| Title | : | X-Men: Magneto Testament |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785138234 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785138235 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 152 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2009 |
| Awards | : | IGN Award Best Mini-Series (2008) |
X-Men: Magneto Testament Reviews
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For all of you out there who think comic books are for kids (or for geeky adults with short attention spans and a lower than average IQ), I'd like to point out that graphic novels (as we like to call them) are actually fairly progressive when it comes to making social commentary. And they have been for years. So it's really no surprise that Marvel incorporated the Holocaust into the origin story of one of it's biggest characters. Kudos to Marvel and Greg Pak for a job well done.
This isn't a superhero story, though. This is really the story of one Jewish boy (and his family) who lived in Germany during World War II. So, you can imagine how well that turned out for them.
It is the origin story of Magneto, however. And as much as I hated to do it, I couldn't give it the 5 stars that I wanted to, because although Greg Pak was true to the events of the Holocaust, I felt he wasn't true to the story of the mutants. I kept thinking, isn't the mutant gene triggered during puberty or during some traumatic event? This story was about an adolescent Magneto who eventually ends up in Auschwitz. If starting your period will bring out the mutant gene, doesn't it make sense that watching your family being slaughtered might also kick it into overdrive? I'm just saying. But that's not really the point of this book, is it? You've gotta admit, though, it would have been awesome to see Magneto kick some Nazi ass!
The last page of the book is a scene where Magneto is digging through the rubble of the now-destroyed Auschwitz. He finds the canister in which he had secretly written what he assumed would be his last testament. This is what it said:
My name is Max Eisenhardt. To whoever finds this, I am sorry. Because I'm dead...and now it's up to you. Tell everyone who will listen. Tell everyone who won't. Please. Don't let this ever happen again.
Whether or not the human race has learned anything from the mass genocide committed during this time is questionable. As I was reading this, I wondered how the Allied Forces could have sat by and done nothing. If their planes were flying over the concentration camps, they had to have known, right? Weren't there already rumors of what the Nazis were doing floating around the world? Where was the public outrage during this time?
Then I thought about it some more and realized exactly how something like this could be allowed to continue. For example, haven't we all heard about what's happening in Africa?
Maybe someday my kids will wonder how we could have let something like that continue...
Sorry, kids. Those countries didn't have any oil. -
I don’t know why but this is one of my most rec’d books. It’s not like I wasn’t aware of it before people started telling me to read it as I did try reading it three, maybe four years ago, but I stopped after a couple issues and never rated it. Anyhoo, to stop the recs for this ‘un I finally read the bugger and here be me thoughts on X-Men: Magneto Testament:
‘s ok… YA HAPPY NOW!?!1 Alright, I’ll do it proper.
Didja ever see the first X-Men movie? That opening scene at Auschwitz, the Jewish kid gets separated from his parents by ze Germans, the trauma activates his mutant powers revealing the boy to be the legendary Marvel villain, Magneto – that’s essentially this book. I suspected as much on my first reading attempt and that’s why I didn’t bother finishing. And really that succinct scene is all the origin Magneto needs, making this overlong book, that tells the same story, completely redundant.
Then again, given the teacher’s lesson plans included at the back, I’m guessing this isn’t intended to be just an origin story but more of an accessible entry point to teach youngsters about the Holocaust. And in that regard, the book provides a decent overview of that horrific event and I imagine for readers unfamiliar with the subject that this would be gripping and informative to learn about.
Except I’ve studied the Third Reich, Hitler’s rise to power and the persecution of the Jews at university-level, and have read several books and seen numerous films, TV shows and documentaries on the subject so there’s nothing new here for me; I was just being reminded, in a very cursory and basic way, of what I’ve already long known.
The book doesn’t offer much more than a timeline leading to Auschwitz. As you might expect for a book intended to highlight the Holocaust, Magneto is underwritten as a character and is mostly a passive bystander. In fact, if this weren’t published by Marvel or have X-Men and Magneto in the title, this could easily be read as a non-superhero history comic – his powers are so subtly hinted at that readers who don’t know the character at all are unlikely to notice when they’re used.
He has a weak romance subplot with a gypsy girl and his Jewish family are badly treated – it’s all so predictable and unimaginative. Still, I couldn’t help but be moved at seeing the extent of the suffering the Nazis victims endured, regardless of how many times I’ve heard the stories of the death camps.
It’s skilful but I wasn’t that taken with Carmine Di Giandomenico’s art, whose characters all looked a bit too similar and the sad, overly cartoonish eyes seemed gratuitously maudlin. The subject matter alone is powerful enough, you don’t need to try to manipulate the reader into feeling even more sympathy for the persecuted.
Also included is a short comic with art by industry legends Neal Adams and Joe Kubert about Dina Babbitt, the artist who painted portraits of Josef Mengele’s victims at Auschwitz under duress, and her attempts to procure her paintings back from the Auschwitz Museum in the decades after the war. I can’t say I feel that strongly about the matter, particularly as I can see why the Museum would want to keep them – to use them as teaching tools to continue to educate and bring the memories of that time to life – and I’m not sure what better things Babbitt would’ve done with them herself anyway. I really don’t have a dog in this fight and she’s been dead for a few years now anyway so…
Don’t pick this one up expecting your usual Marvel comic or even that captivating an origin story for Magneto – Greg Pak really doesn’t do anything that wasn’t done better in that scene from Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie – but X-Men: Magneto Testament is good as a kind of primer to those who don’t already know about the Holocaust or the nightmare that was Auschwitz. Still, Maus remains the definitive comic on the Holocaust and I would recommend both that and Reinhard Kleist’s The Boxer over Magneto Testament, especially as The Boxer tells the same story but far better. -
A powerful piece of work with fantastic artwork. If you want to read about the early days of the boy who would become Magneto, this is a great place to start.
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"My name is Max Eisenhardt. To whoever finds this, I'm sorry because I'm dead and it's now up to you. Tell everyone who will listen. Tell everyone who won't. Please don't let this happen ever again."
This was a letter written by a Jewish teenage boy inside the Nazi concentration camps in Auschwitz where he was one of the designated Sonderkommando who were laborers in the crematoria which is possibly the most degrading and sickening occupation ever created during the second World War. They were the ones who had to burn the bodies of fellow Jewish prisoners after various executions (usually in gas chambers), and the most upsetting of which has to be when they had to cremate mass graves. This young man had lost his family during a firing squad which he was the only survivor of, and while at camps he spent his entire time there trying to save Magda, a gypsy girl he went to school and fell in love with. Her survival has given him more hope to live for than his own.
Max Eisenhardt ultimately endures the horrors of the Nazi regime, thanks to his timing, resourcefulness and patience, but he was no longer a whole person after those wretched and traumatic experiences either, and this fearful and abused teenage boy eventually hardens into a man who now calls himself Erik Lehnsherr, otherwise known as the mutant revolutionist, Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Written by Greg Pak (whose only work I have ever encountered was DC New 52's Batman-Superman) and illustrated by Carmine DiGiandomenico, MAGNETO TESTAMENT is a rather harrowing examination of the dark forces that shaped the boy called Max Eisenhardt into something deliberately extraordinary years after.
Composed of five chapters and tons of research about the accounts written on the events within Nazi prison camps, Magneto Testament included some of the most depressing and at times intensely moving moments of what it must have been like for someone of young Magneto's lineage to grow up during one of the darkest periods in human history.
I think this was the first time in X-Men canon that a writer has attempted to expound in narrative detail the terrible things a young Magneto had to undergo during such a criminally racist time when hatred and violence against the Jewish people were so disgustingly rampant that anyone who belonged to such a troubled time couldn't possibly stay sane, especially someone like Max Eisenhardt who watched his loved ones perish and had to take care of the remains of total strangers whose only connection he had with was the fact that they were condemned as an unclean race lower than the average human. It's fucking gross, and reading Magneto Testament is uniquely painful because of the small brutalities explored in every issue. I would like to applaud Pak in successfully delivering a rather humane piece in this twisted coming-of-age story truly deserving of one of comics' most multifaceted and compelling villains.
I think Pak captured the essence of what must have given Magento during the later years his righteous rage and motivation which in turn gave him the solid platform to stand on and justify his war against the human race. I don't exactly consider myself a Magneto apologist or full-pledged sympathizer because some of his revolutionary activities done in the name of mutant superiority can be extreme and misguided, if not tragically ironic.
But I think anyone who claims to either enjoy or despise his character has to at least understand his personal history, and it pleases me that Greg Pak has accomplished just that for his writing in Magneto Testament.
What I consider most commendable is the fact that Pak did not even focus on Max's mutation as a metal telekinetic. There are hints and manifestations of his powers across the issues, such as the ability to throw steel lances in a far distance and the fact that he unconsciously avoided bullets during that awful firing squad scene with his family. But Pak did not give any indication that young Max even knew how special and different he is which I thought was a great choice for the story because Pak opted to highlight his permeating helplessness as an innocent Jewish boy who had to witness the inhumane acts committed around him whose cycle of systematic violence he reluctantly learned to become a part of as well. His journey as a lowly laborer to eventual Sonderkommado has enabled him to get a closer look at the surrounding abyss whenever he had to drag and burn the bodies of countless gassed victims. Young Max had no other choice but to unflinchingly stare back at the hideous darkness and welcome it into his personal space if he ever hopes to overcome it.
As rich as the stomach-lurching scenes were for this comic book, it has to be the tiniest things that made me tear up. One of them was this full-paged panel where Max glimpsed through a room filled entirely with eyeglasses. It literally made me put down what I was reading as I closed my eyes and willed myself to breathe normally again. There was just something about it that struck me in the most visceral sense. It was so damn visually painful and inexplicably so. Even now I'm not sure why it emotionally wounded me when there are many scenes in the comic book which are more brutal and disheartening to look at. I suppose it truly is this small kind of horrific imagery that is seemingly inconsequential and mundane that left a rather huge impact on me.
As depressing as everything is about Magneto Testament, there were impressive moments of light and sweetness concerning Max's feelings for the girl Magda and his determination to save her and get her out alive. From what I know in the canon, they eventually get married and have a daughter named Anya but Pak did not add this piece of canon information for his story which was okay because reading about a hopeful Max whose devotion and concern for a girl he barely knew was so heartbreakingly simple yet moving to watch unfold. It was enough for me to cling onto. I think my emotional investment for them was particularly high because I know what was going to happen to them after the Nazis were defeated. For this key event, Chris Claremont (who was the one who gave Magneto the Holocaust survivor background thirty years ago) touched upon it in the third volume of Excalibur, issue #6 but in case you're interested to know more about it, let me briefly talk about it here if you don't mind more spoilers.
Both Erik (this is Magneto's latest name in the comics these days) and Magda escaped the camps and are more than eager to start a new life together with their daughter but a commotion happens when a bunch of Nazi sympathizers tracked them down along with other Jewish people. These assholes burned down the apartment complex where Anya was sleeping and she was trapped as Erik couldn't get her out in time. Angered beyond reprieve, his child's death was the catalyst that brought out Erik's mutant powers to the surface and he proceeds to kill them using magnetism and metal telekinesis. Magda witnessed this and called him a monster, fearing he will endanger the unborn twins in her womb she never got to tell him about. These twins eventually grow up as mutants themselves named Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and they were reunited with their father somewhere along the way though it took some time for either parties to realize that they were family.
But for now, here in Magneto Testament, we have young Max and Magda clinging onto their young, blossoming love at a time a happily-ever-after doesn't seem to be possible, blissfully unaware that their cavalry has just began.
In a nutshell, Magneto Testament is a searing and sublime tale about the ugly crudeness that human beings are capable of committing on one another, particularly against a minority they perceive as inferior; and how one boy's quest for survival turns him into an avenging force of nature once he becomes a man fully capable of bending worlds to his will in the name of justice he was long denied of. In a final act of redemption, the letter he wrote at the camps as a boy eventually finds a way back to him, symbolizing and affirming the truth that it is ultimately up to him after all to ensure that another Holocaust does not come to pass ever again.
This is duly recommended to both X-Men fans and comic book aficionados, especially if you're generally interested in works of fiction based on the horrors of Holocaust. I think this comic book really dealt with the events as sensitively as it could and truly delivered a magnificent Magneto-centered parable at its core.
RECOMMENDED: 9/10
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This story will break your heart on so many levels but its the origin of Max Eisenhardt aka Erik Lensherr and its so sad like we follow how he as a boy grew up and excelled at javelin but then comes the Nazis and well they start treating Jews in inhumane ways and we see the slow effects of it from isolation to ignorance to them fleeing for their life to living in detention centers to going to other countries and then Auschwitz and well the inhumane life he had to live there and losing his family and all and the difficulties and well finding his former love Magda there and what he does after and how he survives the holocaust, one of the worst things in human history and its heartbreaking story and you feel for Max so much and also shed tears reading it.
Its very detaiiled and I like how it also credits other sources where it took information from and does well to humanize a character like Magneto and you see how he barely survived and the difficulties and nightmare life he lead. There is a scene with bodies he has to dispose of and omg seeing that page and seeing how its real too like thats how people were treated in concentration camps.. and I dont even know what to say. Just super-inhumane stuff.
But speaking of the story, its great and Pak writes it really well and its genuine and does a good job of sticking with the character beats and its one of the definitive X-Men story, just some great stuff all around! -
I want more...
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Even the incredibly powerful Master of Magnetism Magneto was once a boy. A very unfortunately Jewish boy who happened to be born in Germany a few years before World War II. Magneto still went by his real name Max Eisenhardt.
Max's tale is a familiar one to any person unfortunate enough to have been Jewish while Hitler took over Europe. Seeing the pictures of what happened even in comic form is just unbelievable. It's terrifying to realize one hateful man could be the impetus and the engine to such depravity against fellow countrymen is horrible.
It's all too easy to see no matter what happened or who Magneto was fighting why he'd never stand down and let the Mutants be rounded up like the Jews.
On a different and minor note I wonder what Marvel will do with Magneto's backstory in the future. The comic depicted little Max as 9 years old in 1936 making him 90 years old as of right now. I realize in a world where a man has dominion over magnetism him being 90 isn't a huge deal, but what about in 20 years. Will Magneto just be the baddest old man by using his powers to roll himself around in a wheelchair? It will probably just be ignored, but it was a random thought on my mind. -
Wow no super powers no super villains
just plain holocaust story and building up the character of young magneto
seeing his people oppressed seeing his family killed in front of his eyes
being a sonderkomando and taking part in the burning of millions of jews
the helplessness he felt while denying the fighter inside him air to survive to save himself and to save magda his future wife and mother of his son and daughter
its just amazing i loved it. -
This book is deceiving. You would think a book about a young Magneto trying to survive in Nazi controlled Auschwitz would be one thing, but it's totally not that thing. This is a straight up story about a Jewish family being beaten and abused at every turn, yet still finding a way to persevere. This isn't the most original story, but it is very well done. I give Marvel credit for putting this out, and not going all cheesy with Magneto making metal monsters to fight Nazis (which could have easily happened).
Even cooler is this book has lesson plans in the back for teachers. It didn't even occur to me that this book could be used as a teaching tool, but it absolutely could be. In the foreword, Pak goes out of his way to say all of the information in the book is factual, so I could see this being in the Holocaust unit of a middle school history class in the same way The Sound of Music or Schindler's List are used.
Also, the art is crazy good. But there were a few times I got a little lost in the storytelling, and wasn't able to tell just what was happening. That could be I wasn't being a careful enough reader, but that doesn't change the fact that a few pages and transitions lost me. -
One of the best page in the history of Marvel comics, one of the worst page in the history of humanity. No Magneto, no hero, only Max Eisenhardt... together to millions of people in this tragedy. His first experience with (but would be better say ‘against’) prejudice, that will accompany him long the entire life.
I think these aren’t Magneto origins but, the origin of the man under the helmet, and the reason because he will became the mutant chief that we know. Thanks to this giant size edition (and consequently large illustrations) you can “feel” the story even better. Don’t forget the very big poster.
A job that deserve a so excellent edition, and a title that everyone should really read.
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Beautiful and tragic, Greg Pak with beautiful artwork from Carmine Di Giandomenic, deliver a powerful origin story of the master of magnetism which I would recommend not only to X-Men fans but to any person who wants to have an unforgettable reading experience.
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3.5
Impressive.
Even without any X-Men background, this serves a good holocaust coverage.
Would like to read more such details of other X-Men characters. -
Ahhh Marvel and comic book writers (who tend to display the knowledge of high school graduates) take on the Holocaust. What could go wrong? Thankfully- nothing.
The Magneto Testament is essentially a crash course in history for the current generation of imbeciles. Somewhere in the myriad of social justice, leftist history, Facebook posts and Twitter posts that constitute "education" these days, some may have heard that there was a war that happened in the Ancient days of 1939-1945. Some may have heard that the Nazis did very bad things. But, with sparkly vampires and endless reboots of comics to entertain, they may have missed out on just how bad the Nazis were. So Pak decided to do a comic book instead.
It's Magneto's story. A young Max Eisenhardt and his family are growing up in Nazi Germany. Sadly, they are Jews. This story takes us through the awful fate of the Jews who were caught up in the effects of Nazism both in Germany and then, later, in conquered territories. From the Ghettos of Poland to the Death Camp of Auschwitz, we follow Max and his family as they try to survive.
It's not only a good origin story, but the history is accurate enough. While by no means should this substitute for good scholarship, considering the intellect of the current crop of "students" these days, this is a great medium to introduce this subject.
It works not only as a good comic, with a good story, but it informs the reader of some real history. The art is likewise well done. Both combine to make this a different, but quite good, addition to my collection. This could have been a travesty, but turned out to be a worthy read. -
X-Men in ünlü "villain"i, çizgi roman dünyasının da gelmiş geçmiş en büyük "villain"lerinden olan Magneto'nun çocukluğuna, holocoust günlerine dair bir çizgi-roman bu.
Öte yandan, Auschwitz-Birkenau'da katledilen 1 milyondan fazla masum insanın herhangi birine dair bir hikaye olarak da kabul edilebilir. Çünkü içinde fantastik ögeler barındırmıyor. Gerçekçi ve güzel bir hikaye. Mükemmel çizgiler. Auschwitz-Birkenau'yu görmüş biri olarak, kampı adeta yeniden ziyaret etmiş oldum.
Bu hikayeyi Magneto üzerinden aktarmanın da çok güzel bir fikir olduğu kanısındayım. Çünkü bu fikir yalnızca Magneto'nun sonraki hayatındaki kişiliğini ve perspektifini sağlam temeller üzerine oturtmakla kalmıyor aynı zamanda günümüze, Yahudilere (Siyonistlere diyelim) dair farklı bir okumayı da beraberinde getiriyor.
Ari ırk oluşturmak üzere Nazilerce yapılan Holocoust'tan kurtulan ve sonrasında kendinden aşağı gördüğü mutant olmayan insanları yok etmeye çalışan Magneto..
Ve de İsrail..
Ne diyordu Cioran;
" En büyük zalimler kafası kesilmemiş mazlumlar arasından çıkar.." -
I'm a little torn on this.
First of all, it is very well written. It gives an accurate retelling of the plight of Jews at the beginning of WWII as well as time spent as prisoners in concentration camps. By coincidence I just finished reading "Man's Search for Meaning" and could parallel some of the experiences between Magneto and Frankl.
But that's also the problem with this: it feels too much like a graphic novel about the concentration camps and not really a story about Magneto. Sure he's the main character and it's about him, but if you didn't know it was him, there's only one small part that you might figure out who it was. It just feels like a historical graphic novel as opposed to an X-Men story.
The art is passable at best. Many of the character looks so alike I was confused sometimes who was speaking. And I swear Magneto and Magda look exactly alike. -
Short reviews from here on put till get back from San Diego!
This was a dark story of Magneto as a kid growing up during the holocaust. It's powerful visually and well told but I thought it ran so quick through events I couldn't get attached. Still, a very different and interesting tale. -
No fue lo que esperaba, pero me ha encantado. Aunque no soy experta en el mundo de Marvel, cada vez me intereso más por las historias de superhéroes, mutantes, etc., y reconozco que las películas de X-Men siempre me gustaron. Cuando descubrí este cómic, me intrigó lo de ahondar en el pasado de Magneto, pero no esperaba encontrar algo tan impactante.
Una advertencia: no lo leáis pensando que trata la faceta de Magneto como mutante. De hecho, no vemos nada relacionado con los mutantes. Sin embargo, eso no desmerece a esta obra. Es verdad que el protagonista podría haber sido alguien totalmente desconocido y no hubiera pasado nada, pero creo que se utilizó a Magneto para que los fans del personaje quisieran darle una oportunidad a esta lectura.
Magneto aquí es Max, un adolescente judío que tiene una vida relativamente tranquila junto a su familia. Reside en Alemania y su infierno comienza cuando los nazis comienzan a arremeter contra los judíos y contra cualquiera que se rebele contra su ideología. Ver lo que fue el Holocausto es el verdadero objetivo de esta novela gráfica. Se nos muestra cómo comenzó a gestarse todo y las atrocidades que se cometieron a lo largo de los años.
Hablar en exceso de la trama sería destripar todo lo que ocurre, así que solo os puedo decir que acompañaréis a Max durante diversos hechos que le marcarán y que irán endureciendo su carácter. Incluso la persona más buena, puede verse obligada a mirar hacia otro lado para sobrevivir, y ésa es una de las lecciones que os dejará la historia. Hay mucho dolor y pequeñas briznas de amor, pero predomina un ambiente de horror y no puedes evitar pensar en cómo el ser humano puede llegar a ciertos extremos. A pesar de saber lo que pasó en la Alemania nazi, es imposible leer con indiferencia. Mi única queja es que el final es brusco, saltamos de una situación a otra totalmente diferente y no se aclara el destino de un personaje. Me dejó una sensación agridulce y lo vi como un cierre hecho a la prisa.
En cuanto a las ilustraciones, debo decir que son absolutamente perfectas. Se usan las tonalidades necesarias en cada momento y se cuidan mucho los detalles de cada viñeta. No se llega a mostrar de forma totalmente explícita la forma de torturar o acabar con la vida de algunas personas, pero tampoco se maquilla lo ocurrido y se saben utilizar alternativas que te hagan ver la magnitud de la tragedia.
Como anexo, hay un pequeño cómic dedicado a Gottliebova Babbitt, una artista que sobrevivió al Holocausto y que inició una lucha para recuperar las pinturas que los nazis la obligaron a realizar en los campamentos de exterminio. Yo no conocía su historia, así que me sorprendió saber de ella.
Si tenéis ocasión, no dudéis en darle una oportunidad a “El testamento de Magneto”. Considero que no os dejará indiferentes y os ayudará a conocer mejor uno de los acontecimientos más horrorosos de la historia de la humanidad. -
Well-researched, written, and drawn, Marvel graphic novel, detailing the harrowing story of Jewish Berliner, Max Eisenhardt, Holocaust survivor, who later became superhero Magneto. This work is quite raw in giving particulars of the Sonderkommando operations at Auschwitz, where Eisenhardt worked for 2 years.
After the Nuremberg Laws are enacted, Eisenhardt finds himself in rural Poland, after his family decides to flee to relatives there. Later, the Eisenhardts are in the Warsaw Ghetto, and Max takes up smuggling/stealing to supplement their meager caloric intake (under 200 cal per day for Jews) meted out by the Nazis, which resulted in 2,000 Ghetto dwellers dying of starvation per day.
Eisenhardt and his family played by the rules, in fact, Eisenhardt's dad was a decorated German Army WWI hero, as were about 35,000 other German Jewish men (along with 12,000 KIA) out of 100,000 Jews who served in the German armed forces during WWI - an astounding ratio. It wasn't enough that President Hindenburg had said that the Jews who bled for Germany were German enough for him, by God! The Eisenhardt family was swept up in the cataclysm of bigotry and hate unleashed and promoted by the Nazis, ended up murdered by Nazis, except for Max, who, because he possessed mutant superpowers (which are only subtly hinted at in the graphic novel) literally dodged Nazi bullets and alone emerged from the massacre pit alive.
I won't discuss more of the story - to avoid spoiling the suspense of the plot for readers of this review. -
This volume demonstrates the transcendent power of comics.
I don't know that I can truly find the words to do this work justice in my review, but I will try.
This is an origin story of a complicated figure in comics, sometimes villain, sometimes hero, but always a compelling figure.
Most people know him as Magneto, but he began his life as a Jewish boy named Max. As a boy, Max has to endure the horrifying atrocity of the Holocaust.
This is his story.
The story of the boy named Max who would one day grow up to be the man called Magento, who right or wrong, fights for mutant rights.
The illustrations are well done and dramatically used. The research that went into the volume is apparent and there is even a teacher's guide in the back with a lesson plan and activities.
X-Men: Magneto Testament is an example of the very best of a medium and I am in awe of Greg Pak and Carmine Di Giandomenico for their work on this very painful and articulate expression of one mankind's darkest hours. -
Well that was depressing. Well-researched and with vivid scenes and characters, I found myself pretty compelled to finish once I got started. That partly comes from deep knowledge of where the story is headed, rather than necessarily a compelling writer or artist.
This was admirable work, and while I wanted to enjoy it on its own merits it's hard to separate the "of course I know I'm horrified" conditioning from birth, from any specific response to the specific presentation here in this instance.
A few things stood out: the coins, the presence of recurring characters, a few moments of inconsequential hope dashed.
I didn't find myself particularly moved by this book, as I'd hoped - but then again I've already learned many of these facts and ideas elsewhere. This'll probably hit kids like a ton of bricks.
Hard to say how much I liked this on it's merits, but that it pierced my world-weary cynicism in any meaningful way is praiseworthy. -
A horrible encounter with Nazi Germany with Magneto as the young protagonist. I like that this could be a story completely independent of the X-Men comics. The story could have been a lot longer but might have just ended up a lot more gruesome; so happy with the length really.
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Magneto Testament is a ghaphic novel that not only manages to humanize the fearsome Magneto but also to show us the nazi atrocities of the holocaust.
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Una joya. Dolorosa y esperanzadora a la vez.
100% recomendable y de lectura obligatoria. -
X-Men: Magneto, Testament
As a collector of comics I know that most comics are not for kids and often have adult themes that make you think, that make you contemplate or are just plain fun and enjoyable.
Though not enjoyable in that sense, this compilation gives a true account of Max Eisenhart's (Magneto, enemy of the X-Men) experiences as a Jew growing up in 1930s/1940s Nazi Germany and Poland. After reading this, anyone who thinks comics are for kids or Holocaust deniers really need to wake up and smell the blood – the book is visceral, based on historic facts and explain a lot about Max and his dedication to his family and his deadening of feelings towards death and sacrifice.
Impressive art by Di Giandomenico was at times hard to take – the extermination of the Jews, the cruelty of their Nazi "masters" and the apathy and unbelievability of what was happening – really hits you in the gut in its realism and imagination.
Max's magnetic powers come to play in a javelin-throwing contest where he beats the Aryan competitors. He is called a cheating Jew and beat up for his trouble. The Berlin Games where African American Jesse Owens wins a few gold medals and the Nazi response is also telling.
To call the story a slam against racism and against prejudice is obvious and trite. It's about a boy who grows up quickly, protects his family and builds a center of hate. Pak writes a story much different than the origins of Magneto in the X-Men films or the earlier comics, so don't expect a lot of super-heroics – although heroism is another theme explored.
The end of the book has some references the writer gleaned from and even a Teacher's Guide for this book is also meant to be an educational tool. Finally, an article about a Jewish artist who, at the time of publication, is demanding her art work back from a Polish museum who have refused to do it – Dina Babbitt, who was forced to paint pictures of gypsies by Mengele himself. Art by Joe Kubert and others, and an essay on the atrocity by Stan Lee. Dina passed away after publication, so I don't know if she ever got her art back! A pity!
Bottom Line: Excellent piece of work – more for those who want to get a personal history of what went on at Auschwitz and other camps, or teachers who want to get a close, real look on the Jewish struggle to their young students – and even for X-Men fans! An honest and at times hard to read, but necessary to tell, tale. Recommended. -
Fans of the X-Men know that Eric Lensherr, the man known as the evil mutant Magneto, was a German Jew who survived the concentration camps. Few know that his name was really named Max Eisenhardt. X-Men Origins told the story of Logan/Wolverine and was turned into a great movie. Magneto Testament was written for a different reason. Readers learn more about Magneto's youth and why he became Magneto, but the real story is the horror of the Holocaust.
The tale starts in 1935, Max is mistreated at school and in his community because he is a Jew, but it is just a minor precursor to the horrors he will see as the Nazi regime comes into full force. The Nazis invade Poland and increase there actions against the Jewish population. Before long, Max finds himself in Auschwitz.
Through it all, he finds strength in the strong men around him. His father and his Uncle Erich disagree about whether it is better to resist the Nazis or to "behave," and a former teacher does everything he can to protect Max once he is alone on the camp. In fact, the teacher does such a good job that Max finds ways to get some perks for himself.
He doesn't just use his connections to help himself, though. A gypsy girl named Magda, whom he has always had strong feelings for also turns up in the camp, and Max decides to do whatever he can to help her survive.
The story is incredibly moving and the story and the art really capture the grim reality of those being dehumanized and killed in the concentration camps and throughout the Holocaust. This is not a story about people with superpowers, but it is a story about people rising up and fighting to survive against the ultimate evil.
After the primary story is completed, there is also a brief comic that tells the tale of a woman who worked at Marvel who was a true hero of the Holocaust.
There is also a great set of classroom activities and curriculum support for teachers who would like to include this book and story as a part of the curriculum. It would be a really great way to reach reluctant readers. The suggestions are designed in a way that would support rubrics and curriculum requirements common in many states. -
I'm not sure what sets this book apart. Yeah, it's a Holocaust story that uses Magneto as its main character, with his nascent magnetic powers only showing up a handful of times in the five-issue story. But it's not that different from other movies or books trying to turn the Holocaust into a story about one survivor. Snippets of the main character's life reflect wider social trends; his perseverance reflects millions. But this book tries to do too much. Every few pages exposition-heavy text boxes push the story forward or offer the needed history lessons. Comics' conventions allow for this side-information much more gracefully, yet it still feels like too much is being crammed into one boy's story. The plight of millions murdered is harrowing and huge, but Magneto's story at times feels too slight.
Writer Greg Pak does his best to make Magneto into an everyman, but what's the point of having him blend in--he's supposed to turn into a villain who has no problem with the next-brand of eugenics--mutants over humans. If his experience of the Holocaust was so typical, why's he the only one who wants to enslave all humans? It's hard to pick up much from the supervillain's story that applies to his later characterization. That lacking raises the question of why Marvel bothered producing this book. One answer might come from the teacher's guide at the back of the book--a desire to once again educate people that (most of) this all happened. With all the Holocaust deniers out there, that acceptable. Comics have strong Jewish roots--in fact, the best part of the book is probably the six-page story about a Czechoslovakian artist who endured the Holocaust created by a Jewish star-studded crew including Stan Lee, Joe Kubert, and Neal Adams. But, obviously, comics have already done this story, and done it better. A more crass explanation could be an attempt to find a new way to make money off of existing characters. After all, each class-set of this book will bring in a couple hundred bucks. That money's better spent elsewhere. -
Magneto has always been my favorite character in the X-Men universe. He was always so intriguing to me and his backstory always interested me. In the comics, it's confusing as to Magneto's backstory besides knowing he was Jewish and went to Auschwitz. This really cleared a lot up and the writers worked to make sure that the story stayed consistent with the previous comic's stories of Magneto. This book broke my heart. As a fan of Magneto I always wanted his thought process, why he was how he was. This really answered that question for me and made me love and feel for him even more. It's clear that the writers and artist did a lot of research and looked at a lot of stories to shape magneto's backstory. It doesn't start with him in the camp, it leads up to it and the scene with his family absolutely broke my heart. I had to put the book down I was crying so hard. This book is a hard one to read, they aren't afraid to hold back on the atrocities that happened and it really added to the story. It doesn't cover anything up and is true to the large story it's telling. Magneto in this interested me. It was interesting to see him as a boy who was actually really loving and caring and loved his family and how his experience with the Holocaust shaped him. This comic made me understand Magneto more and I appreciate the writers for giving that. If you love Magneto or even just the X-Men universe, I would read this because not only is Magneto's story important but the bigger story they tell in it is as well.
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This is a beautifully researched graphic novel, reminiscent of the Pulitzer-winning "Maus". X-men nemesis Magneto recounts his life as a Holocaust survivor, with glorious drawings and illustrations to match. The artwork is as memorable as the story, using tints and tones expertly. I keep recommending it to educators teaching Nazi-era death camps, since the novel is beautifully researched.
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What a wonderful wonderful read.
This book is set before Magneto even discovered his mutant powers. Set in Europe, when the Nazis were systematically massacring Jews, this story explores the tragic origins of the boy who will grow up to be the leader of Brotherhood of Mutants. -
Magneto is a character whose backstory is known by even the most casual of fans. A survivor of the Holocaust, Max’s view on humanity become forever tainted by the horrors he witnessed firsthand. Those views would shape him as a young man, and eventually he would come into his incredible mutant abilities. He would become Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, and one of the world’s most dangerous mutant terrorists.
This story provides a more detailed account of Max’s childhood. We’re introduced to his family and get to see his interactions with them, with a focus on his relationship with his father and uncle. Max's father initially thinks the wave of anti-Semitism will run its course and that he and his family will remain safe so long as they don’t bring undue attention to themselves. Max’s uncle sees signs of a reckoning coming for the Jewish people and believes the only way to stop it is to fight back. Max, who starts the story as a child, sees both sides. He wants to keep himself and his family safe, but witnessing cruel acts perpetrated on the innocent people around him again and again tempers a desire to fight. There’s no escaping the Nazis. They overrun his city, his school, his home.
Nowhere is safe.
This story tackles very dark subject matter. This is not a super heroic tale of victory. Max doesn’t suddenly awaken to his magnificent powers and lay waste to the Nazi oppressors and liberate his people. In fact, Max’s powers are decidedly underdeveloped and extremely minor in the overall narrative. I expected a dramatic power reveal to lead to a bittersweet ending of Max rescuing himself and his love interest and taking his revenge… and it never happens. Outside of a small moment or two, this story could have been completely unrelated to Marvel and the X-Men. This is to the story’s benefit. There are a lot of dates and historical facts intertwined with Max’s experience which ground the tale in realism. The strong writing remains sensitive and respectful to the subject matter, and the tone grows with our protagonist—starting somewhat oblivious to the world and becoming bleaker as time passes and Max endures horror after horror.
This is an absolute must read for any fans of Magneto or the X-Men. I’d still highly recommend it to any one else even slightly interested in the subject matter. A great study of one of Marvel’s greatest and most enduring characters, but even more than that, it is a story which becomes more than what it could be.
