Wednesday 7 March 2012

X-Men #11: The "Triumph" of Magneto

After a couple of off-format issues, X-Men #11 appears to return to the formula of going after a newly emerged mutant - in this case The Stranger. The Brotherhood make contact first, though, and for their troubles are rewarded with the revelation that the Stranger is not a mutant, but an alien, here to take some mutants off-world. He takes Magneto and Toad in to captivity. This is the so-called "Triumph of Magneto" that the cover further emphasises with "No! You're not seeing things! This title means what it says!" So, it turns out - comics have a tradition of lying on their covers. Who knew?

In Magneto's absence, the brotherhood dissolves. Pietro and Wanda decline an offer to join the X-Men, saying they'd rather return home to central Europe (they'll soon enough join the line-up of Avengers). Although Pietro's main motivation has been to protect Wanda, as soon as Magneto is gone, he lords it over her, saying that "No, my sister! It is I who give the orders now!", when she starts to consider signing up. Mastermind is written off as a threat. It's unclear whether this is a genuine attempt to take Magneto off the board so that new things can be done with the emerging mutant stories, or whether it's a mere fake-out. Although Magneto's removal will hardly stick, this is the final end of this Brotherhood line-up.

Continuity notes

First appearance of the Stranger. Magneto and Toad taken off-world. Mastermind, Magneto and Toad are removed from Cerebro.

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