X-Men vs. the Avengers #4
Day of Judgement
On the run from the law, Magneto is on the loose in Singapore with the Avenges on site closing in on him.[1] With the other X-Men in custody, the Avenges meet with US officials at the American embassy. There, they are told that their presence is not wanted or needed as Magneto has just been spotted in the city.
When government officials try to close in on the Master of Magnetism he is helped by a trio of local mutants named Leiko, Crawler, and Slider. They take him back to an abandoned building that is a safe haven for Signapore’s mutant population. Their leader, a man named Light — who is a human lie detector — is glad to have Magneto among them and hopes the reformed mutant terrorist will help liberate his people. Unfortunately, government forces storm this hideout and some of the mutants are killed before Magneto can use his power to stun the attackers. As they retreat, Magneto wonders if he should use a mind-control device he recovered from the remains of Asteroid M to purge the human race of their prejudice toward mutants.
Meanwhile, the X-Men have grown tired of being held prisoner and break free from captivity so they can search for Magneto on their own. When US officials tell the Avengers about what happened, they are annoyed that the group refuses to hunt down the outlaw mutants, reminding them that while they are sanctioned by the US government, they are not beholden to it.
By this time, Magneto and the local mutants have retreated to another hideout aboard a shipping vessel. There, Magneto finishes building his mind control device into his helmet. He then uses it to contact the X-Men telepathically, just as they are found by the Avengers. He tells the two teams to cease hostilities toward one another and that he wishes to speak to Captain America for advice. He then uses the device to teleport Cap and the X-Men aboard the vessel. He reveals the truth about the mind altering device in his possession and asks Captain America what he should do with it. Cap explains that every person should have the freedom to have their own thoughts and opinions even if they are morally repugnant. Deciding that Cap must have biases towards mutants he tries to use the device to purge them from his mind. He is shocked to discover that Captain America doesn’t have any prejudices and that despite his attempts to alter the Avenger’s mind, his opinion hasn’t changed. Magneto then rips the device from his helmet and agrees to surrender to the authorities and resume his trail.
Soon, the World Court is gathered to finish the trail Magneto left unfinished months earlier. Sitting on the court are three international justices: Alexandre Du Mortier of France, Lady Janet Grace of England, and Gustave Roch Uderzo of Switzerland. The trail generates a lot of media attention and it is watched by two of the absent X-Men: Longshot and Psylocke. When Longshot questions why they aren’t there with their friends, Psylock explains that they are being held in reserve in case the rest of the X-Men get into trouble and need to be rescued. Acting as defense for Magneto is Gabriel Haller and the prosecution by Jim Jaspers. Haller tries to convince the court that Magus only owes his allegance to mutant kind and not any one country and that as a self-appointed one-man armed force in defense of mutant kind he is a nation unto himself. As he did not a member of the Geneva Convention his actions cannot be tried based on those laws.
This idea is rejected and soon witnesses are called to the stand to testify against Magneto. They include Admiral Gregori Mihailovitch Suvorov who tells the court about how Magneto once sunk a Russian nuclear submarine and how they only attacked him when he threatened Russia, an act of self defense. Other evidence that is brought up was Magneto’s creation of a volcano in the middle of the Russian city of Varykino as well as more recent attacks on aerospace facilities in Australia and New Zealand.[2] Lastly, Captain America is called to the stand and he testifies that he does not believe that Magneto has fully reformed, even though others might believe so.
By this time, Magneto has begun to see this trail as a farce and wonders about the motivations of judge Du Mortier. By executing Magneto for his crimes the World Court is risking more violence by making him a martyr to the cause and fears that many more mutants will die as a result.
Soon a recess is called while the judges sequester themselves to make a ruling. While the wait, Magneto uses his power to compel Captain Marvel to visit him. He expresses his concerns to her about the safety of the mutants in Singapore who gave him shelter and his fears that Du Mortier is secretly a mutant that wants to make him a martyr to justify a war between humans and mutants. Unaware that Magneto is monitoring her thoughts, Marvel travels to the ship where the mutants are hiding out and discovers that they have been attacked again. Many of them are dead or dying, including the young Leiko. Disturbed by this, she then secretly spies on Du Mortier and Lady Grace. Alexandre boasts that they are winning the war against mutants and proposes a toast to humanity. Lady Grace obliges, even though Du Mortier’s comments smack of racism to her.
Captain Marvel reports back everything she learned to Magneto, but is unsure how the judges voted against Magneto. This convinces the Master of Magnetism to follow through with the plan he has been developing since the trail. Pushing his powers to the limit, Magneto uses his magnetism to summon his helmet, which still contains the mind-altering circuitry inside it. When the trail resumes, Magneto excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Once away from prying eyes he uses his power to cause a blackout and summons his helmet. He then uses it to purge Du Mortier of all his anti-mutant prejudices. He then destroys the mind-altering device so he is never tempted to use it again.
When court resumes, Du Morter decrees that since Magneto represents all of mutant kind and that he was fighting in their defense his actions fall under the rule of law when it comes to one nation declaring war against another. As such, while Russia has every right to retaliate against Magneto, the World Court has no jurisdiction to prosecute him and says he is free to go. Although the X-Men celebrate this victory, the mood is quickly soured when they go outside and find a large crowd of protestors angry over the verdict. Magneto suddenly realizes, to his horror, that his actions somehow made things worse than if he was convicted.
Recurring Characters
X-Men (Storm, Wolverine, Magneto, Rogue, Dazzler, Havok, Psylocke, Longshot), Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Black Knight, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Doctor Druid), Gabrielle Haller
Continuity Notes
Magneto’s situation here is rather complicated. The details:
The Russian government want to execute Magneto for sinking a Russian nuclear submarine and creating a volcano in the middle of a populated city, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #150.
The Avengers want him after he skipped out on his trail before the World Court in Uncanny X-Men #200. That was also the same issue where Maggie reformed and joined the X-Men at the behest of Professor X. This will remain the status quo until issue #253.
Asteroid M was destroyed in New Mutants #21. Its remains fell to Earth in X-Men vs. the Avengers #1. The device Magneto sought was recovered last issue.
Magneto attacked these facilities in X-Men #112-113.
Topical References
Russia is referred to the Soviet Union and their intelligence service the KGB among other Cold War era anachronisms. These should all be considered topical references as the USSR dissolved in 1991.
The X-Men’s jet is identified as a SR-71 Blackbird. This should be considered topical as the SR-71 was retired from use in 1998.
The televisions in this story are depicted as CRT models. an obsolete technology and thus a topical reference in and of themselves.
