Magneto: Not A Hero #1

Can I just say that I LOVE Magneto lately? When he went all “good guy” I was a little skeptical to say the least. Like “Didn’t we already do this once before?” But no we haven’t! He may be one of the X-men now and dutifully following Cyclops’ orders, but he really isn’t all THAT changed from his super villain days. It’s not like last time he joined the team and he suddenly became this new and improved good person with feelings and a heart. NOT EVEN CLOSE. No he is still a hardcore mutant advocate and borderline human hater, but he is at least willing now to accept that his methods and goals were not working and Cyclops had accomplished (for the most part) what he tried for years to do. He showed us his disdain for “ordinary humans” in no uncertain terms with the way he dealt with Iron Man in this issue. “The Invincible Rubber Man” is a classic line from a character not really known for his sense of humor and “I’ve entertained you human long enough” tells us that he really has changes his mindset that much since Asteroid M fell and Genosha was leveled. But that was far from the only stellar part of this issue.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love X-leader Emma Frost over Hellfire Club White Queen any day of the week, but I never get enough of these issues where we see glimpses of the old Emma. Whether it’s Danger over in Astonishing X-men or Magneto in this issue, every mutant knows that if you need help with something shady and underhanded (not to mention keep it secret) AND you want the sanction of a high ranking X-man, you go to Ms. Frost for help. But Magneto was right…the students don’t fear her, they respect her and her experience and her power. These are all the makings of every hardass teacher (that you probably hated) that ever helped you when you needed it. And even without her telepathy, there is no getting ANYTHING past her. Whether it’s a student or its Scott or Magneto, she knows when she’s being buttered up and she’s not interested. But she’s always up for a glass of wine and some playful banter (at the other person’s expense of course…

And then of course there’s the pay off at the end. JOSEPH. I’ll be real honest here…I did NOT see that coming in the slightest! Forget his deformed “Brotherhood” cronies surrounding him, just the fact that he has returned after almost 15 years is astounding enough. Now last time around, Magneto was still evil and Joseph, his poor clone, was trying his hardest to be an X-man and atone for, what he thought were, his crimes. This time I’m not so sure though. The real Magneto has somewhat mended his ways and now Joseph, by all appearances, is going around murdering people. Also, and this could just be how it was drawn, Astra didn’t look deformed to me like the rest of the brotherhood was. Is it possible that she’s also back and in cahoots with Joseph or is she a deformed version of herself like the rest and it just wasn’t as obvious? There is definitely more to this story then meets the eye but the writers of this ReGenesis spin off have definitely caught my attention with this one.

I know in my reviews I usually have at least one section where I complain about the stuff I didn’t like but I have to say, I loved it all! From the fighting with Iron Man and Captain America and Iron Man somewhat inappropriate (but hilarious) jokes with each other to Magneto’s Emma-guided tour through the magnetic mindscape this issue was fantastic through and through.