Magneto #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is a fairly straight-forward look at the events of "Avengers & X-Men:  Axis" #3, from Magneto's perspective.  Bunn does a good job setting up the denouement of the issue, Magneto meeting Charles' spirit, but the series, at this point, is really just a pale reflection of the larger events occurring in the main series.

Charles and Magneto's "meeting" is notable in no small part because Charles tells Magneto that he was right, that he needs to take a firm hand with the humans in order to protect the mutants.  It's also the first time, as far as I'm aware, that we've seen Charles after the inversion that took place in "Avengers & X-Men:  Axis" #3.  We've never really gotten proof in the main title that Charles is, in fact, in control of the Skull's body.  Bunn doesn't exactly prove that with Charles appearing to Magneto here, given that Charles was also able to contact Rogue even when the Skull was still controlling his mind.  But, it seems to confirm that the inversion of the Skull and Xavier worked.  Moreover, Bunn ups the ante by implying that the Charles that we see here is also inverted, given that he's renouncing his dream that humans and mutants can live together in harmony.  That twist, if true, complicates matters significantly.  Originally, a Charles-controlled Skull would in theory be a good thing.  But, it wouldn't be if Charles has been doubly inverted, with his alignment (so to speak) also inverted.  It would actually be better in that scenario to have a "good" Skull, as mind-boggling as that sounds.  (Will a "good" Skull overcome a "bad" Charles' control over their shared body and save the day?)

In other words, everything related to Charles is particularly unclear.  Bunn's hinting at things, but never actually defines anything.  But, Charles' appearance does lead to a tangible outcome, with Magneto, as we've already seen in the main series, accepting Charles' charge to lead the mutants.  However, since his alignment has also been inverted, Magneto ignores Charles' plea to take a firm hand, setting up a conflict with Apocalypse, who's taking the approach that Charles seemingly advocates here.

With only three issues of "Avengers & X-Men:  Axis" left and this series' tie-in issues now concluded, I have to wonder what long-term impact the event will have on Magneto.  This issue leads you to believe that Magneto could come to take over the role of mentor to the X-Men, taking Charles' place.  But, something about the way that the main series is developing leads me to believe that it's not going to go that way.  If not, then it sets up the usual complaint with events, that we go through all this tumult -- emotional and physical -- only for the characters to exit unchanged.  In this case, Magneto will once again be a lone wolf trying to protect mutants any way that he can.  I guess we'll see.

Summing up a bit, Bunn does his best to make this issue stand on its own two feet, but it's the final outcome of the event that'll determine whether it was a worthwhile endeavor, in terms of its impact on Magneto.

*** (three of five stars)

Magneto #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

If we would've gotten through this issue without someone mentioning "Acts of Vengeance," I would've asked for a refund.  It only makes sense that it was Deadpool who got us there.

Bunn partially answers the question that I had from "Axis" #2, namely why the villains that join Magneto's little band of bad guys actually do so.  Some of the recruits I get.  Doom and young Loki don't want to see the world destroyed; Deadpool, Mystique, and Sabretooth have skin in the game when it comes to making sure the Red Skull doesn't imprison mutants in concentration camps; and Carnage will just enjoy the violence.  I'm a little more sketchy when it comes to Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, and Hobgoblin.  The Hobgoblin tie-in series might make it a bit clearer when it comes to him, but it would've been nice to get an answer about Absorbing Man and the Enchantress.  But, given that Bunn does a better job here explaining how the villains get to the battle field than Remender has done with the heroes, I can't really complain too much.

Bunn doesn't just make this issue about Magneto setting up the team.  I'm not a regular reader of this series, so I'm not sure who this Ms. Raleigh is.  But, she does what she needs to do here, reminding Magneto that he's the type of man that, in the words of a woman that he saved, "can do the bad things so that we [the mutants] can survive."  It's obviously a curated reflection on his history, since you could argue that mutants have suffered because of the reputation that Magneto has given them.  But, it does the trick.  (Plus, it's not the Skull is acting because he fears mutants given Magneto's history.  He's just a racist asshole.)

So far, the tie-in issues in this series have been better than the actual main series, so I've got no complaints.  It's all you can ask of a tie-in issue.

*** (three of five stars)

Magneto #10 and Uncanny Avengers #25 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm including "Magneto" #10 with this review since it essentially takes places within the confines of "Uncanny Avengers" #24.  We watch the Skull use Xavier's telepathic powers to torture Magneto with the memory of his concentration-camp jailer, until Alex, Rogue, and Wanda free him at the end of both issues.  It's not essential to understand the events of "Uncanny Avengers" #25, so you can skip it if you're looking for tie-in issues that you can safely avoid.  However, it does give the reader better insight into why Magneto ends issue #25 the way that he does, submitting to his rage and killing the Red Skull. 

Notably, Magneto does so without using his mutant power, beating the Skull to a pulp with his own hands (and, later, a concrete block).  One thing that "Magneto" #10 does give us that "Uncanny Avengers" #25 doesn't is the scene where Magneto bites on a capsule of mutant-growth hormone (MGH) once the Avengers free him, giving him the powers that we see on display in parts of issue #25.  I'm not really sure why Remender didn't include that part in issue #24, to be honest.  In fact, if I had one complaint, it's that the rescue scenes in both issues play out differently.  Beyond the MGH discrepancy, the dialogue is also entirely different.  It's not a fatal flaw, but it seems a weird oversight for two books where the authors are theoretically telling the same story.

Magneto's murder of the Skull actually allows for the release of Onslaught, clearly setting up the start of "Axis."  Thankfully, Remender doesn't just use it to segue into the main event.  He also shows how Magneto has returned to his roots.  Despite his efforts to change, the Magneto that we see here is exactly the same guy that we saw when he appeared in Cape Citadel.  He's not only fueled by his rage (a rage that we understand a little better after the trip down bad-memory lane in "Magneto" #10), but he's also confident that he, and only he, can save humanity.  We're beyond him helping Scott Summers implement his vision for mutantkind.  In other words, Magneto is back...just in time for the Skull to become Onslaught.

One interesting question left hanging out there is the future of Charles Xavier.  Alex himself starts to raise the possibility that Charles' brain could be used to resurrect him, and Remender seemed to be leading us in that direction last issue as well, with Charles speaking to Rogue in her memories.  Remender now appears to have taken that possibility off the table, with Xavier's brain clearly crushed in this issue, making me wonder what outcome this event is going to deliver.  Also, I don't think we ever got an explanation of why the Skull kidnapped Alex, Rogue, and Wanda in the first place.  Are we going to see him similarly start attacking the X-Men to fill his concentration camp?  Or, were they just there to set the plot in motion?

On the eve of "Axis," I can't say that I have a firm grip on the Skull's plans.  Sure, he's got his concentration camp, but it seems unlikely that he would think that he'd really manage to get every mutant on Earth into it.  It's clearly just a stepping stone.  The question is whether it's setting up something that we'll see in "Axis" or if it's going to be like "X-Men:  Prelude to Schism," where it has no impact on the actual story.  I guess we'll see.

*** (three of five stars)

Magneto #9 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Bunn does a solid job of using this "Axis" tie-in issue not only to flesh out some of Magneto's past, but also to show how it affects his present behavior.  I'm not collecting this series, but I'm inclined to do so based on this issue.  Moreover, the art is really spectacular.  It's suitably grim and realistic.  I don't think I've seen work by Hernandez (art) and Bellaire (colors) before I hope to see more soon.

Magneto is in Genosha to look into the Red Skull's new mutant concentration-camps, and the sight not surprisingly reminds him of his time in the Nazi's camps.  But, Bunn doesn't leave it at a simple metaphor; he actively uses the parallel to give us more insight into Magneto.  Magneto reacts to disgust when two mutants refuse his offer to free them, in part because of the shame that he feels over not freeing himself from the Nazi camps when he was a child.  It's a reminder of just how damaged Magneto is, so quick to anger over something that reminds him of his own (understandable) failings.

This self-delusion is clearly on display when the S-Men quickly overpower him in his failed attempt to assassinate the Red Skull.  He realizes just how foolish he was to think that he could accomplish that goal in his under-powered state, making it clear that he still struggles to accept his current limitations.  Honestly, I had never really thought about super-villains' self-defeating behavior in terms of an anger-induced rashness, but Bunn really gets into Magneto's head enough to convey that message.  If Magneto was more at ease with himself, the events of this issue wouldn't have happened.

In terms of "Axis," Bunn seems to imply that Professor X is still active somewhere in Red Skull's brain and, if true, this event is going to be full of surprises.

**** (four of five stars)