Magneto vol. 1: Infamous

Only keeping up with “Uncanny X-Men” in paperback form means that I’m not aware of the circumstances which have led to the title character splitting off from Cyclops’ group.  This development is not surprising, however, given Magneto’s uncompromising mindset and it makes for an engaging read in this new series from writer Cullen Bunn and artists Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Javier Fernandez.  Still depowered as a result of the events from “Avengers vs. X-Men,” the mutant who could once lift an asteroid into space is now residing under an assumed name in a low-rent motel.  From there, he tracks down those responsible for crimes against mutants and makes them pay with the powers he has.  The guilty parties include a group of human separatists using cobbled-together Omega Sentinel tech, the anti-mutant religious fanatics known as the Purifiers, and the Marauders — perpetrators of the “Mutant Massacre” from way back in the day.

Essentially, Bunn has fashioned Magneto into mutantkind’s answer to the Punisher and it’s a good fit for the character.  Both share the same uncompromising worldview in their missions while their methods show them to have become like the men who created them.  The difference between the two is that while Frank Castle has embraced that last bit, in the sense that he’s never going to stop killing, Erik Lehnsherr appears to be blind to it.  It’s a great example of dramatic irony as we can see the parallels between his cold-blooded killing of a human thug with the Nazi officer who killed one of his friends and start to wonder how far down this path he’ll go before he experiences a reckoning with his mindset.

The writer doesn’t forget that this is a book set within the confines of the Marvel Universe.  In addition to the use of Sentinels, Purifiers and the Marauders, he also comes up with a number of clever showcases for Magneto’s powers.  Sometimes they’re subtle, such as how he forces a paperclip up a woman’s arm to force her compliance when he does to take down the Sentinels.  Other times are more dramatic, in the case of how he creates a storm of metallic objects after walking into a police station holding a person who killed a mutant.  Bunn also keeps these actions well within the character’s “depowered” state and that works to his advantage here.  Seeing Magneto take down the Marauders while almost passing out from the strain wouldn’t have been as dramatic if he could’ve done the act just by snapping his fingers with his previous power level.

Walta and Fernandez are also in sync with the writer’s street-level approach to the character and his world.  Both artists make sure every issue has a gritty, lived-in look to it that serves as a reminder that the stakes — while intensely personal — are small like the book’s scale.  It should be noted that Walta, in particular, is very good at nailing this approach while also making it work in scenes that are more obviously part of the superhero genre.  There is no reason for Magneto to form his trademark helmet out of the materials at hand in the police station, but it makes for a great visual along with the carnage of the scene.  Fernandez’s style is less refined and a bit more exaggerated than I think is right for this series.  Ultimately, his work does maintain enough stylistic consistency with Walta’s to make it acceptable on balance.

It’s hard to call “Magneto” a superhero book in spite of all its trappings from the Marvel Universe.  Bunn has given us a good start to a detailed character study of one of that universe’s most complex antiheroes.  You can sympathize with what he’s doing to a certain extent, but there’s always something in his actions to give the reader pause and prevent us from fully embracing them.  Then you’ve got the woman who shows up in issue five who wants to help him in his crusade, except that she’s got a secret of her own that makes her motives highly suspect for us.  This isn’t the kind of book for anyone who is looking to read about big superhero action.  If you’re looking for a great take on the X-Men’s most notable antagonist/frenemy then you’ll find a lot to like here.