Magik (Storm and Illyana Limited Series) #3

"Soulquest"
Published February 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Ron Frenz
Inker: Tom Palmer
Cover Artists: Ron Frenz and Tom Palmer

What's Going On?
Two more years have passed, as Illyana has become Belasco's magical apprentice.  Under his tutelage, she has experimented with the warping of simple creatures --- something Storm warned her might cost her soul --- but without impressive results.  Storm finally makes her move and attacks Belasco in his stronghold.  She does not stand a chance. 

She also looks like a pirate

While she is battling Belasco, Cat (ever loyal to Belasco, since her change last issue) attacks Storm.  Illyana defends Storm and kills Cat.  Belasco promises to take the next step toward the total corruption of Illyana's soul, to  be followed with the stealing and sacrifice Storm's soul to Belasco's Dark Gods.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Illyana is manifesting great magical power, but she does not have a lot of control over it yet.

- Belasco's magical pentagrams are made of red-black fire, and his back is turned to the point.  Typical Satanic imagery.  Storm's magical pentagrams are silver, and she faces the point; this is supposed to indicate that her spells are for healing.  Illyana's pentagram is silver...but we don't actually see which way she faces.  Hmm...

- Illyana is beginning to mainfest her mutant power, the ability  to control the "stepping discs" of Limbo, which can transport you in time and space.

- Illyana traveled back in time and witnessed when Storm's soul was corrupted by Belasco.  Years ago, when she was Belasco's apprentice and at the peak of her magical and mutant powers, Storm savagely attacked Belasco.  When he was helpless, she landed a killing blow.  The result was the corruption of her soul, but not the actual death of Belasco; apparently, he cannot be killed in Limbo.

- While Storm's soul was corrupted by Belasco, a lifetime spent trying to undo the damage has left her soul more good than evil, if no longer innocent.

Writing!
*Sigh* Another issue in, and another few years have passed without making me care about this story.  Ostensibly, we should be seeing Illyana losing her soul as she is Belasco's apprentice in this issue.  In practice...not so much.  She has a corrupt side that we see at the beginning of the issue, but it's only apparent for a few panels.  Instead, we are shown Illyana being an observer (yet again) as someone else attacks Belasco.  I was surprised that so much focus was given to Illyana killing Cat because there is no real foreshadowing of this scene in any of the Illyana/Kitty Pryde scenes in Uncanny X-Men around this time --- certainly nothing where Illyana specifically recalls murdering the alternate version of her best friend.  The writing in this series is not really justifying the existence of this series.

Art!
Again, I'm not terribly thrilled by the art, but there's nothing bad here.  The story is just underwhelming, so there is not much for the art to do.  The scene with young Storm attacking was pretty good, but not fantastic.  The sequence where Illyana battled Cat was solid storytelling, but nothing too fancy.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Despite the cover of this issue, Belasco never asks Illyana to choose between his love and Storm's life, although the last page comes pretty close to mirroring the cover image.  Why thy felt the need to include the misleading dialogue on the cover, I don't know.

- Illyana's mutant power appears to be tied to Limbo.  She can control/manipulate the "stepping discs" that can transport her anywhere/when within Limbo.  These are supposedly a natural feature of Limbo, that have existed before Illyana arrived.  Over time, this ability becomes the ability to teleport wherever she wants on Earth, with the understanding that she is momentarily stopping along the way in Limbo.  It may seem like a slight difference, but the implied locality is actually a pretty significant change.

- The reference to a New Mutants issue makes it clear that she will be involved in that title, despite having only made peripheral appearances in issues #1 and #3 so far.  I guess it makes sense.  There are only a few young mutants in the Marvel Universe at this point, and she made the most sense to play a part in Xavier's school; Franklin Richards was both too young and a part of the family dynamic in Fantastic Four, Siryn would make more sense with her father on Muir Island, but Illyana's brother is an X-Man and she's been lurking in the background of the title for months.

Worth Noting:
- A scene in this issue plays a part in New Mutants #14, which will be published in a few months.