MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
WRITER: Cullen Bunn
ART: Gabriel Hernandez Walta
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
COVER: Paolo Rivera
VARIANT COVERS: John Cassaday, Mike Del Mundo; Gurihiru, Skottie Young
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2014)
Parental Advisory
When The X-Men #1 debuted in 1963 (cover date: September 1963), this comic book first issue introduced Professor Charles Xavier a/k/a “Professor X” and his small circle of students: Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Warren Worthington III, Henry “Hank” McCoy, and Bobby Drake. Prof. X and his students were “mutants,” people born with genetic mutations that gave them abilities far beyond those of normal humans.
The five students had code names: respectively, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, The Angel, Beast, and Iceman. They were the X-Men, a band of costumed adventurers who protected normal mutants from the deprivations of evil mutants, while trying to foster peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans.
The X-Men #1 also introduced an evil mutant, Magneto, the master of magnetism. Wielding his awesome powers that, among other things, allowed him to control and manipulate metal objects, Magneto became the X-Men's arch-nemesis – their chief adversary. Over time, however, Magneto would become, on occasion, an ally and even a member of the X-Men.
Magneto, I believe, is the most complex and interesting super-villain in the world of Marvel Comics. He has been the star of his own comic book series, and earlier this year, Marvel's All-New Marvel NOW! publishing initiative offered the debut of a new comic book series, Magneto, written by Cullen Bunn, drawn by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, colored by Jordie Bellaire, and lettered by Cory Petit.
Magneto #1 opens in Cape Girardean, Missouri, where a witness to a murder committed by Magneto recounts the terrible experience to the police. Meanwhile, Magneto is in Beloit, Kansas plotting the next move in his series of attacks against those who persecute mutants. He knows that powerful forces are monitoring of his activities and are setting traps, but he is not aware of everyone watching him...
The easiest way to describe the new Magneto comic book series is to recall one of the most acclaimed X-Men films, 2011's X-Men: First Class. Early in the film, Magneto (played by actor Michael Fassbender) embarks on a search-and-destroy mission aimed at his Nazi concentration camp tormentors. Basically, writer Cullen Bunn takes that Magneto and reworks the character a bit in order to feature him in a solo series set firmly in the Marvel Universe. In fact, artist Paolo Rivera's striking cover art for Magneto #1 recalls Fassbender's Magneto, but without any hair on his head.
I like this new Magneto comic book. Walta's art has a crime comic aesthetic similar to the work of Edward Risso in DC Comics' 100 Bullets series and Darwyn Cooke in the Parker graphic novels. Bunn's script even recalls hard-boiled, pulp fiction that featured hard, edgy, dangerous men who deliver justice, cold and without mercy or remorse. I think I will follow this series for awhile.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
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