Trial of Magneto

X-Men: Trial of Magneto is a comic book storyline, which debuted in August 2021, published by Marvel Comics. The limited series spin out of the murder of Scarlet Witch during the Hellfire Gala.[1][2]

Trial of Magneto
The standard cover art for X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1. Art by Valerio Schiti.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
GenreSuperhero
Publication dateAugust – December 2021
No. of issues5
Main character(s)Magneto
Scarlet Witch
X-Factor
Creative team
Written byLeah Williams
Artist(s)Lucas Werneck
Colorist(s)Edgar Delgado
Editor(s)
  • Jordan D. White (Senior Editor)
  • Jake Tomar (Editor)
  • Jonathan Hickman (Head of X)
Collected editions
X-Men: Trial of MagnetoISBN 978-1302932176

Publication history

Trial of Magneto was originally the title of a story arc in Uncanny X-Men (1985), by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr., where Magneto was put on trial before the International Court of Justice.[3][4] In May 2021, Marvel announced – with a teaser drawn by Romita Jr. – a limited series titled X-Men: Trial of Magneto by writer Leah Williams and artist Lucas Werneck. The limited series is part of the X-Men line Reign of X; it follows the events of the Hellfire Gala where the Scarlet Witch is murdered in X-Factor (vol. 4) #10.[3][5][6] Williams commented that the intended focus of the series is on Scarlet Witch and rehabilitating "Wanda's image with the rest of the mutants on Krakoa"; Williams stated that "her goal is not to write the next defining Magneto story but to write an 'empathy engine', as a Wanda sympathiser, to authentically tell a story that's going to be about healing and catharsis".[7]

Williams informed Bleeding Cool that the X-Factor series was canceled when her Magneto/Wanda story arc pitch for X-Factor "became such a popular pitch at Marvel", however, Marvel didn't believe that X-Factor's readership numbers were "big enough for this story" which led to the development of the Trial of Magneto limited series.[7] The title of the limited series was a marketing decision. Marvel "canceled X-Factor #10 rather than seeing it run as originally planned, with the Trial beginning in X-Factor #15. Williams says she only learned about the cancellation of X-Factor when she was writing #9, so as she had to finish the series quickly, squeezing six issues worth of story into those last two issues, calling it 'cramped and rushed'".[7]

In terms of Marvel comics continuity, Trial of Magneto takes place after the Darkhold event storyline and mostly before the Inferno (2021) event storyline. These storylines were published concurrently; Darkhold was published in 2021 due to delays in comic book distribution in 2020.[8] In September 2022, Marvel announced a Scarlet Witch solo series which follows the events of Trial of Magneto;[9][10] it premiered in January 2023.[11]

Plot

Due to evidence Wanda's attacker possessed magnetic abilities, Magneto is deemed a prime suspect. Following the attack, the Avengers invade the mutant nation of Krakoa and a complicated confrontation ensues. Wanda resurrects herself to the shock of The Five, who were preparing to resurrect Wanda themselves. The Five are a group of five mutants who are responsible for Krakoa's "resurrection protocols," used to restore mutants by recreating their bodies and then implanting a "back-up" copy of their mind previously recorded to the super-computer Cerebro. However as Wanda resurrected herself in a younger body, her mind's last back-up to Cerebro was recorded before the events of Avengers Disassembled, the resurrected Wanda has no memories of recent years. As others attempt to restore Wanda's mind, she is overwhelmed by the guilt of suddenly remembering the last few years and her actions, causing her to create physical constructs of monsters. Meanwhile, on the astral plane, the spirit of the murderer Wanda finds herself facing is a vision of an older self who confronts her with uncomfortable truths she has denied. Realizing the need to heal by accepting her actions and forgiving herself, the three Wandas stop the monster attack and then merge together, resulting in a fully restored Wanda who now knows there is at least one possible future where she will grow old and wise.[12]

Unwilling to explain their resurrection program to outsiders, The Council of krakoa remain coy about specifics. Evidence is found against the mutant Toad, who is found guilty of murdering Wanda and punished, and the Avengers leave.

In the aftermath of the events, Wanda works with the mutants Polaris, Legion, and Proteus to increase the capabilities of the resurrection protocols but that doing so required her physical death. She recruited Magneto's help in arranging her own death, a suicide disguised by magic to look like a murder. Thanks to Wanda's plan, Wanda was able to create a pocket dimension "Waiting Room" which now allows all mutants to be resurrected, including those who never had a chance to manifest their X-gene and those whose minds were not able to be copied to the computer Cerebro. This added twenty million mutants to the queue, including everyone who died on Genosha. Learning this, the mutants of Krakoa who once referred to Wanda as a "Pretender" have forgiven her for the M-Day incident and Exodus himself has given her the new title of "The Redeemer". Wanda is now a welcome guest of the mutant nation, telling her story to children so they may learn from her mistakes.[12]

Reception

Sales

In terms of sales, Trial of Magneto #1 was #2 on Diamond's[lower-alpha 1] Top 200 Comics "Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced" list in August 2021[14] and Trial of Magneto #2 was #26 in September 2021.[15] Per the ComicHub system,[lower-alpha 2] Trial of Magneto #3 was #10 in "Top 50 Comic Books by Units" and #19 in "Top 200 Comic Books by Dollars" in October 2021;[16] Trial of Magneto #4 was #11 in "Top 50 Comic Books by Units" and #22 in "Top 200 Comic Books by Dollars" in December 2021;[17] Trial of Magneto #5 was #27 in "Top 50 Comic Books by Units" and #42 in "Top 200 Comic Books by Dollars" in December 2021.[17]

On Diamond's Top 2000 Comics for 2021 list,[lower-alpha 3] Trial of Magneto #1 was #36 with 119,657 units sold, Trial of Magneto #2 was #164 with 60,017 units sold, Trial of Magneto #3 was #760 with 21,372 units sold, Trial of Magneto #4 was #953 with 16,106 units sold, and Trial of Magneto #5 was #1018 with 14,832 units sold.[18]

Critical reaction

According to Comic Book Roundup, the entire Trial of Magneto series received a score of 6.4/10 based on 61 reviews – Trial of Magneto #1 received a score of 8.0/10 based on 13 reviews, Trial of Magneto #2 received a score of 7.7/10 based on 15 reviews, Trial of Magneto #3 received a score of 6.0/10 based on 12 reviews, Trial of Magneto #4 received a score of 4.9/10 based on 11 reviews, and Trial of Magneto #5 received a score of 5.4/10 based on 10 reviews.[19]

Charles Pulliam-Moore, reviewing Trial of Magneto #1 for Gizmodo, highlighted that the script "is more interested in reestablishing who the Scarlet Witch was to different people throughout Marvel's comics. [...] The quiet grief that Werneck and Delgaldo's illustrations evoke is beautifully contrasted by the visceral, kinetic action sequence between Magneto and the new flagship X-Men team taking place elsewhere in the issue. [...] Trial of Magneto raises far more questions than it answers, but there's a pointed tranquility to Wanda's presence throughout the floral sequence that culminates in her being quite certain that she's not exactly 'dead,' per se".[20]

Jamie Lovett, reviewing Trial of Magneto #1 for ComicBook.com, commented that this series is "off to a clumsy start" and that "the creators seem to know that it's retrograde without doing much to elevate it".[21] Lovett wrote, "Aside from a few pink-hued flashbacks to Wanda's final moments, Werneck draws flat panels of characters standing around doing nothing interesting during these scenes. [...] The series has potential as the ending hints at something far more significant than Magneto's tantrums happening, but this opening chapter can't seem to settle on a consistently compelling tone".[21]

Tim Webber, reviewing Trial of Magneto #5 for CBR, wrote: "Before most of Marvel's X-Men titles relaunch next year, X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #5, brings several long-gestating X-Men plot points to an understated but satisfying end. [...] Although Magneto almost feels like an afterthought here, the comic ably covers a lot of ground well. [...] Most impressively, The Trial of Magneto sets the Scarlet Witch up with a sustainable new status quo after spending years in relative comic book limbo".[22]

Hannibal Tabu, reviewing Trial of Magneto #5 for Bleeding Cool, commented that this issue "betrays every promise the story created from its title to its promise of justice. The innocent are condemned, the powerful are confused, and the story, such as it is, only exacerbates the lack of consequences introduced with the Krakoan regime".[23] Tabu wrote, "This book is bad. [...] There wasn't much Lucas Werneck, Edgar Delgado, or Clayton Cowles could do to steer this speeding car away from the sequoia with this foundation. [...] This 'story' will be a minor footnote in this era of mutant history, a tedious attempt at a mystery that ended up as a horrible mistake".[23]

Dan Spinelli, reviewing the series for AIPT Comics, commented that Trial of Magneto was initially a hyped series especially because "fan-favorite writer Leah Williams and rising star artist Lucas Werneck" were on the creative team, but "the reaction was much less effusive and, in some corners of the Internet, even hostile" after the series was published.[24] Spinelli highlighted that Trial of Magneto was originally planned as an arc of Williams' X-Factor, however, X-Factor was cancelled and The Trial of Magneto became a standalone event comic which was published at the same time as the 2021 Inferno event storyline. Spinelli wrote that series' issues seem "mostly structural. If designing a Scarlet Witch redemption arc from scratch, there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to involve X-Factor, a team mostly disconnected from her [...]. But Trial of Magneto also serves as a de facto sequel to X-Factor, meaning Williams devotes ample page time to" X-Factor characters "somewhat tangential" to Magneto and Wanda's story.[24] While Spinelli "found the series flawed at times", he wrote, "I did appreciate Williams' comfort with leaving the reader in an ambiguous position at the end of the series, thrilled to see Wanda's redemption but deeply uncomfortable with its cost".[24]

Issues

Trial of Magneto was released from August 2021 to December 2021.

# Publication Date Writer Artist Colorist
1 August 18, 2021 Leah Williams Lucas Werneck Edgar Delgado
2 September 15, 2021
3 October 20, 2021
4 December 1, 2021
5 December 22, 2021

Collected editions
Title Material collected Format Publication date Pages ISBN Ref
X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto The Trial Of Magneto #1–5 Trade paperback March 9, 2022 152 ISBN 978-1-302-93217-6 [25]
Trials of X Vol. 1 The Trial of Magneto #1–2, S.W.O.R.D. #7, New Mutants #20–21, Marauders #23 Trade paperback October 19, 2022 176 ISBN 9781302949532 [26]
Trials of X Vol. 2 Cable: Reloaded #1, X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #3–5, Wolverine #14 Trade paperback November 15, 2022 152 ISBN 9781302949549 [27]

Notes
  1. This monthly sales chart no longer includes sales of DC titles, since DC Comics left Diamond Comic Distributors in July 2020.[13]
  2. Per ICv2, "as this is a small, non-random sample of over 3,000 stores selling American comics worldwide, these rankings may not be typical for all stores, but do represent a variety of locations and store emphases".[16]
  3. Per ICv2, "for this period, Diamond did not distribute DC Comics, so these ranks do not include titles from that publisher; Marvel Comics moved its primary distribution to Penguin Random House Publisher Services in August, so Diamond accounted for only a portion of Marvel sales to comic stores for the remainder of 2021".[18]

References
  1. "A Shocking Murder at the Hellfire Gala Leads into... The Trial of Magneto". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  2. X-Factor (vol. 4) #10
  3. Dar, Taimur (2021-05-10). "SUMMONS: Leah Williams & Lucas Werneck go to court in TRIAL OF MAGNETO limited series". The Beat. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  4. Harth, David (2022-09-21). "10 Best X-Men Stories Of The 80s". CBR. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  5. "Marvel Comics' Trial of Magneto About More Than Scarlet Witch's Death". Gizmodo. 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  6. Polo, Susana (2021-07-06). "It looks like Wanda Maximoff's crimes against the X-Men finally caught up with her". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  7. Johnston, Rich (2021-08-17). "Leah Williams On X-Factor #10 Being Cancelled, Then Rewritten". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  8. Marston, George (2021-09-29). "Marvel clarifies order of X-Men: Trial of Magneto and Inferno events". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  9. "Marvel Comics' Scarlet Witch Conjures a New Solo Series". Gizmodo. 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  10. Schreur, Brandon (2022-09-14). "Marvel Announces New Scarlet Witch Series". CBR. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  11. Kaplan, Rebecca Oliver (January 6, 2023). "The Marvel Rundown: Little shop of helpers in SCARLET WITCH #1". The Beat. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  12. X-Men: Trial of Magneto #1-5 (Marvel Comics).
  13. McMillan, Graeme (June 5, 2020). "DC Cuts Ties With Diamond Comic Distributors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  14. "Top 200 Comics: August 2021". Diamond Comic Distributors. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  15. "Top 200 Comics: September 2021". Diamond Comic Distributors. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  16. "Top 50 Comics - October 2021". ICv2. November 2, 2021. Archived from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  17. "Top 50 Comics - December 2021". ICv2. January 4, 2022. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  18. "Diamond Top 2000 Comics - Full Year 2021". ICv2. February 8, 2022. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  19. "X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (2021) Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  20. "X-Men's Trial of Magneto #1 Said What Needed to Be Said". Gizmodo. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  21. Lovett, Jamie (August 18, 2021). "Comic Book Reviews for This Week 8/18/2021". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  22. Webber, Tim (2021-12-23). "Major Issues: Scarlet Witch Stuns the X-Men and Nightwing Flips Out". CBR. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  23. Tabu, Hannibal (2022-01-02). "X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto #5 Review: This Book Is Bad". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  24. Spinelli, Dan (2022-03-09). "'X-Men: The Trial of Magneto' is a fascinating, if flawed, Scarlet Witch story". AIPT Comics. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  25. "X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto (Trade Paperback)". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  26. Johnston, Rich (June 16, 2022). "Marvel Comics Relaunches Reign of X As... Trials of X". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  27. "TRIALS OF X TP VOL 02 (AUG220981)". www.previewsworld.com. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
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