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Magik #1-4
X-Men: Magik - Storm & Illyana
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1963) #160, Magik (1983) #1-4.
Colossus' 7-year-old sister Illyana Rasputin has been snatched away by Belasco, demon lord of Limbo! Though the X-Men rescue her what seems like seconds later, those seconds represent a years-long ordeal for Illyana - one that starts with losing a piece of her soul, and goes downhill fast! The sorceress Ororo and feline warrior Cat - alternate-reality versions of X-Men Storm and Kitty Pryde - aid young Illyana against the terrors of Limbo, including Belasco's henchman S'ym and a twisted, perverse version of Nightcrawler. Trained in good and evil magic, Illyana learns to control Limbo's teleporting Stepping Discs - but as the final battle against Belasco arrives, can good triumph over evil when Illyana doesn't know which one she is anymore?
Colossus' 7-year-old sister Illyana Rasputin has been snatched away by Belasco, demon lord of Limbo! Though the X-Men rescue her what seems like seconds later, those seconds represent a years-long ordeal for Illyana - one that starts with losing a piece of her soul, and goes downhill fast! The sorceress Ororo and feline warrior Cat - alternate-reality versions of X-Men Storm and Kitty Pryde - aid young Illyana against the terrors of Limbo, including Belasco's henchman S'ym and a twisted, perverse version of Nightcrawler. Trained in good and evil magic, Illyana learns to control Limbo's teleporting Stepping Discs - but as the final battle against Belasco arrives, can good triumph over evil when Illyana doesn't know which one she is anymore?
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2013
44 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,278 books888 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 31, 2023
I found the writing to be a bit wordy, and the story was a bit disjointed.
November 1, 2024
I’ve been wanting to read this miniseries, containing the origin story of the New Mutants’ Magik, for decades but I could never find a complete set. Now, thanks to the Marvel Unlimited app, I’ve finally read it.
Was it worth the wait? Yeah, it was good. As I read it, though, I realised I’d seen so much of it in flashbacks over the years that I’d practically read it already, albeit in a somewhat disjointed manner.
Despite the lack of surprises, I did enjoy it. It was a shame John Buscema didn’t pencil the whole series, but Tom Palmer’s inks over Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema’s pencils in issues three and four were so heavy-handed that most readers might not have noticed the difference.
3.6 stars, rounded up.
Was it worth the wait? Yeah, it was good. As I read it, though, I realised I’d seen so much of it in flashbacks over the years that I’d practically read it already, albeit in a somewhat disjointed manner.
Despite the lack of surprises, I did enjoy it. It was a shame John Buscema didn’t pencil the whole series, but Tom Palmer’s inks over Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema’s pencils in issues three and four were so heavy-handed that most readers might not have noticed the difference.
3.6 stars, rounded up.
September 11, 2014
As a relatively recent convert to comics, I've had a lot of catching up to do. This mini-series is now one of my favorites. Frequently I've found it difficult to become fully emotionally engaged with older stories, but I had no such trouble with this one. The characterization and pacing are spot-on. The vivid portrayal of Illyana's tumultuous growth from a young child to an emotionally-mature teenager is particularly impressive, both in terms of art and writing. I'd barely encountered the character previously and now I can't wait to read more of her! It's also a wonderful book for getting to know Storm (even if it is an alternate version). The instability of the limbo dimension where most of action takes place is interesting but doesn't overwhelm what is primarily a character story. My only quibble is that the villain is one-dimensional and generic, but I would've hated for time and space to be taken from Illyana in order to develop him, so no complaints there. Finally, as a bonus it was a real pleasure to read a story so completely dominated by female characters and the relationships between them. All in all, highly recommended!
February 15, 2016
Chris Claremont was a true comics risk taker in the old days. This classic 4 issue mini-series set the table for the Inferno crossover in the mid-80s.
In this collection, we start out with Uncanny X-Men #160 to see the story of Illyana (Sister of Colossus) getting kidnapped by the Demon Sorcerer Belasco. He takes her to Limbo where some weird timey-wimey stuff happens). Demons and magic (or is that Magik?) enter the X-Men story which had been dominated by aliens and battles with evil mutants.
The Magik 4 issue story tells the "untold" story of what happened during Illyana's captivity before the X-Men can bring her back to our reality...it is pretty brutal, especially for an 80s comic.
This is where I originally started buying and reading X-Men instead of Avengers as a kid. Although the story is a bit cheesy and dated, nostalgia was not wrong, I still love this one.
Go for it, X-Men and New Mutant fans! This is a lot of fun to read.
In this collection, we start out with Uncanny X-Men #160 to see the story of Illyana (Sister of Colossus) getting kidnapped by the Demon Sorcerer Belasco. He takes her to Limbo where some weird timey-wimey stuff happens). Demons and magic (or is that Magik?) enter the X-Men story which had been dominated by aliens and battles with evil mutants.
The Magik 4 issue story tells the "untold" story of what happened during Illyana's captivity before the X-Men can bring her back to our reality...it is pretty brutal, especially for an 80s comic.
This is where I originally started buying and reading X-Men instead of Avengers as a kid. Although the story is a bit cheesy and dated, nostalgia was not wrong, I still love this one.
Go for it, X-Men and New Mutant fans! This is a lot of fun to read.
June 26, 2016
This was dark and tragic and completely heartbreaking but also very powerful and incredibly well written. Despite the horror and tragedy of it all, Illyana becomes a strong sorceress and her powers are forged by her suffering and torment. She's a very dark character with a very serious arc, and I felt like it was handled very well.
January 1, 2024
For being an old school comic book series, this was surprisingly good. I really liked the entire Belasco/Ororo/Kitty/limbo ordeal. Definitely a must-read for Magik/Illyana fans. (I came here from the Midnight Suns video game and no regrets.)
The last issue is hands down a 5 star read for fans. You get to see how Magik gets her soulsword and Darkchild form. What's not to like?
The last issue is hands down a 5 star read for fans. You get to see how Magik gets her soulsword and Darkchild form. What's not to like?
January 5, 2019
As much fun as I remember, though the characters' constant exposition is a little annoying.
March 21, 2020
My favorite member of THE NEW MUTANTS was always Illyana Rasputin, Colossus's little sister, a.k.a. Magik. Aside from my obvious adolescent crush on her, I was drawn to her mix of mutant and mystical abilities. Sure, she can summon "stepping discs" that allow her to teleport anywhere (and sometimes even through time), but she also has a cool "soulsword" and magical armor and a repertoire of spells at her disposal! Coupled with her constant internal battle against the dark, demonic side of her nature, how could I NOT be obsessed with her?
I read this four-issue miniseries when it first came out in 1983-4 to learn how she got those mystic powers during her years in Limbo with the demon Belasco. Trailers for a movie adaptation of THE NEW MUTANTS reminded me how much I liked the miniseries, so when I found a used trade available for a reasonable price, I snatched it up and dove right in. I was not disappointed! The story still holds up as an enjoyable, gothic adventure through a dark mirror-world of magic and demons. Back in the day, I found the alternate versions of the X-Men Illyana encounters in Limbo, twisted by Belasco's dark magic, to be deeply disturbing, especially Kitty Pryde's transformation into an unhinged human-cat hybrid. Today I found them equally disturbing.
Only two things keep me from awarding MAGIK five stars. The first is that the writing is ridiculously overwrought, particularly Belasco's dialogue. This is not unusual for comic books, especially comics in the 1980s, but as a more discerning reader now it really stuck out for me. Second, it feels rushed. Had the miniseries gone for six or eight issues instead of only four, it wouldn't have had to rely so much on exposition told through narration boxes across the panels and would have had room to show us more of what Illyana was experiencing in Limbo. It would have allowed time to pass a little more organically, too, even with Limbo's strange temporal properties.
Overall, this was a very fun read, and one I'm glad I revisited after all these years. Illyana Rasputin will always hold a special place in my dark little heart, and so will this miniseries!
I read this four-issue miniseries when it first came out in 1983-4 to learn how she got those mystic powers during her years in Limbo with the demon Belasco. Trailers for a movie adaptation of THE NEW MUTANTS reminded me how much I liked the miniseries, so when I found a used trade available for a reasonable price, I snatched it up and dove right in. I was not disappointed! The story still holds up as an enjoyable, gothic adventure through a dark mirror-world of magic and demons. Back in the day, I found the alternate versions of the X-Men Illyana encounters in Limbo, twisted by Belasco's dark magic, to be deeply disturbing, especially Kitty Pryde's transformation into an unhinged human-cat hybrid. Today I found them equally disturbing.
Only two things keep me from awarding MAGIK five stars. The first is that the writing is ridiculously overwrought, particularly Belasco's dialogue. This is not unusual for comic books, especially comics in the 1980s, but as a more discerning reader now it really stuck out for me. Second, it feels rushed. Had the miniseries gone for six or eight issues instead of only four, it wouldn't have had to rely so much on exposition told through narration boxes across the panels and would have had room to show us more of what Illyana was experiencing in Limbo. It would have allowed time to pass a little more organically, too, even with Limbo's strange temporal properties.
Overall, this was a very fun read, and one I'm glad I revisited after all these years. Illyana Rasputin will always hold a special place in my dark little heart, and so will this miniseries!
January 26, 2015
This was pretty dark. It was denser than I expected, but I appreciated the tone and the style. You get to learn a lot about Magik, the character.
July 28, 2016
Classic. Just read it'll be included in the next Uncanny Masterwork. Sweet!!
April 22, 2021
Innocence lost. A tale of growing up on the dark side of the street.
Compiling Uncanny X-Men #160 and the Magik limited series (between 1982 through 1983) we are treated to the origin story of Illyana Rasputin who is tempted by demonic sorcerer Belasco to come to his realm of Limbo for his nefarious plans. Following the at the time 7 year old child the present X-Men find themselves also within the magical confines of Limbo as they attempt to find the lost sister of Peter Rasputin (aka Colossus.) What they find is the dimension does not follow the typical rules of time and space that the real world follows as they discover this is not the first time they have been in this demonic hellscape. Now the question is can they find a way to escape and save the little girl taken captive or will they ultimately succumb to the fate they shared long ago?
Honestly I remembered reading Uncanny X-Men #160 years ago and I was curious (although I forgot what volume it was) if there was more to the story and looked it up out of curiosity. I won't say what specifically so you can enjoy the weird alternative X-Men yourself but let us say one thing I remembered from the volume surprised me because it got past the comic book authority folks so I wanted to see if I remembered it correctly. Turns out I did.
So if you are a fan of the character Magik, curious about one of the many interesting X-Men characters in Marvel's History, or just want to see how mutants and magics can mix then look no further as Chris Claremount, Brent Anderson, John Buscema, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema bring us a dark moment in mutant history in a time when Marvel Comics let a comic book authority dictate if their books were safe enough for younger readers. What foolish mortals they be. :)
Compiling Uncanny X-Men #160 and the Magik limited series (between 1982 through 1983) we are treated to the origin story of Illyana Rasputin who is tempted by demonic sorcerer Belasco to come to his realm of Limbo for his nefarious plans. Following the at the time 7 year old child the present X-Men find themselves also within the magical confines of Limbo as they attempt to find the lost sister of Peter Rasputin (aka Colossus.) What they find is the dimension does not follow the typical rules of time and space that the real world follows as they discover this is not the first time they have been in this demonic hellscape. Now the question is can they find a way to escape and save the little girl taken captive or will they ultimately succumb to the fate they shared long ago?
Honestly I remembered reading Uncanny X-Men #160 years ago and I was curious (although I forgot what volume it was) if there was more to the story and looked it up out of curiosity. I won't say what specifically so you can enjoy the weird alternative X-Men yourself but let us say one thing I remembered from the volume surprised me because it got past the comic book authority folks so I wanted to see if I remembered it correctly. Turns out I did.
So if you are a fan of the character Magik, curious about one of the many interesting X-Men characters in Marvel's History, or just want to see how mutants and magics can mix then look no further as Chris Claremount, Brent Anderson, John Buscema, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema bring us a dark moment in mutant history in a time when Marvel Comics let a comic book authority dictate if their books were safe enough for younger readers. What foolish mortals they be. :)
June 11, 2023
I haven’t read the X-Men comics before, except for one Wolverine, so this was new to me. I’ve never even heard of Illyana before, and Storm was quite different looking when comparing to Halle Berry who played her in the movies.
The story, which actually was OK, didn’t start very well, it had very clumsy storytelling. Then it got better and was exciting and thrilling even, until it started to repeat itself so much it became annoying and then I hoped it would end. And it ended eventually, but oh how deus ex-machina like and anticlimatic ending it had. Luckily at least the drawings and colouring were good.
The story, which actually was OK, didn’t start very well, it had very clumsy storytelling. Then it got better and was exciting and thrilling even, until it started to repeat itself so much it became annoying and then I hoped it would end. And it ended eventually, but oh how deus ex-machina like and anticlimatic ending it had. Luckily at least the drawings and colouring were good.
September 8, 2025
In all my years of reading X-Men books, this is one of the stories that I never encountered. I always wondered how Magik was ensnared by Belasco, and what happened that made her aged up in New Mutants. Now that I've read it, I think I would have been happier just reading a Wikipedia post about it.
It's typical over-written Claremont from the 80s, where he spends two narration boxes mentioning how Illyana is cowering in a corner, which we can see because the artist has drawn Illyana cowering in the corner. He also strips Storm naked several times in the story for absolutely no reason other than Claremont seemed to enjoy asking artists to draw naked women obscured by water and/or clouds.
The four issues that follow Magik, an elderly Storm, a corrupted Nightcrawler, and a Kitty Pryde who's been turned into a cat-human hybrid, could have been one entertaining issue. Instead the story drags and drags and drags. Belasco is not an interesting villain. His assistant S'ym is more menacing but doesn't get a lot of time in this story.
I only recommend this collection to die-hard Claremont fans, and readers who absolutely must know what happened to Illyana during her original time in Limbo.
It's typical over-written Claremont from the 80s, where he spends two narration boxes mentioning how Illyana is cowering in a corner, which we can see because the artist has drawn Illyana cowering in the corner. He also strips Storm naked several times in the story for absolutely no reason other than Claremont seemed to enjoy asking artists to draw naked women obscured by water and/or clouds.
The four issues that follow Magik, an elderly Storm, a corrupted Nightcrawler, and a Kitty Pryde who's been turned into a cat-human hybrid, could have been one entertaining issue. Instead the story drags and drags and drags. Belasco is not an interesting villain. His assistant S'ym is more menacing but doesn't get a lot of time in this story.
I only recommend this collection to die-hard Claremont fans, and readers who absolutely must know what happened to Illyana during her original time in Limbo.
October 15, 2019
Somehow I had never read these issues back in the day and I really wish that I had.
Illyana was never a character that really connected with me but I think if I had read this story, she would have a lot more. Also, Inferno would have made a bit more sense.
At any rate, it is a good story from the high days of Claremont being Claremont that gives us Illyana's origin and has some interesting twists along the way.
Illyana was never a character that really connected with me but I think if I had read this story, she would have a lot more. Also, Inferno would have made a bit more sense.
At any rate, it is a good story from the high days of Claremont being Claremont that gives us Illyana's origin and has some interesting twists along the way.
February 20, 2022
Like Jim Starlin cosmic stuff, Chris Claremont sometimes goes so big and wide that his stories become intangible to me.
This one doesn't quite get there but it tried. I think the foundational story of the little girl lost helped to keep it grounded (somewhat).
Overall though I liked it well enough.
This one doesn't quite get there but it tried. I think the foundational story of the little girl lost helped to keep it grounded (somewhat).
Overall though I liked it well enough.
November 20, 2024
It's a very good story, with an unusual mix (especially for a superhero comic) of high fantasy and themes of psychological abuse. The downside is in the telling, which is very wordy, with a lot of sequences of "tell don't show". Could just be a difference in style over time (this is over 40 years old now), but it almost feels ripe for retelling in a 'modern' way.
December 21, 2020
Finally. The origin of Magik/Illyana Rasputin and her trials w/ Belasco.
Its often referenced in X-Men literature but I hadn't really known what book it was in til this year. This is a classic Claremont romp that would continue to be built on for years to come.
Its often referenced in X-Men literature but I hadn't really known what book it was in til this year. This is a classic Claremont romp that would continue to be built on for years to come.
March 16, 2022
Upon hearing the premise of the story I thought it was creepy and perverted. I hoped after reading it my feelings would change. It hasn't. This story was tedious to read. When I wasn't bored I was creeped out. I only read it because of Storm's involvement.
December 19, 2025
I had a dream I was an established film director. I was asked what projects I'd like to tackle in the world of comic books and I pitched this story as a standalone horror series. No spin-offs, no cinematic universes, just a one-off for fun mix of superheroes and horror.
January 24, 2019
4 issue mini-series featuring Colossus' sister. Meh. Didn't love it. This character becomes more important later on during the Marvel NOW! Uncanny X-Men storylines.
March 17, 2020
I read the first part of this back in the day. Nice to be able to read the rest. The story still works.
October 16, 2022
A fun origin story for Illyana Rasputin, sister of X-Man, Colossus.
February 16, 2019
I started this a while ago, and was so bored by the first issue, that I put it aside.
I’m happy to report that it gets much, much better.
This is a very dark and grim tale, and by the end, I was fascinated by Illyana and her origin story.
I definitely recommend this X Men book. It’s adds richness to the over all X Men mythos, and is also an entertaining and dark story about good vs evil.
I’m happy to report that it gets much, much better.
This is a very dark and grim tale, and by the end, I was fascinated by Illyana and her origin story.
I definitely recommend this X Men book. It’s adds richness to the over all X Men mythos, and is also an entertaining and dark story about good vs evil.
December 31, 2015
Pretty good though the story is dark, but it does a good job of explaining how the character became who she is.
September 7, 2016
A masterclass in comic book writing and storytelling
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews