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X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1-5
X-Men: The Trial of Magneto
Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism — one of the founders of the mutant nation of Krakoa, a former villain who has never stopped fighting for the benefit of mutantkind — stars in the story that will shake Krakoa to its core! A horrific murder. A shocking revelation. And a trial that will divide the new mutant nation down the middle — and possibly shatter it forever! Leah Williams and Valerio Schiti bring you an epic mystery that threatens the Reign of X and upends the world that Magneto has worked so hard to build for his fellow mutants. The truth is deeply hidden, the danger is far from over, and the trial has begun…
COLLECTING: X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (2021) 1-5
COLLECTING: X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (2021) 1-5
152 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 2022
47 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Leah Williams
242 books207 followersLeah Williams is an American writer originally from Oxford, Mississippi. She has written comics for Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, and is working on more. Her debut novel was a YA Fantasy book titled The Alchemy of Being Fourteen and she is currently writing its sequel, The Divinity of Hitting Fifteen. Leah has nonfiction articles and essays published in The Atlantic, Oprah Magazine, and Salon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
February 11, 2024
One of the seminal X-Men and Avenger is murdered and the accused, Magneto goes all out against the Avengers and X-teams! X-Force, X-Factor, X-Men, Quiet Council and The Five come to differences as they all look to oversee the murder enquiry! Krakoa is on the brink and the Avengers are there to witness it all. What the Hell is going on????
I don't know if it is because Hickman's released micro-management of his X-universe, or because he's about to end his reign, but these end of Hickman X-universe books are by the best of the era, and this is by far and away the best book! Finally takes the newly empowered mutant reality and has (finally) Magneto and ally, make the most of it. Probably the most important volume of this era, and an instant classic of both plotting and art! 8.5 out of 12, Four Stars.
2024 read
I don't know if it is because Hickman's released micro-management of his X-universe, or because he's about to end his reign, but these end of Hickman X-universe books are by the best of the era, and this is by far and away the best book! Finally takes the newly empowered mutant reality and has (finally) Magneto and ally, make the most of it. Probably the most important volume of this era, and an instant classic of both plotting and art! 8.5 out of 12, Four Stars.
2024 read
March 13, 2022
This was very poorly executed.
The most consistent problem was the way that the writers tried to gaslight us. Almost every issue we had characters acting illogically, out of character. Wiccan and Speed not only were inexplicably upset about the prospect of the Scarlet Witch dying; they made comments that made no sense given the family's actual history.
Wanda magically manifested Wiccan and Speed as infants in the 1980s, using fragments of Mephisto's soul. They were briefly incorporated into Master Pandemonium as ridiculous babies growing out of his arms. They ceased to exist for a while, but we learned around 2005, 2006 that their souls had somehow been "reincarnated" in the bodies of these now-teenage boys, Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepard. The boys were not biologically related to Wanda, nor each other, and supposedly none of these people had any idea that Billy and Tommy were reincarnated. However, Vision somehow had data files about Tommy in his head, even despite the fact the Vision had been grievously injured and then temporarily reborn in his own teenage form. Tommy was kept in some sort of superpowered version of juvie. Vision apparently knew this, but had made no effort to reach out to him or break him out. Billy and the Young Avengers went to break him out without knowing who he was, and they stumbled upon the fact he resembled Billy.
Nobody ever explained why Vision had this information, nor followed up on the fact Billy and Tommy would have been justified in feeling abandoned by their "father." We saw Billy's biological family, the Kaplans. But we never saw who the Hell gave birth to Tommy. (Presumably, some lady with the last name of "Shepard.")
Billy only interacted with Wanda 3 times before this "Trial of Magneto." He met her once before he was 16, interacting with her when he was seemingly powerless, and he had no idea what his relationship with Wanda was. We saw this in a flashback. Then we saw them interact during Avengers: The Children's Crusade. During that graphic novel, we saw Billy and Tommy casually referring to Wanda as "Mom," even though there was never a DNA test performed or anything, and OTHER LADIES were their biological mothers. Then, after that, we saw Wanda and Vision in the background at Billy's wedding to Hulkling, but we never saw either Wanda or Vision talk to either Billy or Tommy at the wedding.
Realistically, before this event I'm not 100% certain that Tommy has ever spoken to Wanda at all.
But for some reason, Tommy and Billy both act as if they are so upset about the fact Wanda died, even though she was pretty much a stranger to them.
Then, Billy made some of the strangest comments in this miniseries. He talked about defending Wanda "his whole life," even though he only had some idea he might be spiritually related to Wanda when he was around 16. He talked about Wanda teaching him so much about magic; even though he has barely even MET Wanda, and neither of them have really studied magic.
Wanda studied magic with Agatha Harkness in the late 80s, maybe even in the early 90s. But not for very long. Morgan le Fay mocked Wanda for this in '98 or '99, saying that Wanda only had a few "half-forgotten magic lessons." We have hardly seen Wanda study magic at all since then, even though writers are increasingly trying to attribute her powers to magic rather than biology. Now, writers are trying to do the same thing with Wiccan, even though we have pretty much never seen him study magic at all. He first displayed electrical powers without even really warping reality. Then, his powers were supposedly reality warping based upon speaking his intent aloud.
That's it. While an alternate reality version of Wiccan has been seen as the Sorcerer Supreme, or hanging out with Dr. Strange as an adult, the 616 version of Wiccan has never been shown enrolling in a magic academy and studying literal spells. That just... never happened.
So, it feels like this whole series was a group of writers trying to gaslight readers. The writers like the idea of Wanda having some sort of familial relationship with Wiccan and Speed, even though these people have barely met, and as far as we know they don't even have any DNA in common. The writers like the idea of Scarlet Witch and Wiccan having powers rooted in magic, even though neither of them has ever really studied magic and they were born with their powers instead.
This series claimed to be about investigating Wanda's death and prosecuting Magneto. But, Wanda isn't dead for very long at all, and Magneto is barely even in most of the issues. In issues 3-5 he hardly appears or has lines at all.
Throughout, we have other characters trying to gaslight us in other ways. Hope tries to convince us that Xavier is somehow "torturing" Magneto with an elaborate telepathic illusion. Because for some reason the 20 most talented telepaths in the world live on Krakoa, but they were somehow incapable of just looking up whether Magneto killed Wanda or not. (This was clearly for contrived plot reasons.)
The series resolved with a hard left turn. Wanda clearly didn't stay dead for very long, and then the explanation for how/why she died veered into a bizarre explanation about updating the Krakoan resurrection protocols.
The most consistent problem was the way that the writers tried to gaslight us. Almost every issue we had characters acting illogically, out of character. Wiccan and Speed not only were inexplicably upset about the prospect of the Scarlet Witch dying; they made comments that made no sense given the family's actual history.
Wanda magically manifested Wiccan and Speed as infants in the 1980s, using fragments of Mephisto's soul. They were briefly incorporated into Master Pandemonium as ridiculous babies growing out of his arms. They ceased to exist for a while, but we learned around 2005, 2006 that their souls had somehow been "reincarnated" in the bodies of these now-teenage boys, Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepard. The boys were not biologically related to Wanda, nor each other, and supposedly none of these people had any idea that Billy and Tommy were reincarnated. However, Vision somehow had data files about Tommy in his head, even despite the fact the Vision had been grievously injured and then temporarily reborn in his own teenage form. Tommy was kept in some sort of superpowered version of juvie. Vision apparently knew this, but had made no effort to reach out to him or break him out. Billy and the Young Avengers went to break him out without knowing who he was, and they stumbled upon the fact he resembled Billy.
Nobody ever explained why Vision had this information, nor followed up on the fact Billy and Tommy would have been justified in feeling abandoned by their "father." We saw Billy's biological family, the Kaplans. But we never saw who the Hell gave birth to Tommy. (Presumably, some lady with the last name of "Shepard.")
Billy only interacted with Wanda 3 times before this "Trial of Magneto." He met her once before he was 16, interacting with her when he was seemingly powerless, and he had no idea what his relationship with Wanda was. We saw this in a flashback. Then we saw them interact during Avengers: The Children's Crusade. During that graphic novel, we saw Billy and Tommy casually referring to Wanda as "Mom," even though there was never a DNA test performed or anything, and OTHER LADIES were their biological mothers. Then, after that, we saw Wanda and Vision in the background at Billy's wedding to Hulkling, but we never saw either Wanda or Vision talk to either Billy or Tommy at the wedding.
Realistically, before this event I'm not 100% certain that Tommy has ever spoken to Wanda at all.
But for some reason, Tommy and Billy both act as if they are so upset about the fact Wanda died, even though she was pretty much a stranger to them.
Then, Billy made some of the strangest comments in this miniseries. He talked about defending Wanda "his whole life," even though he only had some idea he might be spiritually related to Wanda when he was around 16. He talked about Wanda teaching him so much about magic; even though he has barely even MET Wanda, and neither of them have really studied magic.
Wanda studied magic with Agatha Harkness in the late 80s, maybe even in the early 90s. But not for very long. Morgan le Fay mocked Wanda for this in '98 or '99, saying that Wanda only had a few "half-forgotten magic lessons." We have hardly seen Wanda study magic at all since then, even though writers are increasingly trying to attribute her powers to magic rather than biology. Now, writers are trying to do the same thing with Wiccan, even though we have pretty much never seen him study magic at all. He first displayed electrical powers without even really warping reality. Then, his powers were supposedly reality warping based upon speaking his intent aloud.
That's it. While an alternate reality version of Wiccan has been seen as the Sorcerer Supreme, or hanging out with Dr. Strange as an adult, the 616 version of Wiccan has never been shown enrolling in a magic academy and studying literal spells. That just... never happened.
So, it feels like this whole series was a group of writers trying to gaslight readers. The writers like the idea of Wanda having some sort of familial relationship with Wiccan and Speed, even though these people have barely met, and as far as we know they don't even have any DNA in common. The writers like the idea of Scarlet Witch and Wiccan having powers rooted in magic, even though neither of them has ever really studied magic and they were born with their powers instead.
This series claimed to be about investigating Wanda's death and prosecuting Magneto. But, Wanda isn't dead for very long at all, and Magneto is barely even in most of the issues. In issues 3-5 he hardly appears or has lines at all.
Throughout, we have other characters trying to gaslight us in other ways. Hope tries to convince us that Xavier is somehow "torturing" Magneto with an elaborate telepathic illusion. Because for some reason the 20 most talented telepaths in the world live on Krakoa, but they were somehow incapable of just looking up whether Magneto killed Wanda or not. (This was clearly for contrived plot reasons.)
The series resolved with a hard left turn. Wanda clearly didn't stay dead for very long, and then the explanation for how/why she died veered into a bizarre explanation about updating the Krakoan resurrection protocols.
June 11, 2022
This was a complete mess. It's clear that Leah Williams originally wrote this to be the 3rd volume of X-Factor before it got blown up into this bloated corpse of a story. Most of this doesn't even make sense. There's giant kaiju attacking the island that the Scarlet Witch somehow conjured from her subconscious? The big reveal at the end is stupid and doesn't make any sense, except "Magic!" Give this manufactured story a complete pass. It's not even an "event" as Marvel tries to pass it off as. The whole thing is completely pointless.
May 6, 2022
More of a trial for the reader than Magneto. And now death in comics is rendered even MORE meaningless. Cool cool cool.
March 11, 2022
Yeah this was a total disaster. Not for me at all.
March 25, 2022
What a mess.
December 25, 2021
This is really not a magneto book but a scarlet witch one and yeah its sort of boring though the art is great.
It starts with Magnus taking out Wanda but well we find she is not dead and learn whats happening with her as she has created some sort of weird reality and that leads to reality manifestation and what not, the old and young versions of her coming, Avengers and X-Men fighting Kaijus and learning what happened with her supposed murder and who it was, also some last issue layering with what was actually happening and maybe a redemption for Wanda after house of M but yeah its weirdly done and makes for a mess of a story.
Also the mutants who died before can be brought back and I guess Thunderbird too? So mutants can be resurrected from time and space.. umm yeah too meta for me. But hopefully a scarlet witch ongoing comes from this.
The good thing about this whole mess of a book: the art is good, some promising aftermath and yeah it could have used a whole lot more magneto in it like the title promised.
It starts with Magnus taking out Wanda but well we find she is not dead and learn whats happening with her as she has created some sort of weird reality and that leads to reality manifestation and what not, the old and young versions of her coming, Avengers and X-Men fighting Kaijus and learning what happened with her supposed murder and who it was, also some last issue layering with what was actually happening and maybe a redemption for Wanda after house of M but yeah its weirdly done and makes for a mess of a story.
Also the mutants who died before can be brought back and I guess Thunderbird too? So mutants can be resurrected from time and space.. umm yeah too meta for me. But hopefully a scarlet witch ongoing comes from this.
The good thing about this whole mess of a book: the art is good, some promising aftermath and yeah it could have used a whole lot more magneto in it like the title promised.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2022
2.5, rounding up.
The Scarlet Witch is dead, murdered during the Hellfire Gala and her dead body left for all to see. X-Factor's prime suspect is her father, Magneto, but when Wanda appears alive and well, their investigation will take a dark turn as they try to uncover the true culprit.
A good idea, wrapped up in unneeded fluff. There's a whole subplot about giant kaiju attacking Krakoa that isn't needed here, and detracts from the actual Scarlet Witch plot. When everything comes together at the end it's clear to see what the point of the story was, but it's a long, hard road to get there.
Also, Trial Of Magneto is another misnomer - there's no trial, there's hardly even an investigation most of the time - it's just X-Factor and then the wider X-Men (and Avengers, who turn up as well) doing other things that keep distracting them from actually getting to the truth. This could probably have been wrapped up in two issues if they'd been able to focus on what's going on, and I'm chalking this up to the fact that this story was originally meant to be Arc 3 of X-Factor before that book got cancelled, and instead it was blown into this bigger thing.
The art's nice though! Lucas Werneck's pencils are lovely, although it's a shame he's not able to pencil the entirety of the book; David Messina steps in to help out, and while he's not bad, he and Werneck aren't the best collaborative pair due to their slightly different styles.
A clever mystery with a satisfying conclusion that goes some way towards offering closure for Wanda after the events of House Of M, but far too much of a slog to get to the destination. Still, I still think this is more because of editorial influence than anything else.
The Scarlet Witch is dead, murdered during the Hellfire Gala and her dead body left for all to see. X-Factor's prime suspect is her father, Magneto, but when Wanda appears alive and well, their investigation will take a dark turn as they try to uncover the true culprit.
A good idea, wrapped up in unneeded fluff. There's a whole subplot about giant kaiju attacking Krakoa that isn't needed here, and detracts from the actual Scarlet Witch plot. When everything comes together at the end it's clear to see what the point of the story was, but it's a long, hard road to get there.
Also, Trial Of Magneto is another misnomer - there's no trial, there's hardly even an investigation most of the time - it's just X-Factor and then the wider X-Men (and Avengers, who turn up as well) doing other things that keep distracting them from actually getting to the truth. This could probably have been wrapped up in two issues if they'd been able to focus on what's going on, and I'm chalking this up to the fact that this story was originally meant to be Arc 3 of X-Factor before that book got cancelled, and instead it was blown into this bigger thing.
The art's nice though! Lucas Werneck's pencils are lovely, although it's a shame he's not able to pencil the entirety of the book; David Messina steps in to help out, and while he's not bad, he and Werneck aren't the best collaborative pair due to their slightly different styles.
A clever mystery with a satisfying conclusion that goes some way towards offering closure for Wanda after the events of House Of M, but far too much of a slog to get to the destination. Still, I still think this is more because of editorial influence than anything else.
December 27, 2021
En el final del Hellfire Gala ofrecido por Emma Frost se conoció la muerte de Wanda Maximoff. Este volumen de cómics empieza con la investigación sobre su muerte y sobre la deliberación del Consejo Silente sobre resucitarla. Algunos están a favor y otros en contra dado los antecedentes de la Bruja Escarlata. Mientras Hope parece jugar un papel fundamental en el desenvolvimiento del misterio los X-Men también deben lidiar con los Avengers, la familia actual de Wanda, a quienes tienen que explicar el suceso.
Werneck fue el ilustrador de la serie y aunque me gusta su trabajo por momentos en los paneles más grandes pierde un poco su precisión. Hay un gran giro final que no lo vi venir y que hace la historia y el resultado interesante. Sin embargo, sigo pensando que los X-Men tienen ya mucho y no sé cómo se manejará todo ello a futuro.
Werneck fue el ilustrador de la serie y aunque me gusta su trabajo por momentos en los paneles más grandes pierde un poco su precisión. Hay un gran giro final que no lo vi venir y que hace la historia y el resultado interesante. Sin embargo, sigo pensando que los X-Men tienen ya mucho y no sé cómo se manejará todo ello a futuro.
January 21, 2022
"X-Men: The Trial of Magneto" is a phenomenal title of a book. But "X-Men: We weren't sure what to do with Wanda and now that Hickman is leaving we are even less sure if any of this will matter" would be more appropriate. A lot of the X-titles in this era will be judged in retrospect. This one as well. But reading it month to month did not make me care.
June 23, 2022
I really enjoyed this one, a reasonable extension of the ramifications of Krakoa’s resurrection protocols and a way to establish Wanda and Pietro Maximoff as at least…Mutant-adjacent?
The art served the story well and it was fun to see several X-Teams butting heads during the investigation of Wanda’s mysterious “death”.
The art served the story well and it was fun to see several X-Teams butting heads during the investigation of Wanda’s mysterious “death”.
May 16, 2022
Leah Williams should be put to trial and found guilty for commiting this atrocious book.
The plot is poorly executed, needlessy stretched with dumb reasons-kaijus attacking Krakoa, fuckin’ brilliant, indeed-and pompous monologues. The characters are as bland as turnips and you don’t care for them one second. Done in 5 books when it could-should-have been done in 3. With an actual writer I mean.
The ending is infuriating too. We all know that dying in comics is a joke--->wait to see the ending. And despair.
Art actually fits the story: bland
The plot is poorly executed, needlessy stretched with dumb reasons-kaijus attacking Krakoa, fuckin’ brilliant, indeed-and pompous monologues. The characters are as bland as turnips and you don’t care for them one second. Done in 5 books when it could-should-have been done in 3. With an actual writer I mean.
The ending is infuriating too. We all know that dying in comics is a joke--->wait to see the ending. And despair.
Art actually fits the story: bland
December 23, 2021
Before I read the final issue I had planned on giving this a 2 or a 3 rating because I was confused about why this book was needed. Then I read issue 5....and now I know why this book was needed. Very interesting step forward in Krakoa and I'm curious to see what comes of it.
September 15, 2022
wanda raised me i am the woman i am today because of wanda
July 31, 2022
This series was a chaotic and convoluted mess. You'd think that in a series called "The Trial of Magneto" there might in fact be a trial, and Magneto might be at the center of it. But you'd be quite wrong in that assumption. Oh, the series makes a pathetically flimsy attempt at justifying its title in one throwaway line of narration about how Magneto goes through "trials" by struggling to love those he cares about in the only ways he knows how, but it's incredibly weak.
The whole purpose of this series seems to be to change Scarlet Witch's much-deserved status as public enemy #1 to all mutantkind, and to create further narrative problems down the road with regard to the mutants' ability to resurrect their dead.
In the wake of the Hellfire Gala, the body of Wanda Maximoff is found, and all evidence points to Magneto. What follows is a sloppy, poorly written story in which Magneto is blamed for the murder, a big fight involving the Avengers ensues, Wanda magically and mysteriously reappears from the dead, and then three kaiju attack Krakoa, interrupting any chance for character drama with more fighting. The kaiju have a lame explanation and they don't serve any interesting or useful purpose to the story. (On a side note, to illustrate how sloppy the writing is here, they mention at least twice how the Avengers coming to Krakoa to pick up Wanda's remains are the first official visitors to the island--this is obviously completely untrue to anyone who has picked up an X-title in the past three years--and they even specifically mention that the Avengers have never been to Krakoa--despite having been in attendance at the Hellfire Gala, the major event which immediately preceded this series. Cap even makes a reference to meeting Northstar's husband at the Gala, so according to the writing here, Captain America was at the Hellfire Gala, but he has also never visited Krakoa before this series.)
One other reviewer mentioned that this series constantly gaslights the reader, and I have to agree that it very much feels that way. Scarlet Witch's "sons" act as if they have a deep historical connection to her character, but as far as I'm aware they do not--in fact, they actually barely know her. Aside from this series being a huge waste of time, there are two things about it that really bother me. Both of these things are huge problems for me, and the way this series was so poorly executed makes me feel that canceling the X-Factor book that this spun out of was probably the right call, creatively speaking.
90% of the art in this book was done by Lucas Werneck, and it looks perfectly decent. The colors by Edgar Delgado are vibrant and pleasant to look at. The art was the best thing about this book. I don't know how much of this mess belongs to Leah Williams and how much of it belongs to Marvel editorial. I'd recommend skipping this one, but the things that happened here will likely have great narrative importance to things that happen later (unless Inferno burns all of that down, but I'll find out soon enough).
1.5 STARS
The whole purpose of this series seems to be to change Scarlet Witch's much-deserved status as public enemy #1 to all mutantkind, and to create further narrative problems down the road with regard to the mutants' ability to resurrect their dead.
In the wake of the Hellfire Gala, the body of Wanda Maximoff is found, and all evidence points to Magneto. What follows is a sloppy, poorly written story in which Magneto is blamed for the murder, a big fight involving the Avengers ensues, Wanda magically and mysteriously reappears from the dead, and then three kaiju attack Krakoa, interrupting any chance for character drama with more fighting. The kaiju have a lame explanation and they don't serve any interesting or useful purpose to the story. (On a side note, to illustrate how sloppy the writing is here, they mention at least twice how the Avengers coming to Krakoa to pick up Wanda's remains are the first official visitors to the island--this is obviously completely untrue to anyone who has picked up an X-title in the past three years--and they even specifically mention that the Avengers have never been to Krakoa--despite having been in attendance at the Hellfire Gala, the major event which immediately preceded this series. Cap even makes a reference to meeting Northstar's husband at the Gala, so according to the writing here, Captain America was at the Hellfire Gala, but he has also never visited Krakoa before this series.)
One other reviewer mentioned that this series constantly gaslights the reader, and I have to agree that it very much feels that way. Scarlet Witch's "sons" act as if they have a deep historical connection to her character, but as far as I'm aware they do not--in fact, they actually barely know her. Aside from this series being a huge waste of time, there are two things about it that really bother me. Both of these things are huge problems for me, and the way this series was so poorly executed makes me feel that canceling the X-Factor book that this spun out of was probably the right call, creatively speaking.
90% of the art in this book was done by Lucas Werneck, and it looks perfectly decent. The colors by Edgar Delgado are vibrant and pleasant to look at. The art was the best thing about this book. I don't know how much of this mess belongs to Leah Williams and how much of it belongs to Marvel editorial. I'd recommend skipping this one, but the things that happened here will likely have great narrative importance to things that happen later (unless Inferno burns all of that down, but I'll find out soon enough).
1.5 STARS
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May 9, 2022The Krakoa/Hickman X-books were such a brilliant relaunch at first, putting the mutants back on top where they belonged to the extent of abolishing death, but the nature of Big Two comics is such that every triumphant reboot becomes a saggy status quo in time. Still, this sort-of-event-I-guess? is an especially galling example. It follows on from the Hellfire Gala, where the mutants welcomed humans to their island paradise for the first time, and which I thought had been covered in the various individual collections, except now it turns out some of the issues are in their own Hellfire Gala collection, which I've yet to read. Still, I'm fairly confident my problems with this aren't down to having missed that. Like, if there have just been loads of official guests for the gala, why say when the Avengers come to pick up a body that "Krakoa receives its first official guests today"? Like, surely if the flatscans have just been around, there would be some kind of protocol in place where you don't just offer them a tour, realise it's going to give away state secrets, and then inexplicably find yourself unable to amend the route, having to rely on a late save from Emma Frost's bikini? Like, I know that Tony Stark is quite the lothario, but wouldn't his reaction to Emma be a little less cartoon wolf than we see here? Not that he's the only one; in general, most of the characters seem to have lost any cool the Krakoan age has bestowed on them, with torrents of expository prose that would have shamed the Claremont era plopping out each time they open their mouths: "How many women is it now you once claimed to love who all perished during your brief window of affection and attention?" The subtle manoeuvring and veiled threats of the other books are gone, replaced with a return to the tired, staged confrontations of old. And of course, through centring on the Scarlet Witch, the story can't help but draw attention to one of the Marvel Universe's creakiest pieces of connective tissue, the endlessly revised and revisited question of her origin. Any time the story looks set to do anything interesting, some random bullshit is thrown at the page instead, and yes, in part this is deliberate, a manifestation of Wanda subconsciously using her chaos magic to avoid confronting her past - but if WandaVision showed how that could make for a powerful story, this shows how easily it becomes a heap of nonsense. At one stage we even get the line "Stop beating yourself up!" while she's fighting her other self, without it even being played for laughs.
I hesitate to blame this mess on the named writer, Leah Williams, and not just because her X-Factor book was good– though among the few scenes here that did much for me was one with the X-Factor investigators, X-Force black ops team and headline X-Men team getting into a pissing contest about demarcation and responsibilities. There's a story there about the mutants, with all their bold talk of being more than human, getting into exactly the sort of primate social bullshit which makes Homo sapiens so tiresome, and it's one which would have been much more interesting to explore than all the warmed-over grandstanding we get instead. I also liked when Gambit, turning up to see a massive ruck in progress, still pauses to take his top off before getting involved. He knows what he's about. And the final scenes have the appropriate note of Krakoan awe - I just feel there had to have been a less kludged together way to get there. More than anything, this feels like the sort of book resulting from that common Big Two failure mode, too many cooks. I'd be very, very surprised if this book hadn't had more than its fair share of editors and other writers weighing in, leaving the poor bloody writer-en-titre looking like a mug for not being able to reconcile endless rewrites and impossible obligations. At least Lucas Werneck makes the bits which are anywhere near salvageable look good, though thank heavens he's now working in the more convivial climes of Immortal X-Men. In the meantime, this book serves as a reminder that, unlike the post-death mutants, no quality stretch in mainstream superhero titles ever lasts forever.
I hesitate to blame this mess on the named writer, Leah Williams, and not just because her X-Factor book was good– though among the few scenes here that did much for me was one with the X-Factor investigators, X-Force black ops team and headline X-Men team getting into a pissing contest about demarcation and responsibilities. There's a story there about the mutants, with all their bold talk of being more than human, getting into exactly the sort of primate social bullshit which makes Homo sapiens so tiresome, and it's one which would have been much more interesting to explore than all the warmed-over grandstanding we get instead. I also liked when Gambit, turning up to see a massive ruck in progress, still pauses to take his top off before getting involved. He knows what he's about. And the final scenes have the appropriate note of Krakoan awe - I just feel there had to have been a less kludged together way to get there. More than anything, this feels like the sort of book resulting from that common Big Two failure mode, too many cooks. I'd be very, very surprised if this book hadn't had more than its fair share of editors and other writers weighing in, leaving the poor bloody writer-en-titre looking like a mug for not being able to reconcile endless rewrites and impossible obligations. At least Lucas Werneck makes the bits which are anywhere near salvageable look good, though thank heavens he's now working in the more convivial climes of Immortal X-Men. In the meantime, this book serves as a reminder that, unlike the post-death mutants, no quality stretch in mainstream superhero titles ever lasts forever.
October 5, 2023
The Trial of Magneto is kind of a major disaster of a book. The title is a sham. The whole thing is just a way to repackage X-Factor into an intro for Scarlet Witch. There’s one big dumb twist in every issue. Nothing feels good by the end. 2 stars for the art.
January 7, 2022
Did the yeoman’s work of answering questions asked by HoXPoX, but could have been fewer issues. Also, too many Avengers for my taste.
March 11, 2023
A comic designed to finally wipe the slate clean for the Scarlet Witch after the House Of M debacle (and the John Byrne debacle before that)? Yeah, I can get behind that. Closing the Krakoan loophole so the writers can use characters who couldn’t sensibly be in Professor X’s big resurrection database? Fine, fine.
But as an actual comic this is pretty bogus. A “whodunnit” that loses a lot of interest when it becomes clear no it was dun. A psychological/mythical exploration of Wanda where her hang-ups turn into monsters for everybody to punch. Text pages that are so poorly designed they’re almost unreadable. And, naturally, everyone having to act like idiots to keep the plot going. There are some decent scenes with the most recent X-Factor cast, and the comic leaves a major Marvel character in a better place than when it started - but whatever its consequences as an actual read this was a dud. Two stars only to distinguish it from Children Of The Atom and X-Corp.
But as an actual comic this is pretty bogus. A “whodunnit” that loses a lot of interest when it becomes clear no it was dun. A psychological/mythical exploration of Wanda where her hang-ups turn into monsters for everybody to punch. Text pages that are so poorly designed they’re almost unreadable. And, naturally, everyone having to act like idiots to keep the plot going. There are some decent scenes with the most recent X-Factor cast, and the comic leaves a major Marvel character in a better place than when it started - but whatever its consequences as an actual read this was a dud. Two stars only to distinguish it from Children Of The Atom and X-Corp.
September 22, 2024
"The Trial of Magneto" was an interesting volume.
Someone has murdered Wanda Maximoff. As the X-men and X-factor investigate and the Avengers arrive to collect the body, the suspicion falls on Magneto. The mystery gets even deeper when Wanda reappears alive. What just happened?
The story was a pretty good one. It was certainly interesting. The artwork is actually pretty good and complements this story well. I didn't go wild over it but I didn't dislike the art either. It's good.
So an interesting story and good art make this a 3-star stand alone volume. X-Men fans should like this.
Someone has murdered Wanda Maximoff. As the X-men and X-factor investigate and the Avengers arrive to collect the body, the suspicion falls on Magneto. The mystery gets even deeper when Wanda reappears alive. What just happened?
The story was a pretty good one. It was certainly interesting. The artwork is actually pretty good and complements this story well. I didn't go wild over it but I didn't dislike the art either. It's good.
So an interesting story and good art make this a 3-star stand alone volume. X-Men fans should like this.
October 3, 2025
This is essentially a continuation of Leah Williams' average X-Factor book that is pretty misleading and mostly disappointing. The X-Factor team investigate Wanda's death and their skills and methods are cool and one of the best parts of the book. Sadly, the book is a tool to once again change an already OP Krakoa. The mystery is almost none. Magneto's role is limited. This was just so underwhelming and it could have been so interesting. The art was decent but unspectacular. Overall, this was all hype with next to no payoff.
June 8, 2022
la verdad es que soy muy poco objetivo cuando leo historias de los X-men. Han sido mis personajes favoritos desde que era un niño, y aunque siento la trama forzada, apresurada y con una "agenda"de preparar las cosas para lo que viene la verdad la disfruté. Sin duda no es de lo mejor de las miniseries/eventos de los mutantes pero al final me dejo buen sabor de boca.
April 27, 2022
In its early issues, this volume suffers from crossover-itis: what story can't Marvel spoil by turning it into a crossover? So we get some overstuffed issues that feature lots of X-Men and Avengers standing around, looking like they don't know anyone at the party.
But despite that, it's still a good X-Factor arc, with fun police procedural looking into a murder. (If only they weren't overshadowed by all the X-Men and Avengers!)
And it turns out that the whole arc has an excellent point: the redemption of the Scarlet Witch. And it's carried off well with a plot twist that is an amazing expansion of Krakoa.
So despite the slowness and overstuffedness of the early issues, this is a terrific Krakoa story.
(Now if only it could have erased the stupidity of Wanda and Pietro being non-mutant-ized.)
But despite that, it's still a good X-Factor arc, with fun police procedural looking into a murder. (If only they weren't overshadowed by all the X-Men and Avengers!)
And it turns out that the whole arc has an excellent point: the redemption of the Scarlet Witch. And it's carried off well with a plot twist that is an amazing expansion of Krakoa.
So despite the slowness and overstuffedness of the early issues, this is a terrific Krakoa story.
(Now if only it could have erased the stupidity of Wanda and Pietro being non-mutant-ized.)
March 17, 2022
This...did not work for me. It starts out ok, with a serious investigation into Magneto and the murder of the Scarlet Witch, but then it jumps all over the place: both forward and backward through time; the pacing changes from action scenes to quiet personal scenes; characters go from angry and fighting each other to working together. Everything is very jarring, and what's there just doesn't make a lot of sense. Once it is done, the purpose of this series is made clear. Marvel wanted to "fix" the Scarlet Witch and they did through a bunch of shenanigans (and in some cases literally waving hands) and just made things become the way they wanted. It's unfulfilling, a disappointment, and feels sloppy.
May 9, 2022
A smart, winding trail that leads to a payoff that has been due to Wanda Maximoff for some time. Forgiveness, trust, and redemption and a little white lie make this a beautiful and entertaining read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2021
All I've got to say is:
January 7, 2022
Solo por el arte le doy un 2. La verdad es que toda esta miniserie está de más. Incluso la resolucion del "juicio".
April 26, 2022
I love anything featuring my girl Wanda. So naturally, I enjoyed this. I really want another solo series for her!
January 22, 2023
Of all the things I was thinking I had not expected this story to be about the MURDER of my favorite Marvel character. It truly pained me to see Wanda’s lifeless body and pained me more to see Billy and Tommy’s reactions. I love reading stories with Wiccan in them but he hardly ever seems to talk about his Mother so it was very nice to have them together again, The Scarlet Witch and The Demiurge. All falling out of the craziness that was the first Hellfire Gala where the mutants terraformed Mars and declared it the capital of our solar system. Reading this before The Last Annihilation event was great because when Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. talks to Billy you can tell she’s hiding the death of his mother from him. Which is crazy to think he stopped a universe ending attack just to learn his Mom died. But this had some twists I wasn’t expecting and the way it all ends just proves why Wanda is one of the best characters Marvel has. Her power set is just unmatched. I give this an 8/10, a really fun read that’s been a long time in the making thus making it an inaccessible read to new readers.
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