BOOM! Studios' Magic #6 dives into the backstory of the elder planeswalker Jaya Ballard, traveling back through time to Magic: The Gathering's sixth-ever expansion, Ice Age.
The title's first five issues dealt with the rise of a new cult on the city-plane of Ravnica, with assassination attempts against three guildmasters — Vraska, Ral Zarek and Kaya. While the efforts failed to kill any of them, a telepathic trap in the mind of one of the attackers incapacitated former Living Guildpact Jace Beleren. With the insight provided by the shapeshifting head of House Dimir, Lazav, the trio seeks out Jaya Ballard to ask for information regarding the goddess worshipped by the cult, Marit Lage. This means going back in time to Dominaria's Ice Age, which covered the plane in frost as a result of the events of the Brothers War. Jaya is one of just a handful of living planeswalkers to remember that era, and was directly involved in bringing the Ice Age to an end.
Jaya is roughly 1600 years old, meaning she is one of the only planeswalkers in the multiverse who remembers Dominaria's Ice Age and Marit Lage. A terrible leviathan imprisoned deep within Dominaria's glaciers, Marit Lage is one of the most powerful creatures in Magic: The Gathering, with 20/20 worth of stats, flying and indestructible. It's no surprise there are those dedicated to her worship, with the greater mystery being how her cult ended up on Ravnica instead of Dominaria. A mystery Jaya holds the answer to, as the official summary for Magic #6 promises "the key to understanding, [which] lies in Jaya’s origins during the Age of Ice in Dominaria… and a threat that was neutralized but never truly eliminated."
Originally a humble pyromancer who acted as a mercenary during the Ice Age, Jaya helped the planeswalker Freyalise to end Dominaria's Ice Age before igniting her own planeswalker spark, resulting in immortality until the events of the Mending. The Mending would bring the multiverse's planeswalkers down from godlike forces of magic to ordinary spellcasters with the ability to travel between planes. Decades have passed since then, resulting in Jaya's wizened appearance. She would also go on to become a mentor to a young Chandra, passing along tips and tricks of the pyromancer trade.
Magic #6 was written by Jed MacKay and drawn by French Carlomagno and Ig Guara, with coloring from Francesco Segala and Arianna Consonni and lettering from Ed Dukeshire. It is now available for purchase online and in-stores.
Source: BOOM! Studios
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