X-Men Unlimited 2
Nicieza (w) and Duursema, Panosian, Williams, Palmiotti, and Rubinstein (a) and Javins (c)
It turns out that X-Men Unlimited 2 is about a double-size issue, maybe a little more. I did not know that starting in. I suppose I could have guessed by the sheer volume of the thing, but we're past that now. This issue came out in 1993, after the fall of Asteroid M and right at the inception of Avalon, Magneto's little space-base meant to keep mutants away from humans. I think I've read stuff JUST after this issue concerning the fall of Avalon, but I can't quite place that now. Let's talk about this issue.This issue was really long. Not just in the "it's double-sized" way. In the way of "good lord there sure are a lot of captions and just as much dialogue." The biggest problem I have with that, in this issue specifically, is that I often didn't find it helped advance the plot. There were some times, sure, where some key piece was revealed but far more were just the main character, Adrian Eiskalt, revealing more and more how much he hated Magneto. If I boil this issue down to its bare necessities, I think it's a pretty good issue. Eiskalt hates Magneto for killing his brother in front of him, when both men were in the East German Army and were directed to attack Wundagore Mountain, former home of Magneto and current resting place of Magneto's wife Magda. Adrian remembers the incident with his brother Ute surrendering to Magneto before being blown to pieces and has hated the mutant-rights leader ever since. The rest of the issue is focused around Adrian trying to prepare in case Magneto isn't dead (as was suspected after the fall of Asteroid M) and enlisting the help of Gabrielle Haller (Ambassador from Israel and mother of X-Men Legacy's David Haller) and Moira MacTaggert neither of whom support the idea of killing Magneto. He also gets assistance from Genetech to try to find a weakness in Magneto. Finally outfitted with a suit Magneto won't be able to see and therefore won't block and a taser with a needle that will shut down Magneto and his powers for a couple hours, Adrian hops off to Wundagore to see if Magneto's planning a visit. When Magneto inevitably does, Adrian can't pull the trigger, suddenly remembering that Magneto had, in fact, given he and his brother a chance to leave before Ute started to attack the mutant, who simply defended himself when a bullet ricocheted back at Ute. Back in the present, Magneto discovers Adrian and leaves without fighting. Adrian considers killing himself for building his whole life on hate, leaving him with nothing left to lose.
There's an interesting story in there but boy is it far less interesting over fifty or so pages. Adrian is not particularly likable and I would imagine most people have their own opinions about Magneto coming into this book, so trying to show both sides of the man doesn't do much. We already know he's a complicated villain. I know that after an extra twenty years (this was published in 1993) but even at the time it was pretty true. He'd already been headmaster at the Xavier School, among other redeeming things. So we already know he's complex. We don't need fifty pages of excessive captions to tell us that over and over and over again. It's captured in every interaction, with Adrian often teaming up with people who at least appreciate Magneto, and in every spare thought Adrian has and in a TV broadcast we're forced to see for a couple pages. Nicieza really does not seem to trust his audience to understand just how multi-dimensioned Magneto is. Also, and this is probably not a great time to mention this, I tend to not like 90s comic book art. Oh well. Guys, if you haven't read this issue in the past, no need to turn around and find it at the dollar store now. LESSON LEARNED.
Tune in next time when we learn that lesson all over again with issue five of "Get Kraven."
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