One of Marvel’s most powerful mutants, Illyana Rasputina otherwise known as Magik and sister of Colossus, is finally joining an official X-Men team, and Russell Dauterman just released a gorgeous variant cover for X-Men #14 featuring a new golden armor upgrade designed by Rod Reis. Magik has been depicted with various eldritch armor over the decades, mainly black and silver, but now that she has finally resolved much of her Limbo trauma in the pages of New Mutants she is displaying a new, golden era.
Illyana Rasputina has been around the X-Men since the beloved 1975 Giant-Sized X-Men #1 which introduced Illyana along with her brother Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Banshee, Thunderbird, and Sunfire to the world of the X-Men, although she would remain Colossus’ innocent young sister for many years. Since then she has been through some of the most traumatic experiences a Marvel character has been through, and she is now emerging form the other side with even more power, confidence, and epic armor.
Ever since Magik was kidnapped by the demon Belasco and raised in Limbo as a young child she has developed an innate connection to dark magic, allowing her to summon an array of eldritch armor at will, as well as her infamous Soulsword. In the past her armor has been depicted as an incredibly ominous all-black spiked look, or as an otherworldly silver armor when she entered into her “Darkchylde” form. However now that Magik has been formally voted onto Krakoa’s official X-Men team, alongside Jean Grey, Cyclops, Synch, Forge, Firestar, Iceman, and Havok, she is due for a costume overhaul. Designed by New Mutants artist Rod Reis, fans can now get a first glimpse at Magik’s new golden aesthetic in a “trading card variant cover” from the talented Russell Dauterman, and colored by Matt Wilson, for the upcoming X-Men #14. The upcoming X-Men issue is smack dab in the middle of the horrifying Judgment Day event, and will focus on the team’s leader Cyclops addressing his (many) past sins, so Magik’s new costume may not debut in this issue, but since this is considered a new costume for her, it can be assumed that her golden look will appear on panel soon.
In Dauterman’s tweet he confirms that his gorgeous art of Illyana Rasputina is an homage to a beloved Olivier Copiel cover from 2008’s X-Men: Return to Magik #1 which saw Magik finally returning to the pages of Marvel Comics after her death from the Legacy Virus years before. This also was the start of Magik’s rapid rise in popularity, quickly becoming and staying as one of fans most beloved X-Characters, and marked the beginning of her reclaiming her soul and identity, a journey that has only seen full resolution in Vita Ayala and Rod Reis’ recent “Trials of Magik” run of New Mutants. Reis’ new costume design for Magik is a truly fitting upgrade from her previous all black look, with Illyana sporting pants similar to the average X-Men members design, perfect now that she is formally a member of an X-Men team at long last (she has bee on many X-Teams but never one so official). The golden eldritch armor that Illyana is now wearing emphasizes the perfect amount of her “reclamation of innocence” from her recent adventures into Limbo while continuing to make her look like the intimidating and dangerous badass she has always been.
Magik is, finally, entering into a new era where she is able to fully reclaim her power, soul, and future, while also not forgetting her traumatic past that shaped her into the woman she is today. While Magik has always been one of the X-Men’s most powerful players, her new golden armor costume designed by Rod Reis and illustrated by Russell Dauterman is finally giving her the upgrade on the outside that matches her insides.
