Review — ‘Magik’ #1 Creates A Solo Series I Want To Read

New solo superhero series are hard, especially when they’ve never had one before. They work best when their world exists outside of more than just the team series they’re spinning out from. Immediately, Magik #1 shows how to do it right.

Ashley Allen, German Peralta, Arthur Hesli, and Ariana Maher launch Illyana Rasputina into her own adventures.

Someone or something is summoning demons to kidnap mutants. Illyana is probably the only member of the X-Men equipped to investigate. But she’s about to realize she might be completely outclassed.

Allen gets it right away. She starts with using ‘Yana’s history to establish internal conflict, then drawing her into the demon antics, then it actually builds an interesting world around the conflict. This isn’t just an X-Men story that only stars one of the characters. Allen creates an engaging villain, some good supporting characters, and sets Magik forward on a path that will be fun to follow.

Peralta’s art is great here. He captures the darkness of Magik’s world, and makes it all look incredibly otherworldly. The big fight of the issue — set in a crowded graveyard — felt claustrophobic, but it was still clear and easy to follow. His character and monster designs fit into Illyana’s world, drawing me in more. Hesli’s colors enhance that on each page, infusing the pages with an otherworldly red glow and then makes Illyana glow yellow to make her stand out as Peralta depicts the action.

I’ve come to love Maher’s lettering work. She conveys the information in the script clearly without making anything feel cluttered. She also does some fun and unique fonts that make the story better through their inclusion alone. It makes the lettering stand out, in some great ways.

Magik #1 is available now from Marvel Comics