X-Men: Magneto Testament

Writer: Greg Pak

Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico

A disturbingly accurate depiction of my favorite comic book villain as he endures the nightmares of the Holocaust…,

Ranking: 5 stars

I’ve mentioned in past reviews of mine that my number one favorite comic book villain is Magneto, the master of magnetism. To be honest however, he’s not only my all-time favorite comic book or even X-Men villain, but villain in all of media. A major reason for this is the complexity of Magneto’s character, as unlike a fair number of antagonists, Magneto attempts to justify the enormity of his actions. Although he continuously launches terrorist attacks on humanity, he claims that what he does is for the protection and survival of mutant kind. His ideologies conflict with those of the X-Men’s leader Charles Xavier, who strives to unite humans and mutants into a peaceful coexistence. Magneto however, believes that humans and mutants will never trust each other, and that mutants must act in order to survive. I was always attracted to this concept of Erik’s character, as while he is doing what he feels is best for mutants, he is taking the wrong direction to accomplish it. Villains of such nature are always interesting, as the reader is allowed to sympathize with them as they are misguided instead of being truly evil. But in order create the feeling of sympathy within the reader, the character must have a believable motive to drive his actions, which is where Magneto’s famous origins as a Holocaust survivor come into play. Although X-Men fans have been aware of Magneto’s backstory since it was developed by Chris Claremont late 80’s, but in 2008’s miniseries X-MEN: MAGNETO TESTAMENT, writer Greg Pak and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico reveal the full details around the origins of the master of magnetism in a shockingly historically accurate story. Beginning in the year 1935, the man who would soon become one of the greatest X-Men villains of all-time, was once a young schoolboy known as Max Eisenhardt. Born to a struggling Jewish family, what starts out for Max as a fight for acceptance among his peers and the attention of a girl, rapidly spirals as Hitler begins his reign of terror against the Jewish population. With the power of the third reich growing, Max and his family struggle for survival as they are forced to endure the anti-semitic policies of the Nuremberg Laws, a struggle for food in the famished conditions of the Polish ghettos, and eventually young Max becomes a witness to the horrific nightmares of the living hell known as Auschwitz-Birkenau. As a sonderkommando, young Max witnesses the deaths of half a million innocent lives, and feels the pain of not being able to save a single one. Will young Max be able to survive the atrocities of the Nazis, and if he does, will he still be the person he once was. For awhile I was unsure of how I felt about this comic as I knew that it was a well written story deserving of praise, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling the impact it should have given me. I had the same problem with Alan Moore’s V FOR VENDETTA (which I plan on writing a review for soon), but after I read it a second time, I found myself heavily enjoying it. I decided to do the same for MAGNETO TESTAMENT, and like V FOR VENDETTA it was a comic I needed to be in the right mood for in order to fully grasp its meanings. Reading it a second time, I was unable to close the book. Among MAGNETO TESTAMENT’S succeeding factors were it’s pacing and accuracy to the actual events of the Holocaust, as well as the handling of Max’s character. Max does not yet possess his mutant ability to control metal, but there are subtle references to his latent power through the use of symbolizing metal. Not only do we discover that his father was a jewelry maker, he displays strength through a javelin throwing test and winning a gold metal as a result, his crush Magda possesses a silver necklace that he made, and he is able to survive Auschwitz by bribing the Nazis with gold. Max’s development into Magneto is further emphasized by the guilt of his inability to save others, and his contempt towards the Nazis crimes against the Jewish people. The atrocities that he witnesses will eventually motivate his beliefs that humans and mutants will always be at odds, and that his attacks on humanity are to ensure the survival of mutants. Because he had suffered one Holocaust, he is determined to prevent another from happening. It’ this central theme to Magneto’s character that makes him my all-time favorite comic book villain, but even though reader knows that this child will soon grow up to be the master of magnetism, the story simultaneously treats Max as if he were his own separate character. Greg Pak wanted to stay true to history with this story, so he wrote Max as an ordinary boy whose life was malformed by the Nazis. Max could have easily been any Jewish child who grew up in this time period, anyone whose family was brought down by the horrors of the Nuremberg laws and the death camps, and anyone who was scarred for life by it all. The multiple interpretations that the reader can infer from Max’s character not only convey Pak’s skill as a writer, but also his respect to history. On that subject, another noteworthy aspect of MAGNETO TESTAMENT is how surprisingly accurate to the actual events surrounding the Holocaust. The events of this five issue miniseries are set from 1935 to 1945, allowing Pak to have Max encounter nearly all of the ghastly events that occurred during Hitler’s reign. The Eisenhardt’s revelation that they are not safe arises when the Nuremberg laws are passed, Max’s father attempts to regain his government job in Berlin while the 1936 Summer Olympics are taking place, Kristallnacht causes them to flee Germany, and Max’s escape from Auschwitz was tied into the Birkenau revolt of October 7, 1944. Not only does this allow the appropriate balance of fiction and historical accuracy, but it also further emphasizes the brutality of the Nazis. But because of the lengths that Pak goes to closely mirror the book to history, it’s portrayal of the Jewish people’s suffering is disturbingly dark and graphic. While this can definitely be unsettling to many, it allows the reader to receive a clearer image of the atrocities the Nazi’s employed and how it impacted their victims as a result. The reader is not only able to focus on Max’s plight, but that of the Jewish people as well. So while MAGNETO TESTAMENT is a fictional story (and a comic book at that), the execution of it is shockingly done with such accuracy and respect to the actual events of the Holocaust that it’s actually used by teachers in Holocaust units (the bonus contents of this comic consist of a teacher’s guide to Holocaust studies, handouts for student analysis of the story, a list of all the sources Greg Pak used for his research, and even the tragic dilemma a real life Holocaust survivor that has gained the support of comic book artists as mentioned in an introduction by Stan Lee). So while MAGNETO TESTAMENT serves as a faithful account of Magneto’s origins, the writer’s investment into making the book as accurate to history as he could allows the comic to be it’s own self-contained story as well. It takes definite skill and effort to craft such a story, but what Greg Pak has done here is deserving of the praise the book has received. So while I advise caution as the events of the Holocaust are extremely depressing and graphic, this MAGNETO TESTAMENT is a comic I recommend not only to fans of one of Marvel’s greatest villains, but also for those who are studying this horrific event that we as human beings, should work to prevent from ever occurring again. “And we should always remember the lessons learned from the Holocaust, in hopes we stay vigilant against such inhumanity now and in the future.” -Charlie Dent

#5StarReviews #Marvel #XMen #ComicReviews