Take A Seat

 

As I was compiling subject matter for this post, the first thing that came to mind was this guy:

Who looks like he's traveling through space seated on some kind of contraption--at least that's what I'd assumed, having never read the story. Except that this character, Orion, isn't seated on anything, but simply hunched over, gripping what he calls his "power rods." Yet there is a seated character among those Orion mingles with in New Genesis--Metron, who appears to be persona non grata among the others and flits about time-space in his "Mobius Chair" advancing his own agenda.

And thus, the New Gods have unknowingly summoned us to hear another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What Marvel characters look to chairs for their status, and/or their power?

(Or, in Ben Grimm's case, their life??)

Witch Hunt!

 

We've reached the final installment of the House Of M limited series from 2005, where the X-Men and the Avengers found themselves swept away into a new reality created by the Scarlet Witch at the behest of her brother, Quicksilver--one which made mutants the dominant species, while our heroes were made to forget their past lives and histories in favor of an existence which saw their fondest hopes and dreams realized. Yet all of that changed when Wolverine, who somehow retained his memories, began to gather the troops--and with the help of a young mutant named Layla Miller, those who could be located traveled to Genosha once more to confront the ones involved in the deception, unfortunately leading to the Scarlet Witch again unleashing her power to alter the state of the world, for better or worse.

In this issue, which essentially has everyone pulling themselves together and picking up the pieces upon finding themselves back in their previous lives, we'll unfortunately be left with lingering questions which still lacked answers even in the course of eight issues. For instance: Where is Charles Xavier, taken from the heroes' midst when they first landed on the island of Genosha to settle the matter of the Scarlet Witch's disposition, the only indication of his fate being a memorial garden set up in his honor? And what finally happens with Wanda, who remains at large? From a publication stance, the only thing that this issue makes clear with reasonable certainty is that the goal of House Of M was to set up plots tying in to any number of upcoming books (e.g., Civil War (mid-2006) and Secret Invasion (mid-2008), two other multi-title events) for the foreseeable future, profitable ventures which appeared to be the only "reality" of concern to Marvel in the early 2000s.

Still, let's see where things stand following Wanda's cryptic declaration of "No more mutants" and a subsequent blinding flash which signaled another seismic shift in reality. For what it's worth, it appears that Magneto isn't going to walk out of this unscathed, if Wolverine has anything to say about it.

No More Mutants

 

Unknown to the heroes caught up in the new reality of the House Of M--which came into existence when the Scarlet Witch, at the direction of another, reshaped the world as we knew it to conform to a utopian existence for mutants at the expense of homo sapiens--things appeared grim indeed for those among them who had regained their memories of their prior lives and have decided to travel to the island of Genosha to confront both Wanda as well as Magneto, the man they presume to be responsible for forcibly twisting their lives, and those of the planet's entire population, to better favor his own worldview. For we have been witness to evidence that the man they seek, Charles Xavier--presumed to have been forced by Wanda's power to help bring those changes to life--is now deceased.

And so, having commandeered the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and its resources (including its formidable Sentinel guard detachment), the group arrives just as the House of Magnus celebrates a glittering evening of special guests assembling to pay tribute to Lord Magnus and his family on the anniversary of "the rebellion against homo sapien oppressors that held the world captive for decades." It's Cyclops who lays out the stakes for everyone (in words that Captain America, unavailable to the group, might or might not have chafed at--it's a fair topic for debate)--and following the deployment of their initial sortie in the form of one of the Sentinels, all hell breaks loose.

Reality Check

 

We've recently begun taking a detailed look at the 2005 Marvel event known as House Of M, which followed up on the chain of events that led to the Avengers falling victim to one of their own--the Scarlet Witch, who suffered the breakdown of all breakdowns and unleashed her reality-altering abilities on her former friends, shattering their ranks and leading to a confrontation that saw her taken into the custody of her father, Magneto, who returned with her to the (now devastated) island of Genosha.

Together with Charles Xavier, the two sought to treat Wanda's mental state, though it became clear that they could do nothing for her. That led to a briefing with the New Avengers and the X-Men, and a decision to travel to Genosha to hopefully meet with Wanda and settle matters between them. But soon after arrival, both teams became engulfed in a wave of power that changed their thoughts, their histories, and their lives to align with a new reality where mutants were the dominant culture, and the world's population fell under the reign of the so-called House of M[agnus] which consisted of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Lorna Dane, Wanda's two children, and the man himself, Magneto.

It's not the ideal world for homo sapiens, the dwindling race of humans who still enjoy decent lives but are nevertheless looked down upon as "sapiens"--though you'd never know there was any serious discord if you passed by the magazine stand and picked up the news on the latest goings-on.

But will this be the "new normal" for sapiens--for everyone? That depends on the actions of the one man who somehow retains his knowledge of the prior reality--the premiere operative of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite Red Guard unit, who struggles to piece things together from what he knows to be the final moments of a world now ripped away.

A World They Never Made

 

Continuing the PPC's look at the House Of M crossover event from 2005, we turn our focus away from the title series to others whose lives were affected by the rise of mutants in the world, where a brief synopsis tells us the circumstances of not only the clinging existence of homo sapiens, but of those heroes who now unknowingly find themselves in different lives than those they led.

The earliest two books out of this gate comprise those who, in our reality, saw their characters meet very early in their respective careers. But the reality we're exploring in this series was created by the disturbed mind of the Scarlet Witch--and in the world that she brought into existence, Spider-Man never met those we know as the Fantastic Four, and their histories are radically different here where mutants reign supreme, and where their lord, Magnus, has fulfilled the goals he long fought for but could never achieve in adversity.

Peter Parker, as well, has seen his dreams of happiness and fulfillment come true--but if that is so, why does he feel uneasy in a life where he's achieved everything he ever strove for? And if Reed Richards and those who accompanied him into space were killed during their flight, as we learned previously, then what four people have taken their place?

The House Of Magnus

 

"You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? Well, this time believe it, buster!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!"
-- Promotional copy taken from Marvel.com

In December of 2004, the first volume of The Avengers came to an end after the team was rent asunder by a fierce conflict set in motion by the unbalanced mind of one of their most long-standing members--a woman finally dealt with by Dr. Strange, and subsequently retrieved by her father, the master of magnetism.

Eight months later, Marvel segued from that tragic development to embark on an ambitious crossover event which would be spearheaded by the eight-issue House Of M series, an attempt to capitalize on resolve the fate of the Scarlet Witch whose ability to alter reality remains a clear and present danger but would also involve--and revolve around--the world's mutant population to a degree we'd never seen before.

That level of involvement takes its cue from a prior issue of X-Men, where the sister of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova, had sent a squad of Sentinels to destroy the island of Genosha, resulting in the deaths of its mutant population to the tune of over 16,000,000 people (including, presumably, its ruler, Magneto). It's to those ruins where Magneto returns with Wanda, where we learn in a synopsis that he's called on Xavier to do what he can to heal Wanda's shattered mind.

Knowing what's to come, one can't help but think of a certain proverb at this point. But thanks to the logo of this series, which is ever-present on every title that this event extends to, it would seem that there is one figure who appears to benefit from the seismic repercussions which are to follow.

The Fall Of Magneto!

 

Within the top twenty-five issues which constitute The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time*, we find coming in at No. 16 the 1993 X-Men #25--written by Fabian Nicieza, with art by Andy Kubert and Matt Ryan, its story bringing to a head the tense situation involving Magneto and his group of acolytes in his orbital base of Avalon.

*A twist on the 1969-81 Marvel's Greatest Comics concept, but instead took its title more seriously and solicited votes for the top 100 comics published by the company and, in a ten-issue series of trade paperbacks from 2001-02, counted down and reprinted the twenty-five issues which topped the list. (SPOILER ALERT: The No. 1 fan favorite turned out to be Amazing Fantasy #15, featuring the debut of Spider-Man.)

Underlying the conflict which follows between the X-Men and Magneto, as you may have already guessed, are the differences that Charles Xavier and his old friend/foe continue to have in their respective approaches to how best to safeguard the mutants of the world vis-à-vis their relations with homo sapiens--a very old argument between them that has once more led to Magneto taking a stand of force in his efforts to prevent mutants from being oppressed and/or killed by those humans who harbor hatred for them, rejecting Xavier's dream of integrating the two races in peace which Magneto views as futile. But in the story's appearance in the 100 Greatest series, Bob Greenberger (Director-Publishing Operations), in his foreword, reveals at least one of the two more prevalent scenes (while hinting at the second) which were likely responsible for this issue of X-Men coming to mind for the over 50,000 voters who filled out their ballots. (Which constitutes SPOILER ALERT #2--but perhaps a moot point, given that the issue is nearly thirty years old.)

But let's take things one step at a time, as we're first witness to what serves as the last straw for Magneto--what he considers an act of provocation when the powers of the world decide to implement the so-called Magneto Protocols, which leads the Master of Magnetism to respond with a reprisal that technologically cripples the entire planet. Consequently, the X-Men, who have the benefit of their equipment from the Shi'ar to help them recover, assess the stakes involved if they do not act decisively against him.

(NOTE: The splash page's dedication which mentions a thirty-year future for the X-Men, and the PPC's review today, thirty years after the issue's publication, is purely coincidental--honest!)

Fortunately, before throwing the world into darkness and chaos, Magneto managed to light a fire under Kubert and Ryan to provide an impressive wrap-around cover for this issue--which throws in (no pun intended) a Gambit hologram which regrettably can't be discerned in a two-dimensional representation. I'm not the greatest fan of such gimmicks, but it did look pretty cool when tilted at the correct angle.

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?

Judgment Day (Or Not)

 

As an unofficial encore to Captain Marvel's role as chairwoman of the Avengers during writer Roger Stern's run on the title, those of you who have followed Stern's Marvel work and were fans as well of either The Avengers or X-Men might have caught the four-issue limited series The X-Men vs. the Avengers from mid-1987, which Stern would write ¾ of (at which time a different writer/artist team would take the reins of the story for its conclusion). The series takes place roughly between the time Captain Marvel accepts Captain America's nomination for the team's leadership position, and the Avengers' mission to Olympus which would conclude Stern's work on the book. The true focus of the series, however, would prove to be Magneto, the Master of Magnetism--and, more specifically, the resolution of the Paris trial which had been convened to hold him accountable for past crimes against the human race.

Yet the prelude to this story occurs years earlier, with the explosive arrival of an alien we would come to know in the New Mutants as Warlock.

Magneto survives the impact, thanks to the ministrations of Lee Forrester, who fishes him out of the ocean and brings him to the island where he once fought a pitched battle with the X-Men--the repercussions of which led, in part, to his trial. As for his asteroid, two sizable parts of it survive their fall to Earth a few years later, and draw the interest of not only Magneto but three super-teams which would vie to decide his ultimate fate.

In Defense of... Magneto!

 

No doubt "The Trial of Magneto" from late 1985 was anticipated on a number of levels by those of us who were following recent issues of Uncanny X-Men, where readers had lately been seeing the Master of Magnetism turn over a new leaf and acclimate himself to members of a team who for much of the book's history had been his most tenacious foes.  Indeed, it's his own history that remains the elephant in the room for some of the X-Men--as well as for those in government circles, foreign and domestic, who see him as nothing less than a deadly threat to humanity.

Magneto's gradual development of a conscience, as chronicled by writer Chris Claremont, has been fascinating to watch--but for the book's double-sized 200th issue, a long-awaited reckoning for Magneto finally looked to be on the horizon when Mystique, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, decided that it was in the best interests of herself and her team members to make a deal with the Feds for amnesty in exchange for their services as super-powered operatives who report directly to the government. To that end, she approaches Valerie Cooper, Special Assistant to the President's National Security Advisor, who has taken up an aggressive posture against mutant activities and certain mutants in particular but finds Mystique's offer convincing, as well as the perfect means to remove Magneto's threat.

Against the X-Men, however, "Freedom Force," though clearly having become a tight-knit fighting unit under Mystique's leadership, proves less than equal to the task. Instead it's Magneto himself who acquiesces to his arrest in order to put the matter of his crimes to rest once and for all.

Which paves the way for a riveting anniversary issue that, when all is said and done, will have provided anything but closure on the issue of Magneto's guilt or innocence.

In His Hand... The Universe!

 

At the tail end of 1971, I was still a reader of Amazing Adventures, which had started out in a format that split the mag between the Black Widow and the Inhumans in separate stories but which featured the Inhumans exclusively with its ninth issue--their penultimate appearance in the book, as it turned out, as part of a two-part story which had them going up against none other than the Master of Magnetism himself.

Magneto was still unquestionably a fiend in those days--ambitious, ruthless, cruel, still nearly a decade away from a change in direction which would take the first steps toward reform and offer a more nuanced look at his character and history. Before this story, he'd made a failed attempt to co-opt the Sub-Mariner in a scheme to invade and subjugate New York; and later, another scheme would have him attacking both the X-Men and the Avengers.

Here, we find more of the same power-hungry behavior, as the members of the Inhuman royal family continue their search for their king, Black Bolt, who has fallen victim to a mental attack by his mad brother, Maximus, which has deprived him of his memory. Yet unknown to Medusa, Karnak, and Gorgon, Magneto had launched a two-pronged attack by mutant subordinates to capture them all--and while the attack against their group fails, the amnesia-stricken Black Bolt is ambushed and brought before the man who has further plans for him.

The Nameless Ones

 

The Avengers known as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are of course two of Marvel's most classic characters--introduced in 1964 in an issue of The X-Men, which would have the pair closing in on the same sixty-year anniversary that the X-Men will join them in celebrating. Yet as Pietro and his sister, Wanda, step up to the podium and give a speech commemorating their decades of service in Marvel Comics, imagine their introduction going something like this:

"And now, ladies and gentleman, please welcome Wanda and Pietro... uh, Wanda and Pietro..."

In short: Will our bemused presenter have to fumble for a last name for these two, or cut to commercial?

The Scarlet Witch and her brother have been blessed with a number of retellings of their backstory, though the basics are not in dispute--their youth spent as gypsies in Europe, only to come under attack by superstitious villagers who reacted to Wanda's accidental use of her power that caused a number of cottages to erupt in flames. The master of magnetism, Magneto, stepped in and saved their lives from the worked-up townspeople, which unfortunately placed Wanda and her brother in his debt and obligated them to become part of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Yet there was no mention of their parents that day; for a time, we were left to assume that they were orphans. Eventually, however, their parents were introduced to readers--but as it turned out, Wanda and Pietro would have several sets of parents to choose from.

Which is our introduction to another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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Which couples laid claim to the parentage of Wanda and Pietro [INSERT LAST NAME HERE]?

Evil Is(n't) As Evil Does

Before they were Avengers, the mutant brother and sister known as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were cooperative if unwilling members of Magneto's first grouping of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants*, and only because they were obliged to honor the debt that Wanda felt she owed Magneto for once saving her life while in Europe:

*It took awhile for the Brotherhood to actually call themselves "the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" by name--the cover to The X-Men #4 notwithstanding, they were originally only referred to by others as "the evil mutants" or "Magneto and his evil mutants," and didn't formally adopt an actual name for their group until later. (Can YOU recall the first instance when they were tagged in a story as "the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants"?)

While this flashback obviously depicts the superstitious villagers assuming the worst of Wanda, in their defense it does seem as if this woman has deliberately set fire to their homes (her startled cries aside) without cause--nor does a later portrayal of the incident in The Avengers clarify the scene.

However, a later retelling by writer Roger Stern adds some important context, by not only clearly indicating that the damage wasn't intentional on Wanda's part, but also by including Pietro in their obligation to serve Magneto.

And so, not long after Magneto commits acts of incursion on the world stage, he begins gathering other mutants in order to eventually form an army of such beings banded together in his service--evil mutants, as Charles Xavier declares them to be.

With Great Power Comes Great Payback

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

...In The Heat Of Battle!

In 1978, the mutant known as Mesmero successfully carried out a petty scheme which targeted the X-Men--suppressing their memories and forcing them to assume lives as members of a circus troupe. Thanks to Wolverine, who helped his comrades throw off Mesmero's control, the X-Men were on the verge of confronting their foe, when they discovered that someone had beaten them to it.

Capturing the X-Men (and subsequently dealing with Mesmero), Magneto brought the team to his complex hidden beneath a live volcano in the frozen Antarctic wasteland, where he ended the modicum of civility he'd exercised on their journey and began an all-out attack against them.

Its final moments went something like this:

Cyclops is a fine one to talk about coordination and strategy--with the exception of a single optic blast fired at the beginning of the fight, he was virtually missing in action while his team made their uncoordinated attempts to stop Magneto. How about leading your team, sport?

Following his victory lap, Magneto initiates his ultimate plan of revenge against his oldest foes--a living death from which there is no hope of escape.

Which sets the stage for the following issue, and Round Two--taking place in at the bottom of the world far beneath the surface, where no one even realizes that the X-Men are engaged in a struggle for their lives. It would become what many regard as one of the most memorable and classic battles in Marvel's history to this point--and while the issue's cover appears to have already declared the victor, there's also a strong indication that no one may make it out of this fight alive.

A World For The Winning!

You would think that Doctor Doom and the master of magnetism, Magneto, would be like oil and water as far as finding any common ground in joining forces to rule the world, at least as far as their status circa the late 1970s. Magneto's agenda had always circled back to mutant ascendancy, where "homo superior" would be the planet's dominant species and ordinary humans would either submit to their authority or perish--whereas Doom seeks supremacy over all, an absolute ruler in every sense and brooking no challenge to his authority. Yet in the time he was the de facto standard bearer of Super-Villain Team-Up and still dabbling with forming alliances with like-minded men who could further his goals, there were still opportunities to explore situations where Doom might consider a partnership with another in order to consolidate their forces for mutual gain, if only for the short term--and it was probably inevitable that Magneto would find his way into those pages, sooner or later, if the right circumstances could be worked out and produce a credible plot.

At this point in time, Magneto has regained his full power after being restored to adulthood following his encounter with the mutant named Alpha and already had an initial confrontation with the X-Men on Muir Isle. Later (a little over a year, our time), he would have a more pivotal reckoning with the team; but in the interim, he's decided to get back in circulation by taking the shortest path to victory and having his first-ever meeting with Doom, in order to propose an alliance between them and bring the world to heel under their joint rule. The result is a two-part story written by Bill Mantlo which crosses over between two separate titles, beginning in SVTU and concluding in The Champions--a life-or-death struggle that would also draw in the Avengers and the incredible Hulk!

But what Magneto isn't aware of is that Doom has already captured the world--

and there isn't another soul on Earth who realizes it.