Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2024

[sunofdarkchild]

Hmmmm that sounds familiar as Austn was writing Exiles around the same time as X-Men. I believe a crossover is how Nocturne got stuck in 616? I dont know if they got here via Magik though or whatever means they were using to hop between universes

All I really know is that there's some meshugas where the 616 Warren got the 'soulsword' the Exiles Magik used and then forgot all about it. I haven't gone out of my way to read everything about that version since most 'mean' alternate versions of Illyana miss the point of the character unless they truly commit to her going full Darkchild like that one Excalibur story or the 2015 Inferno mini. I do know that what Warren took was not a real soul sword but part of a set of swords from something called 'Bata's Circle.'

[jamgut]

The official trailer is out. Looks pretty good at first glance, and I'm glad it's not just a shooter. I hope it runs well on Steam Deck.

Her voice change when she morphed into the Darkchilde, sounded like Galadriel when Frodo offered her the ring.
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[Thirteen]

Wow, this image is incredible. Where is it from?

Yikes, I will now NEVER be able to find it again. I believe the artist's name was Ben Henderson. I discovered it while doing a random New Mutants search looking for something else...

[Veni]

[Aetherna]

Dont forget her sword. She is a character that translates very well to a videogame as she can be a melee character and blaster

Yeah, people here including me obviously love Magik the character but I am curious how much of her current prominence is due to her simply being the most popular sword-user in Marvel (I guess it is notable that she has passed the Psylocke/Betsy/Kwannon triad which is the only other primary sword-wielder I can think of), something that is hugely important when you are picking rosters for videogames etc. and having a very distinctive anime-ish design which executives probably think is marketable in East Asia.

I need to send a thank-you letter to Bachalo for the redesign at some point, I'm not a huge fan of everything about it but it was objectively hugely successful. Almost 90's Psylocke in how a character redesign alone can change public interest in a character.

[sunofdarkchild]

My Twitter thread on why restoring the no-kill rule is necessary for Illyana to truly be elevated to A-list.

It seems in many ways like Magik is as big as she can be now, with videogame appearances, a constant presence in the main X-Men books, and status in the Marvel mystic community. But there is a way to elevate her to true A-list status: Restore the no-kill rule she used to have.

It seems to have been forgotten that Illyana spared Belasco in the climatic moment of her origin, because she knew that killing him in anger would destroy what remained of her innocence and turn her into the Darkchild forever.

The fact that Illyana could not kill in anger without falling to the dark side was not just a central part of her origin, but of her character for the entirety of Claremont's run, and added a lot of depth to her character and decisions and emphasized the danger she posed.

Portraying Illyana as happy to kill betrays her origin and undermines the danger of her darkchild persona. It makes her a less interesting character.

Going back to the way Claremont wrote her as someone with a Jedi-like code about when she could kill - and never, ever in anger, would restore the depth missing from the way she's written currently in X-Men and make her a much better character.

Having something she has to struggle with and a line she cannot cross without losing herself would be the final piece of the puzzle to her fulfilling her true potential as a character. It will make her a better and more likeable character, and open far more story possibilities.

If Illyana once again cannot kill in anger without risking falling forever, if she once again will not kill unless absolutely necessary, if the thing currently sapping her depth is undone, the last barrier to her achieving true a-list status will no longer exist

The way to raise Illyana, raise Magik, to the next level, is to restore a core aspect of her character, her struggle, and everything she stands for that has been ignored for far too long. Bring back the no-kill rule, and Illyana will 'kill it' like never before.

[Veni]

by by Danica Brine

[Veni]

[Havok83]

Thats Mark Brooks? His art looks unrecognizable

[Veni]

Thats Mark Brooks? His art looks unrecognizable

He said on Twitter that he is using a Disney animation style to draw the X-Men.

[sunofdarkchild]

X-Men 33 goes right back to the 'Illyana's powers aren't working' well the very next issue after she got her powers back. She might as well not be in the Orchis story at all.


I tweeted a suggestion that Marvel make an animated Disneyplus movie adapting the Magik miniseries in the X-Men 97 universe and it is by far my most engaged tweet ever. It's got more than double views as my second-highest viewed tweet as well as many times more likes and reposts than I'm used to getting. It won't make the powers that be at Disney take notice, of course, but one can dream.

[sunofdarkchild]

It's amazing how similar X-Men 32 was last month to Bendis's Uncanny 33 on paper.

Both issues are about Illyana and Kitty reuniting and teaming up to rescue mutant children. The difference is one of these issues is good while the other is terrible.

Bendis embues the characters with emotion. Illyana and Kitty bicker, but not for no reason, and Illyana shows character growth from defending herself against Kitty's jabs at her dark side. So much is conveyed in a simple three-word sentence, 'how many sleeps?' Bo is immediately endearing as a child character, and the moment she hugs Illyana and Kitty is earned and truly emotional.

Duggan has the characters go on a murder spree, their dialogue is rote, lacking emotion, and little more than exposition. The rescue of the kids is a blink-and-you-miss-it affair where there's 1 panel of Illyana hitting a button and 1 of the kids escaping, not a single word of dialogue from any of the kids, and not a single reason to care. Even the resolution of the 'Illyana's powers are poisoned' story is wasted since there's no payoff beyond her teleporting some water from a fire hydrant, making for a lazy and boring final action scene. And the reunion between the girls and Lockheed has nothing building to it, robbing it of any emotion in an issue that goes out of its way to sap any possible emotion from every scene.

It's a perfect study in how 2 issues can be about the same characters going through the same story, but one can be amazing and the other worth less than used toilet paper.

[juan678]

https://twitter.com/MarvelChampions/...08876624773229

[Uncanny X-Man]

https://twitter.com/MarvelChampions/...08876624773229

LOL at that Soulsword being bigger than the Kingpin.

[sunofdarkchild]

An alternate Illyana who is the sorceress supreme appears in that world appears in Weapon X-Men today. She's there to be Worfed, but Phoenix says that Onslaught was afraid of Illyana.