Pixie | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | New X-Men: Academy X #5 (November 2004) |
Created by | Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir Michael Ryan |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Megan Gwynne |
Species | Human mutant / fairy hybrid |
Team affiliations | Jean Grey School Students Paragons training squad X-Men in training Xavier Institute New X-Men The Lights [1] X-Men |
Notable aliases | Winged Witch Pixie |
Abilities |
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Pixie (Megan Gwynn) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Hailing from Wales, Pixie belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities, and to the species of humanoid magical beings named fairies, who are born with supernatural powers. [2] [3] [4] Her hybrid mutation grants her pixie-like eyes, colorful wings that allow her to fly, and "pixie dust" that causes hallucinations. [5] [6]
After a confrontation with the revived former member of the New Mutants, Magik, she gains the ability to use magic and a magical weapon called the "Souldagger." [7] Her main use of magic is a massive teleportation spell, which makes her a key asset to various X-Men missions and teams and places her as one of the titles' primary magic users. She was first introduced as a student on the Paragons training squad at the Xavier Institute in New X-Men: Academy X #5 (November 2004), later joining the New X-Men team, and then graduating to the Uncanny X-Men team.
Pixie has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes. Since her original introduction in comics, the character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including video games, animated television series, and merchandise.
Pixie debuted in New X-Men: Academy X #5 (November 2004), created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Michael Ryan. [8] She appeared in the 2008 X-Men: Pixies and Demons one-shot, her first solo comic book one-shot. [9] She appeared in the 2010 X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back series, her first solo comic book series. [10] [11] She appeared in the 2010 Avengers vs. X-Men anthology series. [12] [13] She appeared in the 2019 Age of X-Man: Nextgen series. [14] [15]
Pixie appeared in the 2020 Cable series. [16] [17] She appeared in the 2021 Children of the Atom series. [18] [19] She appeared in the 2022 Legion of X series. [20] [21]
Megan Gwynn is a Welsh teenager from a fictional mining town called Abergylid. Her father died in the mine. She developed a fear of it and left Wales owing of his death. She would later discover that he was not her actual father, but the villainous Mastermind. Lady Mastermind and Mastermind II are her half-sisters. [22] [23] In her original inception, Gwynn had short pink hair, pure black eyes, and butterfly-like rainbow wings.
After enrolling at Xavier Institute, Gwynn is assigned to be part of the Paragons training squad under the tutelage of former New Mutant member Rahne Sinclair. She wears a bicycle helmet during training sessions, due to her uncertainty with flying. During this time, she develops a crush on the X-Man Cyclops and is considered a cheerful girl who fits in well with other students. Gwynn was voted Friendliest Student. [24]
Following the events of House of M, almost all of the Institute's students are depowered, which leads to the dissolution of the school's training squad system.[ volume & issue needed ] Gwynn is one of only twenty-seven students, including her fellow Paragons Trance, Wolf Cub, and Match, not to have lost her mutant abilities.
She participates in Emma Frost's battle royal, which determines who will train to be an X-Man, but does not make the team. She remains at the school, appearing occasionally as a side character. Later, forty-two of Gwynn's former classmates are killed when their bus is blown up by a missile sent by William Stryker, an anti-mutant crusader. Among the confirmed deaths are Gwynn's fellow Paragon, DJ. [25]
Gwynn, alongside Anole, Loa, Wolf Cub, Rockslide, and Match, are told a frightening ghost story by fellow student Blindfold one night at the school. However, they discover that the story is not fictitious, but rather a prophecy. Telling Gwynn that she is "sorry for [her] loss," Blindfold and her classmates are sucked into the realm of Limbo, where they are attacked by demons. [26]
Gwynn stays by Blindfold's side during the fight, who cautions Gwynn and the others that Gwynn must not "fall to darkness." Gwynn uses her powers on-panel for the first time during the fight, incapacitating several demons with her "pixie dust." [27] After Darkchilde saves the small group, she asks N'astirh to bring Gwynn to her, recognizing that her soul is the most innocent and therefore the most powerful in Limbo. Despite her friends' pleas, Gwynn submits to Magik's request to use her soul to create a Soulsword and Bloodstones, magical stones forged from an innocent soul that grant great power to their owners, but is freed from the process by Anole. His intervention saves her, but leaves the spell unfinished, resulting in the creation of only one Bloodstone and a "Souldagger" instead. Magik then explains that the Souldagger is actually a portion of Gwynn's own soul and that black magic has now filled the hole left behind in the knife's creation, leaving Gwynn no longer an innocent. This is represented graphically by a great portion of her pink hair changing to black. [28]
Magik teaches Gwynn a teleportation spell and she uses it to teleport herself and her friends to Belasco to prevent him from torturing the rest of the students. She saves the students and ultimately kills Belasco by stabbing him with the Souldagger. [29] After defeating Belasco, Magik wants to use more of Gwynn's soul to create more Bloodstones to gain more power, but becomes disgusted with herself when her brother calls out to her. She instead sends Gwynn and the others back to the Xavier Institute and seals all entrances to Limbo. Gwynn and Anole are then made official members of the New X-Men for their bravery in Limbo at the insistence of Rockslide. [30] Gwynn later reveals that Doctor Strange will tutor her in magic when she comes of age and begins receiving additional training. [31] [32]
When the first new mutant since M-Day appears, Gwynn joins X-23, Hellion, Anole, Surge, Armor, and Rockslide in attacking the Washington, D.C., base of the anti-mutant Purifiers by teleporting them there. They are confronted by Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers with Hellion receiving a near mortal injury. [33] Outnumbered Gwynn panics and cannot teleport the team out until Rictor, who infiltrated the Purifiers as a spy, helps her concentrate. She manages to cast a hazardous "blind teleport," which scatters the New X-Men between Washington, D.C., and the Xavier Institute. [34] The students are then recovered and taken back to the Institute by Iceman, and the wounded sent to the infirmary. [35] However, Predator X later attacks the Institute, going after the weaker, wounded students in the infirmary. Gwynn, realizing that X-23 had killed this type of creature before, attempts to teleport Predator X to X-23's location. However, she mistakenly takes the majority of the students and Beast alongside her and the creature, dropping them in the middle of the X-Men's fight for the mutant baby with the Marauders on Muir Island. [36] During the fight, Gwynn is brutally beaten by the Malice-possessed Omega Sentinel, who taunts her, until Gwynn manages to defeat her by unexpectedly stabbing her with the Souldagger, exorcising Malice from Omega Sentinel's body. [37]
Gwynn returns to her hometown after the X-Men disband following the conclusion of Messiah Complex. However, she finds the demonic N'Garai are plaguing the town and are kidnapping people to feed Kierrok the Damned, their leader. She calls in the X-Men to help defeat the N'Garai, and Gwynn has to face her fear of the mine in which her father was killed to defeat the demons. After defeating Kierrok, Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men take her back to America and she joins the newly reformed X-Men in San Francisco. [38]
After leaving one of Dazzler's gigs, Gwynn is ambushed by a group of masked anti-mutant men calling themselves the Hellfire Cult. She is overpowered by the attackers and is subjected to beatings that leave her incapacitated. She manages to make her way back to the X-Men's new base and is immediately taken care of by Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Karma, and Beast. [39] The attack and the events of the previous year cause her to question whether or not she wants to continue as part of the X-Men, but a discussion with Wolverine causes her to stay and assist them against Empath, whose powers have grown out of control. After beating him up, she stabs him in the head with her Souldagger, leaving him blind and his powers weakened. [40] She decides to remain with the X-Men, assisting them in various other missions, including the Skrull invasion of San Francisco. [41] According to writer Matt Fraction, her role is that of Kitty Pryde and Jubilee when they first joined the X-Men. [42] Her strong magical ability as a teleporter with nearly unlimited distance and capacity also causes Nightcrawler, who is much more limited and traditionally serves as the X-Men's primary teleporter, to question his future usefulness to the team, though he later comes to terms with his own abilities. [43]
Despite her cheerful persona, Gwynn begins to reveal her anger and bitterness over her initial experience in Limbo and her incomplete soul, feeling that she is less than human. During a training session, Nightcrawler points out that her personality changes when she uses the Souldagger. This causes her to summon it and her personality turns sinister. She stabs him in the chest, causing him to pass out. Upon regaining her senses and removing the dagger, she finds that it has freed the Soulsword housed within Kurt's body. Sensing the Soulsword, Magik teleports to Earth to reclaim it. [44] However, Gwynn engages her in a fight, demanding to have the stolen portion of her soul returned, and refuses to hand over the sword. Magik defeats her and regains her Soulsword, teleporting away and leaving Colossus distraught. The X-Men learn that they are now able to enter Limbo through Gwynn's teleportation spell, and a team consisting of Colossus, Wolverine, Mercury, Rockslide, Gwynn, and Nightcrawler is formed to reclaim Magik. Nightcrawler is put in charge due to Gwynn's and Colossus' personal stakes in the mission. [45]
While the X-Men battle various demons in Limbo, Belasco's daughter, Witchfire defeats Magik and adds Gwynn's Bloodstone to her amulet, causing her to lose control and teleport herself to Belasco's castle. There, Witchfire forces her to become her new apprentice and begins forging a final new Bloodstone from Gwynn's soul, causing her to nightmarishly transform completely into a demon. [46] Witchfire uses the Bloodstones to summon the Elder Gods to her aid. Gwynn is reluctantly forced to work together with Magik to defeat Witchfire. While the X-Men battle the Elder Gods, Illyana fights Witchfire and strips her of the amulet containing the Bloodstones. Illyana and Gwynn use their blades to destroy the amulet, but Witchfire escapes the crumbling castle into the Elder Gods' dimension, claiming to return for her "apprentice." Gwynn is despondent over losing more of her soul and tries to attack Magik with her Souldagger, but the glowing stone in its blade indicates that the additional stolen piece of her soul is inside it. She flies away in tears into the wilds of Limbo, upset over the additional loss of her soul. [47]
Gwynn returns to the X-Men, but demonstrating noticeably improved fighting ability and greater anger when she hears about "Proposition X," a piece of anti-mutant legislation seeking to control mutant reproduction. [48] She continues to work with the X-Men, using her abilities to defeat enemies such as Empath and rescue several students and team members, such as when the Sisterhood, a team of mutant villainesses led by a revived Madelyne Pryor, attack the X-Men's headquarters. [49] During the protests between anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements about mutant reproductive rights, Gwynn is injured when a riot breaks out. [50] Later, she teleports Rogue, Gambit and Danger to San Francisco for assistance. [51] She is later made a part of a team to battle Emma Frost's Dark X-Men. [52] After Emma Frost, Namor and Cloak and Dagger betray the Dark X-Men and Norman Osborn and relocate to Utopia, Gwynn and Magik begin teleporting everyone to their new island base. [53] During the final battle, Gwynn joins Armor and X-23 in fighting Daken. [54]
Gwynn finds herself and several of her teenage teammates under a spell, causing them to live under the impression that they are ordinary high school girls. However, the illusion begins to fade, with Gwynn finding herself in confrontation with the demon Saturnyne. Meanwhile, a woman arrives on Utopia claiming to be her mother, demanding to see her. [55] Later, her mother shows up in the Wyngarde mansion, where Lady Mastermind is fighting with Martinique. She tells them to stop acting like the babies of the family and that they have been usurped while Gwynn is seen in the next panel, revealing that Jason Wyngarde is her biological father, and the Mastermind sisters are her siblings. [22] [56]
When Cable and Hope Summers return from the future, Bastion starts putting his plans into action in taking her out. He first begins by taking out the X-Men's teleporters with Magik the first to fall, sending her to Limbo with a weaponized spell. [57] After Ariel is taken out, Gwynn requests to take her place only to be refused by Cyclops. [58] She is then placed on a rescue team to get Magik back from Limbo where she encounters N'Astirh who tries to convince her to kill Magik and in exchange he will give her back the rest of her soul. After Gwynn turns on him and frees Magik, they assist Anole and Cannonball against Gambit and the corrupted Dazzler and Northstar. After the battle is over the two girls come to understand each other better. [59]
Following the events of Second Coming, like the New Mutants, Gwynn goes for a holiday to relax. Magik comes to request her help in her own personal war but she dismisses her, claiming that the last time she helped Magik, she ripped out a piece of her soul and she just rescued her from Limbo. She is then ambushed and captured by Project Purgatory who steal her Souldagger. [60] After Project Purgatory capture the New Mutants, they use Magik's Soulsword to separate the bloodstone from Gwynn's Souldagger. [61] Escaping with Magik and Karma, Gwynn is returned to Utopia, where she recovers while the rest of the X-Men begin to battle the Elder Gods. Once the Elder Gods and Project Purgatory have been defeated, Magik comes to Gwynn with a golden box containing her Souldagger and both her bloodstones. [62]
Gwynn, along with a few other X-Men, is summoned to a town by Danielle Moonstar, where an attack decades earlier by some demons led to them becoming trapped in one of the town's residents to protect them all. Now that she is dying they need to figure out how to deal with the demons. Gwynn demonstrates she has some knowledge in sealing spells and entrapment wards. After the arrival of the new Ghost Rider, the demons are released and a battle ensues. Working together with Ghost Rider, they send the demons back to Hell with Gwynn reciting a spell, sealing them for good. [63]
During the events of Schism, Gwynn has been teleporting various teams of X-Men around the world to combat all the sentinels. During one fight she injures her hands and has to sit out as she can no longer teleport. According to her, without painkillers, it hurts too much to concentrate, and with them, she cannot think straight enough but will still stand by her fellow students to help take on the giant sentinel approaching Utopia. [64]
Recovering from the events of Schism, Gwynn approaches Velocidad at first to get help with her medication but when they start talking, things become quite flirty between them and eventually start kissing. Hope walks in and catches them in the act and storms out. Gwynn then slaps Velocidad and leaves. She is later packing to return to Westchester when Hope approaches and begs her to join her team, as they need a teleporter. [1]
After a training exercise, Hope finds a new light on Cerebra and has Gwynn teleport the group to Pakistan to locate the mutant. The group splits up with Pixie teamed with Velocidad. They are ambushed by soldiers and separated. [65] Gwynn ends up captured by them and after being rescued, teleports the team and an amnesic Sebastian Shaw back to Utopia. [66]
Gwynn graduated from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and became an official X-Man in the final issue of Wolverine and the X-Men. [67] [68]
Megan Gwynn possesses insect-like wings (depicted of various colors depending on the artist) that allow her to fly. [69] [70] Initially, her wings were broad and multicolored, similar to a butterfly's, but recent depictions show her to have iridescent, translucent wings, more like those of a dragonfly. It has been suggested that her wings' appearance is affected by her psychological state. [71] In addition, her mutation allows her to produce a "pixie dust" that causes hallucinations, often with comedic effects, such as demons seeing bright bubbles and teddy bears, or in one instance, causing Wolverine to see and try to fight a herd of unicorns. [72] In another instance, Gwynn uses her dust seemingly harmlessly to enhance the audience's perceptions of Dazzler's light show during a concert. She states that she has no idea what individuals affected by her dust are seeing. [27] [73]
After Magik takes part of Gwynn's soul in an attempt to create a Soulsword, her appearance changes, reflecting the portion of her soul lost to black magic. Artists' depictions of this change in her personality are inconsistent, but typically depict her pink hair with black streaks. [28] She also has the ability to detect the supernatural, as evidenced when she fought the N'Garai who were under a cloaking spell. When asked how she knows where they are she replies, "there's a sliver of darkness that Magik put inside my soul... And it's like a compass needle for other dark... stuff." [38]
Because the spell to steal Megan Gwynn's soul was interrupted, a new Soulsword could not be formed. Instead, Gwynn can summon a Souldagger, a mystical item that disrupts magic and harms magical beings. Because of her connection with Magik, as Gwynn uses the Souldagger, her personality changes and becomes darker. [44] Her dagger later changes from silver to red after it absorbs Gwynn's Bloodstone. [47] It is unclear if this change is merely cosmetic. Like recent depictions of the Soulsword, [74] Gwynn's Souldagger appears to have physical effects beyond disrupting magic and harming magical creatures. [75] For instance, while the abilities of the mutant Malice are psionic and based on mutation and not magic, the Souldagger is able to exorcise Malice's psyche from Karima Shapandar. [37] It also appears to have physically harmed Empath, disrupting his psychic abilities and leaving him blind after she stabs him in the head with it. [40]
Though untrained in the mystic arts, Megan Gwynn is able to wield magic, [69] largely due to black magic which has filled the missing portions of her soul. [31] She can recite the incantation taught to her by Illyana Rasputin ("Sihal Novarum Chinoth") to teleport over long distances and to the dimension of Limbo. [44] [45] She is capable of teleporting herself and large groups over vast distances and across dimensions with relative ease, though teleporting without focusing can be hazardous, causing those transported to be scattered and potentially causing injury to Pixie herself. [34] [76] Gwynn has also been able to banish demons using magic. [77] [78] She has demonstrated that she is capable of casting a sleeping spell. [79] [80] Following the events of "Quest for Magik," Gwynn is approached by both Doctor Strange and Amanda Sefton to receive formal tutelage in sorcery after she has come of age. [32]
Additionally, she has been trained in hand-to-hand combat at the institute.
Mike Fugere of Comic Book Resources wrote, "Megan Gwynn, the adorably cheerful mutant with rainbow fairy wings known as Pixie, was created by husband and wife writing team Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir along with artist Michael Ryan (Mystique, New Excalibur). Pixie made her first appearance in New X-Men: Academy X #5 back in 2004. Her exuberant attitude towards her fellow classmates at the Xavier Institute earned the title of Xavier's “Friendliest Student.” Considering Pixie’s effervescent attitude and pink haired, iridescent-winged exterior, there's really no better candidate for the superlative. Even Jubilee, at her most jovial, was never as warm and welcoming as Pixie. But don't let her adorable veneer lead you astray. Megan Gwynn packs quite a punch." [81] Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Pixie a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character. [82] Chris Condry of Looper stated, "Pixie, whose real name is Megan Gwynn, is just as fun and fascinating as her older, bluer counterpart and has far more potential in the coming decades. Unlike Nightcrawler, Gwynn is far from a one-trick pony. In addition to teleportation, Gwynn's powers include flight, emitting hallucinogenic pixie dust, daggers made from her own soul, and most importantly, spell-casting. As a budding sorcerer, Gwynn's potential is almost limitless. During the "Dark Reign" event, she was even considered as a candidate to replace Doctor Strange as the next Sorcerer Supreme. Both mutant and magic, Pixie has a rare place in multiple Marvel arenas and could slot into the MCU in a few different ways. Though Pixie has mostly been relegated to the kids' table and considered a "Young X-Men" or "New Mutant," her power, personality, and promise are starting to make her too big for her highchair." [83]
Timothy Adams of ComicBook.com called Pixie a "fan-favorite." [84] Robert Mclaughlin of Den of Geek said, "While Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Gambit and some of the more popular characters have already made their screen debut, there’s still over one hundred-and-ninety-eight mutants for the filmmakers to play with, and if Riptide and Azazel can be made to look cool, then some more of these more obscure, yet visually exciting mutants can too. Megan Gwynn is a Welsh mutant with a visually fun physical mutation. Sporting pink hair, large fairy wings and pointy ears, her mutant power is the ability to teleport and to sprinkle hallucination-based pixie dust on her opponents. A current fan favourite, she’s a relatively recent addition to the X-Men team, having originally appeared in the continually re-titled X-Men Academy/New X-Men. The addition of a bright, visually appealing and fun character with a jovial light-hearted ‘bubble gum pop’ personality would replace the flying character of Angel from the first movie. And having an upbeat, positive member of the team would make a break from the angst of the rest of the team," [85] while Marc Buxton included her in their "40 X-Men Characters Who Haven’t Appeared in the Movies But Should" list. [86] George Marston of Newsarama included Pixie in their "20 X-Men Characters That Should Make The Jump From Marvel Comics To The MCU" list and said, "Marvel Studios is doubling down on its magical wing as one of the tentpoles of its current era, and there are few better mutants to connect a new X-Men team to that corner of the MCU than the ethereal, effervescent Pixie—whose fae codename is a perfect indicator of her powers, which include a pair of gossamer wings, teleportation, and a natural aptitude for magical skill. And not for nothing, if the MCU needs some youthful mutants for a younger-skewing X-Men team—or even some students in some capacity—Pixie makes for a spot-on addition as an ingenue for a team that always has at least one young, impressionable mutant in its ranks." [76] ComicsAlliance gave Pixie a score of 38 out of 50 in their "100 X-Men: How Do Sunspot, Pixie, Leech, Revanche And Quicksilver Rate As Great X-Men?" list. [87]
Trudy Graham of Zavvi included Pixie in their "10 Characters From Marvel Comics We Want To See In The MCU" list, writing, "There are several X-Men that act as a supportive glue for teams, and she’s one of them. Her powers are also a lot of fun" [88] Andrew Ceco of Sideshow included Pixie in their "Marvel’s Most Masterful Witches" list. [89] John Tibbetts of WhatCulture ranked Pixie 2nd in their "Marvel Phase 4: 10 Mutants Who Should Be MCU X-Men" list and said, "Pixie is one of those characters that you have to actually be dead inside to not absolutely love. She's bubbly, friendly, has boundless optimism, but is also the first one to kick your ass six ways from Sunday if you cause trouble. Her pixie wings give her the ability to fly, almost twice as fast as Angel when she sets her mind to it, she can release "pixie dust" that gives anyone it hits powerful hallucinations, and also she's a witch. Like a straight up candidate for sorcerer supreme should Doctor Strange ever bite it. Sure right now she can just barely conjure up a sleeping spell and the ability to teleport, but all of this alone makes her a natural fit for the X-Men should Marvel be smart enough to realize the money printer Pixie could prove to be in marketing if they pull her off right." [80] Anya Crittenton of Gay Star News ranked Pixie 3rd in their "7 LGBTI Heroes We Want to See in Marvel’s New All-Female TV Series" list. [90] Alyssa Gawaran of MovieWeb ranked Pixie 8th in their "8 LGBTQ+ Marvel Comics Characters That Need to Be in the MCU" list. [91] Matthew Perpetua of BuzzFeed ranked Pixie 41st in their "95 X-Men Members Ranked From Worst To Best" list, saying, "Pixie is basically like a mashup of Magik and Jubilee—she's got the former's teleportation and magical powers, but has the spunky, sarcastic qualities of the latter. For a while it seemed like she was brought into the cast to fill the obligatory "teenage girl" role, but she's developed into a more nuanced character over time despite having an increasingly smaller role in the franchise." [92] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly ranked Pixie 64th in their "Let's Rank Every X-Man Ever" list. [93]
Screen Rant ranked Pixie 6th in their "15 Most Powerful X-Men Members Who Joined in the 2000s (Ranked)" list. [94] Comic Book Resources ranked Pixie 9th in their "10 Best Fights From Avengers Vs X-Men" list, [95] 20th in their "20 Most Powerful Supernatural Marvel Characters" list, [75] 20th in their "20 X-Men Who Are Much More Powerful Than They Look" list, [81] and 25th in their "25 Most Powerful Young X-Men" list. [96]
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, X-Men: Pixies and Demons #1 was the 123rd best selling comic book in November 2008. [97] [98] [99]
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #1 was the 114th best selling comic book in February 2010. [100] [101]
James Hunt of Comic Book Resources called X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #1 an "interesting spin on the character," saying, "One of the reasons Pixie has been steadily growing in popularity is that the character's visual is rather more striking than many of her peers. The fairy wings, pink hair and dark eyes make her as iconic as any of the "classic" X-Men, and Sara Pichelli does the character justice with her artwork. Indeed, all the characters. In Immonen and Pichelli, Marvel have managed to find a fantastic creative team (and, letterer aside, an all-female at that) with a distinctive and original take on the X-Men. Compared to the rather dour and homogenous feeling most of the line has at the moment, this can't help but stand out. It might not have an event to piggyback on, but it is, undoubtedly, a worthwhile purchase for all current X-fans." [102] Bryan Joel of IGN gave X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #1 a grade of 7.2 out of 10, writing, "All signs point to Pixie Strikes Back veering more into traditional territory down the line, but as far as this issue's concerned, it's a welcomed alternate take on the junior team with some unexpected wit from Immonen and more than a few charming qualities. Basically, if you were put off by the idea of a mini-series called Pixie Strikes Back, issue #1 is probably not going to change your tune. If you can get past that, however, it's a cool little X-curio." [103]
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #2 was the 154th best-selling comic book in March 2010. [104] [105]
Greg McElhatton of Comic Book Resources described X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #2 as an "enticing read," asserting, "X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back! may look like another disposable mutant mini-series, but Immonen's snappy script is strong enough that it's quietly beating the odds. If all mini-series and one-offs were this strong, I think we'd have a lot more happy customers in the store buying them." [106] Dan Iverson of IGN ranked the cover of the comic book X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #2 78th in their "Top 100 Comic Book Covers of 2010" list, writing, "Our picks for best cover of the year were chosen based on artistic quality, representation of the content within, entertainment value, and our editors' personal leanings." [107]
An alternate version of Megan Gwynn from Earth-11326 appears in Age of X . She is known as Nightmare and possesses bat-like wings and her pixie dust causes terrifying hallucinations. [108]
An alternate universe variant of Pixie from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe. This version possesses rainbow wings and hair and innate teleportation abilities. [109] [110]
An alternate universe variant of Pixie appears in Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #6. [111]
An alternate universe variant of Pixie appears in Secret Wars . This version is a member of the Runaways and former lover of Jubilee. [112] [113] [114]
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Amanda Sefton is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in X-Men #98. The character has also been known as Daytripper and Magik at various points in her history. She is the foster sister and former lover of superhero Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler of the X-Men.
Mastermind is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly as an adversary of the X-Men. The original Mastermind was a mutant with the psionic ability to generate complex telepathic illusions at will that cause his victims to see whatever he wishes them to see. He was a founding member of the first Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and later a probationary member of the Lords Cardinal of the Hellfire Club, where he played an important role in "The Dark Phoenix Saga".
Mercury is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant, the character first appeared in New Mutants vol. 2 #2. Mercury is a teenage member of the student body at the Xavier Institute and a recurring member of the X-Men.
Belasco is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Bruce Jones and artist Brent Anderson, the character first appeared in Ka-Zar the Savage #11. Belasco is a demonic lord of Limbo. He is the former ruler of the Hell dimension. He is responsible for luring into the same hellish realm the superhero Illyana Rasputin / Magik.
"Inferno" was a 1989 Marvel Comics company-wide crossover storyline centered upon the X-Men family of titles, including Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Terminators, Excalibur, and The New Mutants. The story's inciting incident is demonic invasion of New York City, and its main character arcs were the corruption of Madelyne Pryor into the Goblin Queen, and the final transformation of Illyana Rasputin into the Darkchylde. Other non-X-Men books that tied into the storyline included the Spider-Man titles, which depicted the demonic transformation of the villain Jason Macendale. The core series were written by Louise Simonson, and Chris Claremont, and drawn by Bret Blevins, Marc Silvestri, and Walt Simonson, while the various tie-in books were handled by creators that included Alan Davis, Steve Engelhart, Gerry Conway, David Michelinie, Ann Nocenti, Walter Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Terry Austin, and Julianna Jones.
Anole is a fictional mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis and first appeared in issue #2 of New Mutants vol. 2. He was a student at the Xavier Institute and junior member of the X-Men. His reptilian mutation grants him superhuman abilities including wallcrawling, a prehensile tongue, and adaptive camouflage.
Lady Mastermind is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Salvador Larroca, the character first appeared as Regan Wyngarde in X-Treme X-Men #6.
Trance is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A mutant, Hope attended the Xavier Institute before its closing. She retained her powers after M-Day and is a member of the X-Men's training squad.
Hela is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is based on the goddess Hel from Norse mythology, and was first adapted by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery #102. Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death who serves as the ruler of Hel and Niflheim. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the superhero Thor.
Magik was a four-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 1983–1984, starring the fictional characters Magik and Storm. The series title is consistently displayed on the covers as Storm and Illyana: Magik, but the official title as listed in the indicia is the reverse: Magik: Illyana and Storm. It was written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by John Buscema, Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, and Tom Palmer.
Prodigy is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant, the character first appeared in New Mutants #4. Prodigy was a student at the Xavier Institute. The character has also been a member of the X-Factor, the New X-Men, and the Young Avengers at various points in his history. Prodigy is one of the main characters of the second volume of NYX in July 2024 where he is now a professor at Empire State University (ESU).
X-Infernus is a four-issue comic book mini-series that started in December 2008. Written by C. B. Cebulski, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, it was a sequel to "Inferno". It sees the return of the character Magik searching Limbo for her soul.
"Necrosha" is a 2009–10 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics featuring the X-Men family of characters. In the storyline, Selene decides to utilize the techno-organic virus’s power to bring any deceased mutant back to life, allowing her to begin her quest to ascend to godhood. This prompts multiple mutant teams to fight against Selene in an attempt to free the newly resurrected mutants. The storyline is notable for reviving a vast majority of its characters.
Extraordinary X-Men is a comic series from Marvel Comics and the flagship X-Men title under the All-New, All-Different Marvel re-branding. The story takes place following the conclusion of the Secret Wars crossover event. In this comic series, mutants are again faced with possible extinction due to Terrigen Mist which causes exposed mutants to become sterile and possibly suffer from a fatal degenerative disease called "M-Pox". The gas also prevents the activation of the X-Gene. The series ended with #20.
"Dark Web" is an American comic book crossover storyline written by Zeb Wells with art by Adam Kubert and Ed McGuinness, published in 2022 by Marvel Comics. The story, which serving as a spiritual successor to "Inferno", involves Spider-Man and the X-Men joining forces against Ben Reilly and Madelyne Pryor as the two wronged clones are teaming up as Chasm and Goblin Queen to raise hell across the Marvel Universe.