Maybe Mind Control Might Magikally Be But A Dream...

Today's entry is an interesting one...

Chris Claremont left New Mutants after issue # 54. However, he was credited with the plot to issue # 63, by which time former editor Louise Simonson had been writing the teenage mutants for close a little under a year already.

The tale touches on several then current storylines, like the apparent death of the X-men at the hands of Forge, and the changes within the New Mutants themselves. However, this still mainly feels like an inventory issue, a stock story that got dragged off the shelves to fill a hole in the schedule it really had no place filling.

Way back in New Mutants # 21, the team had a slumber party that was rudely interrupted by the arrival of Warlock. In time, the techno organic alien would be a valiant teammate, but in his first appearance, he was perceived as a villain. Illyana Rasputin engaged the creature, but when she got infected with the technovirus, she retreated to Limbo, grabbing Kitty's petdragon Lockheed for safekeeping.

Near the end of that issue, she returned...

"Professor Xavier! Boy, am I glad you're here.. Have I got a story to tell!"

However, Illyana and Chris never got around to telling that story... until New Mutants # 63 in which Kitty Pryde spotted the alien armor inside Illyana's closet and prodded her roomie to tell the story behind how she got it. Kitty's persuading turned into a little soft lesbian college dorm tickling fun, with some unexpected consequences...

After accidentally dropping into her brother's room while he was butt naked, Illyana started to wonder what was going on. After all, Kitty was still on Muir Island at the time, recovering from the injuries she received during her fight against the Marauders... and for all she knew, Peter had died with the other X-men. 

Still, in an attempt to make sense of the odd situation Illyana decided to tell Kitty all about the where and how she got that strange alien armor. After briefly bringing up the aforementioned slumber party, Illyana revealed how she desperately tried to get rid of the technovirus infecting her form once she was in Limbo. Her struggle didn't go unnoticed by the many vicious and power hungry creatures there...

"Miststress... what you do to poor loyal Skunge...?"

Inadvertent mind control, that's gotta be a new one.

Still, after catching her breath in timeless Limbo, Illyana decided to deal with the techno organic infection head on. She summoned the full power of her Belasco taught magics and performed what can best be described as an exorcism on herself. Exhausted, she teleported home via one of her light circles. And when she came to in her bedroom at Xavier's, everything seemed all right. Until she opened a random drawer and things went from bad to worse...

"I'm Illyana Rasputin, Peter's little sister! Don't you know me?"

As it turned out, the X-men really didn't know her... Even Kitty and Peter are totally unaware of her. Shocked, Illyana realises her unreliable teleportation powers might have stranded her in yet another alternate reality... It's not like it never happened before.

They also never heard of Lockheed, thinking Illyana meant the X-men's plane when she asked where he was. Even worse: she couldn't simply teleport away, something was blocking her abilities... and to add insult to injury, these X-men decided to lock her in her room until Professor Xavier could figure out what to make of her...Illyana wasn't planning on waiting that long...

The X-men overheard Lockheed's arrival, but the tiny dragon viciously attacked Colossus and Cyclops, before carrying off Illyana to safety. They both ran into the woods of the Xavier estate, while the X-men chased them. Illyana noticed how odd the team was behaving. Cyclops was clumsy at best with his optic blasts and why was Wolverine attacking her with a knife?

"Lockheed, did you see that? OUR Wolverine wouldn't have been fazed by a steel I-beam! And why the knife? Why not use his claws? Hey... he doesn't have claws!"

Her musings were interruped by Lockheed, who spit a huge ball of flame that revealed a rather disturbing truth. Illyana hadn't teleported into an alternate reality, she was on board a giant spaceship that had an area set up as Xavier's school for gifted youngster. And judging from the size of the vessel, it has plenty of room for that sort of thing...

"I crept closer to the observation window... spun a chair aside when it blocked my view...
And came face to face with one of the original inhabitants!"

One thing, though... that original inhabitant was dead. Courtesy of that other presence on the observation deck...

"At first, I thought Magneto was the villain. Then I recognized it... a Sleazoid!
The X-men had fought their kind before!"

Half paralyzed by the Brood's unexplained gunk spray, Illyana scrambled for safety while the Brood took on Lockheed... and found time to deliver some exposition...

"And now, my dear, since you are Colossus' sister,
you, too, will make an excellent host subject!"

Instinctly using her powers to escape the Brood, Magik teleported herself away to the relative safety of a snowy glen. Here, she mastered the use of the energy weapon she'd taken from the deceased alien on the observation deck. Once confident in its use, Magik 'ported back to the ship, ready for action. When she realised the Brood had already left, she donned the dead alien woman's armor, just to be safe.

The second Illyana got suited up, the X-men charged in, ready to take her into custody. She managed to evade them long enough to run into the Brood again, who was about to do what all Brood do best...

"As the egg hatches within him, it will absorb all his knowledge, memories, abilities... and he himself will be... transformed... or perhaps I should say... subsumed into one of us!"
It's a fascinating process. Perhaps you'd care to watch?"

Turns out, Illyana wasn't... Fortunately, the Brood had plenty of other things to discuss and reveal...

"I found this ship, slaughtered its crew, cloned adult X-men, altered their memories and injected them with the eggs! You see, they are under my influence! They think *I* am their adored mentor..."

So, that's the Brood's big plan. The actual X-men might have defeated the embryos implanted in them by the Brood queen, it's always a possibility to clone the team and infect them. A host body's a host body, after all... right?

Unfortunately for the Brood, the cloned X-men overhead his ranting as they came in chasing after Illyana... With the enchantment broken, they were in no mood to aid their 'professor Xavier'. After an entertaining struggle, Lockheed kills the 'Xavier Brood' with a fire blast, but the survivors were still feeling pretty guilty...

"We were hypnotized... he made us believe he was our teacher... our friend!"

Even worse, Cy-clone-ops... he also implanted an embryo deep inside all of you. So do try and say hello to that tiny Brood baby just waiting to hatch and take over. Wolverine is ready to die to keep the rest of humanity safe, begging Magik to finish him and the others, but the mistress of Limbo has a better idea...

"I swung it with all my might... and the darkness faded and there was only the light."

So, Illyana's soulsword, specifically designed to be ineffective against material objects, is able to perform an instantaneous multiple abortion of sorts? And what about Wolverine's healing factor? Shouldn't that have taken care of the embryo?

After exorcising the Brood embryos, Magik soon found herself back in her own proper time and place... presumably popping up during the aforementioned scene in New Mutants # 21. But after hearing this story, Kitty really wanted to try Illyana's alien armor on...

So that's it... Illyana used her magics to engage in a little mind control of her own, changing the thoughts and memories of the cloned X-men so they'd eventually develop their own seperate identities, no longer restricted by their genetic mold like most other clones.

Keeping the armor as a memento of a rather special adventure, Illyana returned with Lockheed in time to grace the closing pages of New Mutants # 21. After that, Claremont spends the closing pages of the issue with Illyana and Kitty discussing Magik's caper, while Kitty wore hér armor...

And then, Illyana woke up.

Yup... the space adventure against the Brood had been nothing but a dream inside Illyana's bigger dream of being with her absent best friend, deceased brother and the other X-men. A very understandable desire, but this story simply doesn't seem like the right vehicle to tell this.

New Mutants # 63 was cover dated May 1988, but for it to have real impact it should have been published at least 3.5 years earlier. That way, this rather interesting tale about a band of cloned X-men running a planet size starship would be in continuity... and not a dream. It also doesn't make sense, because # 21, in which the armor first debuted, ís still in continuity which means there's quite the mystery left to explain...

And no, Marvel editors, don't be too smart for your own good. While this might be the 80s and the X-men *did* die in Dallas... It'll be a cold day in hell before anyone buys someone coming out of the shower to tell Illyana it was all a bad dream...

... No, not even Bobby 'Iceman' Drake.

Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind part II: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

In the first chapter of Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind, the New Mutants were at long last reunited with their old mentor. Charles had been in deep space with the Starjammers for months, after a destroyed warpgate made it impossible for him to return home.

But thanks to Illyana Rasputin's teleportation powers, he was virtually back in Westchester already...

Yet, as always, there were a few problems he had to deal with. For instance: last issue the Starjammer was damaged in the fight against Magus... And being in orbit of a planet that self destructed in the aftermath of that confrontation didn't help either.

Add to that the fact the Starjammers were wanted by the Shi'ar empress Deathbird, which meant bounty hunters everywhere were on the lookout. Long story short: the Starjammers needed Xavier and his telepathy for their continued survival, while Charles also felt he had to return to Earth to help out after the mutant massacre. Who do you abandon?

One heck of a dilemma, but in the opening pages of # 51, it seemed like Illyana was about to make that decision for him...

"Get out of my head and leave me alone... Or I'll teleport myself to Limbo. I mean it...
And leave you all behind forever!!"

Instead of leaving her be, Xavier had other plans for the obviously terrified girl, who just last issue risked her very life to teleport across time and space to reach him. If you don't want to listen to reason young lady, we'll make you...

"Karma, I'll give you entry to Illyana's mind, so you can "possess" her 

and make her unlock the door."

Apparently, in space... when diplomacy fails, mind control is the way to go. This is a complete break from how Claremont has written Xavier up to this point. The 1960s Xavier didn't even blink when he had to control crowds, erase someone's memories or worse: make Beast's parents forget they even had a child.

But under Claremont, the professor became a bastion of morality who flat out refused using his powers for manipulation, not even for a 'good cause'. Here he is seen pontificating that very point in Uncanny X-men # 151, right after Kitty Pryde's parents decided to transfer her to Emma Frost's school and Wolverine made a sensible suggestion...

"To deliberately manipulate a sentient mind would make me no better than the villains we oppose."

From your mouth to Illyana's mind, Charles... And hey, it's not like it'd be the first time Kitty's parents got zapped by a mind control whammy...

"Just doing what comes naturally."

One might argue that Charles had no choice in this instance. Maybe Illyana was, in fact, too unstable and mad with fear and grief to listen to reason... And yes, you might also say that Xavier couldn't risk having her freak out and bolt, because it would mean stranding the other New Mutants in a potentially deadly situation.

But all that still doesn't rationalise what happened once a possessed Illyana emerged from her room...

"An excellent opportunity to learn what prompted this outburst,
without having Illyana resist my probes or questions."

Now this is just wrong... Getting her to cooperate and calm down is one thing, but having Karma use her possession powers to drag a very emotional, extremely personal truth out of Illyana... right in front of Dani, Rahne and the others is a flagrant infraction of every conceivable code of ethical or moral conduct. 

"Satisfied!?! Got your lousy pound of flesh?!!"

Charles claimed he did it to figure out why Illyana was reluctant to return home, via Limbo. And the answer should be obvious: she doesn't want to return to Limbo where she left her darkside behind, the part of her soul that was corrupted by years as Belasco's apprentice. On the Starjammer, she's as close to being her normal self as she'll ever be and she didn't want to lose that.

But it's not like she'll have an actual say in the matter...

"I won't go back to Limbo... I can't... professor... Please, oh, please don't make me!"

And Charles was really hoping she would be pleasant and understanding about being forced to succumb to her (inner)demons again. Well, if she doesn't want to do things willingly, there's always Karma...

"I haven't the time or inclination to argue the matter, young lady."

With that, Xavier sent his children home, keeping them safe from the roving band of cloaked Shi'ar bounty hunters that were closing in on the Starjammer. He was the only one able to pick up their position by homing in on the crew's thoughts. If he'd left for Earth, the Starjammers would not have survived.

On paper, he made the selfless and right decision, sacrificing his own desire and chance to go home in order to keep everyone he cared for as safe as possible.

Still, that did little to improve Illyana's mood once Xi'an released her...

"You made me little better than a puppet"

In Limbo, she fell prey to the evil influences she had left there and was reunited with her soulsword... In other words, Illyana Rasputin was gone, now all that remained was Magik. And she was mad.

Just how she thinks its right to blame áll the New Mutants is a little weird, especially considering Dani stood up for her... But you don't argue logic with a hopping mad mistress of a demon realm who threatens to stab you in the heart.

"We're home, we're all okay... even Magik once she calms down... Our school's still intact. How bad could things be?"

... Famous last words, Roberto.

Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind part I: Leia's got nothin' on Illyana

Leaving the Bill Sienkiewicz era of New Mutants for a bit, today's entry skips ahead to the double sized fiftieth anniversary issue which reunites the New Mutants with professor Xavier.

Back in Uncanny X-men # 200, a mortally wounded Charles Xavier was teleported away by Lilandra and the Starjammers. After restoring his health, the band of space pirates ran into a bit of trouble and were unable to return him home. So Charles made the most of it, joining the Starjammers in an unofficial capacity and enjoying himself on all the different worlds they visited.

Until he picked up some very familiar brain patterns...

"Sweetling, I... and your new owner... will do with you whatever we please"

Yup... that's one heck of a way to open an anniversary issue: having a halfnaked 15 year old girl auctioned off as a slave, while she writhes and squeals in orgasmic pleasure from the 'minimal shock pulse of pleasure' she received. Classy. 

Charles and the Starjammers manage to escape with Illyana who, after recovering from her 'pleasure pulse', informs her old teacher about the situation back home. Thanks to her, Corsair received word he had become a grandfather, but that was about the only piece of good news... After all, the Marauders had just massacred the Morlocks and the New Mutants themselves had been fighting Warlock's evil dad the Magus.

Wait, let's have Illyana tell it herself...

"I figured, better death than becoming Magus's creature..."

Yes, after teleporting the techno organic Magus to Limbo, he went on to infect Illyana's demons, turning them against her. Illyana only managed to hold them off by leaving her soulsword and her dark magics behind in Limbo as a bulwark and symbol of her dominance. All she had left were her mutant teleport abilities and since Limbo reaches across all time and space, she was able to teleport to the professor.

The New Mutants had become lost in space and time when Magik teleported them around in an attempt to escape Magus. That's why Xavier's first priority was to rescue his young wards. Joined by Lilandra and Binary (Carol Danvers), Illyana and the professor travelled to Limbo where they briefly confronted S'ym before they were able to save the stranded teens.

Once the team was reunited, they popped back to the Starjammers where they learned just where Magus had gone after escaping from Limbo...

"In a moment, you will be infected with the transmode virus. 

A moment after that, you will be mine!"

Magus ripped apart the entire world to get to his son, in order to finally end the 'maguswar'. You have to wonder how why the Technarx even bother to reproduce when they know they have to kill their offspring anyway or worse: be killed by them. It's not like they need to have children, they're machines that feed on organic life to sustain themselves indefinitely. 

The New Mutants and Starjammers seemed hopelessly outmatched by the planet tearing Magus, but the professor had a plan... let's use some mind control!

"Now, Karma, share your power with mine... follow my guidance, draw on my strength...
and possess Magus!"

No Karma, c'est most definitely possible... But her control of the giant robot creature was shortlived... Which meant Warlock and Cypher had to work fast.

"My son has soulmerged with a bioform... but such a mad act will not save them!"

Gee, looks like gay marriage is also a bit of an issue on Technarx Prime. 

In the end, Magus is defeated when Cypher manages to rewrite the creature's 'genetic' coding. He reprograms his mind and body, thereby ending the threat... for now.

"Once I broke it, I could define the very nature of his reality".

That Doug Ramsey sure is bad ass. If only he'd been a bit more bulletproof.

We'll cover the aftermath of # 50's planet crushing space opera in part II of Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Demon Bear's Beckoning Control

Ever had an epiphany?

A sudden, all encompassing moment of absolute clarity that made you see a certain matter in a totally different light?

Yours truly experienced one when rereading the Demon Bear storyline from New Mutants. What was the revealed truth, you wonder? Well... quite simply put: Bill Sienkiewicz *is* a great visual storyteller.

Sienkiewicz joined Claremont on New Mutants with issue # 18, which was also the start of the Demon Bear threeparter. Bill's heavily inked, at times almost abstract and extremely imaginative style was a far cry from the more conventional look of his predecessors Bob McLeod and Sal Buscema. For instance, this is how Buscema drew the Demon Bear on the final page of # 17.

"None can save thee, little Cheyenne... Neither God or Man!"

Poor Dani... suddenly being confronted by the demonic creature that killed your parents is pretty horrific. And even though he looks like little more than a whisp of cloudy smoke with a heavy voice, knowing something evil is out there gunning for you is rather unsettling. Still, how bad could fighting a cloud with teeth be, really? Let's see how Sienkiewicz imagined the Demon Bear...

"He's out there. The Demon Bear that murdered my parents. Watching. Waiting. For me."

... Holy sh*t. Are you sure there's no monsters under my bed, mommy?

So that's what the epiphany was all about. As a younger reader, I absolutely hated Sienkiewicz' style. It totally destroyed the established bright, happy cartoonish vibe of the book, the characters didn't look or feel anything like the ones I'd read about in the past year and a half. This just wasn't New Mutants anymore.

How wrong I was. Yes, the art was a bit more challenging to grasp and had added layers and depth... Yes, the atmosphere was dark and moody and plain weird at times... But upon re examination, I realised how much Sienkiewicz' style added to the story ánd stimulated Chris Claremont to explore new territories as a writer. 

Because, let's face it, the Demon Bear plot is basically the plot of every teen horror movie... A band of pubescent protagonists are chased and slowly picked off by a big, unbeatable baddie. Yet, this boilerplate storyidea gets elevated through Bill's work. His raw and powerful compositions, at times Kirbyesque in their sheer power, turn the pedestrian a true work of art.

Ow, and of course there was mind control!

# 18 was mostly set up, as Dani Moonstar felt the approach of the bear and spent hours in the Danger Room preparing for its arrival. She refused to involve her fellow New Mutants, because she felt honor and duty bound to deal with this threat to her family alone. That's why she went out to face it all by herself.

What are you worried about? She's got a bow and arrow!

Not to mention her mutant powers. When she used them to manifest the bear's greatest fear, she was shocked to learn the demon feared her most of all. But despite that apparent anxiety, the creature callously crippled her, leaving a mortally wounded Dani to die in the snow.

Of course, the New Mutants found her before it was too late. Still in the dark about what had happened to their teammate, they rushed Dani to Salem Center's emergency room where a team of doctors immediately wheeled her into the OR in a desperate attempt to save the 14 year old girl.

Blaming themselves for not picking up on Dani's weird behavior sooner, the team vowed to at least protect her from whatever evil she'd faced... Just in case it came back to finish the job. Only problem is, what or who do they have to be on the lookout for? That's where Rahne Sinclair came in... In her wolf form, the young girl shared a psychic bond with Dani, so even when comatose she should be able to tell Rahne what they needed to know...

"It's not simply m'looks... I c'n feel a wild power within me tha's frightening... yet natural an' right!"

Affected by the Demon Bear's influence on Dan\ni, the prim and proper ultra religious Rahne had been transformed mind, body and soul into something far more feral. But the fun didn't stop there. Dani had told Rahne about the bear and his approach, which forced the team to scramble and create defenses.

With a codename like Magik and having 'ruler of Limbo' on your resume, Illyana was the go-to-gal for this operation. She used part of her life force to create mystical wards around the operating theater where Dani was fighting for her life. Despite all that, the bear still barged in and # 19 ended with this far from encouraging cliffhanger...

"The bear couldn't defeat us on our own turf, so he transported us to his."

Just look at that... the sheer symbolism of the giant black bear towering over the New Mutants while Illyana's protective wards shield the operating room from the creature's wrath... But who are the cop and nurse?

Meet Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander, two hapless and innocent bystanders who just happened to be at the hospital when the Demon Bear made its move. After the New Mutants beat him back, he decided to yank Corsi and Friedlander into his realm along with Xavier's youngest students...

But for what purpose?

"The monstrous avatar strikes...its claws doing no harm to the bodies of his helpless captives..."

Ow, go on... we all know what's coming, Chris...

"Only to their souls."

Corsi and Friedlander, mind controlled by the Demon Bear, tried to kill the New Mutants so the Bear itself could focus on re-entering our reality and finish the job he'd started. The team was valiantly trying to hold their own against the Native American nasties... when this happened...

Just look at that page from New Mutants # 20... the visuals are so strong, all you really need to understand the story is watch the panels. The Demon Bear managed to get its claws into Magma, turning her into third mind controlled minion, while trying to claim Illyana as well... but thank heavens for her spellbreaking  soulsword. 

"And Amara's soul will be free."

Of course, seeing a teammate who parttimed as a demon queen stab the girl you love tends to make one act a tad irrational... And Sam Guthrie is no exception. Rocketing Magik away from Magma's 'corpse', he proceeded to call her every name in the book until Magma showed up to set him straight...

"The bear was possessing me.. enslaving my soul..."

Ow boy, is Sam's face red or what...?

These panels clearly show how Sienkiewicz's appoach to a scene was totally different from the way Buscema or McLeod would have handled it. Most likely, they would have shown Magma berating Sam, with him on panel looking properly embarrassed and/or chastised. 

By seperating the two reactions, Bill is able to give both emotions weight and relevance, while reminding everyone about the threat... A demonic bear with lower teeth shaped like piano keys.

In the end, Illyana managed to use her soulsword to disrupt the Demon Bear's form and that, as they say, is that... Well, sort of... As everyone returned to Earth, Tom and Sharon discovered being kidnapped by the Demon Bear had turned them from Caucasian to Native American...

And as for the Demon Bear...

"We weren't killed, but enslaved... transformed into the demon bear you fought."

Remember the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale? At the end, the big bad wolf is cut open and Riding Hood and her grandma pop out alive and well. The Demon Bear had room for two people as well: Dani's parents.

A while ago, an ancient Cheyenne evil (eventually revealed to be the Adversary) claimed ma and pa Moonstar. They were turned into the Demon Bear and forced to kill their own family. But now they were fine, so all's well that ends well

Unless of course, you remember how the bear's biggest fear was Dani. And if the bear was actually her parents, doesn't that mean?

... Awkward!

Illyana's Beyond(er) Mind Control

Today's entry comes from the nine month period every Marvel comic had to get involved with Secret Wars II, which meant guest appearances by the Beyonder.

Ahhh, the Beyonder...

More often than not, the involvement of the one from beyond added little to the story. Some writers, like John Byrne in Fantastic Four, used the entity to further the ongoing storylines.

Either way, the Beyonder is basically just a tool. And a big one at that.

Chris Claremont managed to get at least some mileage out of the Beyonder over in New Mutants. Take issue # 36, in which he paid a surprise visit to Illyana Rasputin who was riding the subway in New York right when he popped in.

"Hello Illyana."

Naturally, the teleporting ruler of Limbo was ready to attack... But she didn't stand a chance. Luckily for her, he didn't want to hurt her. No, quite the opposite: he came to help her.

"This part of your being... you call it evil. You fear it."

And with good reason... Illyana lost parts of her soul to Belasco's bloodstone ritual. This gave her incredible magic powers, but she also lost part of her humanity in the process. Now, the Beyonder undid Belasco's handiwork and made the young Russian mutant whole again. Gone were her eldritch armor, soulsword and beatrice medallion...

But magic is a form energy... And energy can't be destroyed, it just exists in another form. Or in this case, another host. When the Beyonder removed the magics from Illyana, all her trinkets appeared on a rather shocked Kitty Pryde who was doing a little studying in New York's public library. Immediately recognising the armor, sword and pendant as Illyana's, she didn't have much time to adjust when a demon popped out of thin air and attacked her.

"Where's a Ghostbuster when you really need one?"

Ah, don't you just love the mid 80s?

While Claremont has Kitty think to herself in full detail just what the soulsword is (you're welcome new readers!), artist Bill Sienkiewicz once again knocked over his ink well to give the demon a distinctive, creepy appearance. But Kitty wasn't the only one dealing with a sudden increase in demonic activity...

"Dani... a monster!"

... Said the werewolf girl.

The New Mutants quickly deal with their uninvited pool guest and then... Illyana comes home... Using the subway.

"Take my hand, dear friend. Let me teach you what I have learned."

Apparently, Illyana also learned how to lift an entire metro train into the air and fly it over 40 miles to Westchester. Still, ignoring this super power we'll never see again... Illyana shares her 'insights' with Cannonball and meets the others after landing the subway train on the mansion's lawn.

"Join with a universal consciousness called 'the overmind'."

Illyana tells the New Mutants she wants them to join the Beyonder's cause, after all he has the best intentions for mankind... But the team is a little more concerned with their unexpected demonic visitor. Especially after Illyana rather casually identifies it as part of a large scale demonic invasion... And to think Inferno was still at least two years in the future at that point.

Surprisingly enough, Illyana's response is a rather glib 'no big deal.' According to her, these demons pale in comparison to the Beyonder so who cares. She's far more concerned with recruiting the New Mutants for the Beyonder's cause. All she has to do is touch them to make sure they see the light...

"Y'all don't understand! We got no choice but to show you!"

None of the New Mutants were too eager to have Illyana show them this new truth of hers. Karma was especially vehement in her refusal, which is understandable considering she'd only recently regained control of her body after the Shadow King mind controlled her.

So if politely asking doesn't work, try using force...

"Alarm... fundamental alteration in prime circuitry nets! Cannot inhibit... perceptions changing... thoughts... beliefs... data twist loop scramble dump purge...*"

For those who aren't fluent in mid 80s made up computer lingo: Illyana was trying to mind control the techno organic mutant Warlock.... And she would have succeeded too, if not for the fact a giant black demon (there goes Sienkiewicz's ink well again) showed up at the mansion, carrying an old friend...

"Now, with her lifesoul... and one more besides... shall the gateway at last be open..."

Yeah, poor Kitty. Even though she had 'inherited' all of Illyana's magical artifacts, she lacked the necessary skills to use them effectively. Now, she'd fallen prey to the demons who were planning to finish Belasco's bloodstone ritual and merge Earth with their dimension. And of course the New Mutants tried their best to stop the creature...

Mutants, stop him! Shan, can he be possessed?!"

It's a quintessential panel of Claremont's New Mutants and the way they approached a combat situation. Wolfsbane's on the frontlines clawing away at the demon's foot, while Dani Moonstar and Xi'an 'Shan' Coy Manh use their mental powers to inflict their own particular brand of mental domination.

While way in the back, Doug 'Cypher' Ramsey is feeling useless and a bit scared because a) he's halfnaked and b) being a mutant universal translator make him pretty much worthless in actual combat... a cipher if you will... 

In the end, the demon appears impervious to the New Mutants's powers. How can one scare, scratch or burn a creature from a hellish dimension, after all. No, it's up to Illyana to save the day by willingly embracing her evil once more...

"To save her, I've got to take them back. Become evil.
If I let her die though how can I call myself 'good'?"

Chris Claremont confronts Magik with an interesting no win situation. Illyana truly wants to do good, but what does that mean in this case? Either she embraces her demonic side in order to save her best friend, or she lets Kitty die so she won't be the 'Darkchylde' anymore... But can anyone who stands idly by and watches a fellow human being die truly be considered good?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

In the end Illyana took back what was hers, cast aside the Beyonder's gift of a 'normal' life and rescued both Kitty and every single person on Earth from getting devoured by demons... And all it took was her own life and personal shot at happiness...

"Hey why so glum, roomie? I knew you'd save the day".

With one demon invasion stopped and one best friend saved, it would seem Illyana made the right choice. Even though 'right' is all but relative. Considering what happened in New Mutants # 71...

Would the life of Kitty have been worth preventing Inferno, the demonic infestation of New York city that killed dozens of innocents?

Discuss amongst yourselves...