Magneto #3 by J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Todd Nauck (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer)
I've super wanted to enjoy this series - but it continues to bother me ever so slightly. I adore Magneto, and my favorite period for the classic stuff is when he's Headmaster Magneto, posing as Charles' cousin. On paper, I should be thrilled with this - especially since Max is dead rn in the main continuity.
But it's just kinda... lacking, a little bit. The plot is fine - a young reckless traumatized mutant who worshipped the 60's Magneto, trying to force 80's Magneto to resume his former ways. Great, cool, love it - I even love Irae's design and I don't mind the mildly contrived origin. The art is great too overall, very expressive, and the coloring really emphasizes the emotional mood of the scenes.
I just don't buy the "Magneto was pretending to be evil in the 60's stories." I really don't. I don't think that it was a performance. The logic of it being a performance, designed to make the X-Men more effective... it just doesn't really hold up to me? It reminds me of the fake cover for X-Factor in their first run, that they were mutant hunters by day, and one of Louise Simonson's main points when she took over the series was how fucked up that was. X-Factor ended up just bringing on even MORE anti-mutant hate. So then to me, it seems like Magneto "pretending" to be a mustache twirling villainous mutant who steals nukes and claims he's going to wipe out the human race would only make things worse. Not better. He's giving the humans "reasons" to hate/hunt other mutants.
The real issue I think comes down to the fact that it's really hard to square Magneto's 60's characterization with what comes later, when Claremont establishes a backstory + motivations. It's part of why Grant Morrison has Magneto become a horrifying fascist in their run, as they never bought in to Claremont's Magneto, instead viewing him still as the evil nut from the 60's. I'm honestly not sure it's even possible to really make the character progression from the 60's to 80's make sense, but I think my bigger point here probably is I'm not sure there's even value in trying.
Tons of Silver Age characters didn't really have their personalities, their backstories, motivations, etc etc worked out. The X-Men as a concept didn't even really work until Giant Sized anyways. Jean Grey, for instance, was just the girl - she didn't really get much of a role beyond that! I think it's okay for things to be a little disjointed/disconnected, because we know what we have now (at least RE Magneto's characterization) works. I don't think we need to come up with excuses / explanations for why he behaved the way he did in the 60's. I think you can have him grapple with his past as a villain, without trying to explain it all away.
And like, if you are tackling the 60's stuff, isn't it more interesting if he really did believe all those things - if it wasn't an act? If he was pretending, then he's significantly less complicated as a character. Let him atone for the things he did! Let him have a dark and problematic past!
