Magik and Colossus #2 – The Chase Is On

Magik and Colossus are on the trail. Back home in Russia, after the fall of Krakoa, the pair encountered Lady Midday, a piece of Russian folklore come to life. After Colossus kills Lady Midday to save the town, the pair find themselves on the path to St. Petersburg. The quest to find the person who sent Lady Midday takes the siblings on a surprising quest of magic, trust, and twists. This review is from Megan and Shawn.

Check out the joint review of Magik and Colossus #1

Creative Team

Writer: Ashley Allen
Artist: Germán Peralta
Colorist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artist: David Nakayama

Writing

Megan: If there’s one thing Ashley Allen is going to do, it’s outdo her last issue. Magik and Colossus #2 the thrilling story of the brother and sister duo continue their thrilling tale. Learning who the true villain is that has caused chaos all over the homeland of the Rasputins, Illyana and Piotr have their new mission in mind. However, while facing off a demonic entity, they have to face off with each other. Piotr is running from his past while being overprotective of Illyana, while Illyana wants him to face his trauma head on. Perhaps more than one problem will get solved if there two are able to work together peacefully.

Ashley Allen continues to make the story even larger than life, while having the classic issues between Illyana and Piotr. Piotr has always been very protective of his sister, but Illyana isn’t a child anymore. Illyana sees that Piotr is suffering on his own with trauma that haunts him, but he isn’t willing to work through the pain. Both siblings care so much for the other, that it gets in the way of their mission.

Shawn: Ashley Allen is just phenomenal. To this day she is my favorite person to write Illyana, but this issue show shows she not only understands Magik as a character, but understands the importance of her relationship with her brother. When I saw the previews for this series and even reading the beginning of the first issue, this felt like it was going to be a buddy cop type story. With her writing, Allen has completely thrown that on its head.

In the series so far, we have been consistently treated to a level of vulnerability in both Illyana and Piotr that we have not seen consistently throughout their history in comics. Ashley Allen is not only telling a story, but she is using the story as an opportunity to explore what made these characters who they are and how they got to this poem.

Art

Megan: Magik and Colossus #2 was very emotion-heavy and the artists captured that perfectly. Germán Peralta, Arthur Hesli, and Ariana Maher are able to illustrate the action and chaos as well as the emotional turmoil between the siblings through their artistry. Peralta brings a unique look of mystical chaos and beauty to the dark story with his use of detailing and larger than life powerset displays. Hesli creates beautiful depths in the scene changes with his different uses of color tones. I especially loved how the underwater panels were colored. Ariana Maher captured the heightened emotions through the dialogue and kept a perfect flow that smoothly pushed us through the story. The artists truly elevated the already fantastic storyline!

Shawn: Germán Peralta and Arthur Hesli put in some really great work on this issue. There is a panel that features both of the characters together with a shadow of their younger selves, appearing almost as a silhouette. This panel was drawn perfectly by Peralta, and Hesli chose the perfect colors to convey the message of the narrative without distracting from the scene.

One thing that was true an issue one and has continued an issue issued too is that the visual team does a great job of adding emotional weight to the words on the page. You not only read words from Ashley Allen that convey the care that Illyana and Piotr have for each other, but it is displayed through the art crafted by this incredible team. Ariana Maher continues to shine with her lettering in this series. Peralta and Hesli crafted some gorgeous scenes We’re even the backgrounds shine, even the cobblestones stand out, and still, Maher manages to allow the story to flow without obstructing, the intention, and the emotion conveyed by the artists.

Final Thoughts

Megan: 10/10. Magik and Colossus #2 is proof that the first issue wasn’t just a great start, but a continuity of high quality storytelling. Ashley Allen is the best person to write for Illyana, and now it’s proven again that she has the same talent for writing for Colossus. I couldn’t even try to tell you where the story is going, but I am very excited to see where Allen takes us.

Shawn: 10/10. What can I say? I am a sucker for a good backstory. As I said before one of the things I have truly enjoyed about this series so far even though it has only been two issues is the story within a story that Allen tells.

Instead of being like some of the incredible ”lost chapter” style stories we have gotten from the X-Men recently, this creative team still manages to feed the readers new pieces of information about the Rasputin’s childhood in a way that feels natural, authentic and reasonable as part of the larger ongoing story. From the very front cover of this issue with the gorgeous cover art all the way to the last page I couldn’t put this one down. Ashley Allen doesn’t seem content with being recognized as the best person to have written Illyana, she’s out to make her mark as the definitive writer for the entire Rasputin team. The visual team that is paired together with Allen have accomplished that goal in the first two issues.

Overall Grade: /10

Did you enjoy Magik and Colossus #2? Let’s chat about it in the comments.