Is Magneto a selfish hypocrite?

[DDD]

Who's to say it wasn't Magneto's plan all along?

[jmc247]

Who's to say it wasn't Magneto's plan all along?

His own thinking early on which Xavier intruded in on with Magneto thinking that he got his greatest victory, but greatly feared he simply gathered too many mutants together making things ripe for another mass genocide.



Him attacking Africa actually could have worked in the context of his own fears that if Genosha didn't expand its population would be too easy to wipe out. Eve of Destruction did a bad job of conveying that message with their depiction of him just ranting like a power hungry lunatic.

[anyajenkins]

... His actions may have been legal, but they were of a despot, not a leader.

probably not 'legal' anyway. Global emp isn't remotely the same thing as attacking a power grid, it would do much,much,much,much more damage.

[jmc247]

not 'legal' anyway. Global emp isn't remotely the same thing as attacking a power grid, it would do much,much,much,much more damage.

Magneto's global EMP wasn't intended to turn all of Earth's machinery into slag, the lights went on and off and back on for Ben Grimm in a matter of seconds if you recall, but it certainly could have been something that killed hundreds of millions if he amped it up. What he threatened in Magneto War would have slagged all of Earth's machines.

[Lucyinthesky]

Magneto controlled Genosha was a great storyline that ended too abruptly. He had to manage mutants and humans in his government and had Quicksilver as his main advisor and Polaris as his right hand on the island.

It made mutants politically relevant as you said in a way they hadn't been in the past. Then Lobdell totally reverts Magneto to his Silver Age lets conquer the world self and has him attack mainland Africa so Genosha can expand. It was probably the most one dimensional depiction of him that wasn't retconned since the 1970s.

I agree it was totally silver age Magneto, I just liked his uniform from that storyline. It was a real waste of Genosha. I do like the little winks towards Genosha potential made by the Skrull Queen during Secret Invasion, how Genosha could have been a potential danger to them.

[Tonamelt]

I believe Magneto is a sick and traumatized man with superpowers who just can't get his shit together.

[People Of The Earth]

Its more advanced then bombing an electrical facility, but it is attacking an electrical grid that was keeping the blockade in place. Its also killing people say in hospitals hooked to ventilators and what have you. Its certainly not exactly what would happen if the U.S. bombed an electrical facility, but many of the results would be the same.

If Magneto wanted to commit an act of genocide he would have sent asteroids and comets at Earth not an EMP. The point is Magneto's action was an act of war, but not a genocidal act.

Global EMP = death in the millions.
That simple.
Xavier's assessment was just editorial really downplaying the act, the same way they downplayed Summers setting the whole planet on fire in AvX, without mentionning the casualties that would inevitably occur.

[jmc247]

Global EMP = death in the millions.
That simple.
Xavier's assessment was just editorial really downplaying the act, the same way they downplayed Summers setting the whole planet on fire in AvX, without mentionning the casualties that would inevitably occur.

Depends on the power of the EMP.

That is the point, Magneto could have killed hundreds of millions by totally slagging Earth's electronics, but that isn't what happened.

Magneto didn't want an all out war with the Earth and every hero on the planet so he limited the power of his EMP to not kill hundreds of millions as send the Earth back to the Stone Age.

[PwrdOn]

The blame for M-Day also really rests on Magneto.

[Lucyinthesky]

"editorial really downplaying the act"

this happens since Hulk was an Avenger in the 60`s , it isn`t really something new. I wish that instead of playing down catastrophic events writers and editors were more careful with the characters story to see if they really would do that level of damage. That`s why we often see extenuating circumstances as an explanation for those situations, especially when it comes to heros doing it, as has been the case lately. Played well, those stories lead to touching storylines and development of the character in question, played bad or too much and it can become a cliche in which characters are forgiven everything at all times without so much as an explanation. I enjoy organic storytelling so I prefer character growth born of those events than character assesination or worse, characters being reduced to tools for others development.

"M-Day" The one who directly did it was Wanda Maximoff, now if you want to blame the psycological cause for her actions you can blame Magneto, Quicksilver, The X-men, the Avengers, Vision, Dr Doom, etc. I liked the idea of House of M as it resembles a greek tragedy in which everybody at some point was guilty of something. But the actual execution of it let a lot to be desired, especially with the focus on wolverine for most of the series, issues that could have been used to explore other characters motives, and of course, the main characters of the House of M itself.

[People Of The Earth]

Depends on the power of the EMP.

That is the point, Magneto could have killed hundreds of millions by totally slagging Earth's electronics, but that isn't what happened.

Magneto didn't want an all out war with the Earth and every hero on the planet so he limited the power of his EMP to not kill hundreds of millions as send the Earth back to the Stone Age.

The planes crashing alone would cause hundred of thousand of deaths, and we do know the EMP was strong enough to cause exactly that: planes to crash.
Either the writer made a mistake, which I don't believe in the slightest, or he downplayed the conséquences of such an act voluntarily, probably because he was asked to by the management.

@Lucyinthesky: Yes, I'm aware it's common practice in the industry, I never questionned that.
And actually, I think the same things than you do, Marvel should handle such acts properly with their characters, either by not running them in the first place or if they do, then explore the consequences reastically as they should.
I mean, why is Iceman running free right now for example ? What was the point of his arc in Astonishing if there's no shred of it being acknowledged down the line ?
Either do it properly, or don't.

[Lucyinthesky]

"Either do it properly, or don't" indeed I agree As a Magneto fan I get so frustrated sometimes, how writers can casually kill him in one storyline and then bring him back as if nothing happened without explanation, and not only in Genosha, Bendis in New Avengers #20 make the plane, in which he was unconscious and depowered, explote in front of everyone. I have yet to see how he got away from that one and it have been years XD

I didn`t read all of Iceman arc so I am not sure if he did more damage with his power out of control than a really strong winter storm. But I liked what I could see from his pov, he feels insecure about his position as an X-man, being the younger one of the first generation, with great powers of omega level but with little control over them, and afraid of what he could become in the future because of this. He feels he has not done much, considering his classmates Cyclops, Jean ( the professor favourites) Hank, and even Angel. that`s what I could get from this storyline. those issues were being brought open in front of his close friends. I enjoyed seeing him with Spider- man and Firestar in Amazing X-men, they really bring the best out of the character IMO.

[Anarchist]

The blame for M-Day also really rests on Magneto.

Uhm, no, that was Quicksilver's doing.

[magnuskn]

Magneto redeemed himself a long time ago, but writers always drag him back towards villanous routes. That's the sad truth of the matter. His current incarnation is held in the middle ground, someone who does horrifying things to people who deserve it. I'd personally prefer him to be firmly on the side of the heroes (and back to his glorious mane of silver hair instead of trying to emulate Charles hairdo), but it's an okay place, too. After all, it apparently was good enough for all sorts of X-Men in the last incarnations of X-Force.

[Sprite]

Isn't that kind of the gist of his character and what makes him compelling, with the irony and tragedy of it all? It ultimately depends on the writer, but Magneto's definitely made some dumb and selfish decisions.