X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #4 Review/Spoilers

[GenericUsername]

She didn't send the zombies too attack them. It was an accident, and she and Strange contained it until it went away. Or at least it was about to wear out before outside interference. And these kaiju are a magic byproduct of trauma she's experiencing after BEING MURDERED WHEN SHE WAS AN INVITED GUEST! If anything, the kaiju are a reason why the lynch mob at the end is a terrible idea, because it shows that even if they do kill her she's so powerful her powers can cause chaos even when she's dead, and dumping more guilt and angst on her is a recipe for disaster.

To add to the whataboutism, Apocalypse's machinations resulted in a war in the Otherworld that caused casualties among mutants that actually couldn't be revived properly, and he got to leave scott free. Plenty of mutants have done horrific things post-Krakoa and faced no consequences.

Everyone knows it was accidental, but the feeling it creates is that she has no control. Which runs counter to how they've developed the character outside of events. And I hate the women's tears creates disaster type of trope. We don't know who even murdered her, it could be herself.

It's just there were far better ways to redeem the character. They chose the way that just creates more wounds and it's puzzling to me.

[rcaguy]

She didn't send the zombies too attack them. It was an accident, and she and Strange contained it until it went away. Or at least it was about to wear out before outside interference. And these kaiju are a magic byproduct of trauma she's experiencing after BEING MURDERED WHEN SHE WAS AN INVITED GUEST! If anything, the kaiju are a reason why the lynch mob at the end is a terrible idea, because it shows that even if they do kill her she's so powerful her powers can cause chaos even when she's dead, and dumping more guilt and angst on her is a recipe for disaster.

To add to the whataboutism, Apocalypse's machinations resulted in a war in the Otherworld that caused casualties among mutants that actually couldn't be revived properly, and he got to leave scott free. Plenty of mutants have done horrific things post-Krakoa and faced no consequences.

Murder? It's fairly obvious Wanda offed herself,most likely via a Wanda Zombie.......

[jmc247]

Weighing some the relationships on the mini so far.

Quicksilver and Magneto- Blink and you'll miss it. Not exactly out of character for them and their short confrontation, but the title sold what was possible for both characters very short so far.

Scarlet Witch and Magneto- His obsessive feelings for Wanda were a bit overdone, the out-of-control rage was very overdone, but his feelings about Wanda were not entirely out of character from his end. For a Wanda though with only memories back from the 1970s or 80s it was very out of character. There was a brief period in the comics around Avengers 503 to HoM where Wanda would act this way and talk this way about Magneto that the writer clearly read, but this was supposed to be old school Wanda without her newer memories and that Wanda blamed all her life problems on Magneto. It was only after Avengers 503 she stopped doing that for a while.

Polaris and Magneto- Awful. Just awful. The past year has made me hate both Lorna and Magneto when they are together which is quite a feat, the Lorna and Magneto we have seen are horrible together and not in a good way when some characters fight. Its been a poorly cribbed off version of Magneto's relationship with the Maximoff's without the baggage from the Brotherhood days that gave the twins and Magneto a reason to fight constantly. Lorna and Magneto themselves had a much more interesting and complex relationship before they were ever related when writers thought about them, their histories, and how they might interact. Bunn did better in this regard, though I wouldn't say great. Alan Davis remains the best writer of Lorna and Magneto together.

All that being said issue #4 of Trial of Magneto was a step up from issue #3.

[Journey]

Days later & I'm still laughing at Magma. Lmao I miss Uncanny Avengers Wanda I feel she would be peak entertainment against the mob imagine her giving that same speech she gave to Rogue & the panels just slowly focus on Magma's face as she gets more & more triggered that would have been a moment!!

[Lucyinthesky]

Weighing some the relationships on the mini so far.

Quicksilver and Magneto- Blink and you'll miss it. Not exactly out of character for them and their short confrontation, but the title sold what was possible for both characters very short so far.

Scarlet Witch and Magneto- His obsessive feelings for Wanda were a bit overdone, the out-of-control rage was very overdone, but his feelings about Wanda were not entirely out of character from his end. For a Wanda though with only memories back from the 1970s or 80s it was very out of character. There was a brief period in the comics around Avengers 503 to HoM where Wanda would act this way and talk this way about Magneto that the writer clearly read, but this was supposed to be old school Wanda without her newer memories and that Wanda blamed all her life problems on Magneto. It was only after Avengers 503 she stopped doing that for a while.

Polaris and Magneto- Awful. Just awful. The past year has made me hate both Lorna and Magneto when they are together which is quite a feat, the Lorna and Magneto we have seen are horrible together and not in a good way when some characters fight. Its been a poorly cribbed off version of Magneto's relationship with the Maximoff's without the baggage from the Brotherhood days that gave the twins and Magneto a reason to fight constantly. Lorna and Magneto themselves had a much more interesting and complex relationship before they were ever related when writers thought about them, their histories, and how they might interact. Bunn did better in this regard, though I wouldn't say great. Alan Davis remains the best writer of Lorna and Magneto together.

All that being said issue #4 of Trial of Magneto was a step up from issue #3.

I don´t think Magneto´s feelings for Wanda in the context of her being dead are obssesive, just a normal reaction to having a kid killed off, or well, someone you see as your kid(according to the retcon) killed off but I agree, 80´s Wanda would not talk to Magneto in a warm way and Leah´s take in how his feelings showed off on issue 1 and 2 was just awful so I was quite glad to see him just have two lines this last issue, yes I am supposed to be mad because his name is on the title but I am happy he doesn´t appear so much anymore. I am still mad Lorna and Magneto´s relationship was bassically smashed to build up Wanda and Magneto´s and I actually like to see all of them interact but this series managed to make them all OCC. I just hope this series gives an end to the Pretender,HoM, M-Day issue and lest all the characters advance past this point.

[PhoenixThanos]

I don´t think Magneto´s feelings for Wanda in the context of her being dead are obssesive, just a normal reaction to having a kid killed off, or well, someone you see as your kid(according to the retcon) killed off but I agree, 80´s Wanda would not talk to Magneto in a warm way and Leah´s take in how his feelings showed off on issue 1 and 2 was just awful so I was quite glad to see him just have two lines this last issue, yes I am supposed to be mad because his name is on the title but I am happy he doesn´t appear so much anymore. I am still mad Lorna and Magneto´s relationship was bassically smashed to build up Wanda and Magneto´s and I actually like to see all of them interact but this series managed to make them all OCC. I just hope this series gives an end to the Pretender,HoM, M-Day issue and lest all the characters advance past this point.

And atleast in this issue Magneto wasn't getting punched by a character far inferior to himself.
Here's hoping he squeezes Northstar into a coke can in TOM #5.

[jmc247]

I don´t think Magneto´s feelings for Wanda in the context of her being dead are obssesive, just a normal reaction to having a kid killed off, or well, someone you see as your kid(according to the retcon) killed off but I agree, 80´s Wanda would not talk to Magneto in a warm way and Leah´s take in how his feelings showed off on issue 1 and 2 was just awful so I was quite glad to see him just have two lines this last issue, yes I am supposed to be mad because his name is on the title but I am happy he doesn´t appear so much anymore. I am still mad Lorna and Magneto´s relationship was bassically smashed to build up Wanda and Magneto´s and I actually like to see all of them interact but this series managed to make them all OCC. I just hope this series gives an end to the Pretender,HoM, M-Day issue and lest all the characters advance past this point.

I will put it another way. Mags has been a bit obsessed with Wanda and fixing/saving her since Avengers 503/HoM when she became very much like Anya to him. That isn't necessarily a bad or OOC thing. Before that he cared about her, but not in the same way. ToM carried on with the HoM take which is perfectly fine. It makes sense for the character though him descending into idiocy over it was what I meant when I say a bit overdone.

In terms of Lorna and Magneto yes their relationship was very much smashed. It was also redefined ex post facto to be something that doesn't line up with their past interaction meaning Magneto trying to break and own her. You think it was just to promote Wanda and Magneto?

I don't know how the last issue of the mini can at this point tie up any of the major outstanding plot threads.

[Lucyinthesky]

And atleast in this issue Magneto wasn't getting punched by a character far inferior to himself.
Here's hoping he squeezes Northstar into a coke can in TOM #5.

Agreed completely another reason to be happy, the series of Magneto "the punching bag" is almost over and Leah is quite a fan of Northstar so I don´t think anything bad will happen to him but that´s alright I just need this series to end and at least put a final nail on the M-Day coffin.

I will put it another way. Mags has been a bit obsessed with Wanda and fixing/saving her since Avengers 503/HoM when she became very much like Anya to him. Before that he cared about her, but not in the same way. ToM carried on with the HoM take which is perfectly fine. It makes sense for the character though him descending into idiocy over it was what I meant when I say a bit overdone.

I see your point, still I think it was just the situation, Wanda wasn´t getting better despite Xavier and Dr Strange efforts and all he could do was sit back and wait for her to get even worse and her powers be out of control so I see how this affected him emotionally and made her recovery a priority even over his plans of the reconstruction of Genosha, he also made it a priority to go to space for Lorna after he discovered she was still lost there on Utopia, so it´s something he usually does for his children, even Pietro got Amelia Vogh as his babysitter lol despite the fact he´s a veteran avengers, when he was living on Genosha, so I count this as his way of showing care for his kids, he sure is not very good in showing care in other ways but I agree with you the way he was written in ToM was just overdone.

In terms of Lorna and Magneto yes their relationship was very much smashed. It was also redefined ex post facto to be something that doesn't line up with their past interaction meaning Magneto trying to break and own her. You think it was just to promote Wanda and Magneto?

It´s what makes the most sense to me, Jordan White also made a comparision between Magneto´s relationship with both Lorna and Wanda and given how this story started, with Wanda´s death, I think this explains the way Lorna and Magneto interacted in the series, of course Leah also had them be on bad terms on previous X-factor issues, so it could just be this is how she sees their relationship.

I don't know how the last issue of the mini can at this point tie up any of the major outstanding plot threads.

I don´t have high hopes either but given it´s Magma the one confronting Wanda and she was one of the mutants affected by decimation, I expect M-Day to be addressed brifly before the end of the story and this could mean the characters may advance past that plot thread at least.

[Gnostic]

Damn right they ditched the idea Doom was behind it, since it was so stupid that pretty much nobody took it seriously..

Not just the Doom excuse but the Life Force concept seems to have been completely abandoned. As I mentioned earlier, Wanda was still cosmically powerful without it. Has the Life Force even been mentioned after Children’s Crusade?

[Lucyinthesky]

Not just the Doom excuse but the Life Force concept seems to have been completely abandoned. As I mentioned earlier, Wanda was still cosmically powerful without it. Has the Life Force even been mentioned after Children’s Crusade?

Not at all. I don´t think marvel still considers it part of it´s canon unless a writer uses it again or has Dr Strange explain what´s it.

The Darkhold could have mentioned it but Orlando had Wanda say to Doom "You tried to stole MY power" instead of "The life force" so it´s doubtful we will see someone else mention it again.

I'm starting to feel like Marvel just isn't aware of how unforgivable some things are and how they messed up the character. Because with how they write things it seems like they felt the zombies and the kaiju were some path to forgiveness. And those situations don't make sense because they'll have Wanda know a lot about magic and be in control. Then have her as some magic novice and weeping child the next. Does someone at the top just not know how grown women experienced in their field should be written? Do they not understand that you can't have them both know things one second and not the next? That major stuff like this is not a path to forgiveness?

Because there seems to be a major disconnect in what they are trying to do with the character and what they actually do.

Even with how far they've put her back with this reborn version, it was post-Agatha training to control her powers.

Agreed it doesn´t seem like marvel thought things too much about this one or the other two stories, because instead of being a character exploration, redemption or forgiveness, they just added to the baggage of bad blood between Wanda and mutants.

[Journey]

I'm pretty sure Tini Howard had Billy mention the Life-force in Strikeforce.

[GenericUsername]

Not just the Doom excuse but the Life Force concept seems to have been completely abandoned. As I mentioned earlier, Wanda was still cosmically powerful without it. Has the Life Force even been mentioned after Children’s Crusade?

Not in any comic I've read, but it probably doesn't matter anymore with her reset back to the bronze age.

[Lucyinthesky]

I'm pretty sure Tini Howard had Billy mention the Life-force in Strikeforce.

I didnt read the series but un this case I Guess the LF Is still around, just not in relation to Wanda.

[maximoffimpact]

Pietro saves her live.

I agree, he did save her life and deserves credit for it. Wanda also saved Pietro's life afterwards by bringing him back to life after Magneto brutally killed him out of anger.

[jmc247]

I agree, he did save her life and deserves credit for it. Wanda also saved Pietro's life afterwards by bringing him back to life after Magneto brutally killed him out of anger.

That was a powerful scene between Pietro and Magneto made doubly so because Pietro used him as well as Wanda to warp reality. That was a situation where his Holocaust trauma of being a puppet would have exploded turning him into all rage and fury. I have no issue with the Magnus family being brutal to one another when it feels in character and is well written.

It´s what makes the most sense to me, Jordan White also made a comparision between Magneto´s relationship with both Lorna and Wanda and given how this story started, with Wanda´s death, I think this explains the way Lorna and Magneto interacted in the series, of course Leah also had them be on bad terms on previous X-factor issues, so it could just be this is how she sees their relationship.

I suspect you are right.