Marvel Comics’ ongoing series about the fan favorite X-Men character, Magik, has been a hit with readers and critics alike. A mystical fantasy story that’s equal parts dark and profound heart, it’s precisely what fans have been craving from a solo series for the character for years.
At The Beat, we sat down with series writer Ashley Allen to discuss the appeal of writing Magik, the joys and wonders of the occult, and how Marvel Rivals factors into it all.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
JARED BIRD: Thank you so much for your time. Magik launched from Marvel Comics on January 8, 2025, and has been ongoing for the last few months. How did you get attached to the project?
ASHLEY ALLEN: I was asked to pitch a Magik one-shot for the Blood Hunt event last summer. I pitched a Most Dangerous Game-type scenario where Magik becomes the hunter and goes head to head with a horde of vampires. We wanted to lean into Magik’s tactician roots, magical arsenal, and, of course, her combat abilities. It was a blast to write, and I’m so happy with how it turned out! Fans responded well to the story, and I was asked to pitch a few ideas for a Magik ongoing series. I was lucky enough for my idea to get chosen, and we could continue the energy from the Blood Hunt one-shot into the ongoing!
BIRD: What’s it been like to be part of the From the Ashes relaunch?
ALLEN: It has been an unbelievable experience! I’m still very new to the industry, and it’s been amazing getting to work with some of my heroes in the business I grew up reading. Everyone supports each other’s books, is willing to give feedback on ideas, and punches up each other’s stories. I love that folks are threading connecting storylines within each other’s books (which is one of the things that makes the Marvel Universe feel so real). I truly couldn’t have asked for a better group of folks to work with.
BIRD: Magik’s popularity has exploded after the success of Marvel Rivals. Have you felt a lot of pressure writing the book?
ALLEN: Yes and no! The Marvel editorial team has been incredibly supportive of our team’s work on the book and has been great mentors throughout this process. It takes a village to bring a book to market, and I’m lucky the folks in that village are so great!
This is my first ongoing series, so I’ve felt more pressure from that than from the fans of Magik, both originally from the comics and now from Marvel Rivals. Honestly, the fans are the reason why I haven’t felt as much pressure! I love Illyana and am glad the story we are taking her on resonates with fans. It’s been great getting to chat about Magik with fans at conventions, and those conversations have been energizing and have alleviated any nerves. If anything, the most significant pressure is making sure I don’t randomly have “Behold, Darkchild!” in a script because, as a Marvel Rivals player myself, I swear that voice line is on loop in my head. Even as someone writing Magik, I can’t seem to dodge any of her attacks in-game!
BIRD: What’s it been like to work with Germán Peralta?
ALLEN: Germán Peralta is an absolute legend! He has such a way with conveying motion in his art, both through the art itself and also his perspective work in his panels. Magik’s action sequences are truly brought to life by Germán, and I’m so lucky to work with him. He’s such a dynamic storyteller, and he has such a gift for balancing these action moments with our softer character moments. Magik might look tough on the outside, but Germán really lets us showcase what she is really feeling on the inside, despite what she might present to the outside world. I think anyone would be lucky to work with Germán, and I can’t wait for fans to see what he does in Issue 5! I think it is my favorite of the series so far.
BIRD: The series explores a wide range of occult mysticism and dark urban fantasy elements. What helped inspire that aspect of the series?
ALLEN: My childhood dream job was to be a cryptozoologist, so I’ve always been obsessed with urban legends. Growing up in the Midwest, I was always captivated by how many towns there are based on such folklore, and it always made summers more fun. It made some of the more mundane parts of rural and suburban life more magical, and I think quite a bit of my writing can be linked back to that initial love of supernatural elements in the modern world.
I’ve always been drawn to supernatural stories with heart. They are my favorite stories to write, so when we were asked to start pitching for Magik, I knew these types of stories were the ones I wanted to tell. I took inspiration from anime and manga series I loved growing up, such as Soul Eater, Demon Slayer, and Fullmetal Alchemist. I really wanted to lean into the manga-esque action sequences I grew up reading and their use of a magic system. Speaking of magic systems, my years playing D&D have been a huge help in inspiring the occult mysticism present in our book. All in all, I’m now realizing this series has been a love letter to the media that inspired me to write as a child!
BIRD: One of the main appeals of Magik as a character is that she’s a fair bit more misanthropic than your average superhero, but that hides a profound sense of hurt inside her. Did you have difficulty writing her personality in the series?
ALLEN: I am an eternal optimist which, at first glance, seems to be at odds with Illyana’s personality. Surprisingly, Illyana’s voice isn’t too hard to find for me. I think that despite Illyana being misanthropic, she is an optimist in her own way. Despite her past, despite everything that has happened to her, she still chooses to fight on the side of good even though her past would justify her becoming a villain.
Additionally, I think that it helps that Illyana and I are at similar places in our lives being in our 20s. There are a lot of what-ifs in this stage of life and uncertainty and despite the X-Men being – ya know – X-Men, ultimately these are the human questions that resonate with us as X-Men fans. So that definitely lends itself well to finding Yana’s voice.
BIRD: Magik, as a character, has quite an expansive backstory and complex lore surrounding her. How did you go about respecting that whilst also carving out something new?
ALLEN: Read! Read! Read! The best part of this job is getting to read for work. I am a ravenous reader and will read anything I can get my hands on. So getting to read past Magik-centric stories was a real treat. I prioritized reading all her past runs to fully get a handle on her canon and where she was as a character.
Ultimately, reading is the first thing I’d recommend when going about a series. In order to respect the character, you need to understand where she’s been, where she’s at currently, and where she could go in the future. When reading past runs, I wanted to find interesting threads and what-ifs posed about Magik that would be interesting to expand upon. I knew then in our series we could flush those ideas out and chart somewhere new. For example, I thought the plot Vita Ayala crafted about Magik giving up Limbo was fascinating and I knew I wanted to expand on that. Does giving up the physical place undo the internal trauma within? Is this just running away? Do we need to fully renounce our past to move into our future? These are the threads woven by past runs that we now get to play with.
By having that strong foundation, we get to chart somewhere new by then infusing our personal influences such as my love for occult mysticism elements. I think what is really unique about a solo series is that we can really dive into Magik’s headspace through narration which is another new element we can forge. It all comes down to understanding where the character has been and where she potentially can go in the future!
BIRD: What do you want readers to take away from the series?
ALLEN: Again, our series comes down to the idea of a “dark, supernatural story with heart.” There are a lot of challenging moments in life, and we will face many challenges. But, ultimately, within those darker moments, there will be joy, whether from our friends, our family, our chosen family, or even just from the world itself. I would want readers to take away the message of choosing to do good, to choose joy and empathy, despite those more challenging moments in life. That’s what makes Illyana such an inspiring hero.
BIRD: What other books of yours would you recommend to readers who enjoyed Magik?
ALLEN: X-Men: Blood Hunt – Magik is the book that started it all for our Magik series! If you want to see Magik vs a horde of vamps, I would definitely check it out! For those who enjoy the Magik series’ horror elements, I’d recommend checking out my short stories in Marvel Zombies: Black, White, and Blood and DC’s I Know What You Did Last Crisis. I was able to write stories featuring the Birds of Prey and Moon Knight, who are some of my favorite characters!
Of course, I always have to plug my first ever published story in DC’s Legion of Bloom, where Poison Ivy is lying low in a plant store. Nothing can go wrong … right? I’m always super grateful to anyone who reads our stories, so thank you if you decide to check any of these out, and hope you enjoy!
