The Uncanny X-Men #160
Uncanny X-Men #160 is the narrative origin point of one of the X-Men franchise's most compelling characters: Illyana Rasputina, Colossus's little sister, who exits this single issue aged seven years in a moment — transformed from a child into a teenager by the time-warping properties of Belasco's Limbo dimension, setting her on the path to becoming Magik. The issue also marks the debut of S'ym, the demonic henchman whose own story arc would build toward the sprawling 1988 'Inferno' crossover event, and it establishes Belasco's Limbo — a distinct extradimensional realm separate from Immortus's Limbo — as a recurring and consequential corner of the X-Men universe. Writer Chris Claremont used the issue's final page to plant a slow-burn mystery, with Illyana clutching Belasco's bloodstone medallion in her sleep, a narrative thread that unspooled across years of subsequent comics. The story directly seeded the four-issue Magik: Storm & Illyana limited series (1983–84), which retroactively filled in the seven missing years of Illyana's captivity.
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The issue was written by Chris Claremont with pencils by Brent Anderson — a guest fill-in — inked by Bob Wiacek, colored by Glynis Wein, and lettered by Tom Orzechowski, under editor Louise Jones and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. Belasco himself was not a Claremont creation; he had debuted in Bruce Jones's Ka-Zar the Savage series earlier in 1982, but Claremont transplanted and fundamentally redefined him as an X-Men antagonist. The demon S'ym was a deliberate in-joke tribute to independent comics creator Dave Sim and his character Cerebus the Aardvark; Claremont and Sim had discussed but never executed an official X-Men/Cerebus crossover, and S'ym served as a fond nod to that unrealized collaboration.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of S'ym, Belasco's demonic servant and a major player in the later 'Inferno' (1988) crossover event.
- First appearance of Illyana Rasputina as an adolescent: she enters Limbo as a six-year-old and emerges, seconds later for the X-Men, as a thirteen-year-old — the effective origin of the character who becomes Magik.
- First appearance of Belasco's Limbo (sometimes called Otherplace) in an X-Men story — a distinct dimension from the Limbo ruled by Immortus, with fluid time that allows alternate, long-stranded versions of the X-Men to co-exist with the present team.
- First appearance of Belasco's Bloodstone Medallion (the Beatrix Medallion), a five-socket amulet central to Illyana's dark destiny and the Magik mythology.
- Belasco makes his first appearance in an X-Men comic, having previously debuted in Ka-Zar the Savage; his portrayal here by Claremont made him far more associated with the mutant franchise than his origin title.
- S'ym was conceived as a tribute to Dave Sim and his Cerebus the Aardvark; Claremont and Sim had planned but never completed an official X-Men/Cerebus crossover.
- Written by Chris Claremont; pencilled by Brent Anderson (guest fill-in); inked by Bob Wiacek; colored by Glynis Wein; lettered by Tom Orzechowski; edited by Louise Jones.
- The issue has been reprinted in X-Men Classic #64, Essential X-Men Vol. 3, Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 8, Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 3, New Mutants Omnibus Vol. 1, Epic Collection: X-Men Vol. 9, and the X-Men: Magik — Storm & Illyana collected edition (which pairs it with the four-issue Magik limited series).
Cast · 14 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Illyana loses seven years in Limbo and becomes a teenager with magical powers.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).