If you have grown up with the X-Men as I did, you probably know what an overwhelming force of nature Magneto is and what a complex villain he makes. I would dare say that he is, in fact, my favorite villain, period, thanks to his very understandable motives especially by way of his origins largely covered in this 3-issue series.
This series is not for everyone; it does away with the villain’s awesome power completely and much to its advantage, in fact. The knowledge of who he will end up being actually creates a frustration in the reader, making the situation of 1930s-40s Germany that much more frustrating to read through . The knowledge that Max Eisendhart would have, in a future life, waved off the atrocities he had to live through with but a shrug emphasises the sense of powerlessness of the average Jew in those times, forcing the reader to see the era through their eyes. I found myself begging that his powers would manifest at any moment to make it all go away – but it never does. Making Magneto’s anger and contempt at humankind for the atrocities it inflicts that much more righteous when he is able to do something about it.
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