Mystique’s entourage: Destiny, the only person from whom she cannot hide anything; Diablo and Malicia, two children for whom she is responsible in different capacities; and the Brotherhood, the organization she led without ever believing in it.
This surround has a precise technical function, and it is worth naming it: it serves to anchor a character who, without him, would have no substance.
Someone capable of taking on any appearance only exists through what binds them.
Destiny: the only one who knows
The determining relationship of the file, and the longest.
Its narrative interest is logical as well as emotional: faced with someone who sees what is going to happen, a shapeshifter loses her only advantage. The disguise is no longer useful.
This is the only configuration where the character is forced to be herself, and successive authors have used it for exactly that.
Collection side: the numbers of this relationship are scattered in secondary series and varied periods. They don't appear in any key list, and they are the best track on the record.
Diablo: the hidden filiation
A connection established late, long after the introduction of the two characters.
It works because it reverses an expectation: the son of a shapeshifter is the only character in the franchise who can't hide what he is.
⚠️ On the collection side, the revelation belongs to issues well after their respective first appearances. Like all revelations, it is not indexed nowhere: the market identifies the beginnings, not the links that we discover after the fact.
Malicia: half responsibility assumed
An adoption relationship, written over decades, and never resolved.
This corpus signals its editorial interest: it gives the character a constancy: she protects this child, whatever happens: without giving her virtue, since this protection is exercised by means that cannot be defended.
This is what makes it impossible to place in a category, and this is what has kept it published for forty-seven years.
Collection side: their common numbers belong to both files, therefore valued by two requests: more stable and less accessible.
The Brotherhood: an organization without conviction
She directed it, she made it an instrument, and there is no indication that she ever shared the project.
This distance is the character's most constant trait: she uses causes rather than serving them.
Issues from the 1980s, belonging to the main title of the franchise. Wanted, but for reasons other than his presence.
What this environment changes when purchasing
An observation that is valid as a method.
This character produces very few direct keys: two or three numbers, all known, all referenced.
On the other hand, it produces a lot of link numbers: those where a relationship is formed, revealed or undone. These numbers do not carry a first appearance, so the market has no way of valuing them.
However, they are what really constitutes the file, since the character only exists through his connections.
This corpus therefore recommends, for this specific file, to collect relationships rather than appearances. It takes longer to identify, it requires reading, and it costs the price of the ordinary.
As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.
Find the complete selection in our key numbers and our collection guide.
Collecting this series?
Track what you own, what you are missing and what your collection is worth. 7 day trial.
Start my trial →Where to start: three verified landmarks for reading Mystique's entourage
A character who exists only through her ties reads better with a few solid landmarks. Here are three issues whose importance is established, and a method for finding the others.
Ms. Marvel #16 (1978): the starting point
Mystique makes her first appearance in Ms. Marvel #16, dated 1978 and written by Chris Claremont, drawn by Jim Mooney. It is the chronological anchor of the whole file: before this issue there is no relationship to follow, since the character does not yet exist. Everything that follows, Destiny, Diablo, Malicia, the Brotherhood, connects to it through a reading thread or a lineage.
Avengers Annual #10 (1981): the link issue par excellence
This 1981 issue, written by Chris Claremont, features the first appearance of Malicia. Mystique and Malicia appear side by side there, leading the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants that attacks the Avengers, and they first manage to take out the most powerful among them. For a file built on ties, this is exactly the kind of piece to favor: it brings two characters and an organization together in a single issue.
Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #10 (1992): a story published more than ten years later
Malicia was originally meant to appear in Ms. Marvel. The series was canceled with #23, and #25, planned for that story, was unfinished. It only came out in 1992, completed, in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #10. It is a handy practical reminder: a story's creation date and its publication date do not always match, and it is the publication date that counts when sorting an issue.
A method for finding link issues
- Start from a first-appearance issue (Mystique, Malicia) and note the list of characters in it.
- Spot the issues where two characters from the file cross paths: they are more interesting than those where one appears alone.
- For each issue, note the cover date and the actual year of publication before buying.
- Keep a list of your link issues: the market does not index them, so it is up to you to track them.
What this changes when buying
These issues stay close to the going rate, since the market ignores them. Their value is above all in the reading: understanding why this shapeshifter, who can look like anything, depends so much on the people around her. Sorting by relationships rather than appearances then gives a coherent, readable collection.
Frequently asked questions
Destiny, the only person from whom she cannot hide anything, Diablo and Malicia, two children for whom she is responsible in different capacities, and the Brotherhood, the organization she led without ever believing in it.
Facing someone who sees what is coming, a shapeshifter loses her only advantage: disguise is useless. It is the only setup in which the character is forced to be herself.
A parental tie established late, long after the two characters were introduced. It reverses an expectation: the son of a shapeshifter is the only one unable to hide what he is.
An adoption-like relationship, written over decades and never settled: she protects this child whatever happens, without that protection being exercised by defensible means.
The article recommends collecting relationships rather than appearances: the character produces very few direct keys but many link issues, which the market does not value and which therefore cost the going rate.
Track related characters and spot missing numbers with our collection management application.