That Time Magneto Tried to Pimp His Daughter Out to Namor

CBR

By Brian Cronin

Published Sep 13, 2018

CSBG's spotlights of comic book moments that are hilarious in hindsight sees Magneto try to use his daughter as a prize to get Namor to join him.

This is Past Was Close Behind, a feature that spotlights moments, exchanges, etc. from older comics that take on a brand new light when read in concert with later comic books or events. Basically, stuff that looks hilarious in hindsight. Today, we look at a time that Magneto was way too willing to try to use his own daughter as a tool to get Namor to sign up with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

X-Men #62 was part of a classic adventure in the Savage Land with the X-Men. It was during the epic (but sadly relatively brief) X-Men run by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams and Tom Palmer. This particular was very significant for a reason you'll soon see.

Angel crashes in the jungle and he is discovered by an old mysterious man known only as The Creator. The Creator takes him back to his headquarters and manages to bring Angel back to life...

However, this mysterious Creator is at odds with the X-Men and the Angel, so grateful for being alive, is like, "Screw it, I'll fight my friends if that's what you want. Apparently, if you save my life then that means all my morals are gone, as well."

When the Creator explains his mission in the Savage Land, though, the Angel is sure that it won't come to him having to fight his old friends in favor of his new friend, as he believes that he can solve things without violence...

Of course, what he doesn't know (and readers at the time did not know, either) is that the Creator is actually the X-Men's oldest foe, Magneto!!

This one of the earliest example of something that later became a go-to in X-Men comics, which is the last page Magneto reveal.

Okay, so why was this issue so important? Because up until this point, we had never seen Magneto without his helmet. Neal Adams decided on his look and that decision had a huge impact, because more than a few readers and future Marvel writers thought, "Huh, doesn't he look like Quicksilver?" And so in the minds of many fans and would-be writers, the idea that Magneto would be revealed as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch's father was officially planted. It took another decade or so, but then the idea was made canon in a clever bit (that I think I'll feature soon in another column) and then made EXPLICITLY canon later on.

Many years later, Marvel then revealed that Magneto was NOT their dad, but don't worry, I'm sure it is only a matter of time until that gets reversed. It has become too big of a deal for it to stay reversed (especially now that Disney is going to own Fox, so the whole division of movie rights will no longer be a factor).

The funny thing, though, is that since this idea only popped up when Neal Adams drew Magneto without his helmet (and even then, it is not like EVERYone automatically said, "He's their dad!"), then the relationship between Magneto and his future kids have been pretty weird in hindsight. I featured perhaps the most notable example of this in an old The Past Was Close Behind, when Magneto hypnotized Scarlet Witch and then had her dance for him (creeepy).

However, there was an earlier example that was almost just as creepy (in hindsight...well, not even in hindsight, but creepIER in hindsight, okay?)...

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Magneto REALLY wants Namor to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants']

In X-Men #6 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Chic Stone), Magneto figures that the best way to destroy the X-Men would be to recruit one of the most powerful mutants around and a guy who seemingly was a villain, Namor the Sub-Mariner, to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Check out his twisted pitch...

Oh man, you a CREEP, Magneto!

Luckily, before he can successfully use Scarlet Witch to tempt Namor, the X-Men attack...

I love how Magneto's like, "Nyah, nyah, I found him first!"

In the end, Magneto is too much of a jerk for Namor to be allies with. Think of what kind of level of jerkdom you have to reach for that to be the case...