Thoughts

After the last issue’s cliffhanger, this issue is effectively Magneto outlining his plan for revenge and seemingly triumphing. It covers a lot of exposition, rehashing the tale of how Magneto was turned into an infant, and then how that was reversed. How he tracked down the X-men and how he now has them where he wants them.

As a result its a surprinsing wordy issue given that the plot is effectively Magneto takes on the New X-men and wins. Again. The fight is pretty basic here, each of the X-men step up in turn and try and take down Magneto – but then its pretty much established that these heroes are trained enough to know any differently. Cyclops is fully aware that they can’t win. And they don’t.

If you want a good idea of one of the things I love about comics this panel is a good summary – a fairground wagon controlled by an Evil Villain flies halfway round the world to his evil volcano lair. You don’t get that in most stories, and it looks visually stunning.

It’s an effectively journey from one cliffhanger to another surprisingly similar one. Yet again the X-men seem at the mercy of Magneto. But now the detail of his revenge has been outlined, a very creative revenge that promises a fascinating next issue.

Fun Panel

In the background of this panel – if you are keen eyed and quick-witted you might, just might, spot Magneto cleverly shadowing The Beast in a not-at-all-obvious manner. No wonder nobody in the circus battered an eyelid.

Any Googling

Footnotes tell us that since the X-men last encountered Magneto he’s had a run-in with Captain America and the Champions. Neither of them are Claremont stories, so I’m in no real rush to track them down. Although the synopsis of the Captain America annual seems bewildering. In it Magneto assembles a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants comprised of “Burner, Lifter, Peepers, Shocker and Slither” (no, me neither) in order to kidnap two mutants. Their target consists of Mr Two, a normal sized person who keeps Mr One in his wristwratch. By contrast to this insanity, Champions 16 which sees Beast team up with Magneto to try and defeat Doctor Doom in a plot involving hypnogas seems quite sane.

None More Claremont

“The Gentleman’s Name is Magneto” gets another outing in this issue. I have absolutely no idea why Claremont is so attached to it.