Magik (Storm and Illyana Limited Series) #1

"Little Girl Lost"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Buscema
Inker: Tom Palmer
Cover: John Buscema and Tom Palmer

What's Going On?
On her fourteenth birthday, Illyana Rasputin stands outside Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and reflects on the six years that she spent in an alternate dimension, Limbo.

Admittedly, this is a pretty solid first page of a series

She first arrived with the X-Men, as they battled Limbo's demon-lord, Belasco.  Belasco managed to separate her from the team, but future/alternate reality versions of Storm and Kitty Pryde (now called simply "Cat") help Illyana escape Belasco's clutches.  Unfortunately, before they can do that, Belasco manages to corrupt a piece of Illyana's soul, turning it into a Bloodstone.  When Belasco gets five Bloostones from Illyana, it will allow the Elder Gods to cross dimensions (which sounds bad).

Once they have escaped, Storm spends some time with Illyana in meditation, introducing her to sorcery and magic; it is unclear whether they were meditating for a long time, or if Storm's magic made Illyana age faster, but she finishes her lesson one year older.  Illyana learns that sorcery allows the user to create, change, and heal the world around them; creating and healing are fine, but change for change's sake leads one down the path toward evil.  At the end of that year, Cat tells Illyana that Storm will not help her return home to Earth.  Cat will help her, but the path will be dangerous.  Illyana chooses to join Cat.  Meanwhile, Belasco seems to believe that these events have ultimately played into his hand.


Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Storm and Cat were members of the same X-Men team that came with Illyana to Limbo.  In their reality, though, Illyana went back to Earth without incident, and the X-Men were trapped in Limbo instead.

- The Storm in Limbo is an elderly version of the character that cannot use her mutant powers because they put too much stress on her body.  Instead, she has spent time as Belasco's apprentice, although she ultimately chose a less demonic path.  Nevertheless, her soul has been corrupted by Belasco, and her good witch magic is weakening.

- Cat is this realm's version of Kitty Pryde.  She is essentially a grim and gritty take on the character, and one that Belasco has changed to look slightly more feline.  Her goal is to kill Belasco without relying on magic.

- Belasco told Illyana that he loved her when he created the first Bloodstone.  She seems to believe him, mentioning it when Storm frightens her.

Writing!
If you just want to look at how this particular issue propels the plot, the writing is not too bad.   Illyana is captured by a bad guy, escapes, and learns from Storm.  That's pretty simple.

While I don't think there's anything wrong with the writing of this particular issue, it is not the most reader-friendly first issue I have come across.  Claremont manages to explain what's going on, but it requires a lot of exposition.  This takes place between the scenes of an X-Men comic (not even one within the past year), features alternate versions of two X-Men, and the villain is a sorcerer/demon from the pages of Ka-Zar.  Nothing here is simple, and in this single issue, it becomes apparent that Illyana's backstory will forever be a convoluted mess.

Art!
For a story that takes place in a demonic dimension, the art is surprisingly standard.  John Buscema and Tom Palmer do a decent job telling the story, but this environment begs for an artist that is willing to get weird.  Can you imagine this story, as drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz?  That would have been awesome.  Still, Buscema still manages to do some decent swords and sorcery artwork.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- It's not mentioned in this (or any other X-Men) issue, but Belasco directly inspired Dante's Inferno.  That is legitimately his backstory, and the story was told in the pages of Ka-Zar, of all places.  Also amusing is the fact that Belasco's Elder Gods are poorly defined --- even the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe is confused as to who they are.

Worth Noting:
- This story is a flashback to what happened between pages in Uncanny X-Men #160, which was published in August 1982, sixteen months earlier.