Or Journal 666

In '84 I purchased a comic book called "The New Mutants". I was 12 years old and didn't even know the X-Men were considered the "old" mutants. I began my first

series with issue #15. This is where I was introduced to a character that was created years before and first appeared as the younger sibling to a mutant who would become the muscle, or more importantly one half of the "Fastball Special". This little girl was initially only used to show why Peter Rasputin had to change into his organic steel form. Years later after her creation, Chris Claremont established a few other things about her - her mutant powers being the least among them.

Illyana Rasputin idolized her brother; after all, she was his "Little Snowflake". I found out later that she aged from seven to fourteen in one issue. This was told in "Uncanny X-Men" #160. The X-Men lost her through a stepping disc and struggled to hold on to her. After losing her momentarily, she was pulled back through as a teenager, which was exactly when I met her.

I found issue #14 of what would become my favorite title at my cousins house and was introduced to Belasco and his favorite servant, S'ym. I also found out about the Magik limited series, or as it is more formally called, "Storm and Illyana: Magik" with issue #4. I was able to piece together more of her history with these four books. This was the tale that fell in between the pages of the previously mentioned X-Men issue. Like her brother, she was a mutant. Unlike her brother, she was also a demon sorceress.

It was decades later that she finally became a member of the X-Men, but many things happened to her along the way, including her demise. Chris Claremont initially gave the character life, but more recently Brian Bendis took the character under his wing and expanded her potential. Professor Xavier trained her with her mutant powers, but through trial and error she used her mutant powers to teleport into the past and asked to be apprenticed under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme.

Marvel Comics continues to wipe out their alternate Universes, and as it all heads into oblivion, we are left to wonder - what could be the Beyonder's diabolical plan? I wonder about all that has come before and what could ever hope to last beyond this new Secret War. The movies are playing a pivotal role in generating interest to the comic books. As one media outlet grows, so does the other. Will my favorite character be changed rather than grow? Will she always be the Illyana she is rather than the one that was tempered in hellfire and brimstone?

Thanks for Reading

Tnerb

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