Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2023

[Krakoa]

Crossposting some discussion from the WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BENDIS' X-MEN STUFF NOW? thread that is relevant to Illyana. In short, is there a particular creative that you credit with making MAGIK a breakout character from the cast of the NEW MUTANTS?

To me, it really was a collaboration that made her as big as she is now. Bringing her back and making her prominent, putting her on the main team, and connecting her to Dr. Strange/Marvel magic were the three big things for her IMO. (Personally, I think you cannot discount how important Gillen putting her on the main team was -- regardless of if that run is what made people latch onto her, it's what elevated her into getting put onto Bendis' Uncanny and subsequent teams like Extraordinary, etc.)

- Claremont for creating her/Simonson for writing Inferno, in general.
- Kyle/Yost for bringing her back.
- Wells for establishing a strong modern take on the character.
- Gillen for being the first to put her on the main team and in general giving her a really impactful story and relationships with characters that made her get picked up by Bendis.
- Bendis for transitioning her back into being a more clearly heroic character and helping make her a mainstay of the team, and particularly for establishing her connection to Dr. Strange.
- Aaron for making her a Dr. Strange mainstay.

[JB]

Spoilers for X-Terminators #5

spoilers:

Illyana has her own Lockheed in the form of what looks like a cute purple demon rabbit which X-23 gave her as a bribe for helping the X-Terminators. Going by the dialogue it's a baby, though it's bigger than Lockheed. And it doesn't look like it has any eyes. So after wanting to keep the land shark and one of the puppies, she finally has a pet she can keep, and she's thrilled. I'm taking suggestions on Twitter for a fan-name for the little guy.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Oh cool! I wonder if it's the same creature Dazzler found in the maze in issue #1 I think? I haven't read this issue yet to see if it's the same one.

end of spoilers

[sunofdarkchild]

spoilers:

Oh cool! I wonder if it's the same creature Dazzler found in the maze in issue #1 I think? I haven't read this issue yet to see if it's the same one.

end of spoilers

It must be.

I think I'm going to go with 'Chert'. It's the Russian word for 'devil' or 'demon,' but it kind of sounds cute in English.

[JB]

It must be.

I think I'm going to go with 'Chert'. It's the Russian word for 'devil' or 'demon,' but it kind of sounds cute in English.

Chert, I love it. And it's probably the same little creature, a total cutie.

[ZephyrSurf]

Midnight Suns #5 had an interesting thing for Magik.

spoilers:

So last issue ended with the big bad of the series, a witch who took over Valtorr's realm having seemingly killed everyone. This turns out to be a doomed reality. Because of previous shenanigans due to Clea, Magik didn't have access to her teleporting. So instead, she manages to direct Ghost Rider to ride the fractures of the alternate timeline into her dead timeline's self so that she can give a warning that they could send to the past. This causes a ripple effect that alters how the timeline was supposed to go and allows the Midnight Suns to circumvent the villain and be prepared for her arrival ahead of time.

end of spoilers

It's some pure magical bullshit, but I could totally believe Magik would know how to do that.

[sunofdarkchild]

Midnight Suns #5 had an interesting thing for Magik.

spoilers:

So last issue ended with the big bad of the series, a witch who took over Valtorr's realm having seemingly killed everyone. This turns out to be a doomed reality. Because of previous shenanigans due to Clea, Magik didn't have access to her teleporting. So instead, she manages to direct Ghost Rider to ride the fractures of the alternate timeline into her dead timeline's self so that she can give a warning that they could send to the past. This causes a ripple effect that alters how the timeline was supposed to go and allows the Midnight Suns to circumvent the villain and be prepared for her arrival ahead of time.

end of spoilers

It's some pure magical bullshit, but I could totally believe Magik would know how to do that.

The series was ok, but it never really made it seem like these five were a real team. Illyana fares the best in that regard since she has a relationship with 2 other characters on the team, Logan and Nico, while they only have a relationship with her, and Blade and Kushala are just along for the ride without any real connection to anyone else. That moment where Illyana comforts Nico in issue 3 is something the series could have used more of instead of having the characters be so focused on business and action the entire time.

Funnily enough, it's kind of the opposite of my problem with Gillen's use of Illyana. In his run the only relationship she had on the team was with Colossus while pretty much everyone else had more relationships and were more fleshed out. Here she's the only person on the team with more than one relationship and of the team only she and Nico really get any fleshing out.

[sunofdarkchild]

Here we go. Chapter 7 of my crossover between Illyana and Sailor Moon is up. This took longer than the other chapters because I spent so much time playing Midnight Suns instead of writing.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1412473...-Moon-Princess
https://archiveofourown.org/works/41...ters/112077286

[Andru]

I had no idea who Magik was until AVX

I was born in 88 and the only thing I knew about X-Men was the animated series and later the movies, so no clue who Illyana was...yes, I am ashamed!

When I randomly picked up an issue of AVX and saw this demonic girl with goat feet take out Doctor Strange in a place called Limbo, I needed to know more ASAP!

I believe I read almost all of her appearances since Giant Size X-Men and fell in love! Instantly becoming not only my favorite X-man, but favorite character in all of comics.

If Claremont hadn't created such a dynamic, sympathetic, bad-ass character, I doubt she would have the prominence she does today.

And in modern times, Wells & Bendis absolutely did all the heavy lifting. Special thanks to Bachalo for her new look as well!

Claremont walked so Wells & Bendis could run.

[Phoenixx9]

I had no idea who Magik was until AVX

I was born in 88 and the only thing I knew about X-Men was the animated series and later the movies, so no clue who Illyana was...yes, I am ashamed!

When I randomly picked up an issue of AVX and saw this demonic girl with goat feet take out Doctor Strange in a place called Limbo, I needed to know more ASAP!

I believe I read almost all of her appearances since Giant Size X-Men and fell in love! Instantly becoming not only my favorite X-man, but favorite character in all of comics.

If Claremont hadn't created such a dynamic, sympathetic, bad-ass character, I doubt she would have the prominence she does today.

And in modern times, Wells & Bendis absolutely did all the heavy lifting. Special thanks to Bachalo for her new look as well!

Claremont walked so Wells & Bendis could run.

LOL to not knowing Illyana and for feeling ashamed about it.

But you made up for that by learning about the character, so cheers for that.

[sunofdarkchild]

If they absolutely had to have Belasco in this silly Mary Jane and Black Cat story, the way to do it would be to have him searching for S'ym's soul mace instead of a never-before hinted-at soul sword. That way his past actions remain consistent with his current actions and continuity is maintained. And it would make more sense for him to enlist the help of these two if the item in question wasn't actually all that important to him but merely something he is pursuing now out of convenience. Then his pursuit of a soul weapon could be used to set up a later story where he finally forges his own soul sword and that concept is given the gravitas it deserves.

[sunofdarkchild]

Chapter 8 of my Sailor Moon/Magik crossover fic is up. I couldn't have an X-Men/Sailor Moon story and not include the Blue Area of the Moon at some point.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1412473...-Moon-Princess
https://archiveofourown.org/works/41...ters/113108173

[sunofdarkchild]

Mephisto seems to be a major part of the Venom DLC for Midnight Suns. This could mean a continuation of Illyana's story from the game, but I wouldn't expect too much since the DLC levels can be played at any time once they're unlocked, so they have to be able to be completed before Mephisto ever shows up in the base game.

[Krakoa]

Mephisto seems to be a major part of the Venom DLC for Midnight Suns. This could mean a continuation of Illyana's story from the game, but I wouldn't expect too much since the DLC levels can be played at any time once they're unlocked, so they have to be able to be completed before Mephisto ever shows up in the base game.

Depends - the Deadpool DLC was locked behind a particular story moment, for example -- so it's possible that this is locked behind a later moment.

[juan678]

Magik Hellfire Gala Angel Solorzano


https://twitter.com/THE_saintart/sta...42034338996225

[Thirteen]

Cool Illyana: Gold piece by Ben Harvey

Illyana Gold Ben Havey Instagram.jpg