Magma

Origin

Amara’s story as the princess of a hidden Roman-like empire starts unlikely. It all started when the New Mutants accompanied Nina DaCosta, Sunspot’s mother, on her latest archaeological expedition. Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Psyche & Cannonball had been playing in the jungle as a make-shift Danger Room. When they decided to return to the boat, Psyche foolishly dived into the water saying she would swim back. However, Psyche had forgotten about the piranhas in the river, so Cannonball flew across the river picking her out of the water on the way. As he didn’t have much control over his power of flight, they both crashed into the bank on the other side of the river. There, they were accosted by a group of young native Amazonian girls. They were all dark skinned with black hair, wore animal hides roughly cut into bikini-like outfits.

The tribe of girls attacked the two New Mutants, but due to their superior training they soon scared them off. However, Cannonball managed to grab onto a girl around the waist and refused to let go. They took the tribal girl on board the boat where Nina DaCosta examined the girl’s possessions. They varied in origin and in date, some of it ranging from over a thousand miles away, while one knife was clearly a modern design. The New Mutants left her in their cabin, while the boat’s captain showed them their destination up ahead. However, Carlos (a crew member who was secretly in the employment of the Hellfire Club) sneaked down into the cabin, tied the girl to a chair and began to beat her for information. His interrogation was cut short when Wolfsbane ventured below deck. Transforming into a wolf, she scared Carlos away. Wolfsbane had been shocked by Carlos’ fearful reaction of her werewolf transformation and began to cry. She thought that the native girl couldn’t understand her, so she confessed how the people in Scotland had chased her away as a devil. She told the girl that her name was Rahne. The girl misunderstood her and thought she had said Rain. In turn, the girl spoke one word only; her name Amara.

Creation

The character of Magma was created for use in Marvel comics by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod. Her first appearance is in New Mutants Vol.1 issue 8 which was released in October, 1983.

Major Story Arcs

Unveiled Disguise

However, when Wolfsbane ventured back upstairs to warn the captain, she found that he’d been murdered. She was soon knocked unconscious and locked in the cabin with the rest of the New Mutants, Mrs. DaCosta and Amara. They broke out of their cabin in time to find that the boat’s course had been changed. It careered down dangerous rapids, and broke against the rocks. While Cannonball flew back and forth collecting the others, Wolfsbane leapt across the rocks and held on to Amara’s arm. The current pulled Amara under the water, washing off her make-up. When Wolfsbane pulled her out of the water, Amara had pale white skin, blue-eyes and blonde hair. When she spluttered a few words of English through the water, Wolfsbane grew angry. She felt betrayed and was tempted to let Amara go. However, she held on long enough for Cannonball to return and fly them to safety.

Unfortunately, once on dry land they were arrested by a troop of Roman soldiers. They were led through a tunnel in the mountains and taken to the secret city of Nova Roma. There, they were all thrown into a cold prison. Wolfsbane used her lupine senses to watch the door while Amara explained who she was.

She introduced herself as Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla. She then told them how Nova Roma was a fraction of the civilization from Rome in Italy. They had set up their city in the middle of the jungle, but lost contact with mother Rome itself long ago. The population mingled with the local population, creating political factions. Amara’s father was a high ranking politician in Nova Roma, First Senator Lucius Antonius Aquilla. She claimed that her father had sent her out of the city so she would not be used as a pawn by the dissident factions who would topple her father’s senate. However, she kept her real motives secret from the New Mutants.

The Black Priestess

The team of young mutants attempted to escape, but were instantly rendered unconscious by a shower of curare-dipped darts. The boys were drugged, stripped down to a loin cloth and chained in the dungeons, while the girls were bathed, dressed in fine robes and given drugged wine. None of the slaves who served them recognized Amara, so she was treated as another captive. The girls were to be drugged and groomed, ready to be sold into slavery. Amara tried her best to stop Psyche and Wolfsbane from drinking the drugged wine, but it was too late. They had received double the usual dosage, and giggled as they lapped it up. That night, Amara tried to wake them, but the drugged wine left them too exhausted to move. She was forced to abandon them as she tried to escape.

However, as Amara tip-toed through the corridors, she felt a dizzy spell. She had experienced them before. She fell to her knees, and despite her better instincts, let out a cry of pain. Amara’s anguish was overheard by the one person she feared the most – Nova Roma’s Black Priestess, Selene.

While the other New Mutants struggled for their survival in the arena and unintentionally became pawns in the political fight for power, Amara was left sedated, stripped and redressed in a skimpy outfit. When she awoke, she was with Psyche and another Nova Roma girl. Since they had been drugged, they were very susceptible to telepathic commands. Against their will, they were marched through the underground tunnels to Selene’s secret lair. Selene stood above a pit of bubbling lava, and one at a time she would psionically command her victims to throw themselves to their doom. The souls of her victims would float back up & replenish her. This was the real reason why Senator Aquilla had sent his daughter out of the city; so she wouldn’t fall prey to Selene’s black magic.

Birth of a New Mutant

Psyche, who’d had some training against telepathic suggestion by her mentor Charles Xavier, was able to resist Selene’s suggestions and eventually fight back. Just as Amara was about to throw herself down into the fiery pit, Selene was caught off-guard by Psyche’s attack, and she loosened her psionic grip on Amara. Amara leapt at Selene, but was immediately knocked backwards and fell down into the pit.

Almost instantly, the ground began to shake. The tremors were so powerful that they were felt underground in Selene’s temple and on the ground above where the New Mutants were fighting the Roman soldiers. Then from the pit, a tower of liquid lava rose up. On top of the burning tower stood a girl made of liquid magma. Amara had been a mutant and her powers finally manifested. She could control the earth and the burning hot magma. Immediately she began to bombard Selene with bursts of molten rock, but Selene deflected the attacks with ease. She resorted to using her own mutant power to control the inanimate rock and bury Amara underneath cold stone. It took Amara some time to adjust her control over he new powers, and melt the rock above her.

Amara rose again, flooding the cavern with hot magma. Psyche was forced to climb the cave walls to escape the attack. When Amara fell, Psyche’s power accidentally triggered, showing her nightmare of being a molten monster who burned her friends alive. Amara was soon defeated again by Selene. Her spells bound Amara, and she drained her lifeforce. Amara was left for dead.

Selene’s Defeat

However, being a mutant Amara had more energy than a regular human being, and therefore hadn’t been killed. She burned her way up through the rock until she reached the surface. When she emerged, she found herself in the house of Marcus Domotio Gallio, Selene’s husband. Gallio had taken Amara’s father prisoner, and Amara’s sudden appearance gave the other New Mutants a chance to attack the soldiers and free her father. Amara was afraid of the molten monster she had become and begged her father for help. However, it was the New Mutants who ran to her aid.

She led them down through the tunnels underground where they found Selene about to transform Psyche’s soul with black magic. Although she had only just discovered her mutant powers, Amara quickly adapted to working as part of the team. Cannonball broke the rock ceiling apart, flooding the cavern with sunlight. The sunlight fueled Sunspot, who tackled Selene. Amara opened a crack in the floor revealing another pit of molten magma below them. Sunspot then hurled Selene down into the lava and together they sealed the ravine with boulders. Although it appeared that Sunspot had murdered Selene, none of them doubted the fact that they would meet her again.

Sunstroke in Rio De Janeiro

Days later, Amara took in the amazing vast amount of water as she sunbathed on the beach. The New Mutants had returned to Rio, and Psyche convinced Amara to relax on the beach. She had thought about what her father had told her, that she was to learn how to control her amazing powers with the New Mutants. She implored her father not to send her away from home again. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a couple of local boys tried to impress them. One even picked Amara off the beach where she was sat to kiss her. However, she had been raised as the daughter of a Senator, not a common wench to be easily man-handled. Her anger was instant and without realizing it Amara created a volcano on the beach.

She slipped away in the chaos, but was soon lost on the streets of Rio De Janeiro. The sun relentlessly beat down upon her exposed body, and she stumbled in and out of traffic. A kind police officer guided her out of the path of traffic, but when she spoke English he suspected that she was a tourist dazed by drugs. He grabbed her wrists to lead her to the police station, but his manner made her panic again. Suddenly a second volcano erupted, this time in the middle of the road. Amara fled in the distraction.

Scared, lost, and confused by twentieth century life, and suffering from sunstroke, Amara began to hallucinate. She transformed into her magma form and reveled in the prospect of destroying the whole world. She regained enough rational thought to realize how mad she had become. Amara collapsed on the cold concrete floor of an abandoned side street, wearing nothing but a swimsuit.

Although the New Mutants were searching for her, Amara was found and taken in by a group of young children. They took her back to their humble home, where the New Mutants found them. They couldn’t cure her fever, so they sent Cannonball & Sunspot out to find ice. As the boys flew across the city, they could see a volcano growing underwater in the bay. Luckily, they found a van full of ice and soon filled the little shack with ice. Amara’s fever broke, and the volcano in the bay cooled into a small island. When Amara regained her consciousness, she admitted that her father was right for sending her away, and thanked her new friends for their help.

The Newest New Mutant

Initially, Amara found it difficult to adapt to life in twentieth century America. She distrusted the Professor because he had read her memories to recreate her bedroom from Nova Roma. Wolfsbane still didn’t trust her much after she cried her heart out in front of Amara, while she thought that Amara was an Indian girl who didn’t understand English. Wolfsbane was also painfully jealous of Amara’s natural good looks, and how the other New Mutants seemed to prefer her.

Cannonball was instantly smitten by Amara, which caused more tension with Wolfsbane who harboured an unrequited crush on him. Amara also labeled herself as a barbarian since she struggled to grasp the concept of electricity to light a room at night.

To welcome her to the school, the New Mutants decided to hold a barbecue for Amara. When she arrived, Amara was wearing her mother’s silk gown. She immediately realized that she was overdressed for such a casual occasion, but Sunspot put her at ease with his Latino charm. However, the occasion was ruined by Cannonball’s arrival. He had flown in carrying a crate of soda, and in an attempt to impress Amara he decided to fly a loop-the-loop. Unfortunately he still didn’t have enough control of his own powers and crashed. The soda exploded all over Amara’s dress. She was distraught that one of the few remaining reminders of her mother was ruined, and she ran off into the woods to cry. Both Psyche and Wolfsbane tracked her into the woods, but gave her the space to cry. However, Shadowcat wasn’t aware of what had gone on, so when she cut through the woods on her way back to the mansion, she found Amara in tears and tried to console her. Amara’s hair burst into flames as she screamed at Shadowcat to leave her alone.

The next day wasn’t any easier for Amara. She had her first lesson with computers, and struggled to cope with the technology. At their dance lesson, Stevie Hunter was impressed with Amara’s agility. As she confessed that she had previous dance lessons, Wolfsbane tried to show off her own prowess in her wolf form which sparked off an argument in the team. Amara grew upset when the Professor gave her the code-name Magma & said that he would telepathically monitor her training. The prospect of having him inside her mind made her run away again, and she decided that she wanted to leave. She decided to inform the Professor of her decision when she overheard him in conversation with Lilandra. She immediately apologized to the Professor to eavesdropping on his conversation, and the two discussed their own responsibilities. Despite the fact that he wanted to be with his lover, both Lilandra had to return to the Shi’ar Empire to dethrone her sister Deathbird, while the Professor had to ensure that the next generation of mutants received adequate training to control their powers. Amara accepted her responsibilities, that she had to control her own powers. Inspired by the Professor’s own dedication, Amara was willing to try her best and stay at the school.

Improving Powers

Magma had quickly gained control over most of her powers. However, being emotionally connected to the earth, she would often trigger earthquakes whenever she grew upset. When the girls from the New Mutants held a sleepover, Magma struggled to understand modern pop stars and music videos. When the one of the local girls from the surrounded Westchester area teased her about it, Magma struggled to control her anger and stop the subsequent tremor. However, she was soon the centre of attention when she revealed that the earrings she wore were made of real gold, and that her nightgown was made from pure silk. The girls lapped up such luxurious details with great envy.

During her time studying under Professor Xavier, Magma quickly learnt how to manipulate her heat-based powers. During the fight against the Demon Bear, she was able to direct her fire power to burn the creature, which made her a target of the bear’s powers. When the demon plunged it’s gigantic claws through her back, Magma was transformed into a demonic version of her fiery form. She was only cured due to the magical cutting powers of Magik’s Soulsword.

When the New Mutants broke into the Massachusetts Academy, they used Magma’s ability to burn through rock and metal to tunnel them in to the underground complex. Despite being the newest member of the team at that time, she already had the endurance to burn through meters, possibly miles of cold concrete, soil, rock and metal. During that mission, Cannonball was impressed by how rapidly Magma could cool the rocks she had just melted, thus ensuring her teammates would not be burnt. Although her body could burn most projectiles or physical combatants, her mind was still susceptible to attack. Therefore, she was easily manipulated by Empath, and soon attacked Cannonball. He only managed to save her from Empath’s influence by knocking him unconscious.

The Gladiators

While the Professor, Cypher, Mirage, Warlock and Wolfsbane were on Muir Isle investigating the condition of David Haller, the Professor’s autistic son, Magma and Sunspot fell prey to Empath’s schemes. Unwittingly, this brought the New Mutants back in touch with an old friend of their’s, Karma.

Empath used his connections with the Hellfire Club to contact a mysterious being. He handed over the dossiers on Sunspot and Magma. The mysterious being accepted the information that Empath had to offer and used the information to kidnap the two New Mutants. Since they were both extremely dangerous mutants with physical powers, Sunspot and Magma were kidnapped when they least suspected it, while they were playing in the swimming pool. Once unconscious, they were flown to Los Angeles, stripped, re-dressed in the modern equivalent of gladiatorial armor, and drugged to prevent them from fighting their way to freedom.

In LA, they were greeted by the holographic image of a man known as Alexander Flynn. Flynn informed the two New Mutants that they would fight in his arena as Gladiators. Although initially resistant, Sunspot and Magma were blackmailed into co-operating. Alexander Flynn made it clear that his men had been kidnapping runaway children. If either Sunspot or Magma refused to fight as Gladiators, the innocent and powerless children would take their place in the arena. Although normally outraged by such acts, Magma regretfully accepted the position she was in and helped to calm Sunspot’s anger.

It was a week before Cannonball and Magik arrived in LA. By then, both Sunspot and Magma had already used their training to render their opponents unconscious on several occasions. They did not dare to lose a fight, as their opponents would have killed them to end the match. During one fight, Dazzler suddenly leapt out of the crowd and into the arena. She used her light manipulating abilities to distract Magma and Sunspot, stopping them from hurting her friends in the Gladiators. However, the fight was interrupted when the roof of the building was ripped off the walls. Magneto appeared demanding that all the mutants hurry to his aid. Cannonball pleaded to his teammates to take the opportunity to leave, but both Sunspot and Magma sorrowfully rejected the chance.

It was only a few days later when Cannonball and Magik returned. Dazzler and Shadowcat infiltrated the Gladiators’ mansion. While Dazzler was swept up by the fame and attention in the arena, Shadowcat discovered the reason why the New Mutants had chosen to stay behind. Magma and Sunspot doubted Dazzler, and would often team up to knock her out of a fight. Later, Shadowcat phased into their cell and revealed that there weren’t any children being held hostage. They fought their way back, and in the chaos that followed, they discovered that Alexander Flynn was a false identity to hide the real owner of the Gladiators – the first New Mutant, Karma. Karma had been possessed by the Shadow King, who in turn used her to possess the New Mutants. Only Magik and Warlock were immune to psychic attacks, and were therefore able to defeat the Shadow King. All the New Mutants were reunited, even though Karma had gained a few pounds.

Asgard Adventure

After Storm and the New Mutants defeated the Shadow King, Storm offered them a chance to relax on the island of Kirinos. The New Mutants played on the beach, and Magma swam in the sea. She was excited at the prospect of paying a visit to ‘Mother Rome’ later in their vacation. However, the whole team suddenly came under attack and were kidnapped by creatures from Asgard. They arrived in the Enchantress’ fortress, where they were mistaken for the X-Men. Magik quickly used one of her stepping discs to teleport the team to safety, but because of the wards the Enchantress had placed around her home, the teleportation failed. The New Mutants had been scattered across Asgard and through time.

Each New Mutant experienced something different. Magma found herself in the company of very hospitable (but very malicious) dark elves. She implored them to help her find her missing friends, but they continued to offer her food & drink. Eventually Magma relented and drank some of the mead. The food & drink had been enchanted, the first sip made her hungry for more. However, a second enchantment on the food turned Magma into an elf. Unlike the other faeries, she had the power to become Magma and melt rock. Therefore the dark elves tricked her into thinking that she was one of them, and used her powers to attack the dwarves.

There, she fought Cannonball, who had been befriended by the dwarves. Since Cannonball was invulnerable while flying, he soon knocked Magma unconscious. When she woke, the dwarves had cast their own healing spells on her. Although they weren’t strong enough to return her to being human, Magma had regained her own conscious mind. She agreed to help Cannonball and the dwarves. However, Loki had forced the dwarves into forging him a new hammer to rival the power of Thor’s mighty Mjolnir. Magma used her mutant powers to melt the metals, allowing them to be forged. However, as she was still an elf she was unable to touch the iron as that would instantly kill her. Therefore, the new hammer was encased in stone. As the hammer needed to be kept in a heated state, Magma was forced to travel on top of the stone case, just inches from the very substance that sapped her strength.

Cannonball journeyed with her, and she confessed that she felt torn. As an elf she felt connected to the Earth. She was afraid that she would die if she was returned to Earth. However, despite the chaos from all of Loki’s double-crossings and magical spells, the X-Men arrived and were able to rescue everyone. Loki was forced to relinquish any vendetta against the mutants, and restored them all (except Mirage who had been transformed into a Valkyrie, and Karma who had lost an incredible amount of weight) to their previous forms. Therefore, Magma was no longer an Asgardian elf, and was able to safely travel home to Earth.

Trapped in the Future

Charles Xavier had entrusted his school and his pupils to Magneto. The New Mutants had mixed reactions about their new Head Master. Magma supported his appointment as he reminded her of her father (just as Professor X had done). While the New Mutants were fleeing Warlock’s father, Magus, Magik teleported them away in a blind panic. Instead of returning to Xavier’s School for the Gifted, the team were sent to the school’s site many years in the future. However, the team became separated in two separate alternate future timelines.

In one future, the only surviving members of the New Mutants were Cannonball and Mirage. Karma, Sunspot, Wolfsbane & Magma arrived to find their school had been destroyed and were soon attacked by sentinels. They had arrived in the Days of Future Past timeline. The older versions of Cannonball & Mirage arrived to help save them and revealed their plan; they would gather as many surviving mutants & heroes as possible, and Lila Cheney would teleport them all to live in her Dyson Sphere in safety. However, the sentinels had kidnapped Lila and announced the time of her scheduled execution as bait to lure the mutants into a trap.

Magma created a diversion. In order to give Wolfsbane and Mirage time to save Lila, Magma returned to the heart of New York and created several earthquakes on the site of the old Marvel Comics offices. The plan was successful, but there was a bitter ending. The older surviving New Mutants hadn’t planned on taking their younger friends with them to the Dyson Sphere. Instead, Magma and the others were left behind to wait for Magik to find them. After Cannonball and Mirage had disappeared, Magma created a towering volcano in the heart of Manhattan. Old ruining skyscrapers were buried underneath a molten mountain. The others were amazed to see her overwhelming power, and Magma admitted that she would ache the next day. They were then left to defend themselves against attacking sentinels until Magik appeared with Professor Xavier.

In the other alternate future, Magma had grown into a cold dictator. Mirage, Cannonball, Cypher and Warlock found themselves in a sprawling metropolis where police officers wore uniforms that resembled their own New Mutants outfits. Mutant children were taken away from their baseline human families, and were defended by an elderly Katie Power. The young New Mutants were captured and faced the two mutants in charge of the pro-mutant society – Magma and Sunspot. In this alternative future, they forged a relationship between the Hellfire Club and the X-Men. They cruelly separated families in order to further the power of the mutant race. They had forgotten any signs of compassion, and were willing to have their younger friends’ memories altered so they would accept this future as their ideal utopia. The New Mutants managed to escape Sunspot and Magma’s cell, and were later saved when Magik & Professor Xavier arrived.

Magus

The New Mutants were finally reunited, and with Professor Xavier’s help, they faced Magus. Warlock’s father had followed them into space. They were assembled aboard the Starjammer, but the ship needed extensive repairs and was therefore unable to take an offensive stance against Magus. The technarch elder had seeded down into an uninhabited planet’s core, and from there he began to tear the planet apart. The New Mutants attacked him there. While Warlock and Cypher attempted to find ways to defeat Magus, Magma used her power to hold the planet together. The strain on her body was vastly greater than when she had created a volcano in Manhattan. To bolster her natural affinity with the earth, she left the Starjammer and took root on a crumbling fragment of the planet. From there, Magma used her powers to reach down into the planet and keep it held together. Her affinity with the ground meant that she could feel it being ripped apart by Magus. The strain was so severe that Professor Xavier used his telepathy to boost her own stamina and powers.

Ultimately, Warlock and Cypher managed to reverse Magus’ programming, reducing him to an incubating larvae. The New Mutants were victorious, and soon after Magma released her control over the ravaged planet, it slowly began to crumble away.

Hellfire Competition

Soon after the New Mutants returned from their adventures in time and space, Storm and Magneto became affiliated with the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. They were then invited to attend formal events at the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, where Magma was brought face to face with Selene for the first time since she had left Nova Roma.

Selene reveled in taunting Magma, but the young Nova Roma girl began to lose her patience. Using her powers over fire and earth, she began to increase the temperature of the building until Mirage insisted that she leave her personal vendetta for a more suitable time and place. Magma wanted her revenge on the woman who had killed her mother.

However, she was further upset by the arrival of a lesser Hellfire Club member. He had paid over a million dollars for a figurine that he claimed was of Selene. Magma stepped forward to claim that the figure was a forgery as the original was of an ancestor of hers and therefore had been in her family home for centuries. Selene stepped forward claiming that she was the woman in the statuette, meaning that she was related to Magma. However, she agreed that it was a cheap forgery and smashed the figurine on the floor. Later that night, the New Mutants came to blows with the Hellions. They decided the only way to settle the matter was to hunt down the criminals who were responsible for the forgery. Magma was distraught and stood barefoot on the snowy balcony of the New Mutants’ room in the Hellfire Club, while the others formulated a plan. She desperately fought with her emotions on how could Selene be her ancestor. The ramifications meant that she was a descendant of the woman she hated most.

Ultimately, the New Mutants lost the battle against the Hellions, but the revelation of her familial connection continued to bother Magma. Her bad news continued to grow.

Hellions

School life continued, but Magma received a scroll from her father in Nova Roma. He had been planning Magma’s marriage. The news was too much for her to bear and she was taken sick. While the others were fighting aliens at a Lila Cheney concert, she stayed in bed wrought with worry. The day after the concert, the New Mutants sat around the kitchen table discussing the events from the night before. Mirage and Magik were swooning over a couple of boys they had been dancing with. When Mirage created a vision of them, Magma commented that she didn’t think they were particularly attractive. Mirage latched onto Magma’s mind to reveal the image of Magma’s ideal man. To their great shock and horror, the New Mutants were faced with an image of the Hellion Empath. Magma tried to remain calm, and accused Mirage of having confused her greatest desire with her greatest fear. However, she was visibly shaken and left the kitchen.

During the fight to save Lila, Cannonball had accidentally freed a creature publicly known as Bird Boy. They decided that they would try to capture and help the creature, in case he was a mutant. Magma was still angry, and continued to grumble whenever Mirage gave her orders. Soon, they came up against the Hellions who wanted another competition; capture Bird Boy first to beat the New Mutants again. Magma rode on Brightwind’s back, and fired bolts of lava through the air. She concentrated her attack on Tarot’s deck of cards, thereby destroying all of the monsters she had conjured. Her attack had burnt Brightwind a little, and soon they had to land.

Magma’s confused feelings for Empath and the Hellions came to ahead. Thunderbird sought to pick Mirage off the floor, but Magma threatened to attack him if he didn’t leave her teammate alone. Thunderbird ordered Empath to control Magma. At first, she succumbed to his command to love her, but her own conflicted feelings allowed her to resist and fight back. Empath then changed his approach, and used his powers on Thunderbird to release Mirage. Although Thunderbird had only been trying to help, he soon let her go. The New Mutants succeeded in capturing the Bird Boy. However, the Hellions had unexpectedly won a different mutant. When the New Mutants returned home, Magma made the announcement that she was going to leave Xavier’s School for the Gifted. She had chosen to transfer schools, and was going to attend the White Queen’s Massachusetts Academy. Magma was going to become a Hellion.

Return to Nova Roma

Life at the Massachusetts Academy wasn’t much different from Xavier’s School for the Gifted. However, Tarot took an instant disliking to Magma since she was prettier, stronger and had Empath’s affections. Empath rarely used his powers on Magma, but she was shocked at his behaviour when he manipulated Tarot. However, Magma’s stay at the Massachusetts Academy was short-lived as her father demanded that she should return to Nova Roma. Magma pleaded with the White Queen to intervene, but she refused. However, she did send Empath to accompany Magma and hopefully use his subtle influence over Magma’s father.

On the flight across the South American forests, they ran into a storm. The plane began to struggle, and Magma began to panic. Empath couldn’t control her emotions, and began to feel her panic instead. When they crashed, the plane began to burn and the pilot had been killed instantly. Empath carried Magma out of the burning wreckage, and the two of them began their journey through the rain forest on foot. Magma was adept at living in the forests, from her time disguised as an Amazonian. However, Empath struggled to contain his fear of the wild and was even bitten by a vampire bat. Magma used a leaf to counter the anti-coagulant qualities of the bat’s saliva, but Empath grew angry when he thought she was mocking him. However, she put him at ease by telling him a story of how a bat became entangled in her hair when she was a little girl. She admitted that she continued to have nightmares about it, but learnt to laugh it off.

Their journey was a difficult one. Empath tried to pick an exotic orchid for Magma’s hair, but was attacked by a jaguar. Magma rushed to save him, but was severely injured in the process. Both of them had been bitten and clawed, and Magma’s injuries continued to bleed. Empath pleaded with Magma to create a larger fire to act as a beacon for any search parties. She refused claiming that it might set the forest alight. He pointed out that she enjoyed being in the forest, as his powers allowed him to read her emotions as well as control them. She admitted that she didn’t want to go home, as she would be forced to marry a nobleman she had never met before. They argued, and in the heat of the moment they kissed. Immediately the ground began to rumble and their campfire rapidly spread. They dived into the river to escape the fire and when they reached dry land they apologized to each other, both unsure of whose emotions were real. However, the earthquake had signaled the Nova Romans who sent out a search party. Empath & Magma were saved, and Magma introduced Empath to her father hoping that he would come to consider him as a friend.

Brush With The High Evolutionary

When the New Mutants overheard Magneto’s telephone conversation with the White Queen, they became aware that Magma had been kidnapped. Using Magik’s teleportation, they arrived to rescue their friend. They weren’t aware that she had been captured by the High Evolutionary’s men, but they did realize that the machine she was hooked up to would remove her mutant powers. Cannonball and Wolfsbane managed to free her from the machine just moments before it was activated, and she immediately tested her powers to see if they still worked. Thankfully, they did. However, during the chaos of the fight, no one noticed that Mirage had been thrown into the machine instead. In their dying moments, Glow Worm & Bulk managed to reverse the switch, not just returning Mirage’s mutant powers but evolving them even further. With all the New Mutants safe and sound, Magik teleported Magma back home to Nova Roma.

Revelations

While living in Nova Roma, Magma continued to write to the New Mutants. However, after time, they lost contact with their friends, and the city did not have modern technology to ease communications with the outside world. Time passed quickly, but Magma was still not married to her betrothed. It was fortunate that neither Magma nor Empath returned to the Massachusetts Academy as the remaining Hellions were murdered by Trevor Fitzroy, the felon who had fled incarceration in the future and was chased into the present day by Bishop. To pass on news of the tragic slaughter of their former team-mates, Cannonball, Firestar and Warpath made the long arduous trek through the South American jungle to reach Nova Roma. At first Magma greeted her friends, but they were suspicious of her distant nature. She seemed dreamy, that she wasn’t quite in her own mind.

Empath had been controlling Magma and the whole of Nova Roma. When the others arrived he could control Cannonball & Warpath, but Firestar’s own mutant power made her immune to Empath’s manipulation. She used her microwave powers to flood the city and release all of its citizens from Empath’s influence.

Magma was furious that she had been manipulated by someone she loved, and demanded an explanation. Nova Roma had not been founded by a group of Roman explorers, but had been created and populated by innocent people who had been kidnapped and brainwashed by Selene. When Selene left the city, her spells began to fade. Empath had fallen in love with the city, and therefore used his own powers to prolong the scenario. Despite his best intentions to try and help the people of Nova Roma live happily in South America, he had hurt the one person he loved. Magma was still furious. Her life had been a lie, and he had kept the truth from her.

In an attempt to make amends, Empath revealed Magma’s true identity. Her name was Alison Crestmere, and she had been kidnapped from her British family when she was still a child. Magma reluctantly accepted his apologies, and stayed with Empath in Nova Roma to help the rest of the population adapt to life in modern society.

Life After Nova Roma

Not long after, both Empath & Magma were attacked by Andrea and Andreas Strucker. The Fenris twins were members of the Upstarts. They had embarked on a new game, and would gain more points for collecting former members of the Hellions & New Mutants. Magma & Empath were soon delivered to the Gamesmaster, and held in a telepathic sleep until they were used as puppets to attack X-Force & the New Warriors. Thanks to both super hero teams, Magma was freed. However, she was tired of being manipulated, and placed a lot of the blame on Empath. She left him, and didn’t return to Nova Roma.

On several occasions afterwards, Magma ran into trouble. Tragically, she was kidnapped by the Church Of Humanity. Magma was crucified on the lawn to the Xavier Institute along with other mutants, including Jubilee, Skin, and Jesse Bedlam. Although Magma survived the experience, she fell into a coma the day after she regained consciousness. Magma remained in a coma until Elixir healed her.

She awoke with explosive rage and fled the school. Eventually, she caught up with New Mutants teammate Cannonball, and called herself Amara once again. She claimed to know that the life she was told to be false was actually true. Amara spent some time as a member of the X.S.E. before returning to Xavier’s as a teacher. She became the adviser of the X-Men Student Squad called Paragons where some of their members have died during and after decimation such as DJ and Network. Some were depowered such as Preview. And a great future was given to Pixie as she became an official X-Man and Wolf Cub on Young X-Men who unexpectedly fought with her after she joined the brotherhood.

The 198

Magma found love with Antonio Argent, a mutant with similar fire powers. Together the couple flew down into a volcano to study, when the events of M-Day occurred. Instantly, Antonio lost his fiery mutant abilities. Watching her boyfriend die drove Magma insane, she caused the La Cumbre volcano to explode, and attacked a nearby town. Empath was sent to collect her. Using his powers to calm her down, he brought Magma back to the Xavier Institute. There, she joined the ranks of the 198; mutants who had retained their powers after M-Day, but were not given accommodation within the mansion. She made friends with Outlaw, and while still numb from grief and Empath’s powers, Magma began to follow the mysterious saviour figure; Mr M. Unfortunately, while Mr M offered to take the 198 to a peaceful place to live, Magma was manipulated by Johnny Dee, who used Magma’s DNA to force her to kill Mr M. However, she incorrectly blamed Empath.

The Young X-Men

Despite all the recent tragedies that plagued her, Magma strove to maintain a normal life. She joined the X-Men when they moved from the Xavier Institute to San Francisco. There, she began to enjoy life again. However, during her daily morning jog, she came under attack from other former students of the X-Men.

Former students from the Institute had been recruited by Donald Pierce, who had posed as Cyclops. He gave them the identity of the Young X-Men, and under his orders they began to attack the original New Mutants. They ambushed Magma on a public street. Although she had been listening to her Walkman, she wasn’t caught off guard for too long. Her training kicked in and she reverted to her lava form. The battle raged on the city’s streets. Using her powers over the earth, Magma managed to transform Dust into a being of pure glass and shattered Rockslide’s rocky physique. Eventually, she was disabled and rendered unconscious by Wolf Cub.

She was held unconscious until a later point when Donald Pierce’s true identity had been revealed by Blindfold. Magma was awoken, helped to return Dust to her normal sand-form, and aided in Donald Pierce’s capture.

Empath’s Return

After clashing with the Hellfire Cult, the X-Men Empath was imprisoned. He appeared to be fanatical and brainwashed by the Red Queen, and had been blinded by Pixie’s Soul Dagger. Seeing her former love in such a state confused Magma. She would spend time visiting Empath in his cell, unsuccessfully trying to communicate with him.

Return Of The New Mutants

After Illyana Rasputin had returned from the dead, she often disappeared and reappeared according to her own desire. On one such occasion she teleported on to the lawn and demanded that the others help her save Karma and Moonstar. She was mysterious and didn’t provide details about what danger the others were in. However, from the way that she spoke, Illyana was surprised to see Magma was alive & unharmed, as if she had prior knowledge of future events.

Magma rejoined her former New Mutants’ teammates Cannonball, Sunspot and Illyana. Together they flew out to Colorado to save Karma and Moonstar. On the flight over, Illyana teased Magma about her blossoming repeat romance with Empath. Illyana mocked her about how she appeared to like Empath being helpless, and then offered to cure his eyesight if Magma admitted her feelings. It was a mysterious offer, which Magma treated with deep suspicion.

When they arrived in Colorado, Illyana spotted a missing child poster and ran off crying, so Magma followed her. Together they found Karma, who had been trapped inside the body and mind of Legion. Unfortunately, the other personalities inside Legion took over the control of David Haller’s body and went in search of Moonstar, who had been previously jailed by the local law enforcers. By the time Magma and the other New Mutants caught up, Legion was preparing to kill Moonstar, so Magma created a small volcano in the jail cell to distract him long enough to free Moonstar. However, because of the multitude of new personalities inside Legion’s body, there were different powers that could counter Manga’s intense heat.

Eventually they managed to defeat Legion and took him back to the X-Men on Utopia. There, Magma joined Sunspot as they observed Rogue and the other X-Men attempt to cure Legion. As they watched, Magma despaired at Sunspot’s romantic interest in Rogue, and gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow.

Necrosha

Unknown to the New Mutants, they were being secretly watched when they were reunited with Professor Xavier for the first time in years. Eli Bard had infected Cypher’s body with the techno-organic-based transmode virus, and used it to resurrect & control him. Cypher was then sent with the dead Hellions to Utopia where they would exact Selene’s revenge against her old enemies. While the Hellions haunted Emma Frost, Cypher appeared to Magma.

After retiring for the evening to her bedroom, Magma was amazed to see Cypher crawl in through her bedroom window. Amazed & shocked, she inquired what had happened. Cypher distracted her, pretending that his so-called assailants were behind her. Realizing that there was something wrong, Magma didn’t have time to ignite. Just as her hair began to burn, he struck her across the head with a metal bar. He repeatedly beat her before dragging her unconscious and bloody body into the communal areas where he challenged the other New Mutants. Sunspot didn’t care that Cypher had returned from the dead, since all he saw was Magma’s body. The site incensed him, and he led the charge to battle Cypher.

Although Cypher continued to defeat the New Mutants, Karma was able to possess her teammates long enough to keep him at bay. Sunspot rushed to guard Magma and protect her from Cypher and the other resurrected mutants. He confirmed that her wounds were sealed by the fabric in her uniform, but that she desperately needed medical attention. Therefore, Cannonball split the New Mutants into two teams; one to find and retrieve Cypher, and the other to safely escort Magma to the medical bay. It was a long and arduous journey across the Utopia complex. Dead mutants, both friends and foes of the X-Men, were being forced to attack them.

Eventually they managed to carry Magma’s badly beaten unconscious body to the medical quarters. There, Doctor Nemesis resorted to untested methods to resuscitate her. He injected her with an experimental substance that triggered her mutant powers, while she was still unconscious. As with most other metamorphic based powers, Magma’s body stood a better chance of healing if she transformed. Although unconscious, her body reacted to the injection & she immediately flared up. Becoming a body of pure magma, the wounds slowly decreased and she was saved.

The Hug

The other team of New Mutants had managed to rescue Cypher and free him from Selene’s control. However, Sunspot still refused to trust him because of what he had done to Magma. In the meantime, Magma had remained inside a high-tech cauldron that could contain her fiery heat until it was safe for her to revert to her human form. When she was released, she went against Sunspot’s advice and decided to meet Cypher in order to confront him over what had happened.

It was an awkward meeting. Magma was honest about how she was unsure if she could ever trust Cypher again. His powers over language had been boosted since his resurrection, and therefore Cypher decided to use the only language that would convince Magma that he was still the same boy who she had been at school. He opened his arms and embraced her. Surprised and re-assured, Magma hugged him back. She had forgiven him for his violent actions.

Second Coming

Magma and the majority of the New Mutants were a team sent by Cyclops to face Cameron Hodge and his smile-faced Right soldiers. Although not part of the initial sneak attack that infiltrated the Right’s ranks, Magma successfully supported the team when Karma came under attack. Cameron Hodge had finally revealed his true physical form; that of a giant hulking machine. He singled Karma out, chased her across the warehouse and decapitated her leg. However, Magma couldn’t attack Hodge without killing Karma, and was therefore easily knocked out of combat by Hodge’s prehensile tail.

Therefore, the only way to defeat him was through alien means. Cypher convinced Warlock to use his transmode virus to infect and absorb Hodge & his soldiers. Afterwards, Warlock was left in a distraught state. Magma was shocked that her kind alien friend had broken his long-standing promise not to harm other sentient beings. She was even more shocked to discover that it was Cypher who convinced Warlock to do it.

A flying fiery girl was seen accompanying Cyclops and the other X-Men to investigate the giant red bubble that contained them within San Francisco. It is theorized by a small fraction of fans that this was Magma.

Fall of the New Mutants

Magma, being one of the members of the New Mutants, helped Magik and the team rescue Pixie, after being kidnapped into Limbo. The team travelled through time and space using Magik’s powers, and ended up in Limbo. The team searched for a long period of time before they found the military base holding Pixie captive.

After they found Pixie, the New Mutants began to battle the Limbo Babies. Magma was seen as a strong fighter, so the Limbo Babies attacked her and tried to take her out first. Magma was critically injured and was left knocked unconscious. After being held captive, Sunspot and Magik began to talk about Magma, and Magik explained to Sunspot that not everyone was going to make it and this might be Magma’s end.

Rise of the New Mutants

After being released and saved from the Limbo Children, Bobby ran to Amara’s aid. Bobby explained to her that the Elder Gods have been released and the end of the world was coming. Amara quickly told him that she had to fight, but Bobby explained to her that if she did, she would die.

Nevertheless, Amara told Bobby that she had to help out, and if she was going to perish she would rather die fighting. Bobby did not stop her from fighting. Instead, he stood by her side and fought with her. After the Elder Gods were stopped by none other than Legion, both Amara and Bobby were safe and seen holding hands together in the infirmary on Utopia.

X-Men: Regenesis

Having decided to stand along Cyclops, Amara and the New Mutants moved off of the Utopia base and worked with Cyclops from their new location in the city of San Francisco. After the moment Amara and Bobby had with one another during their time in Limbo nothing was mentioned after. The two have an untold love for one another. Throughout the series Bobby’s and Amara’s relationship is barley touched because the two are too preoccupied saving the world from one villain after the other. However a love interest does strike up with Amara when the Devil himself asks Amara out on a date and she accepts.

Amara and the Devil both enjoy a night out. Throughout the night Amara believes the man has ulterior motives, however he is just infatuated with Amara and want’s to show her a good time. The two enjoy each other’s company and at the end of the night they share a kiss. Amara doesn’t admit it to any of her teammates at the beginning but she definitely enjoyed her date with the Devil and feels awful because she wants to see him again, even though she know’s she shouldn’t.

Avengers vs. X-Men

Amara has always stood by Cyclops since she began at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted. Once Captain America came on Utopia and demanded Hope come into their custody Amara still stood by Cyclops. She fought alongside Cyclops and his team of mutants throughout the battle and she was luckily not defeated like some other heroes. After the Phoenix Force divided itself into Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor and Magik, Amara still stood by them as the Phoenix Five created a Utopia for the world.

Throughout the AvX event Amara stood by Cyclops but as the Phoenix Force corrupted the five vessels Amara and her fellow mutants could not stand by them no longer. At the end of the event Amara stood by her fellow mutants, the Avengers and Wolverine’s school and fought against the Dark Phoenix and watched as he killed her mentor, Professor Xavier.

Marvel Now

It is unknown where Amara is right now, after the events of AvX the New Mutants had disbanded and her whereabouts are unknown.

Powers

Magma’s powers are pyrokinesis and geokinesis, meaning she is able to manipulate fire and earth. Her body is also designed to withstand the extreme temperatures she generates and the extreme pressures of the Earth’s layers when she goes underground. She is able to use these powers to create earthquakes, cause magma to come up from the ground, make her own body glow incredibly bright with heat and flame (which she calls her “lava form”), superheat nearby rock to form lava and then project the lava, and project blasts of varying degrees of heat and flame from her body.

Due to being raised as nobility in the ancient Roman settlement of Nova Roma, Magma is an expert in Roman culture, a skilled swords-woman, fluent in Latin and English, and she received a classic education in affairs of state, philosophy, military, agriculture, and literature.

Alternate Realities

Earth-295: The Age Of Apocalypse

Age Of Apocalypse

Raised as the daughter of a senator, Magma grew to become a mutant who recognized power. Instead of joining Magneto’s X-Men, she became an agent of Apocalypse. Her personality was vastly different from her mainstream counterpart. Instead, she was power-hungry & sadistic.

She was sent to assassinate the leader of Human High Council. During the attack, Magma was killed by a rear attack from Weapon X, who plunged his Adamantium claws through her abdomen while still in her fiery form. It was Magma’s attack that convinced the members of the Council that a nuclear attack was necessary to destroy Apocalypse and obliterate his empire.

Earth-11326: Age Of X

Age Of X

In the pocket reality created by Legion, Amara was a member of the Moonstar Cadre.

X-Men: The End

Magma fought the Warskrulls who attempted to invade the mansion.

Ultimate X-men

Magma is one of the mutans living in Utopia. She has fight alongside the X-men in numerous times.

Other Media

Television

X-Men: Evolution

As part of a second wave of students in Xavier’s school, Magma appeared as a New Mutant along with Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Multiple, Boom-Boom, Jubilee, Berzerker, Cannonball and Iceman. In reference to her country of origin (South America) and her original Amazonian disguise, the character of Magma was redesigned for X-Men: Evolution into a tanned South American girl with long black hair.

Her most notable appearance was in Season 3, Episode 40; Cruise Control. The students of Xavier’s school were on a pleasure cruise, but Magma became incredibly sick as she had been away from land for too long. Boom-Boom decided to sneak her and some of the other mutants onto a local island. However, her illness began to react with the volcano on the island. The X-Men managed to save many of the locals, but when the volcano threatened to erupt a second time, Magma threw herself into the volcano and swam down to heal the fissure inside.

Although normally a shy girl, she sometimes had short patience. She joined a small group of female X-Men to form a vigilante team in series 2, Episode 26; Walk on the Wild Side. Together with best friend Boom-Boom, Jean Grey, Rogue and Kitty Pryde, Magma became one of the Bayville Sirens. They wore flashy leather outfits and sunglasses to protect their identities as they used their mutant powers to defeat local criminals.

Wolverine And The X-Men

Magma appeared at the start of the 5th episode of the first Series; Thieves Gambit.

The MRD chased a young mutant through the streets. Wherever she ran, she left molten footsteps behind her. She became so scared that the street floor began to set alight and she transformed into a girl made of living flame. When the MRD had her cornered, her powers raged out of control causing fissures to appear in the road. Wolverine intervened, saving her both from the MRD and her own powers. Since he couldn’t reach her, Wolverine threw a mechanical collar around her neck. It was one of Forge’s inventions that inhibited her mutant powers.

Wolverine took her to safety. Just before she boarded a helicopter headed for South America, Wolverine asked for the collar to be returned. She was reluctant as it was the only thing that gave her a chance of a normal life. However, Wolverine told her that the device wouldn’t work for long. He asked her to join the X-Men, but she refused, opting to remain with her family. She then boarded a helicopter with her father to return to Nova Roma.

The whole chase and capture had been filmed, and Doctor Kavita Rao played it to the Guild of Thieves. She wanted the collar that had temporarily depowered Magma.

Films

X2: X-Men United

Magma’s name appears in William Stryker’s Files on Lady Deathstrike’s computer.

Video Games

X-Men: Legends

Magma was a central figure who was being chased by both the Brotherhood & the X-Men. As a new inductee in Xavier’s school, she was the player’s introduction to the school & Danger Room. In the game’s story she was depicted as an American girl under the name Alison Crestmere.

She was first seen being dragged away by a soldier working for the Genetic Research and Security Organization when Mystique and Blob of the Brotherhood of Mutants arrived to claim her. She was saved by the X-Men and taken to the X-Mansion. It was later revealed on Asteroid M by Mystique that she was their backup plan to power the Gravitron should the Brotherhood of Mutants fail to rescue Magneto.

During a solo mission in the Danger Room to test her powers, Magma had destroyed the Danger Room.

Magma’s four different attack-commands in the game were, Fiery Blast, Lava Fissure, Fiery Form & Volcano.

It was also stated by Emma Frost that Magma had a crush on Iceman, which Frost discovered by reading her mind.

X-men: Battle of The Atom

Magma appears as a support card in the mobile game X-men: Battle of the Atom. Her cards are:

• Magma
• [Pale Riders] Magma
• [Utopia Defender] Magma
• [Necrosha] New Mutants

• [Exorcist] Magma