The tale of Illyana “Magik” Rasputina is a tragic one, full of torture, dashed hopes, and betrayal. Born and raised to early childhood behind the Iron Curtain, Illyana’s young life was saved from a tractor accident when the mutant powers of her brother Piotr manifested. Piotr went on to become the X-Man Colossus, and Illyana eventually joined him in the United States under the supervision of Charles Xavier. That’s the happy part of the story.
Illyana spent 7 years in the Limbo dimension as the captive of an evil sorcerer named Belasco, during which time her own mutant abilities of teleportation presented themselves. Illyana also learned to use magic under the tutelage of another reality’s version of Storm. When Illyana finally emerged from Limbo, almost no time had passed in the real world. Illyana was never quite the same after this. Joining the New Mutants and becoming friends with her teammates helped, but the dark aspect of Illyana’s soul never healed, even after a death and rebirth. [Read more…] about Magik (Illyana Rasputin) Reading Order!
– a four-issues series that would shut the door on several elements that had been, until this point, inextricable aspects of what makes a Hellboy comic a Hellboy comic. And in doing so, Mignola gave life to a new direction for his half-demon, half-man hero. But first, he had to pay tribute to the bygone stories that inspired the pulp adventure side of his gothic horror franchise.
in 1994 and serves as the end of the first act of Mignola’s Hellboy epic, honoring the roots of the character before pushing into a new era.