Thoughts

From an X-men perspective, this is a pretty light issue. The X characters get pretty much all ko’d at the start of the issue’s opening battle. After that the main developments seem to be dialogue to “explain” the illustration error in Issue 1 that saw Xavier back in the wheelchair. And Colossus to point out the absence of Lockheed.

(of course the presence of Lockheed in the first place raises the issue of how he got there. Checking the earlier issue, he’s not with the X-men we see taken in the park. But then neither is Rogue. Ultimately i think it’s probably best not to think about how this works too much)

But while the X-characters take a bit of a back seat, Shooter seems to have a lot of time for Magneto. We see Magneto begin to make his own plans while stuck on the world. We also see Doom do the same. Indeed it really feels like Shooter is far more interested in these strong-willed anti-hero types than most of the heroes.

Magneto’s storyline here treads a fine line between the way Claremont had started writing the character and the villainous bluster he was guilty of in early appearances. Magneto has a plan here and it *might* not be an evil plan. But it requires him riding roughshod over what the heroes might try to do.

I say it treads a fine line but the more i think about it the more it strays from that line into the old school. There’s not the element of honour or genuine grievance that Claremont has been layering into the character.

BUT this isn’t such a huge disappointment because for both Magneto and Doom I quite like Shooter’s take. These are great, flawed genius men. Who are presented as being the most able to thrive in a world like this one. And it makes me intrigued as to whether they might.