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Quote1 As a boy, I believed. As a boy, I turned my back on God forever. Kill me if you wish, wind-rider. I will not stop you. Quote2
Magneto

Appearing in "I, Magneto..."

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Synopsis for "I, Magneto..."

Magneto gives the world an ultimatum - cede total political control to him and disarm all conventional and strategic weapons, or he will end life on earth as we know it! But rather than his previous maniacal plots, he now sees himself as mankind's future benevolent dictator! The Soviet Union does not take kindly to these threats, and the nuclear submarine Leningrad is ordered to launch nuclear missiles at Magneto's island. He disarms and disposes of these menaces, and then destroys the submarine in retaliation! Additionally, he uses a device to allow him to cause an eruption in Varykino which totally destroys the city, although no lives are lost (he allows it to proceed slowly enough for an evacuation to occur).

Shortly thereafter, the Blackbird is flying over Magneto's island when their controls are overloaded by a magnetic pulse. Wolverine goes flying forward into Storm, knocking her unconscious, as the Blackbird goes into a power dive. Storm finally wakes up moments before impact and manages to blunt said impact, but the Blackbird is still lost beneath the waves!

Professor X, Moira, Peter, and Carol are on a boat not too far away and notice that the Blackbird was over Julienne's Cay when it went down. They hypothesize Scott and Lee may have also ended up in that vicinity. The X-Men are at that time disembarking the Blackbird in scuba gear, all except Colossus (because he doesn't breathe in his armored form). This soon proves a mistake, as he suddenly reverts to his Peter Rasputin form and cannot change back!

At nighttime, Lee leaves Scott sleeping to go for a walk near the water. Wolverine grabs her ankle and pulls her in. She identifies herself as a friend, recognizing their codenames from Scott's descriptions. The X-Men haul Peter out of the water, and Logan and Kitty perform CPR, reviving him. Wolverine goes scouting, but his senses are dulled by the inhibitor, and he walks right past Scott! Reunited, Scott tells them what Magneto plans and comes up with a way to thwart them, even without their powers.

The men head for the machine which allows Magneto to create eruptions, intending to disable it. The women head for the computer room to hopefully disable the power inhibitor. Ororo notices another door and discovers Magneto sleeping. She contemplates murdering him. Back at the machine, Wolverine goes to work cutting support beams, with a deadly fall averted by Nightcrawler's acrobatics.

Ororo realizes she cannot kill him, and just then Magneto awakens, sees Storm with a knife, and thrusts her out the window! Realizing where Storm is the other X-Men cannot be far behind, he suits up. Just then Professor X confronts him on the astral plane - it is a fierce battle of wills, one Magneto wins by bringing Professor X's physical body into his inhibitor field with his magnetic powers!

Wolverine has just sliced through the last support, sending the machine down a deep pit, when Magneto walks in on them. He casually reassembles the device using his magnetokinesis and makes the X-Men his prisoners.

Storm, her cape caught on a projection, comes back to consciousness far above the ground. She climbs back in through a window and smashes a computer, destroying the inhibitor. Scott, realizing his powers are coming back, distracts Magneto so he fire off a full power blast against him, momentarily stunning him. He frees himself and the other X-Men, but Magneto is back on his feet. The X-Men hold their own for a little while, but Magneto is too powerful. Cyclops instructs Kitty to destroy the computers, and Kitty runs off while the X-Men continue the battle. Magneto has the X-Men on the ropes when suddenly the computers start exploding! Magneto furiously rushes to confront whoever did this. Kitty, frightened, tries to phase through him, but Magneto ruthlessly responds with a jolt of electricity, almost killing her! Thinking he has in fact killed her, Magneto is snapped back to his senses, and starts talking to himself about his past.[1]

Storm comes upon him then. Seeing Kitty apparently slain, she threatens to kill him. In resignation, he tells her to do it. He has seen the truth about himself, that he has become much like those he hates. Storm asks for Kitty, and Magneto departs. Kitty recovers, surviving because she had been phasing at the time.

The next day comes. The X-Men shall be staying until the following morning. Kitty tells the other she is going to lift the Blackbird out of the water using the "Force"[2], and miraculously, the Blackbird starts to rise! Everyone is amazed, until Colossus also emerges, carrying it on his back. The X-Men repay her prank by dunking her.

Notes

  • Magneto's wife, Magda, is mentioned for the second time in this issue (the first time is in issue Vol 1 125).
  • This is a double-sized issue (48 pages).
  • Pages 1-17 are inked by Josef Rubinstein, 18-39 inked by Bob Wiacek; pages 1-28 were lettered by Tom Orzechowski, while 29-39 were lettered by Jean Simek.
  • The nuclear submarine Leningrad appears again in X-Men (Vol. 2) #1 when Magneto pulls it up from the ocean floor

Trivia

  • Dave Cockrum was planning to introduce a new member of the X-Men, the mysterious amphibious "Silkie", in this issue, but as Marvel wouldn't let keep part of the creating rights, he pulled the character and with it the origin of the eldritch city on Magneto's island. Cockrum later introduced her as his own character in Marvel Graphic Novel #9 (1983).[3]

See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

References

  1. This is the second hint we get of what will become substantial portions of Magneto's history. His wife Magda, the death of his daughter, his time in Auschwitz.
  2. This is the first of many references Kitty Pryde makes to the movie Star Wars.
  3. "The Never-Will-Be-Resolved Mystery of Magneto's Island" at CBR.com, by Brian Cronin, Oct. 25, 2016
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