[1] Amanda Sefton debuted in the ninety-eighth issue of the 1976 X-Men series, created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum.

[8] As Kurt wondered how such a powerful sorceress could be held captive against her will, Daytripper explained that the Winding Way is not only a mystic discipline, but also it functions like a journey with ups and downs.

[9] Back on Muir Island, Amanda was the only one who recognized that the team's scientist Rory Campbell was the man destined to become the future mutant hunter Ahab, but she promised him to keep her knowledge secret and offered to be there for him whenever the need would arise.

[11] After Excalibur had been attacked by opposing sorcerers trying to acquire the Soulsword of the deceased Illyana Rasputin,[12] Amanda convinced Shadowcat to give her Magik's Soul Sword for safe-keeping.

[19] During one of Nightcrawler's trips to Limbo, Amanda secretly hid the powerful Soulsword in Kurt's body, thinking it was safe there since his soul was the purest that she could find.

[21] Gradually, the demon's essence was disrupted by the Soulsword, though not before he revealed that there is a major war coming, and that the entire Szardos family factors very importantly into it.

[22] Amanda resurfaced in New X-Men when she plunged out of a dimensional portal in a blast of flaming energy and landed in a small German village.

[23] She assisted New X-Men Hellion and Surge as well as O*N*E Sentinel operative (and former mutant) Lex in finding students who were kidnapped by Belasco.

[28] They met again when Nightcrawler, fatally stabbed in combat by the Crimson Pirates, was intercepted by Amanda at an "interim station" between life and death, who successfully encouraged him—with some assistance from Wolverine and Phoenix—to return to the land of the living.

While she couldn't access the full power of the sword, she could still create and control teleportation energies in the form of "stepping discs".

Like Illyana Rasputin, the more Amanda used the Soulsword, the more mystical Eldritch armor appeared on her body in addition to demonic features such as horns and hooves.

Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Amanda Sefton a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.

[35] The plot twist revealing that Amanda Sefton is really Nightcrawler's sister, Jimaine Szardos, received mixed reactions.

Book Riot described the twist as "the crowning moment of creepy" in their article "The X-Men's Love Lives are Messed Up You Guys.

Amanda and Nightcrawler, along with that timeline's version of Illyana Rasputin, were gunned down by a government strike force deployed to destroy the Xavier Institute after Senator Robert Kelly was assassinated.

[39] A tie-in comic to the 2003 film X-2: X-Men United depicts Amanda and Kurt's past, but reveled as an illusion/flashback to persuade him to join Weapon X.

[41] This version is an African/Romani American teenager and student of Bayville High School who comes from a normal family and gradually enters a relationship with Nightcrawler.