New Mutants 71 - Inferno

Illyana confronts her past as it collides with her present.

New Mutants #71

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The New Mutants are trapped in Limbo but find they can escape from S'ym and his demons within it and he snatches the Soul Sword. As they flee through the realm Illyana tells them how she grew up here and the horrors she endured. Due to the different nature of time in Limbo they witness a young Illyana being assaulted by S'ym but N'astirh intervenes. This incarnation of N'astirh professes his love for Illyana and tells her how to regain her power and the ability to teleport to Earth by recovering the Soul Sword and embracing her dark side, which Illyana accepts. New York continues to suffer from objects coming to life and Magneto leads the Hellfire Club in investigating the continued growth of the Empire State Building. In Limbo Illyana overcomes S'ym, transforms into the Darkchilde and opens a portal to Earth... only to arrive in Times Square and discover N'astirh holding it open to bring all the demons through to Earth.

After a lot of build up and small scale incidents in New York we come to one of the key moments in the entire crossover. This issue also shows how some of the antagonists have been planning for a very long time. Much of this part of the crossover builds on events from the Magik (or "Storm and Illyana") limited series from five years earlier and so an issue that recounts the events and how they shaped the protagonist into what she now is very welcome. It's also a strong reminder of the themes of child abuse that ran throughout that limited series as Illyana was taken from her family, had her childhood stolen as she spent seven years in the realm and grew up around men who professed to love her but instead sought to use her for their own ends. The addition of N'astirh to the story helps to reinforce the sense in which Illyana has been a pawn all this time.

What is potentially confusing is the way that time operates in Limbo combined with Illyana's teleportation powers and the appearances of N'astirh at first adds to the confusion as it's not clear if this is the one from when she entered Limbo or the present day incarnation and it's further complicated by his having travelled back in time as well. As a result it's not immediately apparent whether he's a long term schemer who betrayed S'ym or a short term opportunist. But he still comes across as the more effective of the two main demons in Limbo even though Bret Blevins and Al Williamson have managed to make S'ym look fierce and sinister with the techno organic transmode virus compensating for the more comical aspects of his design.

Also less than clear is just how far alternate timelines can be forced in Limbo. Illyana tells how there was a timeline in which the X-Men never escaped and were either transformed or destroyed until she killed the last survivors yet she declares it's not possible to intervene to save her younger self because she has to grow up to control her teleportation discs to get them home. Why she cannot do both in the warped time is not explained.

The deception and corruption of a young girl has always been at the heart of Illyana's story and here it reaches new levels as she ultimately succumbs to the dark side of her nature and allows demons to manipulate her into opening the portal linking Limbo and Earth. This may at first seem an explanatory issue but it also serves to up the stakes for the crossover as a whole in spectacular fashion.