UNCANNY X-MEN #304: ...For What I Have Done (Fatal Attractions)

The X-Men fight Magneto for a change!

Originally Published September 1993

We begin on the not-so-yellow submarine where the Acolytes live. You remember the Acolytes, right? An unspecified number of mutant individuals who worship Magneto basically as a God. Which is all well and good, you know, live and let live, other than the murders thry commit on Magneto's name. But besides that, they're happy with their lifestyle, except for the tiny fact thaf their leader, the Fabian Cortez, has a secret: he's the one who was responsible for Magneto's death a few months back.

Now, I don't know if there are other religious sects out there that may have faced this "redheaded disciple betrays spiritual leader" conundrum, and how it may have worked out for that guy if so, but so far, Cortez has been keeping that little factoid a closely-guarded secret so as to not lose his power base. Let's see how that's playing out:

Oopsie! Looks like someone spilled the beans.

And that someone is... this guy! 

Who is this, you ask? Why, this is Exodus, a name to know. And much like the Acolytes, Exy here is a big Magneto fan, but unlike most of the Acolytes, he's actually met the guy and takes his orders direct from the big M. He simultaneously loves the drama of revealing that Fabian left Magneto for dead and enjoys putting on a blasé "over it" attitude about it all. He's here to scoop up the Acolytes -- even including Cortez, to be nice -- and bring them to Magneto's latest base... although he hints that Fabian might not be long for this world anyway.

In Westchester, Professor Xavier is feeling down, staring himself in the mirror and wondering what it's all about, following the tragic death of Illyana Rasputin. His old gal pal Lilandra appears via hologram to try to give him a pep talk...

But ultimately, she can't dispossess him of the notion that his is a lonely life of loss.

And speaking of lonely, we see someone watching from above.

Yes, in the worst-kept surprise in the history of comics, Magneto is finally back again, after numerous flashing neon signs for our benefit reading "Magneto is coming!"

Magnus is currently squatting on a commandeered space station (formerly Cable's, as seen in Magneto's early-bird return in X-Force's Fatal Attraction). He has Christened it "Avalon," intending for it to be a haven for all the mutants who would follow him. As he reflects, we are treated to a nifty Jae Lee-drawn flashback to his younger days, in fact to the very day he became "Magneto," when his daughter Anya was killed and he was unable to stop it. 

His powers -- delayed in developing until adulthood -- manifested, killing nearly a whole town, and then causing him to deliberately slay the remaining men who pursued him.

Basically, Magneto is back, and this time he's convinced that he has to protect people from the delusions that Charles has put into their head, using the number of fallen mutants under his care as proof.

Down on Earth, Kitty finds Piotr burning his artwork, a symbolic embrace of oblivion in the wake of losing his entire family in the last several weeks to three separate, unrelated tragedies. The guy is just... done, and frankly I don't blame him. He needs serious grief counseling.

Before Illyana's funeral, Bishop and Banshee have a few words, wherein Bish tips Bansh off that he is supposed to end up as the custodian of the next generation of mutants. Banshee shrugs it off -- he things that Bishop may be from a future, but nae his future, since Bishop's world is a world of hopelessness and despair and if that was what lay ahead for the X-Men, then they would be fools to keep going on the way they do.

Sure they're nae.

At the funeral, Storm eulogizes Illyana, emphasizing her complicated path from Innocence to Demonic Experience and back again, summarizing it by basically just saying "Live every day to the fullest."

Enjoy every sandwich

Afterward, Colossus has words for Xavier, reflecting on all the darkness that has encroached on his life since leaving the Ust-Ordynski Collective on Lake Baikal, Siberia back in Giant-Size X-Men #1

Xavier, who you'll recall is having a low moment of his own, concurs -- actually I did make your life suck. But before they can get much further, we get a Will Farrell-style funeral crasher:

Magneto's back bitches, and he's here to monologue and kick ass!

He offers the X-Men a place at Avalon, but just in case they're not into it, he's also brought the Acolytes to rough them up. The X-Men are briefly surprised that Magneto was able to smuggle the Acolytes onto the mansion grounds, but they determine that the reason he can do that is because reasons.

Oh yes of course, the powers of Magneto

Cyclops notes of course that Wolverine charging claws-first into Magneto is a bad idea. Which I guess I never thought of before, I wonder if that will come up again.

The Acolytes are excited to be serving Magneto directly, and Magneto points out that they killed some innocent humans recently, which he would have put his seal of approval on if they had asked him, but they didn't ask him (because they thought he was dead) and so Magneto expresses his displeasure by killing Senyaka.

Yeesh, imagine having this guy as your manager

Magneto has a line to express just how rational he is these days by pointing out that he didn't kill Senyaka, he freed him... from life.

He then reiterates how great it would be if everyone moved in with him and followed his every word.

How can you not want to live with this guy?

Magneto brings Avalaon down for everyone to get a good look at. It is a giant space station that is hovering 50 feet above the ground and I feel like that should be big news but it's just another day for the X-Men who get to their X-Manning.

Charles is alarmed that Avalon appears to be loaded with Shi'ar tech that Magneto must have plundered during his time at the mansion, and Magneto talks about how stupid it was that he was ever a good guy who was in charge of the New Mutants and that whoever came up with that idea was clearly an idiot who should have been fired.

He also demonstrates that he did not fully "get" the meaning of the plot twist in X-Men #3 where it turns out Magneto was never brain-washed or mind-controlled or influenced in any way by Moira because mutants are "impervious" to mind-control (after a fashion) and repeats the disproven line that he was manipulated, preferring to trumpet a false narrative in a way that echoes certain modern political movements.

Charles and Magneto go on and on in debate, with the Prof daring to call this holocaust survivor a modern day Hitler and Magneto selling Avalon as the only alternative to everyone dying of the Legacy Virus. Meanwhile the X-Men work to supercharge Bishop's powers.

He flashes Magneto

It doesn't do much damage though and Magneto continues with his business. Rogue tries to steal a kiss (and his powers/energy) but as usual, it doesn't work when he's in Final Boss Mode.

The X-Men unleash a combo attack on Magneto, but it's ill-thought out. Mags' powers are what is holding Avalon together and in place above Westchester: the more they fight him, the less he can focus on keeping it together, which poses a risk of unthinkable devastation.

And what's worse, Colossus has had some time to think, and...

Ah, a punch! Bishop's one weakness!

That's right, Colossus has turned coat and decided that Magneto's making a lot of sense these days. He zips up to Avalon, with Magneto about to join, but Xavier stops him. In an intense showdown (which leaves time and energy for a lot more back and forth about the nature of their ideals) Xavier mentally commandeers Magneto's powers and hurls Avalon into space.

He falls back to earth. Having not had the intestinal fortitude to take Magneto's life, he knows this war is far from over.

Further Thoughts:

This is what a big epic X-Men issue looks like in 1993. It's maximum comics: big feelings, big ideas, big speeches, big powers filling every inch of page, of which there are 45, meaning we get a rotation of artists filling in the gaps between John Romita Jr.'s work. Also a hologram card on the cover! Buy two! One to read, one to use as a down payment on a house in twenty years!

I don't think it's a great comic -- it buckles under the weight of too much long-winded Magneto moments that tip deeply into the cliches of how everyone thinks of mad supervillains in comics and a pretty messy fight scene -- but it feels like a big moment, partly because of the way Mags' powers have been magnified, his ideas have been radicalized, and the stakes have been ratcheted up. More is more, and this comic does exactly what it needs to do. What really sells it is the defection of Colossus -- Pete has been struggling with the everythingness of being an X-Man for some time now and the world has put a lot on his shoulders, so it's only natural, if still shocking, that he would turn away after all that.

If it's not the apex of craft, it's certainly a lot of comic, which is the best of both worlds as far as this blog is concerned. The rotating roster of artists wasn't so distracting -- deploying the stylistically singular Jae Lee to do the Magneto flashback was chef's kiss and while you can always tell when John Romita Jr. is or isn't the one drawing a page these days (a far cry from when he modified his style to ape Paul Smith back in Uncanny #175) the other styles don't clash badly.

So, how do you feel about crazed madman Magneto? This is the most bloodthirsty incarnation of the character we've ever seen and is clearly intended as an over-correction to the kinder, gentler Magneto we saw in the 80's, even standing in contrast to the conflicted but desperate man we saw in X-Men #1-3. This character is at the peak of comic book supervillainy, stripped of some of the nuance of his ideas and tactics, unleashed on anyone who ever looked sideways at him. It's a different take, perhaps a less valid one to some, and an indicator that as comic writers come and go, sometimes our favourite characters get tossed around on the tides.