Trial of Magneto #1 review and spoiler discussion

[teapartyofthedead]

Well, it didn’t look like anyone was going to make this thread, so I did. It’s pretty rough, but I hope this will do as a synopsis of what happened.

It opens with a quote from Wanda herself:” Immortality is just a life sentence with a more pleasant veneer. Everlasting life is terrestrial purgatory.” So now we know what Wanda thinks of immortality, and even what she may think of being brought back by the resurrection protocols.

As per the preview, X-Factor is trying to carry out the a crime scene investigation and autopsy. Rachel and Daken are in the field following Wanda’s footsteps and scent to determine what went down, while X-Force trudges along. Prodigy and Eye Boy are conducting the autopsy while Beast looks over their shoulder. Together, they determine that Wanda was attacked and fled from someone who supernaturally used metal to bind her arms. This attacker then came up behind her to use one arm to hook around her throat and the other hand to push her head forward to restrict airflow until death. They believe this happened at 2:56 am, even though we see Wanda and Magneto dancing together at 3:17 am in SWORD #6. They can find no biological evidence that doesn’t originate with Wanda. Everyone immediately concludes the worse of Magneto, knowing Wanda was invited at his request.

Meanwhile, Magneto is demanding that the Quiet Council approve her resurrection. She and Pietro are unique in being the only humans to have been recorded by Cerebro and possess old backups. How old is not made clear. Sinister points out that she is human and greatly hated by Krakoa, something Magneto doesn’t care to hear. After everyone gets tired of his bluster, they put it to a vote. Magneto, Kurt, and Kate are alone in voting in favor. Enraged, Magneto begins attacking Xavier, and has to be stopped by Kate threatening to rip his brain stem out. No one is impressed by this, and Magneto leaves them behind. Magneto is immediately confronted with the sight of his homeland cheering the death of his beloved daughter. Immediately after that, Northstar gets right into Magneto’s face, asking him to come with him and the combined force of X-Men, X-Factor, and the Wolverines. Magneto impolitely declines.

The book brings us back to Tommy, who is holding vigil over his mother’s body. Kyle sees him, and goes to see if he’s all right. It turns out, Tommy is witnessing his mother being cocooned by vines. Tommy tells him he tried to tell Billy about Wanda’s death, but can’t reach him. He suspects Billy doesn’t know Wanda’s dead, but thinks he would know what was happening to Wanda. All the while, these vines envelope him and poor Kyle.

At Manhattan’s Krakoan Gate, Vision, Wasp, Captain America, and Iron Man gather. The Everbloom flower was first seen in the Vision series by Tom King. It can only grow in the high and dark shadow of Mount Wundagore, where the Maximoff twins were born. They grant prophetic visions to one who eats the flesh of a creature that previously eaten an everbloom. They are also Wanda’s favorite flower, and they are growing all over the Krakoan Gate. Visions notes this, as well as Wanda not returning from the Hellfire Gala. His worse fears are confirmed when Xavier steps out of the gate and tells them what happened.

Back at the obligatory big fight, Magneto is is getting rush attacked by everyone, which only making him angrier. Magneto tries to finish them off, but he physically can’t bring himself to. He thinks Synch is messing with his powers, and demands he fight Magneto like a man. Lorna is actually the one who is protecting them, and steps up. It gets personal and nasty. Magneto injures Lorna, calling her unhinged and inconsistent at her best, in a feat of projection and utter lack of self-awareness that only a father could pull off. While Jean and Cyclops cover for her, Lorna comes back with the list of dead and hurt women in his life. Lorna accuses him of trying to break her and turn her into his ideal image of a daughter. She cries as she demands to know if Magneto killed Wanda. Cyclops goes to shoot at Magneto, but only hits air. Confused, they stare at Magneto’s helmet on the ground.

It turns out Pietro happened to Magneto. He pummels him into a coma in the blink of an eye. Magneto calls him son before losing consciousness. Northstar stops him, flying them up away from Magneto. Quicksilver rages that Magneto has only seen Wanda as broken and knew he would be the death of her. Jean Paul comforts Pietro as he cries for his sister and the lack of compassion and understanding she was given in life for her mental illness. Jean and Rachel take Magneto to the Healing Gardens. There, Jean finds it difficult to understand what Magneto is thinking while in a coma, and request Emma’s assistance.

At the Green Lagoon, Pietro has a reunion with the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They have a toast to the old days, and Pietro prays his sister has found peace. He must be deep in grief, because he has personally beat the asses of two of the three here for disrespecting his sister. A voice narrates how grief can continuously knock you down just when you think have begun to heal. It’s quickly revealed to be Wanda herself. She has grieved for those she has harmed, and now grieves for herself. She is dressed in white, while blood leaks from wounds. Wounds made by a figure in a white cowl wielding a sword. She bleeds out, and from her wounds a cascade of flowers and vines spread out. She died, but she’s not dead. The last page has three arrow symbols that others here may recognize, and the question: where am I?

Well, that took a while, and I’m surprised no one did this before I finished. I know I am going to read this until the bitter end, but I’m concerned for my beloved Maximoff twins. I suspect Magneto has fallen into a time warp back to the 90s or possibly the 60s. I can’t deny that he had some of that long in coming and with a considerable interest rate, but some of it fell flat or even into outright melodrama.

The art, I have no complaints about the art. The coloring is rich and gleams, helped by great inking. If nothing else, the House of M always gets great artists to chronicle their misadventures.