In this week’s edition of Fistful of Comics, your faithful Guy Padre returns to talk up, or talk down, a handful of what I think are “real” comics. What are “real” comics you ask? Hell if I know parishioners. I just like the pretty colors and spandex fights. But if I figure it all out, I’ll be sure to let you know. Image isn’t everything after all. Hm. That came out wrong. Anyway, onto the funnybooks, because…
–Tales of Honor #1
–Rogue Trooper #1
–Veil #1
–The Auteur #1
MAGNETO #1
Marvel rolls out a new solo book today starring the Master of Magnetism by Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun), Gabrielle Hernandez Walta (Astonishing X-Men) and Jordie Bellaire (The Manhattan Projects). For those keeping track at home, that’s script, art, and colors in that order. Honorable mention to Paolo Rivera for the epic regular cover art depicting a very serious Mags with a barbed wire version of his iconic helmet floating around his head.
If you were expecting flashy superhero melodrama and spectacle from this book, look away now. Magneto #1 is a crime comic, closer in tone to the excellent Dead Body Road than All New X-Men. It just happens to feature mutant powers. Things kick off with a recap by a shaken Starbucks-esque employee recounting Magneto’s dip into the world of guerrilla dentistry. (Word to the wise folks, if you walk in for that root canal and the name on the door says Erik Lehnsherr, run the other way. If you can.) Things only continue down the path of cool from there.
Bunn, Walta, and Bellaire, through deft words and subtle artistic mood, weave what feels like a gritty revenge tale. A road movie like Driver, minus the muscle car, with the Master of Magnetism dishing out justice and payback on behalf of the mutant cause. Holed up in motel rooms, paying off maids, gathering intel on reconfigured computers, and piecemeal maps stuck to a grimy wall, this is a far cry from the self-styled ruler of homo sapiens superior many of us grew up with. And frankly, your mutant sympathizing Padre loves this down on the street take. This is Magneto by way of Bronson. Mix Oldboy and The Limey with Magneto’s cause and you get a pretty good idea of what is going on here.
As “The Apostle” Lance Paul said to me earlier today, “Damn, Magneto was pretty damn good!” Really folks, nuff said!
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