First look - Magik vs. Goblin Queen kicks off in New Mutants #25

New Mutants #25 cover art (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

When Madelyne Pryor AKA the clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister AKA the demonic Goblin Queen was killed in the pages of Hellions and then resurrected in the finale of that series, writer Zeb Wells promised her story wasn't over...

And he wasn't lying. The Goblin Queen is making her return in the pages of April's New Mutants #25 and she has her sites set on Limbo.

New Mutants #25 kicks off the Game of Thrones-ish four-issue story arc 'The Labors of Magik,' in which the Sorcerer Supreme and the rightful queen of Limbo, Illyana Rasputina, receives a challenge for her throne by none other than Marvel's Goblin Queen (not to be confused with Marvel's new Queen Goblin).

Billed as a jumping-on point for new readers, New Mutants #25 is written by Vita Ayala and illustrated by Rod Reis.

Newsarama readers get a first look at three unlettered preview pages from the issue, along with a fourth page from an unsolicited backup story written by Ayala and drawn by Jan Duursema with colors by Ruth Redmond.

Marvel describes it as a flashback story set during Illyana's time in limbo with revelations that impact the main present-day story and will run throughout the entire arc.

Check out all four interior pages and all the covers, including the main cover by Leinil Francis Yu and variant covers by Stanley "Artgerm" Lau, Dan Panosian (above), Philip Tan, Phil Jimenez, and David Baldeón.

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Newsarama readers also get the first look at the cover and solicitation for July's New Mutants #28, part four and the finale of the Magik vs. Goblin Queen story arc by Ayala and Reis.

"The time has come for Magik to conquer her demons," reads Marvel's description. "Will Illyana be able to contend with manifestations of her trauma and save her friends in the process? And if Madelyne does gain the throne...can the Goblin Queen contain the fiery madness of Limbo? Or will her old inclinations towards chaos resurface, bringing Krakoa and the rest of world to their knees?"

New Mutants #25 goes on sale April 27. New Mutants #28 goes on sale in July.

Keep track of the on-sale dates of Marvel mutant titles with Newsarama's list of all new X-Men comics and collections in 2022.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.