Magneto #3: Anger Be Thy Ruler

Irae’s backstory and Magneto’s connection are finally revealed, and it is far more interesting than simply being his daughter. However, it depends on how we define daughter. Irae’s origins go far back to Kirby and Lee’s X-Men in terms of where they are in the timeline and do have a weird connection to Magento, but also an obvious one. Her anger is also connected, and she is also insane.

She believes Magento is Michael Xavier, one of his many aliases, has lost his way and decides to fix him. What transpires could not have been handled better by any other writer than J.M. DeMatteis. J.M. also reframes Magneto’s actions, a villain’s truth. But he is playing the long game and allowing the X-men to show themselves as the future of mutantkind.

This is an explosive issue asking if Magneto made himself into a real monster or a pretend one and where and how we draw the distinction, if there is one. It continues to get at the core of utilizing all the elements of Magneto’s life to mold the person he will be at the end of the issue.

In many ways, Irae is the literal and metaphorical rage Magneto feels for…well, the world, and she brings him to confront it. How will Magneto fight off her influence as he continues to fight his inner demons, his trauma, and his students?

The writing makes you feel every panel, every emotion, and every dialogue balloon while daring to delve into Magneto’s psyche like no one has ever done before. It is harrowing and emotionally devastating, and you are invested in every single moment. Magneto confronting his ghosts is an incredible sequence of a man who has tried so hard to move on, suppress, and forget but is constantly haunted by his own trauma with no end in sight.

In other runs, the middle issue can drag or be a little weaker than the rest because it is transitional. But the momentum from the first two issues is well-maintained here and will stay constant across the following issues. It is hard to predict how the comic’s events will resolve themselves and what Magneto will be like when it is. But how Magneto’s identity as a mutant liberator/terrorist is explored is unparalleled.