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Reviews: Magneto Testament #2 House of M:Civil War #2 |
| Posted by (kiplingkat) on Oct 03 2008 |
(My apologies for the lack of scans this week, I have given up on my new Epson and am going back to old reliable HP.)
House of M: Civil War #2. Again I have to preface anything I say with the note that I have never been a huge fan of alternate reality stories. That said, it's good. It's entertaining. It's still moving too fast to allow for any meaningful character interaction or emotional investment (at least for me). For instance, the writer just skipped the big reveal of Magneto discovering the Twins and Polaris, and how he figured out they were all his. It also made his and Charles' friendship take place in the space of only a couple pages before Charles was dead. But the brisk story definitely keeps the action going, and if you like to see a bad-ass Magneto kicking butt, this definitely supplies the goods.
Magneto Testament #2: Now here are the real goods. Greg Pak continues to tell the story of Max Eisenhardt (love the name!) and his family trying to survive in Hitler's Germany. As Jacob takes the path of least resistance as so many Jews did at the time, Max begins to show subtle inklings of some of the character traits the adult character will become so well-known for: his resourcefulness, his pride, and his need to protect the weak, even at risk to himself.
Like the first issue, Max's story is attentively woven into the backdrop of real history, and no comic book super villain can match the kind of suspense these events inspire. The action is well-paced, and a bit of success gives Max's story a moment to breathe under the weight of the horror of real history. The dialog may seem heavy handed to many modern readers, but these were not subtle attitudes or events. Germany of the 1930's was a time of outspoken, violent, systematic racism, nothing like we here in the U.S. experience today. (Read Mein Kampf sometime. It reads so ridiculously over the top to us today is seems like a joke, until you realize that there were hundreds of thousands of people who took it completely seriously. Then it is one of the most horrifying texts you have ever read.) I imagine the discussion the Eisenhardts had over the dinner table were echoed in many Jewish households of the time.
I also liked that Pak took a moment to tell Magda's story, because the Gypsies were actually one of the first groups to be rounded up in concentration camps.
Djurdjevic's covers continue to be framable, and Di Giandomenico's styled realism in the interior continues to pull the reader in to the period and the story, while providing a small buffer for the violence and hatred.
I am biased, but I think it is safe to say this is the finest story Marvel is publishing this year, and if you are missing it, you are missing out.
Last changed: Oct 09 2008 at 5:46 PM
