'Magik' Volume One Review: Demons both physical and emotional

Browsing through this week's comic releases on the Marvel site I was surprised to see a name come up that I had actually been searching for about a week ago: Magik. I had seen this character's designs around from time to time mostly from the artist David Finch, but I had never actually seen the character anywhere. After finally discovering the character's name I went through a little bit of Googling in search of comics based on the character. I was surprised to see that there weren't really any of them. Either they were made way back in the 90s or they weren't really focused on the Magik character directly, but rather her as a side character. For some reason this 2025 release based on her character just never came up. No news mentioning the upcoming release. Nothing on Marvel's own site coming up at all. So this morning's comic reading over some coffee ended up being quite fun! Some of my recent dives into some X-Men characters was ultimately a result of not finding a Magik comic to read and instead jumping into some of the other characters like Psylocke, which also recently saw a comic release that I read and wrote about. So I doubt Magik's release will end up being the last of the X-Men stuff I post about. Even though I feel like I'm really lost when it comes to where to start and who these characters even are! So much information to take in, such little time. But fortunately so many fun comics to check out. So let's start with 2025's Magik.

Given I have no knowledge of the character, I do like that some of these first character volumes give a really quick rundown on who these characters are, a quick snippet of backstory that gives us some context. The best volumes are the ones that do it with a bit of text before the comic even starts, or just a quick few panels. In the case of Magik, it stated she was kidnapped by a demon in her youth and placed into Limbo where she was planned to be evil, though having escaped from Limbo she ended up in the X-Men and has attempted to remain free of the evil side since. I do like these characters that have more darker stories to them, ones that aren't necessarily good for the sake of being good. Instead they're more tormented by their pasts, constantly facing the challenges of being good either through their powers or having experienced a different upbringing that was aiming to turn them into a powerful weapon used for evil. It just feels as if there's more character and depth to them in that case; the constant conflict within their own mind in attempt to avoid going off the rails so to speak. Knowing their powers but not knowing their limits and ultimately fearing what they could be capable of. It's much more engaging! And Magik's introduction felt just like that: constantly haunted by the past.

I quite enjoyed the story for this first volume which focused more on that aforementioned trauma. With it being Magik's birthday it's also another day of not being able to come to terms with her existence. The mutant lifestyle, alongside the constant struggles of time passing with nothing being able to change for her. Each day is another day of personal torment, where others could celebrate and socialise with those closest to them, Magik dissociates and runs off to pursue her own little adventures alone. The story states that this behaviour has always been her norm, that it certainly won't be the last time she runs off alone. It worked nicely with the rest of the story which has her throwing herself into danger in attempt to save people that really don't care for her. Saving those who actually hate her and protest the mutants in the area. Saving those who don't really deserve it ends up being this self-justification for existing, it seems. The inner trauma that almost feels like guilt, where she feels the need to run out there into danger and find someone to fight, someone to save. It gave off the feeling of a character that can't sit and relax otherwise they feel guilty. That if they did remain idle while someone out there needs saving, they'd end up slowly turning into that very evil they were once trained to be.

It didn't feel like a story that was stuck in the past, for once! Usually these first volumes give us some slightly boring backstory in the sense that we're thrown directly into their childhoods for most of the volume, and it all ends up being a bit too formulaic. That wasn't the case here, it was handled with narration and a nightmare. Giving us a direct glimpse into Magik's present and thus the inner turmoil that is living each day as it comes. And it wasn't long until it threw us into the action, with Magik running off to save a group of protestors once a group of demons appear. That side of the story was a bit coincidental, but I wouldn't say it was anything bad for the narrative. I still managed to enjoy it, and it seemed to have had some purpose as it then bridged two characters together which implied some more structured narrative to come in the next volume. Magik thrown next to someone that has been warned to not trust her, but with no other choice but to do so if he wants to survive. Talks of prophecies and the rest.

This is pretty much what I was looking for a few weeks ago when I first properly discovered the character and got curious. I'm pretty happy wit the first volume. The art style isn't that bad, but I do think it could've been a bit more appealing. Some panels stand out with some cool colours and perspectives but there didn't really feel like there was a single panel that really punched through to stand out from the rest, leading to some action moments not quite having the right weight alongside other regular panels. Perhaps that will change with a later volume, though.