Magneto has been dead for nearly a year and a half of publication, only lingering on the page through foreboding dreams and the impassioned grief of those who knew him. Though still dead, Max Esienhardt returns to center stage once more in this week’s Resurrection of Magneto #2. Al Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, David Curiel, Jesus Aburtov, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Jordan D. White masterfully weave this installment together, showing us what the Master of Magnetism has made of his judgment.
In terms of plotting, RoM #2 is quite simple: Storm arrives in the Sphere of Judgment to find Magneto ruminating on his past sins. Aggressively resistant to being resurrected, Max lashes out only to be confronted with the pain he has visited upon himself and the mercy he brought to so many others. Paired with the dire news Ororo has brought him about the state of mutantkind, Magneto is ready to walk the road back to life. Together, the pair move forward into deeper, darker realms. Even compared to the previous issue, this plot is more self-contained and straightforward, and that is a strength. A stripped-back plot opens up so much more room for the issue to play with style and form so that its content truly sings.
RoM #2 continues the premiere issue’s usage of tarot imagery, though with less frequency. The opening page greets us with a rendition of the High Priestess. It initiates a scene previously teased by Hickman, but also introduces the theme of spirituality for the man who “turned my back on God forever.” The other more oblique reference to the major arcana arrives on the final page, as Storm and Magneto stand before the Shadow King in a blend of the Hierophant and the Devil. Playing with the tarot–often in conjunction with the Kabbalah–is not new territory for Ewing or even this series, but it’s only one aspect of the literary moves at play in this issue.
It’s been said that Magneto is the most famous Jewish fictional character of all time. Despite not practicing Judaism since childhood, Max Eisenhardt’s identity is deeply shaped by his Jewishness. In a clever stroke of binding the issue’s form and content, RoM #2 is full of nods to Jewish culture. Of course, the previous issue used elements of the Kabbalah, a Jewish mystical tradition, but Ewing and his collaborators go even further as the book shifts to Magneto’s point of view.
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The entire issue is built around a loose chiastic structure; a literary technique used several times across the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. The first and final pages each reference the tarot as Magneto and a companion engage with a dark, mysterious figure. As Max then faces all those who have died because of him, so too is he made to witness the countless lives he had a hand in saving. All of this surrounds the core of the issue, Magneto’s argument with Storm. Hand in hand with the structure, much of Magneto’s dialogue and internal monologue is rooted in his Jewish upbringing. Max declares, “to save one life is to save the world, my teachers said,” directly referencing the Mishnah, the collected teachings of Jewish oral traditions.
The Book of Judges is the most impactful element of Judaism in Magneto’s reflection. Max is located in the Sphere of Judgement, but on top of that, it’s clear that he views his time on Krakoa as not unlike that of the leaders of Biblical Israel. Ruminating on his time on the Quiet Council, where he condemned fellow Krakoans to the Pit and conspired with Toad to take the fall for the Scarlet Witch’s murder, he judges himself a failure. Thankfully, Ororo is there to inspire Magneto to return to life for the chance to avenge and atone.
A large part of this issue features Magneto in the same setting, in a small range of poses, making similar expressions, and often solitary in his panels. However, Vecchio, Curiel, and Aburtov never let it feel dull or repetitive. Of course, the grander departures from the main plot such as the Sea Witch, the Hellfire Gala summary, and the Shadow King add gorgeous variety to the issue. Even still, every glimpse of Magneto’s eyeless, bloodstained face remains as haunting as the first.
Resurrection of Magneto #2 shows that this series is not just an all-timer Storm story but for the Master of Magnetism as well. Acknowledging the strengths and the flaws of its two leads, this issue expertly balances the plot with accepting Magneto and all of the multitudes that comprise him. Do not miss out on reading this book.
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