Comic Book Review - X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto #1

Rob reviews X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto #1...

The Trial Of Magneto #1 launches this new X-Men arc into the spotlight with plenty of emotional turmoil. The death of Scarlet Witch was always going to be a tough one to bear. As such her demise will no doubt be felt across the wider Marvel Universe for a considerable time to come. The Trial Of Magneto however deals with this on a more intimate level and centres upon the X-Men. 

The title of this opening issue is a bit of a red herring. Naturally, Magneto features within the issue, but he's not the stories focal point. Writer Leah Williams utilises a few fringe X-Men characters who all spend their fair time within the stories spotlight. It's an interesting way to tell the story and it doesn't rely upon epic action scenes. What we do have is a tale of loss, and it's one that's felt far and wide. 

Magneto's time to shine comes from playing politics with the rest of the Krakoan leadership. As any father would, Erik not only pleads for his daughter's resurrection but also makes a point that her murderers could be her so-called friends. However as the leadership decide against resurrecting Scarlet Witch, the old Magneto starts to comes to the surface. Before tensions rise further Professor X reminds Erik that he "isn't the strongest mutant in the room anymore" - shots fired.

The growing tensions reach a boiling point when X-Factor attempt to take Erik in for questioning. This then sees an impressive display of Magneto's power as he clearly shows X-Factor that he's the stronger mutant. 

Lucas Werneck brings plenty of expressions to his characters' faces which expertly play on the grief that they are experiencing. Even with the sombre tone of this opening, Werneck still makes it feel like your traditional X-Men comic. Edgar Delgado exemplifies this by bringing some dynamic tonal shifts that match the location of each scene. Both Werneck and Delgado also bring a couple of incredible full-page spreads that both in their way highlight everything that this issue is about. I won't spoil what these images are, but you'll naturally know. 

The Trial Of Magneto does a great job of balancing everything whilst pushing its story forward. Williams, Werneck, and Delgado have each brought so much emotion to this tale - with each complimenting each other. If the rest of this story arc keeps up or even matches what we've seen here then The Trial Of Magneto is set to be an instant classic. 

Rating 10/10 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev