Magneto #6 – Review

By: Cullen Bunn (writer), Javier Fernandez (artist), Dan Brown (color artist)

The Story: The Marauders; or, The Modern Prometheus.

The Review: If you’re like me and have, at some point, sought a summary of the complicated mess that is X-Men continuity you’ve probably heard of the Marauders. The villains of the highly successful 1986 crossover “Mutant Massacre”, the Marauders name has long carried connotations of power and sheer black-hearted villainy. The group decimated the peaceful Morlocks, nearly killed Kitty Pryde, forced Colossus to kill before paralyzing him, and cost Angel his wings. The massacre of the Morlocks was long held up as one of the few long-lasting tragedies of the Marvel universe, before finally being eclipsed by bigger and more recent events like the destruction of Genosha or M-Day.

The Marauders have escaped true retribution thanks to their fairly unique ability to be cloned back to life by Mister Sinister, but Magneto’s decided to change that. What follows is a roaring rampage of death and destruction through the ranks of the Marauders that highlights just how vicious Magneto can be when properly motivated. As Bunn introduces a weapon so natural for Magneto that it’s almost shocking that it hasn’t become a staple of the character, Erik whispers, “I discovered how it could be used to slip past your defenses[…]the third time I killed you.”

Though we’ve been conditioned to only acknowledge the elements of violence actively considered by the story, it’s hard to overlook just how frightening Magneto is here. In one of the most interesting lines of the issue, Bunn affirms that there is no continuity between the different lives of the Marauders. While I’m personally fascinated by what changes and remains consistent between clones, this moment humanizes some of the worst that Marvel’s mutants have to offer and reminds us that each time Magneto catches up with them it is murder.

The way I describe it there, the issue sounds a bit like torture porn, and maybe it is. Nevertheless, while the book has more than earned the small parental advisory notice on its front cover Cullen Bunn does have a method to his madness. Bunn uses Magneto’s monologues to distract not only from the gruesome deeds his protagonist commits but from the dramatic arc he’s crafting throughout the issue.

Secret Invasion #7 (of 8) – Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Leinil Yu (Pencils), Mark Morales (Inker), Laura Martin, and Emily Warren (Colorists)

The Story: The penultimate chapter of the Secret Invasion is all about the action. Heroes and villains from throughout the Marvel universe come together for an epic battle against the Skrull army. But this isn’t just a straight forward fight, the final seeds planted months ago by writer Brian Bendis finally come to fruition.

What’s (very) Good: The action. The artwork here is absolutely phenomenal. Each panel packs a punch and it seems as though every character involved in the fight gets a chance to shine. There is a LOT going on in this comic and the art team pulls it off spectacularly. As far as action goes, this is one epic fight that manages to live up to the hype. Hats of to Leinil Yu for delivering the goods!

What’s Not So Good: The dialogue. I know that I may sound a bit too critical here, but most of the battlefield dialogue just simply doesn’t work for me. The banter and catch-phrases, while (admittedly) fun, take away from the seriousness and scope of the battle at hand. I held on to some hope that the encounter would somehow be able to transcend above its summer blockbuster status, but it doesn’t. It is all very fun, but considering how seriously some of this story has been taken, I can’t help but feel the tone is a bit off. It just seems like some of the characters involved are having way too much fun.

Conclusion: For all out Marvel superhero action, you really can’t get much better than this. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not. Whether that is a positive or a negative is up to you, the reader, to decide.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

A Second Opinion

As short-changed as some might feel, this book doesn’t need the dialogue. Why? Because there’s really not much of a story here. It’s a full blown brawl fest — Marvel porn at its finest. Finally… finally some of those New Avengers and Mighty Avengers stories that were dismissed as “throwaways” make sense and carry more weight. The concept of Wasp being chosen to be the doomsday weapon is a bit silly, though. And why only infect her when you can infect others as a contingency plan? That logic throws me off a bit, but whatever. This once dreaded invasion is showing signs of fatigue. At least I now know why Marvel released that Marvel Boy hardcover a couple of weeks back.

At this point I just want this series to be over.

Grade: C

– J. Montes