Issue - 4

Title - That I be Bound in a Nutshell

Writer - Ralph Macchio

Art - John Byrne

Summary:

Upon an invitation from Doom, Magneto visits his castle in Latveria. Demanding to know why he has been called, Doom explains that he wishes to know why Magneto has turned away from the path of conquest to become a teacher in Professor X's school. Magneto feels he does not need to explain himself, but Doom blackmails him into taking a duel of minds to reveal each other's weaknesses by threatening to kill a mutant child he holds prisoner. The two proceed to walk through their respective origins and in turn learn about what made each man choose their paths. Unable to defeat one another, the duel ends abruptly with Magneto refusing proceed to any further. Doom then reveals that the mutant child, a telepath who has observed their struggle, has now seen into their thought processes. With that knowledge she could usurp everything that Magneto has achieved. Doom challenges Magneto to do what is necessary, and Doom is proved right. Magneto kills the 'child.' However this proves to be a charade as Magneto reveals that he knew from the start that the girl was only a robot. Magneto leaves Doom to his contemplations.

Comments:

This story is horrible. I don't mean bad, I mean horrible, like the way the Alien or vampires, or any other monster are horrible. Its chilling to see Magneto just kill this innocent child. Its also chilling to see Doom just let him. Hell, he gives him the idea. The recap of the origins is nice. It is especially interesting to see John Byrne do the art and essentially redo the Doom origin, something he already did in Fantastic Four #278. This time however, he sticks much closer to original Kirby version in FF Annual #2 (i.e. we don't see the scarred face). I'm not sure what was served by Magneto killing the kid. Its not really clear how she is a threat. I suppose it was just to show that Magneto really wasn't going good. And wouldn't you know it, he was right. Overall this is just a back up story, which really doesn't contribute much, so

My thanks to site visitor Irrenmann for pointing out to me that the girl was in fact a robot. My first reading of the story I didn't realize this was the case. With this in mind, the story does read a little better. I suppose it adds evidence to my view that Doom is not cruel to children (though he doesn't mind making others think differently). Its interesting to note that Doom states "what use to claim a world of mindless masses." Doom's learned this lesson several times over the years, significantly just a few years prior to this issue's publication in Emperor Doom. Even more significantly, he and Magneto talked about this way back in Super-Villain Team-Up #14 when he had achieved exactly that. In that instance, he fought Magneto just to create a challenge. Doom also attempted something similar in Fantastic Four #142 - 144 when he wanted to wipe out everyone's "loyalty."

Bottom Line: * * out of 5