Monday, February 20, 2023

Target: Magneto!

 

The 1980s were a seesaw of change in regard to the man known as Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism, whose cruel and brutal brand of villainy reaches back almost sixty years. Beginning in 1981, Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont set Magneto on a course for redemption following a fierce battle with his longtime foes after yet another attempt on his part to claim world dominance. In 1983, he made overtures toward peace with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, who were celebrating the birth of Pietro's daughter, Luna, and learned to their shock that Magneto is their father. Nearly a year later, he and Charles Xavier agreed to an uneasy alliance when they and the X-Men were transported by the Beyonder to another world (along with other super-beings), a truce that continued three months later when Magneto answered a call from a critically injured Xavier to lead the X-Men to investigate the Beyonder's appearance on Earth. Later that year, after a foiled attempt by Freedom Force to capture him, Magneto agreed to be placed under arrest and subsequently appeared before an international tribunal convened to hold him accountable for past crimes, a judgment he avoided when terrorists led by Fenris assailed him. Three months later in 1986, he again reached out to his children when Wanda gave birth to his two new grandchildren.

Just over a year later, the X-Men, who had acclimated to Magneto's presence among them, clashed with the Avengers as well as the Soviet Super-Soldiers when Magneto investigated the fall to Earth of his former asteroid base--culminating in his reappearance before the world court where judgment was finally rendered in his delayed trial. Yet in mid-1989, we began to see signs of the man he was, when he seized control of the Hellfire Club and chose a new, less passive course in preparing for a mutant/human war he saw as inevitable.

Stepping back three years prior, however, we find him still very much Magneto the reformed, as he attempts to ascertain the status of Xavier's--that is, his--students, the New Mutants, currently boarding at the Massachusetts Academy prep school run by Emma Frost of the Hellfire Club. Yet unknown to him, plans have been put in motion to avert his possible interference--and as a result, local law enforcement, while lacking concrete details*, feels it prudent to reach out to the Avengers for assistance in dealing with the threat potential associated with Magneto.


*The details being sparse, to say the least--in particular, the Snow Valley Sheriff makes no inquiry whatsoever as to the identity of Frost's informant. Was it someone known to her whom the Sheriff could follow up with? Or was the caller anonymous? Regardless, the Avengers scramble as if they've been supplied with all the information they need to bring Magneto back in chains.

There's no end to the Avengers' speculation on the matter of Magneto's motivation--though given their experience with Magneto, it's little wonder that they're ready to assume the worst, his voluntary appearance at the world court notwithstanding.


(Having also been deceived and used by Dr. Doom, and more than once, Namor elevating Magneto to such a classification rather than simply emphasizing him as being of the same calibre as Doom is curious, though just an observation on my part.)

And so, in accordance with longstanding Marvel tradition, battle lines are being drawn which play into the hands of whoever has instigated this plot (assuming that's the case--even we don't know their identity, at this point)--and from the looks of things, Cap is on board with his team in acting first and asking questions later. Yet the question to ask now is: Are the Avengers prepared to believe anything but the worst of Magneto?



As it happens, Magneto is in transit himself to Massachusetts, along with Warlock, his young student who himself happens to be their means of transport. En route, we continue to see a very different Magneto than the man the Avengers are prepared to confront.


The Avengers having ascertained that Magneto is within the strange craft, a leaping Hercules brings it down with one triphammer blow, unaware that it's Warlock that has been struck and seriously injured. But while Magneto is justifiably distracted, the Avengers are not.



Magneto manages a maneuver that sends both Captain Marvel and Hercules miles away for what would be the duration of this battle (though you can probably make a good guess as to that development's likely reason), and, afterward, slips away himself. But while the remaining Avengers fan out, doubts surface in Captain America as to the guilt or innocence of the one they pursue--while the Black Knight raises a blunt yet valid point which remains the common denominator in this mission against Magneto.


Meanwhile, Illyana Rasputin, one of the New Mutants at the Academy, acts on her fellow student Amara's detection of Magneto in the immediate vicinity, and uses her teleporting talent to arrive at the battle site and take a hand in the situation, regardless of how Magneto feels about it. And while the Avengers they fight show no signs of letup, Cap continues to question Magneto's actions and rationale.


Yet while Illyana reappears at the Academy and gathers the rest of her classmates to return to the site, the other Avengers act to subdue their foe--which, as it happens, finally gives Magneto and the Avengers an opportunity to diffuse the situation (though admittedly unlikely, while Magneto persists in keeping mum on certain details). But Magneto's entreaties are rendered moot with the arrival of the New Mutants, and Illyana's quick removal of both Warlock and Magneto. As for the Avengers, most of them appear to have made up their minds about Magneto, given the appearance and actions of his rescuers.



It's pertinent to note the Wasp's position as team leader in this affair, insofar as she's maintained an intense focus on the mission and positioning of her team members rather than allowing room for second thoughts to surface as they have with Cap--which makes it fair to wonder how this situation would have turned out if their positions were reversed, and Cap had been leading the team. In the Avengers title, the Wasp has been keenly aware of the invaluable asset she has in Cap, receptive to his input, interpretations and observations--a stance which, had it migrated over under Claremont, might have changed the tenor of this encounter significantly. Instead, her end goal remains turning Magneto over to the Feds--while rashly confirming the team's working theory (ironically proposed by Cap) of Magneto indoctrinating children into a new Brotherhood, based only on circumstantial evidence.

At any rate, for Magneto--and for Frost, whom we've discovered was the culprit in arranging to have the Avengers sicced on Magneto in the first place--the outcome has worked out favorably for the New Mutants, who have felt on edge in their new surroundings but, with Frost and Magneto now on the same page, are fortunate to have two educators who have made their well-being their priority, even if Frost hasn't exactly changed her stripes. It's an epilogue that's bound to satisfy the book's dedicated readers--and even as someone who has only read a handful of issues of The New Mutants (but still collected X-Force steadfastly--someone explain that to me, please), I was pleased to see things circle back to this point.




5 comments:

  1. An enjoyable issue, but once again Claremont makes sure to stack the deck in order to portray Magneto as some kind of heroic figure and ignores all the issues people bring up about his lack of reform or propensity to avoid paying for any of his past crimes. No mention that Magneto attacked the heroes in the second issue of the first Secret Wars, or that in helping them against the Beyonder he only acted in the same way that Dr Doom did! Or that complaining that the Avengers won't trust him (because of his past actions), he in turn refuses to trust the Avengers by telling them the truth and giving them his full cooperation (despite their own past of helping reformed villains - including that of his own children!)

    And while he portrays this team of Avengers generally well, he still includes things to dig at them. I mean wouldn't the team compensate for Magneto's powers especially in regards to the Black Knight's mail armor and Atomic Steed? If Cap's "micro chainmail" uniform is never used against him (presumably because it is not somehow magnetic rather than writers and artists forgetting about that), why couldn't Black knight's armor be the same? Why make them stupid? And I have a hard time believing that Magneto could simply escape Hercules strength given that it is up their with Thor, Wonder Man, etc. That's the kind of thing that happen because the plot requires it. But as I said, it's mostly good.

    I have always liked Kyle Baker's inks on this and other comics. I think it works well with Jackson Guice's pencils here.

    Chris

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  2. Chris, there are a number of nits to pick in this story, to be sure, one of which I quietly alluded to with Hercules and Capt. Marvel, two of the Avengers' most powerful figures, hurriedly being ejected far away from this battle--presumably to prevent them from bringing it to an end almost immediately, or otherwise having to avoid the implication that such a strong team of Avengers needed an entire issue to bring Magneto to heel. That left only the Sub-Mariner's strength to contend with, which even Magneto couldn't fend off for long (he's gone toe-to-toe with Colossus, after all). As for the chain mail and other things that were liabilities in a fight against Magneto, the Avengers were awakened in the middle of the night to respond to this threat, so we could assume there just wasn't time to make such preparations.

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  3. No character, regardless of power set or battle record, can win against one of Chris Claremont's "sassy teenagers". These are a unique species in the Marvel Universe. And it goes double for a "sassy teen girl" and triple for "Illyana Rasputin".

    That snarky observation being said, it took me years to understand the general rule of heroes guest-starring in another title for the purpose of a fight always take a generous swig of "Incompetence Potion" before the story begins. Marvel got a lot of my money before I realized I likely wouldn't enjoy the crossover tale.

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  4. In these panels, some action sequences are drawn as 'long shots', when moving to close ups, is what's required ( the Bob Brown Daredevil vs Copperhead had similar problems, in certain panels). For me, this doesn't work. Or, maybe with advancing years, I'm just increasingly myopic!

    In a Don Heck(?)story (I forget), with a ridiculous premise, didn't Magneto defeat the Avengers by controlling the iron in their blood? Thus, in effect, Magneto could beat anybody. Strange Maggy never employed that trick in any other encounters! Also, why didn't he use that 'iron in the blood' trick in this story, too?

    Phillip

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  5. I'm with you on the (heh) Incompetence Potion, Murray, but I have to cut Claremont some slack here, since the book's masthead reads The New Mutants and not The Avengers, where the sassy teenagers will usually turn out to be innovative sassy teenagers who manage to pull off a win. On the flip side, that doesn't excuse instances such as a young upstart like Rogue trashing the Avengers in their own annual all by her lonesome.

    Phillip, my guess is that Magneto may have felt that taking control of the Avengers in such a way would have made him seem too much like his old villain self, when he was trying to convey the opposite. And yes, you're right, the Avengers story you're referring to was penciled by Don Heck.

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