The runs that make Malicia:Chris Claremont on Uncanny X-Men (1981-1991) for its creation and change;Rick Remender on Uncanny Avengers (2012-2014), where she finally leaves the mutant orbit;Kelly Thompson(2018) for the couple; And Robert Rodi(2004) for its first continuing series. Twenty-three years passed between its creation and its first solo title.
Like many characters born in a team, Malicia was built in fragments: a few issues here, an arc there, over forty years and around ten titles.
This ranking isolates the segments that really matter — those where it is the subject, and not one presence among others.
Top 1 — Chris Claremont (Uncanny X-Men, 1981-1991)
Screenwriter: Chris Claremont | Designers: Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee
Claremont created the character in 1981, switched him to the heroes in 1983, and then spent eight years exploring the consequence of this shift: a team that is suspicious, a stolen conscience that refuses to fade, a power that prohibits all contact.
The decisive point of this run, and what puts him in the lead: he does not solves never these problems. The character lives with it, which is rarer than it seems in a catalog that prefers solutions.
Segments to target: Avengers Annual #10 (1981), Uncanny X-Men #171-173 (the integration), #266-269 (Gambit and the settlement of the Danvers affair).
Top 2 — Rick Remender (Uncanny Avengers, 2012-2014)
Screenwriter: Rick Remender | Designers: John Cassaday, Daniel Acuna
Malicia joins a mixed team bringing together mutants and Avengers, and it is the first time in thirty years that she has operated outside the exclusively mutant orbit.
The move succeeds for a specific reason: in a team of X-Men, his past as an adversary is an old story that everyone knows. In a mixed team, he becomes a subject, and the character finds a friction that he had lost.
This corpus retains a useful principle from this run: an established character often benefits from changing teams rather than changing powers.
Top 3 — Kelly Thompson (Rogue & Gambit then Mr. and Mrs. X, 2018)
Screenwriter: Kelly Thompson
Two consecutive short series, which take the couple as their subject and treat them with a seriousness that they had never received - including the question, long evaded, of what it means to have a relationship with someone you cannot touch.
These series are recent, short and abundant: they complement each other entirely for a paltry budget. The best buy reading file.
Top 4 — Robert Rodi (Snape, 2004)
Screenwriter: Robert Rodi
The first series continues in the name of the character, twenty-three years after its creation. It is especially worth as editorial milestone: the moment when a team character finally gets a title.
Twelve numbers, easy to collect, and rarely searched for.
Top 5 — Mike Carey (X-Men: Legacy, 2008-2012)
Screenwriter: Mike Carey
A run that gives an unusual place to the psychological consequences of the power of absorption — accumulated consciousnesses, what they do to someone over time.
Recent period, comfortable print runs, little demand: excellent value for those buying in booklets.
How to collect these runs
A particularity makes this file simpler than average: the segments that count are short.
Unlike characters whose interest is scattered across hundreds of issues, Malicia focuses on a few well-delineated handfuls — the 1981 annual, three issues in 1983, four in 1990, and then modern short series.
Practical consequence: a representative collection is constituted with a twenty booklets, which is not much. The 2018 and 2004 series complete each other in full without difficulty.
The Claremont run, on the other hand, cannot be collected in its entirety: target the segments and read the rest in collections.
For number-by-number selection, see ourkey numbersand ourcollection guide.
Track each run and identify missing numbers with ourcollection management application.