X-Men: Magneto War #1

History

The issue emerged from a turbulent editorial transition: writers Steven Seagle and Joe Kelly departed the X-Men titles under difficult circumstances, with artist Chris Bachalo later describing the editorial climate of that period as 'extremely poor' and characterized by constant directional changes. Chris Claremont, serving in an editorial capacity at Marvel at the time, recommended Alan Davis as a replacement; Davis had originally been invited aboard only to pencil six issues of X-Men, but found himself taking on full plotting duties for both Uncanny X-Men and X-Men almost immediately after Kelly and Seagle exited. Fabian Nicieza, a veteran X-Men writer, then volunteered to script the one-shot from Davis's plot, with Lee Weeks providing interior pencils and Dan Green on inks, under the editorial supervision of Mark Powers and editor-in-chief Bob Harras. Contemporary observers noted that the storyline had been solicited before a writer was officially attached, underscoring how rapidly the creative team had been assembled.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published with a cover date of March 1999 and an on-sale date of January 6, 1999; a one-shot produced by Marvel Comics and titled internally 'The Magneto War: Savior Complex.'
• Written by Alan Davis (plot) and Fabian Nicieza (script), with interior art by Lee Weeks and inks by Dan Green; colors by Marie Javins and Monica Kubina; letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft.
• Two cover variants exist: the standard direct edition with a Lee Weeks cover, and an AnotherUniverse.com retailer variant featuring painted art by Nelson DeCastro.
• The issue is the second installment within the overall Magneto War story arc (after a prelude in X-Men vol. 2 #85–86), with its story continuing directly into Uncanny X-Men #366.
• The Acolytes — including Barnacle, Fabian Cortez, Rem-Ram, Senyaka, Spoor, Static, and the Kleinstock brothers — attack the Xavier Institute at the story's outset, seeking confirmation of whether Magneto has truly returned; Professor X refuses their subsequent request for asylum.
• The issue formally sets in motion the revelation that Joseph is a clone of Magneto created by Astra, a character retroactively established as an early Brotherhood of Evil Mutants recruit who preceded the team's first public appearance.
• The Magneto War event as a whole concluded with Magneto being awarded Genosha by the UN as a mutant homeland, a development that shaped his status across multiple subsequent storylines and was only undone by Cassandra Nova's Sentinel attack in New X-Men #115.
• The entire Magneto War event — including this one-shot — was collected in the trade paperback X-Men: The Magneto War, which also reprints X-Men (1991) #85–91 and Annual 1999, Uncanny X-Men #366–371, X-Men Unlimited #23, Magneto Rex #1–3, and material from X-Men Unlimited #24.

Cast · 36 characters

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Variants (1)