REVIEW: ‘X-Men: The Trial of Magneto,’ Issue #3

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #3 is written by Leah Williams, illustrated by Lucas Werneck & David Messina, colored by Edgar Delgado, and lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles. It is published by Marvel Comics. The Avengers and X-Men have been rocked to their core by the sudden resurrection of the Scarlet Witch—especially since the circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery. While attempting to find new leads, the heroes are called to action when a trio of Kaiju head toward the shore of Krakoa.

“What of Magneto?” you may ask. Well, here’s the thing: Williams’ script has the Master of Magnetism surprisingly takes a backseat in this issue, which threw me for a loop. The book is called The Trial of Magneto, therefore Magneto should play a very large role throughout the series. And while he does help the Avengers and X-Men’s forces battle the incoming Kaiju, the issue doesn’t focus on his reaction to the Scarlet Witch being alive. Instead, we get the reactions from other Avengers, as well as Scarlet Witch’s children Wiccan and Hulking. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Magneto and Wanda set aside their differences during the Hellfire Gala and her death weighed heavily on him. And that’s not even getting into the issue’s final page, which raises even more questions in the process.

Despite my issues with some of the story decisions, the art is well worth the price of admission. Werneck and Messina divvy up the artistic duties, with Werneck handling the opening sequence and Messina taking over for the kaiju battle. Werneck illustrates a fight between Northstar and Magneto, with the super speedster sending Magneto flying across Krakoa with the force of his punches. Northstar’s appearance is also telegraphed in a panel that looks like it’s literally vibrating, hinting at his approach breaking the sound barrier. Super speed is a tricky power to depict visually, but I applaud Werneck for finding a way.

Messina then takes over, drawing the fights between the Avengers/X-Men and the kaiju—and yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds. The kaiju themselves look like they walked off the set of Pacific Rim, including a multi-eyed serpent and a four-armed creature with dark blue skin. Cowles obviously had a lot of fun designing the kaiju’s speech bubbles, which take the shape of various monster sounds and vary in color thanks to Delgado. Another standout page has Jean Grey and Rachel Grey mentally “updating” Scarlet Witch’s memories; the end result features art from Scarlet Witch’s “Greatest Hits” including House of M and Kurt Busiek/George Perez’s run on Avengers in the form of a spiraling strip of panels.

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #3 deepens the mystery surrounding the Scarlet Witch’s death, but strangely decides to sideline its title character. The series only has two issues left, so hopefully, this series will recenter its focus on Magneto and fully solve the mystery of Wanda Maximoff’s murder. I also wouldn’t say no to more Kaiju.

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #3 is available wherever comics are sold.