Magnus, Robot Fighter (Dynamite) #10



writer: Fred Van Lente
artists: Roberto Castro and Joseph Cooper
colors: Mauricio Wallace
letters: Marshall Dillon
editor: Nate Crosby

grade: D

"I get it. What you've gone through--it's worse than losing everything. You realize you never HAD anything in the first place. But this new nihilism...it isn't you."


And that brings us to one of the major problems with this series -- Magnus still isn't a consistent character yet. In this issue alone he randomly jumps back and forth from being a pissed off anarchist to a wise-cracking smart-alec without rhyme or reason. Is he V for Vendetta or Spider-Man? Please make up your mind, Van Lente.

And we're still not questioning or even hesitating at all when IA tells him to blow up the central computer and essentially bring an entire society to a screeching halt all because Magnus was lied to all his life (actually, lied to BY IA). Seriously, this makes no sense.

We're finally getting an explanation about what The Singularity was, but it wasn't Malev 6 after all, it's overly confusing, and it isn't all that interesting.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm reviewing these anymore. I hate this series. I would absolutely stop pulling it if there weren't only two issues left (one of which is already on my "To Read" stack).


Minor Details:

The one cute moment of this issue was when, in place of getting her father back, what rolls down the assembly line for Leeja is that box we've all seen on facebook, where you push the lever, a little panel opens up, and a hand comes out to switch off the lever. Cute, but pointless.

Let's be clear. Magnus was lied to/brainwashed all his life to believe a government structure and culture are innately evil and must be destroyed, then goes ahead and destroys as much of it as possible with no concern for loss of life. Magnus = terrorist.


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Leeja is now Magnus' enemy again, but she did know her father was a robot and tries to rebuild him, Magnus destroys the central computer, but "Roko's Basilisk," a physical manifestation of all North Am robots' worst fears about God and The Singularity (which, itself, seems to have been a "Roko's Basilisk"...I think), rises from the shattered mainframe and proves seemingly invincible to Magnus.

There's a writer-to-writer interview of Fed Lente (done by Ben Blacker & Ben Acker about the wrap up of Magnus here for those interested. The issue comes out tomorrow so there may be spoilers. It seems to be more about Van Lente than Magnus, but there might be something of interest in there.

-M

The Fred Van Lente Reboot
Magnus, Robot Fighter (2014) #0-12, Dr. Spektor (2014) #2-4
2014-2015

Grade: D+



Overview:

A series that tried too hard to "shake up" the basic premise, leaving little of the franchise's core left intact. We've seen wild departures before, largely during the Valiant runs, but each still kept some fundamental pieces of the basic Magnus Robot Fighter story in play. Beyond a mentor named 1A, a ruler named Clane, a daughter named Leeja, and some robots that need smashing, this story was utterly different. And yet, in spite of all that, it wasn't particularly clever, raised questions it never bothered to answer, and generally failed to paint Magnus as a compelling or even well defined protagonist. Magnus' ability to rewrite robot command line coding and the hilarious, Ebonics-wielding sidekick H8R aside (though how sad that the 1960s series had a more progressive attitude towards African Americans than Van Lente does in 2014), this series had little to offer.


Worth noting:

The Dr. Spektor appearances feature a very different Magnus that does not align at all with what we see in the core title. The character (briefly) appearing in Dr. Spektor #2-4 feels closer to the original Magnus character.



Worthwhile to read?:

No. Really not. This is the first time that reading a Magnus volume felt like work for me, and there was no reward by the close.


Key issues/highlights:

#2 and #3: The only issues of this series that I really found enjoyable. After that, the plot and pacing meander far too much without any solid characterization to pull them through.


Worth Re-reading?:

No. Really, no.

Yes, it's hard to place exactly what about the art is so enticing. It's very pre-Kirby in its action, poses, and general arrangements, but there's still a palpable energy present, especially in those loving shots of North Am. And I love how composed and calm Magnus can look one moment, leaping into extreme robot-murdering action the next.

Sovereigns #0 and #1



writer: Ray Fawkes (Magnus portion by Kyle Higgins)
artists: Johnny Desjardins (Magnus art by Jorge Fornes)
editors: Matt Idelson and Kevin Ketner

grade: B-


Two years after Dynamite's previous Magnus series was cancelled, and one year after Dynamite nuked the entire Gold Key universe, we somehow have a new Gold Key Universe completely apart from what came before. New writers, new editors, and an entirely new approach. Whereas Magnus previously appeared in his own title as well as Doctor Spektor's with seemingly no coordination between the two works, Kyle Higgens and Jorge Fornes (the creative team for the new Magnus title) actually get to do the Magnus portions of the new Sovereigns title as well. Now that's coordination.

And yet the big mystery this time around is who Magnus actually is. In Sovereigns #0 and #1, we meet a female Dr. Magnus who has set up shop as a sort of robot therapist, helping out when servant robots are not fulfilling their duties correctly. And yet, in both issues, we also meet a Magnus who appears to be a world leader and is regarded as the Robot Messiah, "the man who bridged the rift of understanding humanity and technology to benefit all." This Magnus is part machine and has a sort of Tony Stark setup with an A.I. that reports to him and provides him with external armor when appropriate.

So which one of them is "Magnus"?

It's hard to get a sense for the writing yet, as we've spent so few pages exploring the two Magnuses thus far, and the art is decent but not particularly impressive. From the legacy standpoint though, while this seems like a stronger start than the Van Lente reboot, there are some red flags that concern me, first and foremost being this interview in Sovereigns #0 with writer Kyle Higgins:

Excerpt #1:


Sigh.

This isn't like doing a run on Superman or Batman, who have been in continuous publication for nearly a century. Magnus has spent less than seventy issues, across five decades, in his traditional context as hero to North Am. That context has not been exploited anywhere near enough and has a ton of potential left to be tapped, but the trend in comics now is to bring in Young Guns who have no respect for the original property and intend to use the basic premise to do something entirely different. Even if this ends up being a great series, if it isn't firmly rooted in "what's come before," then it does the Magnus franchise a tremendous disservice. Magnus shouldn't be stuck in his 1960's characterization; the character must be free to grow and evolve, but the world of North AM and Magnus' basic role in it -- that was the most compelling spect of the property, and it still has legs and under-utilized facets.

More from the interview:



Everything wrong with modern comic reboots in one answer.

Yeah, Higgens doesn't seem to have much interest in any "Magnus" beyond the one(s?) he's writing. As I suggested above, this Magnus is stripped of the core concept that made Magnus Magnus: the far flung future setting of North Am. The Magnus Robot Messiah exists in 2020, alongside Dr. Solar, Turok, and Dr. Spektor and resides in Oslo, and we aren't yet told whether or not Dr. Magnus exists in the same time period and location. But Magnus without North Am? What's the point?? Beyond having a connection to machinery, I've yet to see what about this incarnation in any way resembles the classic Magnus Robot Fighter.


So I'm not holding out much hope for this reboot. In fact, it feels a tad insulting to be buying, reading, and reviewing a series written by a guy who can't even answer the question "what are the elements about Magnus that make the character such a timeless classic?" but I suffered through the Van Lente reboot; I can give this a try.

That was interesting. I am not following any of Dynamite's Gold Key reboots since they seemed to throw out everything that made the characters interesting to me. At least you are fair in your reviews. I have to give you props. I would not have been able to read it with an open mind as you did.

I pulled this to see what the heck was going on... I'll probably get in next week. Doesn't sound promising though. I'm really, really tired of writers taking their story and glomming it on to existing properties for marketing purposes.

if you want to move the direction of a character in a logical way through the story, great... but don't make something totally different with the same name and expect it to work.

For every sale you get from a Shax that loves the property, you probably lose one from someone that 'knows' they don't like it.. and those you get are almost guarnteed to be disappointed.  Yet they still do it over and over again.   Why?

Some day, comics will get this (I hope!)