What makes 'V for Vendetta,' so inspirational?



By Bernard O’Shea

03/11/14





As the fifth of November approaches, it is perhaps timely to explore the cultural impact of one of the finest graphic novels in existence; ‘V for Vendetta.’

Over the last number of years this graphic novel and its subsequent movie version, has featured regularly in the media spotlight most often in a political context.

In 2008 the hacker-activist group ‘Anonymous,’ organised a protest in London against Scientology where the protestors dressed as the fictional character ‘V,’ from, ‘V for Vendetta.’ In May 2009, protestors dressed up as V and set off a fake barrel of gunpowder outside Parliament in demonstration against British MPs’ expenses. In November 2012 the wearing of Guy Fawkes masks painted with the colours of the UAE flag during the UAE National Day was declared illegal.[1]

The stylised Guy Fawkes mask associated with the character, ‘V,’ has become a fashionable symbol for those who wish to associate themselves with anti-establishment politics.

It is almost unfathomable that a comic book could have such a profound impact on the political activities of so many individuals. Therefore it is worth examining why does this work of fiction inspire so many people? and What is the significance of V?

‘V for Vendetta,’ originated in British anthology magazine, ‘Warrior,’ the brainchild of former Marvel UK editorial director Dez Skinn. The magazine brought together established British comic book creators and new and emerging talent such as writer Alan Moore. In 1982 Skinn asked David Lloyd to create a mystery strip for Warrior and suggested Alan Moore as the writer having previously worked with both in Marvel UK. When Warrior folded in 1985, V for Vendetta was acquired by DC comics in 1988; who reprinted the original black and white Warrior issues in a 10 issue colour format and printed the final issues. It is nowadays most commonly available as a fully coloured graphic novel published by Vertigo an imprint of DC Comics.

‘V for Vendetta,’ presents a post apocalyptic, dystopian vision of the UK set in an alternative 1997. In this timeline, Nuclear War has rendered much of the world uninhabitable. What remains of the UK is controlled by a fascist party named, ‘Norsefire.’ They rule the UK as a police state, having used concentration camps to exterminate all possible opposition.

Enter ‘V’ the charismatic, anarchist revolutionary who adopts the guise of a modern day ‘Guy Fawkes.’ V’s mission is to inspire the populace to mount an insurrection against its rulers. That mission begins with V extracting revenge on prominent members of the state who held him captive in Larkhill; one of the states concentration camps. He is aided in this mission by his aptly named young protégé, ‘Evey Hammond.’

Evey Hammond is a central character in V for Vendetta and in many ways readers experience this Big Brother-esque future through her. When the story begins Evey is sixteen years old and V saves her from government agents known as ‘Fingermen.’ The story details how she lost her family, how she loses her lover to the criminal connections of Norsefire and how she grows in self-awareness and in her understanding of V.

An understanding of the character ‘V,’ is key to establishing why the story resonates with people today. Very little is actually known about the character V. Although there are many theories about the real identity of V. Some people believe V is a character that the reader encounters during the course of the story. Some say V is Evey’s father. There are those who say that V is ‘Valerie,’ another prisoner from Larkhill concentration camp. There are some who theorise that Alan Moore drew inspiration for V from an earlier idea for a strip called the ‘Doll,’ which he had submitted in 1975 to publishers DC Thomson which featured a Transsexual terrorist.[2]

The answer to V’s true identity is intriguing, but it is irrelevant. It is not so much who V is but what V is. V wears the face of Guy Fawkes, perhaps the one figure in British history who best represents the spirit of revolution. In doing this V becomes more than just a person, V becomes a symbol of revolution. It doesn’t matter if V is Evey’s father, Valerie or a transsexual. The image V projects as a revolutionary is more important that what meaning can ever be achieved as a person. Evey Hammond grapples with this throughout the story but she eventually understands it, and in one of the most important lines from the story she says of V, “If I take off that mask, something will go away forever, be diminished, because whoever you are isn’t as big as the idea of you.”[3] The power of symbols are that they point to larger meanings, V confirms this in a description of himself at one point in the story; “There’s no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There’s only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof.” Perhaps V understands that where there is fear and apathy, where people have been let down by their politicians, it takes more than an individual to inspire people into action. It requires symbolic power, something for people to believe in, to help them break free of tyranny.  

People identify with V because he represents anyone who has ever been a victim of the state; anyone who has ever been abused, mistreated, neglected or cheated. V is a symbol for the oppressed in society. We identify with the romantic notion of the anarchist working from within to topple the system. Secretly, we wish we could be V.

However there cannot really be a romantic version of anarchy. In many ways V is summed up by the words of the Russian revolutionary Sergey Nechayev who in his book, ‘Catechism of a Revolutionary,’ said; “The Revolutionary is a doomed man. He has no private interests, no affairs, sentiments, ties, property nor even a name of his own. His entire being is devoured by one purpose, one thought, one passion – the revolution. Heart and soul, not merely by word but by deed, he has severed every link with the social order and with the entire civilized world; with the laws, good manners, conventions and morality of that world. He is its merciless enemy…”[4]

V is an anarchist, strong in the belief that the state is immoral but V is also all-consumed by the vendetta. He is in his own words the ‘villain,’ of the piece; the enemy of the state. V carefully dismantles the many arms of the state including the church, the media, parliament, the judiciary and police in an effort to bring about complete chaos. The only glimmer of sentiment seems to come from his relationship with Evey and his collection of memorabilia in the Shadow Gallery. Yet, this at times seems superficial, he is often cruel to Evey and throughout the story he remains morally ambiguous and vindictive when it comes to achieving his goal.

Revolutionaries are often divisive figures, the old adage that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. The main principle of the ‘Catechism of a Revolutionary,’ was that a revolutionaries, ‘end will justify their means.’ As a revolutionary figure ‘V,’ attributes his actions to the higher goal of freedom. He explains to Evey as they load a train with explosives intended for Number 10 Downing Street; “Anarchy wears two faces, both creator and destroyers, thus destroyers topple empires; make a canvas of clean rubble where creators can then build a better world.”[5] Perhaps V understands that the world sometimes needs someone who will do the unspeakable, who will transcend their human boundaries, who is willing to sacrifice their lives for a brighter tomorrow.

In this way we can see how V might be viewed as a revolutionary icon in the same way as Che Guevara is. Che Guevara died a young man and as a result he has been immortalised as a symbol of revolution. When people wear a t-shirt with Che Guevara’s face or when they put on a V mask what they are really doing is emulating their revolutionary heroes. People need symbols to inspire them, to remind them that unless you stand for something you are likely to fall for anything.

The themes of freedom and revolution contained in V for Vendetta obviously inspired filmmakers to produce the 2005 movie version of the graphic novel. The film starred Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond and Hugo Weaving as V and was directed by James McTeigue based on a screenplay by the Wachowskis.

Alan Moore distanced himself from the movie, as with every film adaptation of his works. He criticised the Wachowskis screenplay because it did not reflect the spirit of the original material. Instead he felt it was more a liberal fantasy about Bush-era America, which more about liberalism versus neo-conservatism.

To an extent Moore has a point, the movie does differ greatly from the graphic novel. Evey and V’s relationship is more prominent, supporting characters stories are streamlined and the anarchist values of the comic book are non-existent. That said very few works of fiction that cross mediums ever really live up to the original. V for Vendetta the movie can be enjoyed in its own right, and like most film adaptations is connected a wider audience with the original source material.

Hugo Weaving as 'V,' in the 2006 film adaptation of 'V for Vendetta.'

The movie has had an obvious cultural impact as demonstrated by the internet based ‘Anonymous,’ protest group whom has adopted the Guy Fawkes mask as its symbol. This is a direct consequence of the V for Vendetta film, as in one key scene a large crowd disguised in ‘V,’ costumes and masks converge on the centre of London to make a stand against the tyranny of their government. Essentially the act, turns the Norsefire slogan; ‘Strength through unity,’ on its head. Similar scenes have been replicated by protestors on a number of occasions since the film was released.

Artist David Lloyd has gone on the record to say, “The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny-and I’m happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way…my feeling is the Anonymous group needed an all-purpose image to hide their identity and also symbolise that they stand for individualism – V for Vendetta is a story about one person against the system.”[6]

It seems fitting in a way that a fictional story about a lone anarchist who wanted to inspire the masses would in reality inspire an anti-establishment protest group to adopt him as their symbol for their ongoing crusade against the systems of government around the world. Even Alan Moore admits he has been tickled by the thought, but then again why wouldn’t he after all the best ideas are bulletproof.

Please note part two of the ‘Who is the biggest villain; Professor X or Magneto?’ will follow in due course.

 

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[1] Walters Rosie (2011) ‘V for Vendetta masks: Who’s behind them?’ BBC News Magazine – Accessed 28/10/14.

[2] Moore, Alan (1983) ‘Behind the Painted Smile,’ Warrior 17.

[3] Moore, Alan (w), Lloyd, David (p) ‘V for Vendetta,’ DC Comics, p. 250

[4]  Nechayev, Spartacus Educational website by John Simkin.

[5] Moore, Alan (w), Lloyd, David (p) ‘V for Vendetta,’ DC Comics, p. 266

[6] Walters Rosie (2011) ‘V for Vendetta masks: Who’s behind them?’ BBC News Magazine – Accessed 28/10/14.

Who is the biggest villain; Professor X or Magneto? PART ONE: The Silver Age (1956-1969)

By Bernard O’Shea

17/09/14

Every story needs a hero and a villain; Glorious and virtuoso good guys locked in an eternal struggle with villainous, moustache twisting bad guys. Or so they say. The problem with heroes and villains is that it isn’t always easy to tell which one is which.

Take for instance Marvel’s premier team of mutant superheroes the Uncanny X-Men. On one hand you have the founder of the X-Men; Professor Charles Xavier, an advocate for mutant rights by peaceful means he is also a high level telepath and a scientist. On the other hand, you have the X-Men’s arch foe; Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism, he prefers a more militant approach to mutant rights. He also has an affinity for wearing red and he has more civilian names that Tiger Woods has golf clubs. When Uncanny X-Men #1 was published in 1963 that was pretty much how the dynamics of the hero villain relationship was set-up.  

Now, I grew up in the ‘90s, therefore I read X-Men comics throughout most of that decade. I was also present for the video games, the animated show, and the comics based on the animated show. However, there remains one constant throughout this period. I never liked Professor Xavier; in fact I will go as far as to say that I found him to be really annoying. I thought it was just the way he was being portrayed in the comics that I read at the time, but I’ve since gone through the back issues and it hasn’t altered my opinion.

As I’ve grown into an adult I will even go as far as to say, and I paraphrase two well-know podcasts on the topic of the X-Men, when I say, I think Magneto had some valid points. He has an interesting back-story and his ideology isn’t totally dissimilar to Xavier’s contrary to popular belief. Maybe I’m becoming more of a cynic as I get older but I am identifying more with Magneto these days.

Professor Xavier and Magneto have traditionally been labelled as representing people on opposite sides of the divide. Most famously they have been compared to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, however such a comparison is lazy, ill-informed and insensitive to the real life Civil Rights Movement and the politics therein.

Nothing is ever as black and white as it seems, and when I did take the time to review past issues of Uncanny X-Men I personally felt Xavier wasn’t always the ‘good guy,’ his students may have felt he was.

Therefore I will now conduct a simpler exercise to determine who the bigger villain is; Professor Charles Xavier or Magneto.

The rules are simple; there will be three rounds, (like a good amateur boxing match), in each round I will explore the stories featuring both characters from a specific era e.g. Silver Age, Bronze Age and the Modern Age. In order to determine a winner of each round I will score them based on number of deaths attributed to a character, property damage or the inexplicable hurt caused by them to others.

On occasion I may have to refer to stories out of sequence, but only to lend some sense of linear storytelling to this article. Don’t get blame me, blame the sprawling history and inconsistent continuity of the X-Men franchise.

so here we go…

Round 1: The Silver Age (1956-1970)

Professor Xavier:

Let’s start with Professor Charles Francis Xavier, the founder, mentor and leader of the Uncanny X-Men. I already hear the cries, “How can Xavier, possibly be a villain?” Well if the Silver Age is anything to go by there is plenty of evidence to suggest that his heroic front is a little more ambiguous than it seems. People may say I am mad but let’s face it there was a team of professional writers and editors in charge of the title, so any repercussions from what I am about to write must be laid at their creative doors respectfully.

Xavier first appears in X-Men Vol. 1 #1, this was the premier issue that introduces the original five X-Men as well as Magneto. The problem with the Silver Age X-Men is that a lot of the stories aren’t very good, the characterisation took a long time to establish and mostly what people associate with being good about X-Men didn’t appear until Giant Sized X-Men #1, in 1975 when Len Wein and later Chris Claremont were writing the series.

That said there is enough action in the Silver Age for the purposes of this experiment. The first issue also gives us a bit of an insight into the deviousness of Professor Xavier. X-men #1 begins with the original team meeting Jean Grey aka, ‘Marvel Girl,’ this was supposed to be her first visit to the X-Mansion, however as it is later revealed in 1981’s Bizarre Adventures #27, that Xavier had been training her for many years before the events of X-Men #1. It is later revealed that he had been suppressing her telepathic powers, in order to help her to better adapt to them.

This is something I find very strange and creepy, considering that Jean Grey plays along with this façade and does not let the others know of her previous relationship with Xavier. I would be willing to let this pass if not for Xavier’s omission in X-Men #3 that he is in love with Jean, but that he cannot tell her because he is in a wheelchair and she is love with Scott.

Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I think the bigger stumbling blocks are that Jean is underage, Xavier is middle-aged and it violates the whole teacher-student relationship as well as several important laws. The idea seems to have been discarded for a long time, and although Xavier never acted on it, it does cast him in a much different light when you read it by today’s standards.

That aside X-Men #1 set-ups the premise of the series; Xavier is presented as the champion for the peaceful co-existence of mutants and humans. Mutants are the next step in the evolutionary chain, which in the early 1960s are feared and hated because of their difference. You can begin to see how some people feel this is a civil rights analogy, yet this is the very reason I feel that the X-Men flounders in this respect, because there is a distinct lack of diversity in the team, which is made up of largely middle-class, WASP-ish teenagers.

Also a major contradiction for me in respect of Xavier’s dream of peaceful co-existence is his method for achieving it. Does he organise peaceful protests? Does he engage in debates on the issue in the public domain? Does he advocate on behalf of the rights of Mutants? No. He trains them how to fight and he gives them matching uniforms. Technically, under the Geneva Convention, Xavier has created his own Army or at the very least a paramilitary group. It doesn’t sound very peaceful to me.

There is a strong argument that Magneto had to be prevented from launching the nukes in X-Men #1, but come on couldn’t he have phoned the Avengers.

I hope readers are beginning to see where I am going with this. When you stop and think about even the name ‘X-Men,’ it’s a bit self indulgent. I understand that in the first issue he provides some waffle about the ‘X,’ relating to some sort of ‘X-gene,’ present in mutants, but he also claims to possibly be the first mutant. I think he wants the name to be ‘Xavier’s Men,’ I don’t think there’s any doubt about it especially when the guy is arrogant enough to believe he’s the first of his kind. I also like to think Xavier had been reading DC Comics ‘Doom Patrol,’ which debuted in June 1963, two months before X-Men #1 and stole the idea for his team from that series (I jest). Despite all this by the end of X-Men #1, Xavier and the team have foiled the plans of Magneto.

When you examine the Silver Age closely you begin to see some dubious decisions being made by Xavier. His commitment to the peaceful co-existence of mutants and humans appears to be by any means necessary. In X-Men #2 when Teleford Porter aka ‘The Vanisher,’ decides to steal US Defence plans Professor X wipes his memory. Again, that’s a very peaceful and ethical way of dealing with fellow Mutants.

 It also sets a precedent for actions that will happen much later in X-Men continuity. It also sets the precedent for the Silver Age, in X-Men #3 Xavier detects a new mutant; The Blob, when he sends the X-Men off to recruit him, he is living with the Circus, the Blob refuses to join the X-Men so they attack them, because if he won’t join you, beat him. When the Circus gang join in and give the X-Men a bit of a pasting, Xavier mind wipes them as well. Xavier also later mind wipes the Mimic in issue #19 because he can’t stand his obnoxious behaviour. Some might say it was all necessary, I say it’s a blatant abuse of his powers and more fitting with the behaviour of a villain.

Something that becomes a bit of a running theme in Silver Age X-Men is people wanting to blow things up. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, with real life ‘Cold War,’ themes being present in the writing at the time. It just seems every X-adventure in the early issues is to prevent someone nuking someone else.

In X-Men #4 Magneto plans to blow up a South American country; Santa Marco, with his newly formed ‘Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,’ at the end of this issue the plan is foiled but Xavier tells his students that he has lost his powers. It’s all lies because he gets them back in the next issue, in fact he never lost them to begin with, it was all a ruse as part of a ‘graduation,’ test.

Bloody hell professor! these guys have only been together for five issues and you are letting them go off on their own to fight super-powered villains. I definitely think there is a case for child endangerment here given the ages of some of the team at this point. What if things went wrong would he just go off and recruit a new team? Well actually…ahem…we may address that in a further round.

Xavier’s prowess as a villain knows no bounds. If it wasn’t enough to jeopardise his students safety as part of a graduation exercise, after they do defeat the Brotherhood, Xavier takes himself off to Europe to settle a score with the demonically named, ‘Lucifer,’ who is trying to blow up, some stuff, well it’s never really made clear but Xavier feels it’s important to initially abandon five teenagers in his home in order to defeat him.

Around X-Men #10 & #11 we see Xavier allow a cosmic force in the form of the ‘Stranger,’ kidnap Magneto and Toad, without much concern for the well-being of either and we also see some interesting back story for the professor in X-Men #12. This helps provide further insight into the selfish mindset of the Professor.

Xavier’s origin in a nutshell is this, his parents worked on the atom bomb experiments, his father Brian dies in an atomic blast. His mother Sharon marries her husbands lab partner Kurt Marko. Kurt’s son Cain comes to live with them all in the X-Mansion. Kurt is abusive, Sharon dies, everyone hates everyone, Cain especially hates Charles, there’s a fire, Kurt dies. Cain and Charles go off to fight in the Korean war. Cain deserts and Charles goes after him. At this point Cain finds the Cyttorak Ruby and becomes the Juggernaut but the cave he finds it in collapses on top of him. Rather than dig him out Charles thinks it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie and abandon him.

Now it’s a fairly sympathetic back-story but if the flashbacks are anything to go by, and if I was Cain I would hate Xavier’s guts as well. The flashback’s reveal Charles was a bit of a-know-it-all and he wore suits while he was at home, what child does that?! Also it’s enough to be super peeved at someone who abandons you under tons of rubble. I personally like to think there’s some additional beef relating to a will and/or ownership of the X-Mansion that Charlie fails to recount in X-Men #12. At least it would explain why he abandoned Cain in Korea. Inevitably, the Juggernaut is vanquished by the X-Men and some mind blasts courtesy of Xavier.

The remainder of the Silver Age period provides further situations to speculate over the heroic qualities of Professor X.

Following an epic battle with the Sentinels, in X-Men #14-16 Iceman is left in a Coma, around this time Magneto re-enters the fray, hoping to settle his score and start a mutant army using Angel’s parents. Now, against all medical knowledge and ethical practice, Xavier believes the best course of action is to bring Iceman out of his coma, and fight Magneto. I think that justifies another count of child endangerment. Xavier also assists in the kidnapping of an individual, namely Magneto again, by the Stranger, again. Xavier also performs a mind wipe, again, this time on the Angel’s parents at the end of X-Men #18.

If the Silver Age tells us anything it’s that Xavier’s dream for a peaceful co-existence with humans comes at a high cost. He will literally sacrifice his students to achieve it. I feel he’s a fanatic, he’s obsessive with his dream and he will pursue it by any means necessary.

He’s also a bit of a moaner. In the modern age of comics Xavier is representative of the diversity in comic books. In the Silver Age he seemed to spend several issues expressing his angst about being a wheelchair user. In X-Men #23 he develops his own leg braces that help him walk again. Versions of this device will continue to crop up in X-Men continuity right through into the modern age. They never became a regular thing, but the question that is crying out to be answered is if Xavier was such a good guy why didn’t he patent the invention and make it available to the public. If you ask me he’s a selfish git.

Mid point of the Silver Age run of X-Men we see the creepy Xavier return to the fore. In X-Men #32 it’s revealed that Xavier has been keeping doors locked from his students, particularly the basement door as he’s been keeping a comatose Juggernaut down there. It’s a bit Norman Bates if you ask me. It’s also at this point that Xavier considers that he should have acted more resolutely in Korea, and he makes a botched attempt to wake up and reform the Juggernaut. Naturally things go wrong and it eventually leads to Juggernaut joining Factor 3 and that particularly nefarious group kidnapping Xavier.

When Xavier is eventually rescued, his gift to his students in X-Men #39 is new individual uniforms. The only question hanging over the new uniforms is why did Marvel Girl forsake trousers for a mini-skirt? She did design it herself, but if Xavier was acting as an appropriate adult he may have asked her to re-consider. Again, the Silver Age relationship between Charles and Jean seems dubious to me.

Not long after that episode Xavier begins acting more oddly than he has done in any previous issue. He is like a creepy Hitchcok-ian ‘Uncle Charlie,’ only sharing his secret with Jean Grey and throwing mood swings. In X-Men #42 the team go face to face with Grotesk, the subterranean, sub-human supercharged by radiation. He proves more than a handful for the X-Men and so Xavier has to join them in the field to defeat the villain. The climax results in the death of Xavier. He reveals at the end of the issue that he has already been dying of a terminal illness.

That appears to be the end of Charles Xavier except in 23 issues later in X-Men #65 it all turns out to be lies and Xavier has been hiding out in the basement of the X-Mansion, surviving on fun size Mars no doubt. It had been an editorial idea to kill off Xavier in X-Men #42 as an attempt to counteract poor sales on the title. He returned in X-Men #65 to prevent the Z’Nox alien race from taking over the world. He does this by reaching out across the world to form a cosmic love ray to repel the Z’Nox.

It may have been enough to scare the Z’Nox away but it wasn’t enough to halt declining sales and after one more issue X-Men fell into reprints and went into a five year hiatus until Giant Sized X-Men #1 in 1975.

That concludes the Silver Age in respect of Professor Charles Xavier, so let’s take an account of his misdemeanours so far;

• Training a small army of child soldiers.
• Suppressing Jean Grey’s telepathic ability.
• Inappropriate feelings for his female student; Jean Grey
• Being arrogant and naming the team after himself.
• Ripping off the Doom Patrol.
• Mind wiping people on at least five separate occasions.
• Attempted kidnapping of the Blob.
• Numerous counts of Child Endangerment.
• Party to the human trafficking of Magneto and Toad.
• Abandoning his half-brother under a mountain in Korea.
• Holding his half-brother captive in the basement of the X-Mansion.
• Not sharing his ‘helps you walk again,’ leg braces invention with the wider public.
• Faking his own Death.
• Facilitating the assisted Death of the Changeling.
• Effectively killing off any new X-Men material for 5 years.

Now let’s have a look at…

Round 1: The Silver Age (1956-1970)

Magneto:

Magneto is the most famous X-Men villain; created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby he also made his first appearance in X-Men Vol.1 #1. In more recent years Magneto has gained an almost ambiguous relationship with super-villainy. Some view him almost as an anti-hero of sorts, largely because of his interesting and varied back-story. Stan Lee is quoted as saying, “I did not think of Magneto as a bad guy. He just wanted to strike back at people who were so bigoted and racist…he was trying to defend the mutants, and because society was not treating them fairly he was going to teach society a lesson. He was a danger of course…but I never thought of him as a villain.”[1] Now either Stan Lee has a very bad memory or he has started to ret-con his own memories but if you read the Silver Age Magneto, I can assure you he is very much an out and out crack pot villain.

Most of the depth and characterisation of Magneto is largely established in the Bronze Age by Chris Claremont. It would be nice to think that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had the ideas all mapped out at the beginning. However, as I see it Marvel in the early 1960s was a conveyor belt of superheroes; a lot of what I see in the Silver Age Marvel titles are rifts off the Fantastic Four and Amazing Spiderman books. The same idea repeated again and again in slightly different ways. That said, the Silver Age Magneto is the most memorable villain, as we can all see from his longevity into the present day.

When we first see Magneto in X-Men #1, he is attempting to capture Camp Citadel a Nuclear Missile base with the rather vague idea of seizing control of the camp as a display of Mutant power. It’s a rather aimless mission, but that’s probably down to this being the first issue and Lee and Kirby wanting to establish the premise and introduce the original characters of the X-Men title.

If it’s one thing we can say about the Silver Age in relation to Magneto it’s that it provides him with his style. During the Silver Age the X-Men changed their costumes numerous times, however Magneto’s red and purple centurion style garb became his defining feature.

The thing I like about Magneto is that he’s a stylish villain, he like the Liberace of super-villains. He is also guilty of the same arrogance Charles Xavier, naming things after himself such as his Magneto car (why he has a car when he can levitate is beyond me) and the coolest liar even; Asteroid M. By the standards of the X-Men title, it seems that in the 1960’s people just stuck their initials on to the names of things to declare ownership rights.

Asteroid M

Magneto does stop short of naming his group of evil mutants the ‘Magneto-Men,’ instead they are named the ‘Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.’ The ‘Evil-Mutants,’ part aside, the ‘Brotherhood,’ part generates an impression that Magneto’s mutant faction are more politically minded, almost concerned about the socio-political needs of mutants. Historically, there have been political organisations that have been known as ‘brotherhoods,’ e.g. the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) also referred to as ‘The Fenians,’ were an oath bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an Irish Republic which were active between 1858 and 1924.

The Silver Age doesn’t really set the Brotherhood up as a political organisation. Although, I do feel that the idea of a Brotherhood is more consistent with the idea of advocating and promoting Mutant Rights. Magneto chooses to deploy the Brotherhood as another paramilitary style organisation but I feel to give him credit he is, to an extent, sheltering and safeguarding Mutants under the banner of the Brotherhood. In this sense, despite his character flaws he is more consistent with his message than Xavier. He’s not operating a personal strike force on the pretence that they are being used in a violent struggle to achieve a peaceful co-existence.

The Brotherhood, make their debut in X-Men #4. The original members are Toad, Mastermind, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch with Magneto as the leader. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are portrayed as the reluctant villains, however it is worth remembering that Magneto saved them from an angry European lynch mob, the kind that used to roam the Marvel Universe up until the late 1980s. There membership of the Brotherhood is as a result of their feeling that they have a debt to repay. I feel in respect of the pair it lessens the idea that Magneto is a villain that coerces Mutants into joining him. It stands in contrast to the X-Men’s violent, attempted recruitment of the Blob in X-Men #3. I just feel that despite the lack of any real characterisation for Magneto in the Silver Age, on occasion his values are more consistent with his actions than perhaps Xavier’s are.

That said I’m pretty sure that Stan Lee only envisaged Magneto as a villain in the early days. X-Men #4 involves Magneto planning to blow up a South American country. As per his first appearance the plan is suitably vague and it doesn’t come to fruition. He does manage to kidnap the Angel in X-Men #5 which results in a battle with the X-Men on Asteroid M.

X-Men #7 sees Magneto come into contact with the Blob. If you recall Charles Xavier mind wiped the Blob in X-Men #3 so Magneto helps the Blob get his memories back and then he offers him a place in the Brotherhood to get revenge on Charlie and the X-Men. In fairness, if I just remembered that someone had mind-wiped me and I had lost a significant period of my life I’d be pretty ticked off and want to settle a score so I don’t think that Magneto can be blamed for putting the Blob up to anything.          

X-Men #11 is interesting because it includes an appearance of the cosmic being known as the ‘Stranger.’ The Stranger is a peculiar character because at this point he is very much a Sci-Fi inspired character; he had appeared in the Fantastic Four but had never been given a proper origin or explanation. He appears at a point in X-Men history before the whole space opera style stories were a regular feature. He seems a bit out of place in the title. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the X-Men and the Brotherhood both try to recruit the Stranger and the end result is that he takes a shine to Magneto and the Toad and decides to take them back to his home planet and place them alongside his other other-worldly collectibles. Essentially, the ‘Stranger,’ is a cosmic Human Trafficker. None of the so-called heroes in the vicinity attempt to stop this, so we can only assume from this episode that Xavier would rather see Magneto out of the picture than as part of his peaceful co-existence dream. 

When Magneto next appears it’s in X-Men #17 and essentially the story plays out as Home Alone, only Magneto plays Macaulay Culkin’s part as Kevin. Basically, there is a stranger lurking in the X-Mansion setting up deadly booby traps like greased up floors etc and the X-Men can’t figure it out. At the end of the issue it’s revealed to be Magneto. Apart from breaking and entering and being in breach of health and safety, all in all it doesn’t add up to much of an evil plan.

Rather it appears to be a set-up for his real plan to create a clone army using Warren Worthington’s parents. One of the frustrating things about Magneto, and something that is quite apparent in the Silver Age is that there is no consistency with how his powers are written. Magnetism is seemingly a by word for any superhero power that can be given to him for the purposes of storytelling. In X-Men #18 he is able to hypnotise the Worthington’s with his ‘magnetic personality.’ It’s a bit of a stretch to be fair. Safe to say the Clone army never get’s off the ground, Magneto fights to a standstill with Iceman before being defeated by the rest of the X-Men and re-captured by the Stranger.

When Magneto resurfaces in X-Men #43 we first see him rejoicing in the death of Charles Xavier. A very villainous thing to do, but, when viewed in light of later continuity which sets up their relationship as friends, then I’d be pretty happy that my one-time friend, who has basically ignored the fact that we were friends for 43 issues, and who was happy to allow me to be human trafficked, had passed away.

When the issue begins it is worth noting just for the purposes of continuity that Magneto has been off tussling with the Avengers. In Avengers #47-49 Magneto has escaped the Stranger’s prison with the Toad. He regroups the Brotherhood and demands his own island nation for Mutant-kind. To me it sounds like his best plan yet, but as always he gets beat down by a team of superheroes. It’s revealed in X-Men #43 that Magneto has secretly coerced Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch into re-joining the group. During the battle with the Avengers he uses his powers over magnetism to deflect a bullet, so that it grazes the Scarlet Witch. He then promises to develop technology that will heal hear. I guess Mutants in the 1960s were funny about basic first aid and visiting the hospital, but anyway.

The story which begins in X-Men #43 runs into X-Men #45 and crosses over with Avengers #53. The story in a nutshell is that Magneto has developed a new niche; stealing cargo ships and using their contents to build his own mind control device for the purposes of taking over the world. At this point he is hiding out with the Brotherhood (minus Mastermind and the Blob), on a secret island location. The X-Men find it and promptly get captured. Angel escapes and goes to the Avengers for help; Cyclops also has a fist-fight with Quicksilver.

In between all that we see Magneto being really nasty to Toad. Now it’s probably fair to say that despite taking mutants into the Brotherhood, Magneto has been a bit of an ass to everyone. For months he allowed Mastermind to sleaze around the Scarlet Witch and he generally thrown his weight around and insult everyone whilst all the time demanding their undying loyalty. In this story he really lays into Toad, maybe he’s just antsy because he had to spend several months with him locked in a glass cabinet, but it’s really unfair to Toad. At one point in Avengers #53 he says to Toad, “I’ve kept you around because you are so laughingly, fawningly pitiful.” It maybe doesn’t sound too bad by today’s standards but Toad’s thin skinned. In the end it all backfires on Magneto as he is defeated by the Avengers and the X-Men and Toad decides to get his own revenge by blowing up the island base making his escape in a plastic ship, the reason being Magneto can’t use his powers to levitate onto and escape. The final panels depict Magneto falling to his doom.

In X-Men #49-52 the villainous Mesmero, reveals that Bobby Drake (Iceman’s) new girlfriend Lorna Dane (Polaris) is really the daughter of Magneto and has her own magnetic powers. Magneto shows up but the big reveal turns out to be that it was all a lie concocted by Magneto, Lorna is not his daughter he had just been fooling in order to make use of her magnetic powers. The fiend. Strangely enough the action all takes place on another island and at the end Magneto blows it up. It’s becoming a regular occurrence for Magneto to do this which must really annoy the people who draw maps, without even considering the ecological and environmental damage he must be causing by blowing up all his bases. 

Magneto can be perhaps pardoned for that last crime as it is later revealed in X-Men #58 that the Magneto that Mesmero was working for was really a robot. The real Magneto appears to be missing in action.

It’s not long before he turns up again. Following an adventure in the Savage Land fighting Sauron, the X-Men encounter Magneto again in X-Men #62. This time he’s self-styling himself as the ‘Creator.’ By this stage his evil plans are becoming more elaborate. He wants to raise a mutant army to conquer the world. When he first re-appears, he is out of costume and he rescues the Angel from a dinosaur attack. At this point no one recognises him until he puts on his helmet. He gives Angel a new blue and white costume but that’s just so he can use it to drain energy from him. His plan in the Savage Land amounts to genetically engineering new mutants. His plan is foiled by the X-Men who bash up his base ruining his power source which depowers his Savage Land mutates and causes them to revert to their normal form. In this sense his crime of genetically engineering new mutants is lessen as it seems the changes are really just cosmetic or augmentative at best.

X-Men #63 proves to be Magneto’s last Silver Age appearance in an X-title as X-Men went into hiatus for five years. So at this point it is worth adding up Magneto’s list of crimes against humanity;

• Taking control of a Nuclear Missile base by force
• Attempting to blow up a South American country
• Breaking and entering of the X-Mansion
• Violating Health and Safety procedures in the X-Mansion
• Coercion and holding the Worthington’s Captive
• Child Endangerment
• Coercing the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver into re-joining the Brotherhood.
• Attempted mind control
• Bullying and emotional abuse of the Brotherhood.
• Emotional blackmail of Polaris (later attributed to robot Magneto)
• Causing serious ecological and environmental damage by blowing up at least two island bases. (Although technically, Toad blew up one and Robot Magneto blew up the other one).
• Genetically engineering/augmenting a Mutant army.
• Attempting to take over the world with a Mutant army.

So after one round the verdict is…

Professor X is the biggest villain!

 So many of you will be jumping up and down and shouting at the result, but I just feel that Charles Xavier is the bigger villain. Magneto has been clearly portrayed as a villain and many of his schemes are a direct threat to both human and mutant kind.

However, that does not excuse the fact that Charles Xavier is claiming to be a pacifist yet operates a clandestine personal strike force. He has also mind-wiped several individuals, which raises important questions about his real ethics, values and motives. Plus there is all that angst and unresolved issues relating to Jean Grey, it’s all a bit overwhelming for me as a reader.

At least Magneto is consistent. I am not saying he’s not a villain but I just feel Xavier is a bigger villain.

That said, it’s still all to play for, as there are two more rounds to go before we finally decide who is the biggest villain; Professor Charles Xavier or Magneto?

Next Time: The Bronze Age!

If you are a long-tine X-Men fan or would like to learn more about them then you may enjoy the’ Rachel and Miles Xplain The X-Men,’ podcast. It provides an in-depth look at the X-Men comics, movies and animated series. It’s a lot of fun. Check out the website; http://www.rachelandmiles.com/xmen/

Special thanks to www.comicsrecommended.com for the use of a number of their .jpegs.

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1. [1] Marvel Spotlight: Uncanny X-Men 500 Issues Celebration, p. 5-7

The Dark, Dark Knight: Monech, Jones and Beatty's Batman

A nostalgic look back at a bold and creative approach to the DC Comics ‘Batman,’ title from the ‘90s.

By Bernard O’Shea

15/0/14

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that after a long wait DC Comics would be collecting Doug Moench, Kelley Jones and (lets not forget) John Beatty’s run on the ‘Batman,’ comics from the mid to late 1990s. I am so excited about this decision because this particular run of the Batman title are the original comics I grew up on.

What is exciting about this run is that it combines unique, dark and paranoid storytelling with visually striking art that created one of the most distinctive creative periods in the characters history. It provided fans with a deeply gothic portrayal of the Batman featuring largely in short, self-contained stories with a liberal dose of the supernatural. It featured many of the Batman’s rogues gallery including; Black Mask, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Penguin, Clayface, Joker and Man-Bat. It also featured some guest appearances from equally dark heroes such as Swamp-Thing, Deadman, Demon and Ragman. 

In honour of this particular body of work I would like to briefly review this unique comic book run. The period of Batman comics that I am reviewing ran for 38 issues, (#515-552) during the ‘90s. The main creative team during this time was Doug Moench, Kelley Jones and John Beatty.

 


A darker Batman in action

Doug Moench began working in mainstream comics with Marvel in 1973. He built a reputation in the horror genre and created Moon Knight and Deathlok for Marvel Comics. Moench also wrote Batman and Detective Comics from 1983-1986, during this time he introduced Jason Todd as the second Robin. He was also one of the lead writers during the early 1990s during the infamous ‘Knightfall,’ Batman storyline. He created the main villain of the story; Bane. During the ‘90s he also collaborated with Kelley Jones and John Beatty on the ‘Batman & Dracula: Red Rain,’ graphic novel and subsequent sequels.

Kelley Jones began his comic book career as an inker for Marvel Comics in 1983. It was at some point during the ‘80s that fellow comic book artist Marshall Rogers told Jones he would one day do a memorable Batman.[1]At DC comics he re-designed the Deadman character and drew several issues of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. He was also a regular cover artist for the Batman titles during the ‘Knightfall,’ storyline.

John Beatty also began his career at Marvel Comics in the ‘80s. Over a career spanning twenty years he was the inker on such titles as The Punisher, Captain America, The Nam, The Adventures of Superman and Batman. 



The All Black Batsuit -Batman #515


These accomplished artists became the regular creative team for the Batman title at a significant point in its history. Their run of issues sits between two major story arcs in the Batman comics; namely the Knightfall and Cataclysm/No Man’s land storylines. What is particularly refreshing about this Monech’s writing during this time is that the Batman title suffered very few interruptions in regards storyline crossovers. The stories Monech wrote were at the most no longer than three issues. As a new reader to Batman in the ‘90s it made my experience all the more enjoyable as the stories were straight forward, they were not entrenched in long years of continuity and the storytelling was linear, if the title had continued in the same vein as ‘Knightfall,’ I would have found it hard to continue reading the title with stories split across multiple titles. When I was growing up newsagents could be very inconsistent in obtaining American comic books in rural Ireland.

What I enjoy about Doug Monech’s writing on this particular run of the ‘Batman,’ title was the way he was able to; mesh certain staples of popular fiction together, so successfully. This Batman combined the superhero genre with gothic horror, suspense, the supernatural, personal drama, detective stories and often political tinged thrillers. At times it was almost as if he was channelling Edgar Allan Poe as a writer. Moench was able to effortless sew these elements together, which helped restore the Batman’s character as a gothic figure in the comics.

In this regard Monech was an excellent choice as writer for the title. He was able to restore an edge and vigour to the series. His Batman stories during this time reflected his beliefs about conspiracy theories and government responsibility. This is clearly evidenced in issue #516-517 which featured the CIA sponsored assassin ‘Sleeper,’ the government evolution experiment in the ‘Ogre and the Ape,’ story in issue #535, and the government manipulation of magnetic fields in the Man-Bat story through issues #536-538. Rather than detracting from the main stories, these elements emphasised to readers that there are shadowy corners of the world, where things happen that we don’t quite understand or know about. In a sense it emphasised the Batman’s existence as the gatekeeper between reality and the shadow world.


Batman #515

In addition, the inclusion of supernatural story elements was important because for the Batman to succeed in Gotham the character would have to be believed by the criminal underworld to be an urban myth. Moench crafted a gothic version of Batman in a post ‘Knightfall,’ world, complete for the first time with a black costume that previously had only been utilised in the movies. This Batman was a dark, brooding and obsessive vigilante who only appeared at night. This motive for striking fear into the hearts of criminals also helped to convey to the reader that the Batman wanted to be seen as a supernatural force.

An appreciation of the supernatural is fundamental to understanding Moench’s vision for this Batman. When supernatural elements were introduced, for example the Killer Croc issues, the Deadman storyline, the Spectre story and the Demon story, they were carefully chosen and the fantasy elements were measured and in keeping with the tone of the overall series. Moench was able to utilise characters who shared the Batman’s themes of vengeance, justice and retribution. They operated in a strange limbo just above the Batman’s own reality. Their inclusion helped re-enforce the supernatural element to the Batman and gave him back his edge as a horrifying hero that was originally a facet of the character in the 1930s.
 

'The Spectre,' Batman #541


This helped set the tone of this particular run but Monech’s strength as a writer lay in how he utilised other characters and villains during this time. Suffice to say he was working in a post ‘Knightfall,’ world so the supporting cast continued their trajectory from that storyline. Batman did not enjoy his traditional relationship with Commissioner Gordon. Gordon is depicted as struggling with his own personal life, losing his job being replaced by his wife and generally being distrustful of ‘Bats,’ after the multiple Batmen storyline. It’s another thread of Moench’s own paranoia being woven into the relationship between these two characters.

In contrast, Moench does an excellent job at writing Harvey Bullock, no surprise considering he created the character during his first run on the Batman title in the early ‘80s. Moench is able to portray Bullock with more humanity than I personally feel any other writer has been able to accomplish. The Harvey Bullock story in issue #520 is a personal highlight despite the unnecessary downbeat ending.


'Mr Freeze,' - Batman #525

Moench’s Batman was also psychologically charged, and it made strong use of an extensive rogue’s gallery as well as introducing some of his own creations like Sleeper, The Undertaker, Faceless and the Ogre. My personal highlights are the Killer Croc two-parter from #521-522 and the Two-Face two parter from #527-528 featuring the conjoined twins. Monech also re-introduced his own creation ‘Black Mask,’ which helped him explore the recurring theme of masks and identity throughout this run. Masks are a constant motif in the series, and are used to explore the duality of being and uncertainty of identity. It is a recurrent theme with many of the characters. 

'Black Spider,' -Batman #519

Johnny Lamonica the new ‘Black Spider,’ from issues #518-519, is a ‘pretty boy,’ henchman for Black Mask but his good looks cannot disguise his poor character. Likewise, ‘Faceless,’ the mail man shunned by his neighbours and who turns into a serial killer as a result, faces an identity crisis and begins mimicking his victims appearance, because he feels no-one cares about him that he is ‘faceless.’ There are many other examples of this during the run, which makes provides it with greater depth than the average superhero series.


What also provided depth to this series are the fresh and unique visuals provided by Jones and Beatty. Their Batman had tall razor sharp Bat ears, claws for hands, and a never ending cape that seemed at times to take on a life of its own not to mention all kinds of shapes. He was menacing and moody and had all sorts of weird steam punkish, gadgets including a retro fitted 1940s style Batmobile.
Kelley Jones art will always divide fans, with his unique take on human anatomy, bow legs, and often exaggerated and grotesque facial expressions. I remember fans being quite vocal through the letters page in their anti-Kelley Jones sentiment. One fan wrote, “I was not prepared for Jones’ abuse of the bat ears…I vote those ears are out of code, way too sharp, dangerous to low flying aircraft and a significant detriment to keeping one’s head up.” Another fan wrote, “Man Alive! He hasn’t yet figured out that the Batman isn’t supposed to be like unto a gargoyle. The ears are way too big.”

"Do my ears look big in this?"

I too was very much anti-Jones at the beginning. It’s probably because I had been so used to seeing artists who were still, in a sense, following the Neal Adams style of rendering superheroes from the 1970s. Jones credits his influences as being; Wally Wood (EC Comics, Daredevil), Graham Ingels (EC Comics; Tales from the Crypt), Jack Kirby and Berni Wrightson (Swamp Thing). However, as an adult looking back at his artwork on this run I continue to marvel at the gothic horror influences and I still can’t believe that he was allowed to draw a mainstream title in the way he did. I suppose the commercial success of Batman: Red Rain had a lot to do with it.
 

 

That said they are fantastic visuals. Jones’ pencils coupled with the excellent inking style of John Beatty provided me with some memorable panels. Kelley Jones was very adamant in the version of Batman he wanted to capture; “I wanted him to be intimidating, I wanted him to be never fully accepted as human by the sane criminals of Gotham. You have to remember, he is seen as a criminal or worse by the good citizens and most the police of Gotham. The nut jobs that comprise the Rogues Gallery, they must fear him entirely. That’s – to me – Batman’s real ‘power’.[2]



"What does this do, again?!"

It was this power and dynamism that Jones was able to infuse Monech’s Batman stories with. For me there was always a sense that when Batman was in costume he was more than a man, almost inhuman, a demon. Jones was also very clever at creating a unique visual world for the Batman to inhabit. Jones’ Batcave was always a joy to behold, it seemed to stretch on forever and it was full of bizarre crime fighting apparatus. It was more a mad scientist’s lair than a crime fighting Batcave. For casual comic book fans, it may have seemed that Jones was not an accomplished artist but to the contrary his take on human anatomy required a great deal of skill to accomplish. Even though the artist credits his drapery studies as being more important when taking into account the characters never ending cape.[3] I always felt that his artwork really soared when it involved one of the many supernatural guest stars.





Swamp Thing from Issue #522

His splash page featuring Swamp Thing in issue #522 is a marvellous. His version of the Spectre is horrific and unsettling at times and his work on the Deadman issues #530-532 are excellent. Jones’ perhaps is the only Batman artist to really capture the horror of a villain like Clayface or Killer Croc or depict the madness of the Scarecrow or any of the murderous villains who appeared during this run.

 

Jones also depicted a Gotham city that was dark and labyrinth like. Most of the action that we see happens in cramped apartments and alley ways. He also had great skills in creating unique inhabitants to live in the city. One of the great unsolved mysteries of this run is the puppeteer who stalked the streets of Gotham. This was a mystery person who wore a trench coat and carried a puppet dressed in a batman costume on strings. This mysterious figure appeared in issues #518, #519, #524, #529, #540 and #551. It was never revealed what the purpose of the character was to be, which only adds to the intrigue surrounding this mystery character. No Batman writer has since touched on it so it can only be assumed it was part of a later storyline that never came to fruition.


The mysterious Puppeteer

In total the Monech, Jones and Beatty run on Batman last just three years. It still amazes me that as a creative team they enjoyed such a consistent run on a mainstream title. DC Comics would eventually return to a more traditional superhero approach with the Batman title but this run still stands out as a significant period of storytelling in the characters history. What I find particularly interesting is that this creative partnership coincided with the release of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. Considering, that I began collecting Batman comic books as a result of Tim Burton’s Batman then it would be interesting to learn what the reaction was from young people who were introduced to the Batman comics during this time. I wonder how many really appreciated this version of the Batman and began collecting comics as a result of reading it.

After their run on Batman the creative team moved on to other projects. Monech and Jones would later team up on the 2013 mini-series Batman: Unseen, however John Beatty has retired from the comic book industry.

I think it’s wonderful that DC Comics are collecting this particular creative teams run on the Batman title. It is long overdue. It represents a bold and creative approach to a staple of the DC Comics universe and something no true Batman fan should be without. It’s the Batman I grew up and the one I know and love well. Like all good friends, it feels good to get reacquainted.

For a comprehensive review of the entire Monech, Jones and Beatty run read Greg Burgas review here: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/20/comics-you-should-own-flashback-batman-515-552/

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[1] Unknown (2011) ‘Interview with Kelley Jones,’ http://www.strangekidsclub.com/2011/01/12/interview-w-comic-artist-kelley-jones/

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.