Magneto Strikes Back in Claremont & Talajić's X-Men Black One-Shot

The X-Men are defined by the changing nature of humanity, so it makes sense that over the decades their relationship with their first foe, Magneto, would evolve. At various points in Marvel's history, Magneto has been both the X-Men's most bitter enemy and staunchest ally. For the past several years, he's been the latter, but in recent issues of X-Men Blue, Magneto found that his agenda no longer aligned with the defenders of Charles Xavier's dream. As a result, he is once again their adversary -- and a foe to all who would oppress mutantkind.

In X-Men Black: Magneto, legendary X-writer Chris Claremont and artist Dalibor Talajić chronicle the first offensive in their title character's new crusade against mutant oppression. CBR spoke with the creators about their story which pits Magneto against the forces of the Office of National Emergency and Claremont's history with, and sense of the character.

CBR: Chris, how does it feel to come back to Magneto? What is it that makes him such an interesting character to return to after you spent so many years writing him?

Chris Claremont: As with any good dramatic character he's a font of conflict.

Art for X-Man Black: Magneto by Dalibor Talajic, Roberto Poggi and Dono Sanchez Almara

I don't subscribe to the theory that there are heroes and villains, even though in the production template of the day you have the X-Men on one side and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants on the other. It's easy marketing to run around with a label that says, “Hi, we're the bad guys.” But as a dramatist, it makes no sense. So when I first started writing Magneto, I started asking things like, “Where does he come from? Who was he? Why is he doing what he's doing? And when did this all begin?”

For me, the beginning of his story was answering the questions, “Why is he such a passionate supporter of mutant rights? Was he oppressed?” Bear in mind, I was trying to figure out the formative elements of Magneto's life back in the late '70s. There's an obvious one 25 years earlier in World War II. Magneto is in his late middle age at this point, so I assumed he was an adolescent during the War. What would have defined him? The Holocaust. And from that point on, everything just flowed naturally.

My goal over the subsequent 15 odd years of writing him was to figure what makes him tick? Why it makes him tick, and what happens next? And what I kept coming back to was the question of does he see himself as a villain? And the answer was no. He sees himself as a hero. It's just that he sees baseline humanity the potential villain; the oppressive state. They're the Neanderthal to his Cro-Magnon. He's the next step in evolution, and baseline humanity has to get out of the way.

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From your perspective, is Magneto's crusade about dominating humanity?

Claremont: He doesn't see mutants as rulers. This is my fundamental point of departure from most other portrayals of Magneto. To me, it's never been a question of mutants will rule the world. From his point of view, this is the end product of evolution. Humanity will eventually die off or be moved to the sidelines. His belief is the core of the world's future is based around mutants.

And, from my perspective, there was nothing that could be readily done to make Charles Xavier better as a person or as leader of the X-Men. He was already essentially perfect. All that could be done with him was diminishment. With Magneto, you had someone who was always striving for a goal from the perspective of, “I am a decent person. I am not a villain. I'm trying to make things better for my people. Why don't they understand what I'm doing?” That makes him a flawed, admirable, and potentially redeemable central character.

I believe we saw some of that during your original run on Uncanny X-Men in the 1980s when Magneto worked with the X-Men and took over the Xavier school.

Yes, my ultimate resolution to this was to make him headmaster of the school. He would replace Charlie. I thought it was an interesting and exciting dramatic pairing; Magneto struggling to redeem himself at the school of Gifted Youngsters and follow this new path that his best friend had guilted him into.

Art for X-Man Black: Magneto by Dalibor Talajic, Belardino Brabo and Dono Sanchez Almara

Dalibor, what's your sense of Magneto?

Dalibor Talajić: Magneto is certainly not a simple character. This complexity is what makes him very appealing. Even if he is technically a villain, he has his reasons and they are not dismissed easily. All of us might recognize decisions in our life that push those boundaries of being good a little further back. Who knows what kind of villains - with a just cause of course - we might become were we given both opportunity and power. History has taught us that those "one more step" projects end up like "one corpse away from perfect society" philosophies.

In this story we contrasted his power and relentlessness with a genuine warmth. He is humane, he is kind... but… there is this darkness awaiting to explode. To be able to capture all this was quite a challenge.

It seems like the kinetic nature of his powers and the fact that he's a very emotional guy would make him a pretty fun character to work on.

Talajić: Exactly. Furthermore, there is something royal about him. He is convinced in his righteousness to the point where he does not even question it any more. He just is. Like force of nature. Almost like a deity.

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Some of the best X-Men stories there are allegorical elements to contemporary issues -- will that be the case, here?

Claremont: Yes, this is part of his current status quo that finds Magneto back on Asteroid M where he's building a cadre of super powered mutants. They've learned that the Office of National Emergency, the O.N.E., has established detention centers in rural Texas some 1500 miles north of the border. They're places where American citizens who are mutants are being housed; adults in one facility, children in the other. They're not being charged, just detained for reasons of national security until a determination can be made if they're dangerous and if they can be released. So Magneto decides to do something about that.

The idea of detention camps and rounding people up on the basis of their genetic reality strikes a visceral chord in him. I was originally playing with Magneto in terms of 1975. We're now over 50 years later. So the companion reality of the world has, I guessed, advanced, but because of his origin Magneto is locked in a specific point and time, which I think is for the best. He is defined by the Holocaust and everything he does is defined by that. So, in this instance he's going to go down and set these kids free.

This is Magneto in current continuity, but as far as I'm concerned as the writer and creator of a substantial portion of his reality, it's consistent with the Magneto I've been writing for the last umpteen years.

Dalibor, what can you tell us about the look of this story? How does it compare to some of your recent work?

Talajić: My goal is to tell a compelling story. I will always put all my resources in that enterprise. I want to engage you and mesmerize, but also stay as invisible as possible. I want you to read a Magneto comic, not a Dalibor Magneto comic. That's what I always go for. The only difference here - it 's Chris Claremont. And I was scared as hell.

To be able to work on one of his scripts is an exceptional experience. The structure is firm, descriptions are extensive, but not as much in Mise-en-scène as in the precise emotion that Chris wants me to capture. There are lot of things packed in this 20-page story, and I believe fans will go back to it again and again, always looking for the new nuances. I truly hope I did justice to Chris' script and I hope you guys enjoy it.

This is not your every day X-men story. Tonally, Chris envisioned it a bit differently. Let's just say that if you love Sergio Leone Westerns, you might be pleasantly surprised.