A trade paperback that collects the entire Magneto War story arc, including the X-Men: Magneto War one-shot, X-Men #85-87, and Uncanny X-Men #366-367. Also reprints Magneto Rex, a three-issue limited series follow-up to Magneto War.
By 1999 Magneto had been in mothballs for six years – since late in 1993, when Professor Xavier wiped his memory in the confrontation that left Wolverine sans his adamantium skeleton.
In comics, six years is a long time – long enough that half a generation of new readers weren't acquainted with the X-Men's most legendary nemesis. Meanwhile, the X-writers had introduced Joseph, either a de-aged Magneto or a clone of the same.
Magneto: Rogue Nation collects the two storylines that resolved that pair of issues – reintroducing Magneto to readers, and resolving Joseph's arc. By necessity, the trade paperback covers a lot of ground already tread in prior Magneto stories. However, as a whole the collection does manage to add some new facets to this classic foe.
Story & Script
The first portion of this collection is The Magneto War story arc, consisting of two introductory issues and a four-issue crossover. The six issues are plotted and written by Alan Davis and Fabian Nicieza, featuring a team of Professor X, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Marrow, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Colossus.
The introductory issues - X-Men #85 and the Magneto War one-shot – are perfunctory stories with an editorial goal of reintroducing Magneto and his Acolytes to newer readers. Neither story gives the X-Men very much to do, and both cover a lot of ground that will be well-known to those who read X-books from the late 80s to '93. Magneto is written more as an unstable madman than a deluded demagogue, and if this is your introduction to him he'll seem pretty shallow.
The four issues of the actual crossover are much stronger. Magneto holds the entire world hostage to a massive electro-magnetic pulse wave that is slowly spreading across the planet. The X-Men can't seem to stop him, and the United Nations is loathe to bargain with a despot … but they might not have any choice.
The story isn't much of a “war,” and if you go in expecting that kind of action you'll be sorely disappointed. There is none of the desperate battles of Magneto's struggles with the X-Men on Asteroid M. The arc is more of an illustration of how fear and hatred both fuel Magneto's rage and form the foundation of his victory.
Magneto engages in just two fights (one in flashback), and the X-Men mostly square off against b-list Acolytes. That said, though the scale of action isn't epic, it's brisk and well-written. Davis puts some thought behind what the X-Men do in battle – it's not a cascade of aimless punches and slashes, but a logic problem of whose power to apply where. It's a treat to see him work through different power combinations, and especially a relief for Colossus to act as something other than a battering ram.
The downside is the handling of the Joseph story. Without spoiling too much, his origin is explained via an extremely poorly written character – Astra – who acts as both a deus es machina and a tremendous retcon. If she was written as a classic, canny villain she'd be bearable, but the writing team never find the right tone for her villainous monologuing.
If you read X-Men #1-3 in 1991 the end of the Magneto War will seem familiar – again, Magneto and the team are at an impasse, with Magneto controlling his own sanctuary for mutants. In this case the sanctuary is Genosha rather than Asteroid M, which is what leads to the Magneto Rex limited series – a three-issue glimpse into Magneto taking power in the war-torn nation.
Rex is the weaker half of the collection. Though the idea of telling the story of Magneto's takeover is intriguing, writer Joe Pruett doesn't do anything of consequence in the trio of issues. Instead, we get a mutant-of-the-week rebel trying in vain to usurp Magneto, and a sappy Rogue who doesn't seem capable of doing anything – whether it's talking sense into Magneto or fending for herself while rescuing his son Quicksilver. By the final issue you realize the entire series was a waste of time and paper – there's no major story or character developments within.
Artwork
The pencils in this volume are mostly the work of three hands – Alan Davis on X-Men, Leinil Yu on Uncanny, and Brandon Peterson on Magneto Rex (Lee Weeks chips in serviceable art for the one-shot).
Alan Davis makes nearly every page worthwhile – he has a strong sense of these characters, and with few exceptions (Marrow, sometimes Rogue) he draws beautiful versions of them. His Magneto is devilishly handsome and full of power.
Yu is generally strong, and delivers some beautiful spreads and definitive illustrations (particularly Wolverine). However, sometimes his inkers seem to be getting in the way of his art, lining his detail work too heavily.
Brandon Peterson, who has been worth seeing on Uncanny in the past, bombs on Magneto Rex. His Magneto is obscenely over-muscled, his characters are consistently awkward, and it takes him two issues to draw any two women differently from each other.
Bottom Line
Is this collection essential? No and yes.
If you already have a sense of who Magneto is, this book is going to seem very repetitive to you, and Davis's pencils alone aren't going to save it. No major introductions or deaths, and you can sum up the entire thing as “Magneto holds the world hostage and receives Genosha as ransom.”
However, this volume sets up the building blocks of all of Magneto's stories through House of M, including The Twelve, Eve of Destruction, the entire Grant Morrison run of New X-Men, and the subsequent Excalibur (vol. 2).
As of August 2010 Magneto: Rogue Nation is out of print, and you aren't likely to find it for less than twenty dollars. For that price, this is essential only for TPB completists (like me) and major Magneto fans.
Otherwise, I think you should take a pass – at least until it's reprinted.
