Magneto & the Holocaust

Magneto Testament delves into the background and childhood of Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, a Jewish boy from Germany who survived the Holocaust and would one day become the villain Magneto. He is born Max Eisenhardt, though, which is the first unresolved mystery. Why wouldn't he keep that name or change his name to something less...Jewish? You would think to escape the Nazis, he'd change it to something that would be less identifying...but no; that wasn't the case and we, the readers, were never told why.

Although I found the story enjoyable and moving, I was a little disappointed in the mini-series as a whole. I think my expectations were higher for the book because of its (supposed) powerful storyline, the beautiful covers, and $3.99 per issue price tag. Unfortunately, if the cover didn't say "Magneto" on it, one would never know that the comic was about this X-Men villain rather than some other boy during the Holocaust. Besides the names being different (and, again, we weren't given an explanation about the name change), the story sped along so fast that it read just like a Holocaust timeline with not a lot of depth to the characters. We didn't have a chance to learn about the characters as much as I had hoped to, including Magneto and his family. It seemed that while a lot of time was put into researching the Holocaust to ensure the events were accurate, not a lot of time was spent researching and developing Magneto himself. There was no indication of the development of his powers either. There was perhaps a tiny clue when his entire family was riddled with bullets but he wasn't, but not enough attention was paid to it.

Magneto is a truly unique and tragic character in the Marvel Universe and it's disappointing that he wasn't given his full due in what could/should have been an epic tale of the Holocaust and the specific events that shaped this boy into the powerful and hate-filled villain Magneto. I'd have to give the idea of this series five stars (out of five), but the execution of the story only three stars, as it was merely average for the way-too-important subject matter.