More Talk on Marvel Comics

Ok, I was going to talk some on DC Comics but because I have more Marvel Comics I read, basically it's almost 5 to 1 ratio, I figured I would write more on the Marvel titles. It will take me a lot longer to talk aout the Marvel titles than the DC so I will continue to talk about them until I'm caught up some.

So with that in this blog I'm going to talk about a 5 issue series that deals with a very serious matter and then return of the Marvel Apes, which is not serious but has one plot twist that I really liked.

X-Men: Magneto Testament is the 5 issue series. It's also one that is extremely well written, has plot that gives more light on a subject in history that is just one of the worst moments in time, and impressed me with the whole story and book overall with everything.

X-Men: Magneto Testament is the story of one of Marvel's most fearsome villians Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. This is the history that has been hinted at and talked about in small bits and pieces. But it's not finding out the history of the character but the actual history that is talked about. Which is the Holocaust. 

The writers and artists for this 5 issue series discribe the horrible ordeals that happened in the time of WWII and at Auschwitz. While doing this they have thrown in the history of Magneto to let us know what this man went through in his life to become one of the most fearsome villians of the Marvel Comics universe.

What we get in this series is young Erik Lehnsherr ( I will continue to call him by that name but one of the many parts of information given on the history of Magneto one is his given birth name, but I will not give what his birth name is in this blog, if you want to know then I suggest getting these comics, sure you can look on wikipedia but then you miss the chance to read an exceptional story), but as I was saying. What we get in this series is the chance to see the experiences that forges the young Erik Lehnserr and it's horrifying and heart wrenching.

After I read this series I had a new outlook on the character Magneto. With the first book we see the beginnings of his life in school, find out his birth name, what his family went through, what he was about to go through, and even a love interrest. In the second we are treated to the cowardice that people can show to others and how hell was about to show itself to Erik Lehnsherr. From the third book to the last it's all about what he had to deal with along with so many others and the girl he was in love with. But it also shows the strength that he had to be able to survive the ordeal of being in the camp. By the time I was finished with the book I was experiencing so many emotions that I had to just put it down and take a moment to really realize how lucky I am in life. Yes, it might sound corny to some but this is a story that is based in truth, it's based on things that happened, it might have a fictional character as the main subject but it's still has the truth of the Holocaust in it, and that subject should make you feel emotional.

But not only did that happened but I also started to think differently about the Magneto character. Sure he's evil but he's really not. After reading this he is just going about what he thinks is right (which is right) but just going at it completely wrong. Magneto just wants to live in a world where mutants are not persecuted just because they are different. He wants to stop what happened to him and millions of other Jews during the Holocaust from happening to the mutants of the world. The only problem, he is doing the same thing in a way to the normal humans that are not mutants.

So for such an exceptional book I will remember this comics set for a very long time. I will also recommend it as something that should be read by comic readers and non-comic readers. Just a great story that I can't speak highly enough about it.

Now that I got the serious portion finished the next I want to talk about is the return of the Marvel Apes.

That's right the Marvel Apes. This was a 4 issue mini series that follows the Gibbon when he gets sent to a Earth that has apes there instead of humans. All them are a different type of simian, including the heroes. But because the Gibbon is from the main Earth and is really a human that has turned into an apelike look, with body hair and all, he does not fit in with this world of simians. At first they accept him and he even likes it. Then he quickly learns the ugly truth and it is really ugly and all he wants to do is get back to his world.

This is a good series and it's funny. What what's best of all it leads to the one shot comic The All New Speedball (also a Marvel Apes comic). In this it has picked up with where the 4 issue series left off but on the world of the Gibbon but now there is the Speedball of the ape world in it. In this comic Speedball has to deal with the knowledge that he is now on a different world that has a different history and rules. Plus dealing with the fact that on this world the Speedball of it is not one of the most liked characters. He finds out that as different as this world is to his world it is also similar and has a familar face.

But what's the greatest part of this story is the very ending ot with the very last page with the epilogue. I won't say what it is but it involves one of my favorite set of mini series comics line. When I read that page I was left with wanting to know what's going to happen next. Things are coming to a boil and if you have been following along the story line of the mini series you will know, here's a hint, the initials of the series are M. Z.

Ok, that's it for this installment of my comic talk. There is still alot I want to talk about so I think next time I'll touch on just my thoughts instead of talking about a certain comic. Then again who knows I might change my mind and talk about Moon Knight or Hulk or Wolverine (which by the way the main title of Wolverine has been kick ass good).