THE MAGNETIC MEN FEATURING MAGNETO #1 - June 1997

Born Again!

Credits: Tom Peyer (writer), Barry Kitson (penciler), Dan Panosian (inker), Matt Webb & Digital Chameleon (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Having realized his Magnetic Men have attained sentience, Magneto orders Mister Mastermind to create human disguises for them. Reluctantly, the Magnetic Men enter civilian life, as Magneto plots a final confrontation with his brother Will Magnus. Before he can reach Magnus, however, he must rescue the Magnetic Men from the Sinister Society. When he realizes that the Sinister Society are also victims of Will Magnus, Magneto invites them to join his cause. Unfortunately, by the time the team reaches Magnus’ base on Krakoa, all traces of his existence are gone.

Continuity Notes: New amalgams introduced this issue include: Mister Mastermind (Mastermind and Mister Mind), Soniklaw (Klaw and Sonar), Kultron (Ultron and Kobra), Vance Cosmic (Vance Astro and Cosmic Boy), Deathborg (Deathlok and Cyborg), Black Vulture (Vulture and Black Condor, plus perhaps Hawkman), Quasimodox (Quasimodo and Vril Dox), Chemodam (MODOK and Chemo), and Krakoa, the Living Dinosaur Island (Krakoa and Dinosaur Island).

Review: Aside from introducing a new group of amalgamated villains, there isn’t much here the previous Magnetic Men comic didn’t cover. Perhaps the hook is supposed to be that the team has taken on human personas, but this idea goes absolutely nowhere. Before they’re abducted by the Sinister Society, all the team gets to do is stand on a street corner in London for less than one page. Literally, the set up for this idea lasts longer than the execution. (The civilian identities of the Magnetic Men are also elaborate amalgams, but I’m too tired to go through them. It’s not as if the story gets any mileage out of the jokes anyway.) Looking past the odd execution of the human identity concept, we’re left with the team fighting another group of merged villains. And, while the action is competently delivered by Barry Kitson, this just isn’t very exciting. If a sequel to the original Magnetic Men one-shot had to be produced, I wish someone could’ve developed a worthier concept. This easily could’ve been a filler issue of Magnetic Men Unlimited.