Magik #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMagik #3 serves as the dramatic centerpiece of Illyana Rasputina's first-ever ongoing solo series — a milestone that arrived more than four decades after her 1983 limited series made her only the second X-Men character to headline her own comic. The issue delivers the full origin and first extended appearance of Liminal, a purpose-built new villain whose parallels to Illyana's own childhood trauma give writer Ashley Allen a structurally elegant way to interrogate the Darkchylde persona from the outside in. By ending with Dani Moonstar stepping back into Illyana's orbit, the issue also begins reweaving the New Mutants generation of the X-Men into Magik's solo mythology for the first time in years. As only the second Magik solo outing in Marvel's history, the entire 2025 series — and this issue as its narrative turning point — marks a long-overdue expansion of how the publisher treats its mystic mutant corner of the X-line.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The 2025 Magik ongoing was announced in September 2024 and launched January 8, 2025, pairing writer Ashley Allen — who had already written the character in the one-shot X-Men: Blood Hunt – Magik — with artist Germán Peralta, known for his runs on Black Panther and Loki. The series was developed under X-Men Group Editor Tom Brevoort, whose publicly documented ambivalence toward the character made the green-light notable within the fan community. Issue #3, subtitled 'Pacts' and released March 19, 2025, was edited by Darren Shan, with colors by Arthur Hesli and letters by Ariana Maher.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 19, 2025 by Marvel Comics; written by Ashley Allen, art by Germán Peralta, main cover by J. Scott Campbell, with variant covers by Nimit Malavia and a villain design variant by Peach Momoko.
- First full appearance and origin reveal of Liminal — the new demonic villain and series antagonist — whose backstory (kidnapped as a child, used in a dark ritual, later exiled from Earth) is disclosed in this issue for the first time.
- Allen described Liminal's name as intentional: 'Liminal refers to a stage of transition — which is why he is a perfect foil for Illyana in this first arc,' with the two characters sharing parallel histories of childhood trauma and forced dark-magical transformation.
- The issue is the pivot of the opening arc: trapped in Liminal Space, Illyana strikes a bargain with Liminal — she must prevent his escape to Earth within three weeks, or he will continue sacrificing mutants for his rituals.
- Dani Moonstar (Mirage) appears at the issue's end, having been recruited by Cal Isaacs in Illyana's absence — setting up the former New Mutants teammates' reunion that drives the arc into issue #4.
- Liminal uses illusory shades of Cat (Kitty Pryde), S'ym, and N'astirh to psychologically torment Illyana, explicitly mirroring the manipulation she suffered under Belasco in Limbo during her childhood.
- This is Magik's first ongoing solo series; her only prior solo title was a four-issue limited series (Magik: Storm & Illyana, 1983), making the 2025 run the character's second-ever solo comic more than 40 years after the first.
- The series was collected in Magik Vol. 1: Unleashed (collecting issues #1–5), which includes the full Liminal arc that #3 anchors.
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Reprinted in Magik #1 (2025)
Key issues in Magik
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