One of Marvel’s best ongoing X-books comes to an end today with the arrival of Resurrection of Magneto #4. Al Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, David Curiel, Jesus Aburtov, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Jordan D. White bring the limited series to a close. At the same time, this final installment brings Magneto and Storm back from the realms beyond and into the fight for mutantkind’s survival.
There’s an argument to be made that issues #1-3 of Resurrection of Magneto form a complete journey and that the finale is more akin to an action-packed epilogue. There are structural consistencies with its preceding installments, such as tarot imagery as a motif and the POV shift back to Max Eisenhardt for the even-number issue. However, where #1-3 function as their own story, #4 puts Magneto’s arc to the test, as well as serves as necessary connective tissue between this finale and the character’s return to the Marvel Universe proper. Confronted with his complexities and contradictions, the Master of Magnetism has come to accept all that he is and chart a new path forward; here is where those noble intentions are put to the test.
Not only does the story ask Magneto who he is now that he’s returned to life, Max himself is asking the same question, framing it as “which hat should I wear?” Represented visually with three iconic helmets of Mags’ past, this query is just the tip of the iceberg. Is this a Magneto who kills? Is this a Magneto who saves? Is this a Magneto who pays the price for his actions or finds them heaped on the heads of others? Throwing himself in the face of the nearest Orchis station and Stark Sentinel, Magneto very quickly arrives at his answer.
Rage has always been Magneto’s response to fascism, but that rage has been supplanted by ego or suppressed into self-destruction in the past. Though returning to life was like waking from a dream, there is a clarity to Magneto’s revitalized internal ethic: his rage is just, and to honor it properly is to save as many as he can, mutant and human alike. He will kill fascists when he must, but even in death, he will not diminish their shared humanity. Committing to change, to growth while remaining true to one’s self is already a big choice in the ethereal realms of the afterlife, but fleshing out how that character is put into practice in the real world is another beast entirely. Ewing and his team deserve so much praise for walking such a difficult line.
Marvel Comics
Since Chris Claremont’s arrival to the franchise, the X-Men have been steeped in political storytelling. But among his mutant peers, Magneto is a character whose very core is political, as a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust only to find himself marginalized further due to his mutanthood. Perhaps it’s fitting then, that the final issue of his current series is the most openly didactic throughout Max’s meditations on power, strength, and the weakness of fascism. As this internal monologue proceeds alongside the action, the most surprising new side of Magneto is not how he kills Squad Zero, or saves the human pro-mutant activists, but how he forges a circuit with Storm and Blue Marvel. Decentering his work as part of a larger fight back against fascism, the human-mutant collaboration required is more than Charles’ assimilation or Magnus’ separatism could’ve imagined.
If the issue has any weaknesses, it’s that the series is not ongoing. With a surprising economy of pages, both Ewing and Vecchio have done stellar work with their titular character. Ultimately, this issue has to solidify the argument they have made about who Max Eisenhardt is now that he’s returned while also leaving him behind for future creators. Among the chaos of the Fall of the House of X/Rise of the Powers of X era, this series has been a gem and will be sorely missed.
I’ve touched on Vecchio’s contributions to issue #4 a bit, but the work he executes in collaboration with Curiel and Aburtov is spectacular. Page one reimagines The Magician while the final splash homages The World, and both incorporate the arcana into this issue beautifully. The way Magneto kills Squad Zero is bloodcurdling and a genius act of restraint to only visualize the result. So much more praise is due, but I cannot move on without also spotlighting the elegant redesign of Magneto’s classic helmet. Rather than simply adapting it to the artists’ sensibilities, the new appearance is integral to the story being told: Magneto is taking the old pieces of himself and magically synthesizing them into something new yet quintessentially Magneto.
In the Grand Finale of Krakoa, Resurrection of Magneto #4 is a can’t-miss finish to a superb series. Rich storytelling is matched with artists at the top of their game to answer the question of who the Master of Magnetism has become in his return to the land of the living. It’s the kind of comic that’s great from start to finish and is more rewarding with each reappraisal–go get it now!
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