“Magneto #1” by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopsis | @MDWorld

March 16, 2014 Marc Fishman 0 Comments

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Jordie Bellaire.

I plucked Magneto #1 from the shelves, much the way the titular mutant wrenched the fillings from his first printed victim on the very first page; I did it essentially on autopilot. Funny though, because I’m not a ‘fan’ of the man. I’m pretty on-record as finding the X-Men microverse to be too deep in continuity to enjoy. The only caveat to that could be Joss Whedon’s run on ‘Astonishing X-Men’ long ago. There, self-contained, with a definitive beginning, I was able to ease in and enjoy a swaree with the mutated menace. With a fresh #1 plastered on it’s beautifully simple Paulo Rivera cover, I felt it was perhaps time to dip my toe into the waters once more in X-Land. I am very happy I did.

Cullen Bunn’s sparse but poignant scripting stands out brilliantly in the issue. Magneto is a man of action, not soliloquy. Bunn clearly knows it, and chooses his words meticulously. Played with the full girth of his continuity in tact, we get a protagonist that need not win us over through snarky wit. If anything, Bunn has delivered twenty-some-odd pages of a man letting you in on his thoughts, and could care less if or how you may judge him. His purpose? With his wavering (or weakened?) powers, and a haircut I can only assume is homage to his dead BFF Charles… Magneto is murdering the murderers of mutant kind. In small towns, with out fuss or grandeur (save perhaps for the final deathblows), he wreaks havoc on those who support the genocide by genome.

The issue itself offers a cursory introduction to Magneto’s best-laid-plans, but is smart to build the world around him well enough. A potentially mysterious motel maid adds depth to what could very well be a lonely book. After reminiscing on his latest kill, Erik makes way to California over an odd case. Smart as a super-villain, he knows the right place and time to unearth the theatrics. His well-played cards are met with an unexpected(ish) battle to round the issue off. We’re left with a mystery to carry us forward. One Magneto himself may or may not be aware of. By and large? It’s pitch-perfect plotting. Not too fast, not too slow.

Art is delivered by a pair of unknown-to-me ink slingers…Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Jordie Bellaire. Walta’s line work is purposefully sketchy and strong. Bellaire’s color palates sway towards monochromatic and murkey. It’s a great combination that elevates the script. Squint over each page, and you see a well-melded finished product. With frequent dashes of paper-like textures, splatter brushes, and high contrasting colors, the book looks perfectly scruffy and polished. Much akin to Hawkeye and She-Hulks’ sparse-yet-hip artistic choices, Magneto joined other solid Marvel titles in celebrating an editorial staff willing to take a risk.

If I may boldly choose to make a tangental rant: Due to my reading of the aforementioned She-Hulk, Hawkeye, and even Superior Spider-Man… I’ve noticed lately that the House of Maus is taking bold and calculated risks in appealing to a more mature audience with their art style. DC in contrast seems to continue to favor the overly slick, photoshopped to tears, Jim-Lee-But-Cheaper house style. As I’m prone to say time and again, it’s a shame when the art does nothing to elevate the words on the page. ‘Magneto’ proved to me that there is still reason to hold on to hope. The music industry has spotify. Television has PBS. Movies have the Art House Cinemas. And comics have themselves. Our medium is one that should never feign reason to play it safe. Nor should it ape similar styles simply because they presume to sell better. At the end of the day, a comic is a mashup of multiple talents that need to work together. When they do? We get the Watchmen. When they don’t? We get anything by Rob Liefeld.

But I digress.

‘Magneto #1’ was slick, sly, and smooth. It proved to me that the X-Franchises can balance their multitude of magnificent events with smartly spartan concepts. Bunn’s Erik Lehnsherr is played straight, stoic, and simmering. With carefully chosen scripting paired with beautifully ugly artwork? We get a fully realized hero, villain, terrorist, and savior. Even if you think this book isn’t for you, I’d recommend giving it a shot. That is, of course, if he hasn’t pulled the bullets out from your clip already.