Mystic (comics)



Mystic is a comic book that was published by the Florida-based CrossGen Comics. Created by writer Ron Marz and artists Brandon Peterson and John Dell, it was one of five flagship titles in the company's Sigilverse shared universe. Mystic ran for 43 issues (July 2000 - January 2004).

Plot summary
Set on the planet Ciress, in which sorcery is an apprenticed profession organized in guilds, the story centered on sisters Genevieve and Giselle. The former had devoted her life to becoming a top sorceress; the latter is a spoiled socialite who much against her wishes is granted great power and responsibility via a mysterious sigil.

The magic guilds at the start of the series are:
 * Dark Magi Guild
 * Astral Guild
 * Shaman Guild
 * Enchantress Guild
 * Tantric Guild
 * Djinn Guild
 * Nouveau Guild

The first six issues of Mystic describe Giselle's gaining of the Sigil and the efforts of the guild leaders to regain her power. Giselle gains her Sigil in the first issue and without intending to, steals the spirits of the ancient (and long dead) guild leaders. She also gets a guide in the form of a talking cat-like creature with yellow eyes and a love interest named Thierry Chevailier (an artist but without any magical ability). Starting in issue 4, Giselle gains the attention of one of The First who goes by the name Darrow. At first Darrow seems to help Giselle but later we learn he is under orders from Ingra to sway Giselle to the side of House Sinister.

The efforts of the other guild leaders to strip Giselle of the spirits of the long dead guild leaders fail (issue 6) but the leaders of all but two of the magic guilds regard the situation as unacceptable. To destroy Giselle the guild leaders (with the exception of Astral and Nouveau) break the prison which confined Animora. This sets in motion a conflict which lasts for the next 12 issues between Giselle (and her sister Genevieve, the leader of the Nouveau guild) against Animora and the other guild leaders. Darrow rapidly switches sides and supports Animora also. With the reluctant aid of the spirits of the former guild leaders, Giselle is able to defeat all her enemies (issue 14 and again in issue 20) but at a cost.

After her second defeat, Animora was able to establish a psychic link to Giselle and over time this turned into a form of possession. As this control was growing, Giselle alienated her good friend Thierry Chevailier and he fell in love with the older sister Genevieve (issue 24). Eventually Giselle meets Ingra and after a battle - in which Ingra easily defeats Giselle - Ingra breaks Animora's hold over Giselle and imprisons Animora (issue 23). Part of the reason why Ingra is able to defeat Giselle is that due to Giselle's recent behavior, the spirits of the guild leaders refuse to help her. Giselle, without their aid, finds that her knowledge of magic is very poor. She resolves to become a master of magic and starts with learning the magic of the Nouveau guild from her sister Genevieve, before moving on to the Shaman guild, the Djinn guild and the Astral guild (issues 25 - 28).

Note: In CrossGen Chronicles #5 it was revealed that an eighth guild named Taroc had existed but vanished long ago. The Taroc guild leader sacrificed herself to imprison Animora, one of The First, who had been banished by Ingra, the leader of House Sinister.

It was later revealed that a secret guild exists,(issue 33) called the Geometer guild; the members of which are allied with the Dark Magi guild and the Tantric guild. The Geometers believe themselves to be manipulators of all the other guilds; the guildmaster is named Archemus.

Series contributors included:
 * Writers: Ron Marz, Tony Bedard;
 * Pencilers: Brandon Peterson, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Aaron Lopresti, Steve McNiven, Paul Pelletier, Al Rio, Paul Ryan, Kevin Sharpe;
 * Inkers: Jason Baumgartner, Mark Farmer, Marco Galli, Drew Geraci, Drew Hennessy, Rob Hunter, Mark Lipka, Victor Llamas, Pablo Marcos, Roland Paris, Matt Ryan, Rob Stull, Joe Weems;
 * Cover artists: Joseph Michael Linsner, Phil Noto.

Genevieve Villard
Genevieve Villard is a fictional character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in Mystic comic series as a major character because she is the older sister of Giselle, the Sigil-Bearer on her world of Ciress. Genevieve studied hard and moved up rapidly in the ranks of the Nouveau Mages' Guild. When the old guild leader died, Genevieve was chosen to be the new guild master. The Mystic series begins on the day of Genevieve's ascension to the rank of Guild master. On that day, Genevieve's younger sister Giselle is given a sigil on her hand and she then absorbs all the spirits of the long-dead guild masters of the seven magic guilds, including the spirit Genevieve was supposed to obtain. This causes no end of trouble.

Fictional character biography
Genevieve is serious and respectful of the wishes of her guild and (at first) the other guild masters. She wears her hair short and is almost never seen out of her formal (if somewhat revealing) guild robes. In Giselle's opinion, Genevieve never has any fun.

Both girls were orphaned as young teenagers when their parents were killed in a magical duel (letters page, Mystic #31).

In the series, Genevieve is rapidly forced to choose between loyalty to her sister vs. loyalty to her fellow guild masters. After some initial hesitation, she sides with her sister and tries to help her learn magic and take responsibility for her awesome power, not always with success.

Genevieve and Giselle work together to defeat the other magic guild leaders and then they work together to defeat Animora, but Giselle's power is vastly greater than Genevieve. Ultimately success or failure seems to rest in Giselle's hands. The young and handsome artist, Thierry Chevailier, who first falls in love with Giselle, later transfers his attentions to Genevieve as together they try to guide Giselle on a more responsible path.

Giselle's mystery guide, a talking yellow-eyed cat-like creature, ends up appealing to both Genevieve and Thierry Chevailier for help with Giselle. It turns out the yellow-eyed cat is a part of Danik.

Giselle Villard
Giselle Villard is the main character in the American comic book Mystic, published by CrossGen Entertainment. She is one of the many Sigil-Bearers seen throughout the CrossGen Comics.

Fictional character biography
Giselle starts out very light-hearted and frivolous, with a devil-may-care attitude. She doesn't want magical power and is not really interested in learning magic. Her desire is to have a good time in life.

Giselle was the younger sister who spent her time going to parties and socializing while her older sister Genevieve studied hard and moved up rapidly in the ranks of the Nouveau Mages Guild. The series begins on the day of Genevieve's ascension to the rank of Guild master for the Nouveau guild where she is to receive the spirit of the Nouveau guild. On that day, Giselle is given the Sigil on her hand and consequently absorbs the spirit of the Nouveau guild as well as the six other spirits of the guilds.



The power of the Sigil and the sudden absorption of the spirits of the guild masters is a very unpleasant shock for Giselle. The Mystic series revolves around her efforts to come to terms with her new abilities and responsibilities.

Giselle is a reluctant hero who is given a great power after an earlier life of modest living. Suddenly she becomes a great power in a complex world which she has previously not cared much about, the world of the magic guilds. Her main guide is her older sister Genevieve, who does know a great deal about the magic guilds and magic spells. Genevieve is unhappy at not gaining the wisdom of the ancient guild leader of the Nouveau guild but she learns to accept Giselle's new position and helps defend her against the plotting and attacks by the other guild leaders.

With the failure of their first effort to kill Giselle, the guild leaders (with the exception of Astral and Nouveau) break the prison that confined Animora. This sets in motion a conflict which lasts for the next twelve issues between Giselle (and her sister Genevieve) against Animora and the other guild leaders. Darrow, sent by Ingra to manipulate Giselle, rapidly switches sides and supports Animora. With the reluctant aid of the spirits of the former guild leaders, Giselle is able to defeat all her enemies (#14 and #20) but at a cost.

After her second defeat, Animora was able to establish a psychic link to Giselle and over time this turned into a form of possession. Eventually Animora brought Giselle into direct conflict with Ingra and after a battle - in which Ingra easily defeats Giselle - Ingra breaks Animora's hold over Giselle and imprisons Animora (#23). Part of the reason why Ingra is able to defeat Giselle is that due to Giselle's recent behavior, the spirits of the guild leaders refuse to help her. Giselle, without their aid, finds that her knowledge of magic is very poor. She resolves to become a master of magic and starts with learning the magic of the Shaman's guild (#26).

Giselle is a very attractive woman and many men fall for her. Among her admirers is a handsome artist named Thierry Chevalier. They enjoy a relationship, but the romance falls apart when Giselle falls under the mental domination of Animora. Thierry ends up transferring his affections to Genevieve (#24).

Sigil-bearer

 * Sigil Location: Right Hand Palm

Because of the position of Ciress in the galaxy, the planet has an extremely high amount of cosmic energy and is responsible for the vast amounts of magic used on Ciress. This energy also augments Giselle's powers to a certain degree making her more powerful.

Collections
CrossGen released four trade paperbacks containing the first half of the series:
 * Mystic 1: Rite of Passage
 * Mystic 2: The Demon Queen
 * Mystic 3: Siege of Scales
 * Mystic 4: Out All Night

In addition, the company announced two additional which went unreleased due to CrossGen's bankruptcy.
 * Mystic 5: Master Class
 * Mystic 6: The Mathemagician

Relaunch
Marvel Comics has announced plans to relaunch Mystic in a miniseries written by G. Willow Wilson with art by David Lopez. It is very different from the original series; Giselle and Genevieve are now poor orphan sisters in the steampunk world of Hyperion who secretly teach themselves the Noble Arts, a magical technology that only the nobility of Hyperion are allowed to study. Wilson described the series as "high-fantasy "Mean Girls" meets "Les Miserables" ".