I remember reading about Magik in the Marvel Super Heroes Spring Special #1, which included stories featuring Moon Knight, Hercules, Brother Voodoo, Speedball, Black Panther, as well as Magik. At the time, I didn’t understand a thing that was happening–I was nine years old. All I knew was a gorgeous blond could change from a seemingly normal teen into a loincloth-wearing, sword-swinging, magic-slinging leader of Limbo complete with hooves, horns, and a pointed tail. I was in! It helped that her armor only covered a small portion of her torso as well. Armor’s overrated, after all.

I lost track of Magik over the years, but she was not forgotten, as I’d catch sight of her in a comic or an appearance in a movie or animated show. That curiosity finally led me full circle to her origins in Chris Claremont’s X-Men: Magik – Storm & Illyana five-book collection, which contains The Uncanny X-Men #160 from 1982 as well as Magik #1-4 from 1983-1984. I know, late to the party, but wow, what a story!

Mutants are generally known to have dark, depressing stories, as they are pushed out by their families and society once their powers are revealed, but Illyana’s story is even darker.

Kidnapped at seven years of age by Belasco, a sorcerer and current leader of Limbo, to become his future bride, he uses his power to corrupt her and turn her into a demonic force known as Darkchild (or Darkchilde or Darkchylde depending on what you read, I guess). Once corrupted enough, he can turn pieces of her soul into Bloodstones to be put in an amulet. Once that is complete, Illyana will become the gateway for Elder Gods to come through to our dimension and conquer it.

X-Men have visited this dimension before, and Belasco has conquered them all except for Storm (known simply as Orono here) and Kitty Pride (known as Cat). They have twisted stories about how Belasco has corrupted them, but they escaped and hold on to what slivers of hope they have left that they can get Illyana out of Limbo alive and prevent the end of our dimension.

I don’t want to spoil anything. It is, honestly, a very good read with a lot of twists and turns. I loved the idea of Cat training Illyana how to fight physically, and Orono training her magically (maybe even spiritually). It’s what they know and how they’ve thrived in this dimension for so long (why isn’t the title Storm, Cat, and Illyana, btw?). I love Illyana’s painful story, and her eventual finding of power within to help her escape. Belasco is the epitome of an evil villain. He does lean into the campy side of villainy, complete with hands on hips while laughing to the sky, but every rose has its thorn. That rose is Illyana, and she has to prune a few bushes, some thorny and some not, throughout this series in order to survive the seven years held captive in Limbo.

Ok, I may have gotten carried away with my metaphors.

Bottom line, this is a fantastic read, held slightly back by the nuances of time and the evolution of how comics are written. It’s definitely worth a read. I’m curious to see where her story goes.