MAGIK
Earth-8101
Real Name: Illyana Rasputin
Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-8101) primate mutant
Occupation: Student
Group Membership: New Mutants (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Mirage/Danielle Moonstar, Sunspot/Bobby Da Costa, Warlock, Wolfsbape/Rahne Sinclair)
Affiliations: Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Iron Mandrill (Tony Stark), Magneto, X-Apes (Colobbus/Piotr Rasputin, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Rogue/Anne-Marie, Rachel Summers, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett);
formerly "Captain America" (John Falsworth)
Enemies: Beyonder
Known Relatives: Piotr Rasputin (Colobbus, brother)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: X-Mansion, New Mutants headquarters
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#3/3 (December, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Magik is a sorceress capable of casting spells and channeling mystical energy. She can also teleport herself and others through space using her "stepping discs," often traveling via Limbo (Otherplace), and can summon the Soulsword, a weapon especially effective against magical and psychic forces.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'5")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Strawberry blonde
History:
(Marvel Apes I#3/3 - BTS) - At an unrevealed point in time Magik became part of the New Mutants, serving alongside other mutant primates such as Mirage and Wolfsbabe.
(Marvel Apes I#3/3 (fb) - BTS) - The Beyonder became fascinated with the nature of simian heroism, curious about what it truly meant to be simian he traveled to Earth. His arrival quickly escalated into violence when his unstable emotions and immense cosmic power threatened the world.
(Marvel Apes I#3/3) - Magik and the New Mutants joined a large force of assembled heroes, including Iron Mandrill, Captain America and the X-Apes, to oppose the Beyonder. Their coordinated assault pushed the Beyonder to the brink, and Iron Mandrill eventually unleashed a powerful energy blast that helped tip the battle, leading to the Beyonder's defeat.
Comments: Created by Tom Peyer.
Illyana Rasputin's presence requires some explanation. In the Secret Wars II backup feature, a female primate can be seen standing between Dazzler and Warlock. This unidentified strawberry-blonde girl caused confusion because her hairstyle and colors did not match any obvious New Mutant or X-character from the era being referenced. After comparing her across multiple panels and tracing the layout back to its source, John Byrne's final published cover of Secret Wars II, the same mystery character appears there as well. The key clue comes from Sal Buscema's unused pencils for the original Secret Wars II cover, which reveal that the figure was intended to be Magik. Byrne had directly reused Buscema's abandoned composition but misrepresented Illyana's hairstyle and coloring. The Marvel Apes artist then copied Byrne's finished cover exactly as it appeared, reproducing the same visual error. Once Buscema's original pencils resurfaced, the character's pose, placement, and silhouette aligned perfectly, confirming that the "mystery girl" is simply a miscolored Illyana Rasputin.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from Earth-8101 when zombies invaded their world. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 indicates that the timelines designated Earth-95019 and Earth-21050 were seemingly erased when Earth-616's Gorilla Girl went back to the moment the portal was opened and destroyed it.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Magik has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#3, p30, pan1 (main image)
Marvel Apes I#3, p31, pan1 (saved by Cannonball)
Marvel Apes I#3, p30, pan1 / Secret Wars II cover / Sal Buscema's unused pencils of the Secret Wars II cover (Magik comparison)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#3/3 (December, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Andy Lanning, Cam Smith (inkers), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan (editors)
First Posted: 1/16/2026
Last Updated: 1/16/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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