for Ororo's ancient ancestor Ashake sort of between panels in TNM #32 when Illyana and Dani are lost in time while fighting Karma/Shadow King, in 'Mystic Arcana #1'.

The Sword of Bone was made out as if it were contemporaneous with Kulan Gath, tens of thousands of years old, one of the 'Cornerstones of Creation', although it could only be wielded by one 'Pure of Heart' which might have made it unavailable to most or all of the kill squad.

My 'fix' to the scene is to have Gath mock Illyana during the fight and call her a child, and then we she stabs him she says something along the lines of 'I'm not the same child you fought all those years ago' instead of 'I don't know what's so special about this knife but I know where to stick it.' That change turns the entire scene from 'Illyana wins the game of magic knife hot potato' to 'Illyana shows her growth by defeating Kulan Gath.

Surprised that the defeat and recruitment of Sadurang wasn't on sunofdarkchild's list.

I would have called that the more substantial of Magik's time in Savage Avengers moment.

It happened in December 2020, so it's not eligible for a list of 2021 moments. The first list shouldn't have had it either. It is a great moment for her, with 3 fantastic uses of her portals to make Juggernaut hit even harder, save the Black Knight, and redirect Sadurang's fire ball back at him, plus her sword being used properly to end the fight and her being the one to show mercy. But, as I said, it didn't happen in 2021.

[Aetherna]

Magik cosplay by Adalaide Lemon (not really safe for work but then neither is the modern magik costume in general so vOv):

[sunofdarkchild]

This New Mutants hero deserves another chance.

My dream projects would be an animated film about Illyana's origin, basically retelling the Magik mini with a few minor alterations, and an ongoing TV show 'Magik and the New Mutants' which largely follows the plots of the 80s comic but makes it clear Illyana is the focal character.

[seccruz]

75960609471402551_4b63318a-c443-4d4a-975a-7b50bc74b9f9_1024x.jpg
Philip Tan just gave us this lovely throwback to Infernos past.
https://unknowncomicbooks.com/collec...60609471402551

[Andru]

75960609471402551_4b63318a-c443-4d4a-975a-7b50bc74b9f9_1024x.jpg
Philip Tan just gave us this lovely throwback to Infernos past.
https://unknowncomicbooks.com/collec...60609471402551

Love this! Thank you for sharing.