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Magneto is a mainstay on lists of top comic book villains (always finishing behind Joker), but where Joker had the prestigious “The Killing Joke” to proliferate his backstory, Magneto’s history was withheld for years before finally appearing in a humbler location. #xmen 1/9
In Classic X-Men #12, Claremont finally fleshes out the Magneto backstory that had only been glimpsed at before, despite being a prominent villain for 25 years at the time. 2/9
By framing Magneto’s backstory with a dream, the issue juxtaposes Magneto’s vulnerability (alone in bed) with his fearful power, whilst also suggesting that his humanity has been literally repressed, thus building character consistency out of contradiction. 3/9
The tale of the past begins in Auschwitz, portraying Magneto’s strength, courage, and resolve in saving himself and his love from the Nazis. He’s clearly a hero here, but also a violent protector, thus not too far from what he would become as a villain. 4/9
Cruelly, Claremont allows Magneto to slowly build a life, to heal, and to hope for a future in the wake of his tragedy, only to lose it all again to a second form of prejudice (mutant vs Jewish) thus establishing the analogous relationship between the two forms of bigotry. 5/9
And indeed it is anti-mutant bigotry that leads to Magneto being prevented from saving his beloved daughter (an obvious symbol of future hope) from dying in flames. Magneto’s response (mass-murder of all involved) is thus understandable to the reader. 6/9
But not to Magda, and even when it seems that Magneto has lost everything, he loses more; his wife, having witnessed his violent eruption, flees from him in terror, leaving him truly alone. 7/9
When he wakes to discover a fire across the street, he decides not to intervene at first (human problems), but changes his mind. It’s a simple microcosm for his face turn in the pages of UXM, and reflects his weariness at saving people after nobody saved him. 8/9
Altogether, this dark, harrowing story provides Magneto (a classic silver-age villain) with a history, a rationale, a character arc, and a sense of direction within the ongoing X-Men narrative, thus humanizing a foe who considers “human” an insult. 9/9
