This Magic: The Gathering Untold Stories Liliana #1 comic review looks at Dark Horse’s new four-part story centered on Liliana Vess.
Torunn Grønbekk writes the series. Nataliia Rerekina handles the interior artwork, with colors by Lauren Affe and lettering by Clayton Cowles.
Liliana became one of the multiverse’s most powerful necromancers through bargains with four demons.
Those bargains gave her tremendous power.
They also cost her freedom.
Now Liliana intends to take it back.
This copy features the Cover B Sibylline Meynet Variant. Meynet places Liliana beneath a huge moon while she calmly holds a skull in one hand. Purple magic surrounds her body as undead figures rise below.
Comic Book Details
- Title: Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Liliana
- Issue: #1
- Volume: 1
- Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
- Release Date: October 14, 2026
- Cover Date: October 2026
- Written By: Torunn Grønbekk
- Art: Nataliia Rerekina
- Colors: Lauren Affe
- Letters: Clayton Cowles
- Cover Variant: Cover B Sibylline Meynet Variant
- Cover Artist: Sibylline Meynet
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Pages: 32
- Rating: T
- UPC: 76156801633800121
- Series Length: 4 issues
Dark Horse confirms the creative team, $4.99 price, 32-page length, October 14 release, and four-issue format. Cover B is officially credited to Sibylline Meynet. Penguin Random House Comics Retail
Sibylline Meynet’s cover immediately identifies Liliana as a necromancer. She stands calmly beneath an enormous moon while holding a skull almost as if she is studying it.
The purple magic, distant castle, and undead figures create a gothic fantasy atmosphere without making Liliana appear threatened by any of it.
Magic: The Gathering Untold Stories Liliana #1 Comic Review: Story Analysis
Liliana Vess has enormous power.
That power came with a price.
She bargained her soul to four demons: Kothophed, Razaketh, Belzenlok, and Griselbrand.
Eventually, Liliana decided she would no longer accept the terms of those bargains.
She began hunting the demons connected to her contracts.
That search brings her to Innistrad.
Liliana believes Griselbrand is there.
Unfortunately, Innistrad is already filled with corruption, supernatural violence, and creatures that would be dangerous to almost anyone else.
Liliana is not almost anyone else.
She walks directly into that world because freedom matters more to her than safety.
Torunn Grønbekk uses a straightforward motivation to drive the story.
Liliana wants control over her own future.
To get it, she must confront the beings who helped give her power in the first place.
Dark Horse presents the series as an untold story from Liliana’s past rather than a simple retelling of events longtime Magic players already know. Penguin Random House Comics Retail
That gives the comic two audiences.
Existing Magic fans get another piece of Liliana’s history.
New readers get a dark fantasy story about a powerful necromancer trying to escape the consequences of her own decisions.
Art and Visual Design
Nataliia Rerekina handles the interior artwork.
Liliana’s story needs darkness without turning every page into the same visual tone.
Innistrad provides plenty of opportunities for gothic horror.
The world contains demons, undead creatures, vampires, corruption, and violence.
Liliana fits naturally into that environment.
She does not enter Innistrad as a frightened visitor.
Death is already part of her power.
That means the artwork can make Innistrad threatening while still showing that Liliana belongs in this kind of world.
The contrast is important.
The setting can be horrifying without making Liliana look helpless.
The Sibylline Meynet Cover B
The Sibylline Meynet Cover B takes a cleaner and more stylized approach than the darker Abigail Larson Cover C.
Liliana dominates the image.
A massive pale moon sits directly behind her.
She holds a skull at eye level while purple magical energy circles around her other hand.
Below her, undead figures gather in front of a distant gothic structure.
The composition immediately communicates who Liliana is.
She controls death.
She does not fear it.
The skull is not presented as something gruesome.
Liliana holds it almost casually.
That gives the image confidence rather than horror.
Meynet also uses a restrained palette.
Purple identifies Liliana immediately.
The muted green background keeps the cover from becoming overly bright.
The pale moon creates a strong focal point behind her face and the skull.
It is a very different interpretation from Abigail Larson’s Cover C, but it suits the character equally well.
Liliana Vess
Liliana has always been defined by the relationship between power and consequence.
She wanted strength.
She received it.
Then she learned that power obtained through a bargain still belongs partly to whoever controls the bargain.
That gives this story its central conflict.
Liliana is powerful enough to challenge monsters that would terrify other characters.
Yet the real problem is personal.
She wants ownership of her own life.
That makes her motivation easy to understand even for readers unfamiliar with years of Magic: The Gathering lore.
Liliana made dangerous choices.
Now she intends to deal with the consequences herself.
Innistrad and the Horror Setting
Innistrad is an ideal world for a Liliana story.
The plane already combines fantasy and gothic horror.
Death is everywhere.
So are creatures that refuse to remain dead.
Liliana’s necromancy therefore feels like a natural part of the environment.
That creates an interesting reversal.
In many fantasy stories, a necromancer would be the frightening presence entering an ordinary world.
Here, Liliana enters a world that may be just as disturbing as she is.
Her hunt for Griselbrand gives the story direction while Innistrad supplies additional threats along the way.
The setting also allows Dark Horse to emphasize the darker side of Magic without losing the fantasy elements that define the game.
Collectibility and Market Significance
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Liliana #1 begins a four-issue Dark Horse miniseries. Penguin Random House Comics Retail
Dark Horse released three regular covers for issue #1.
Nataliia Rerekina created Cover A.
Sibylline Meynet created Cover B.
Abigail Larson created Cover C. Penguin Random House Comics Retail
All three regular covers carry the same original $4.99 price.
That means the Sibylline Meynet edition is an open-order variant rather than a ratio incentive.
Collectors should not buy it expecting artificial scarcity.
Its appeal comes from other factors.
It is issue #1.
It stars Liliana Vess.
It begins a short four-part series.
It also features a visually distinct cover by Sibylline Meynet.
Magic: The Gathering brings another collecting audience into the equation.
Comic collectors may want the series.
Magic players may want Liliana material even if they do not normally collect comics.
Cover-artist collectors may specifically want the Meynet edition.
That gives this issue several possible audiences beyond readers simply following the story.
Final Verdict
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Liliana #1 begins with a strong character and an immediately understandable goal.
Liliana wants her freedom.
The demons connected to her past stand in the way.
Torunn Grønbekk uses that conflict to explore another part of Liliana’s history while Nataliia Rerekina brings the dark world of Innistrad to the page.
The Sibylline Meynet Cover B Variant gives this edition a different personality from the other regular covers.
Liliana standing beneath the moon with a skull in her hand captures the character without needing an elaborate action scene.
She looks calm.
She looks powerful.
Most importantly, she looks completely at home surrounded by death.
Recommended for Magic: The Gathering fans, Liliana Vess collectors, Sibylline Meynet collectors, dark fantasy readers, Innistrad fans, and anyone interested in exploring Magic lore through comics.
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Liliana #1 Sibylline Meynet Cover B Variant is available from Razmataz Comics & Hobbies at razmatazcomics.com while supplies last.