MAGNETO versus ZOMBIES"Marvel Zombies Part 1 of 5"
Where: Marvel Zombies #1 When: February 2006
Writer: Robert Kirkman Artist: Sean Phillips
The story so far...
As previously seen in Mark Millar's Ultimate Fantastic Four, in an almost identical alternate reality, the heroes have succumbed to a deadly plague that renders them little more than zombies.
With food supplies running thin in this world, Reed Richards attempted to reach out to his counterpart of the Ultimate universe, to lure him into a trap. Eventually the Magneto of this bizarre world was able to thwart plans of immigration, trapping the evil Fantastic Four in another dimension, but damning himself to remain with the infected in his own.
Tale of the tape...
Though infected with a zombie plague, this world really isn't so different from our own... well, y'know... their Magneto isn't, at least.
By and large most of Magneto's strengths are much the same, however in this particular scenario he is considerably drained, considering he's already taken part in events prior.
Stamina: 6 (Generator)
Energy Powers: 6 (Mass Destruction)
This stamina rating is obviously not at all indicative of the punishment Magneto's strength has already taken, but it does reflect his uncanny ability to constantly find something more in the most dire of situations.
Though in ruins, the fact that Magneto faces his adversaries in a city is no small factor. With a limitless supply of metals at his whim, Magneto potentially has at his fingertips an entire arsenal of ammunition. Which means if he can stay alive long enough to gather his energy, he's a pretty good chance.
Of course, staying alive is considerably easier said than done, when a dozen super heroes want to maim and eat you. Super heroes like; Daredevil, Spider-man, Moon Knight, Giant-man, Captain America, Luke Cage, Angel, Wolverine, Nova, Falcon, oh yeah, and the Norse God of thunder - Thor.
As daunting as that sounds, on paper, Magneto is always a very good chance.
What went down...
So... Magneto, dented helmet and all, stumbles around infront of some of the most powerful heroes undead. Not exactly a place you want to be, but then, there is that cuty of metal I was talking about...
Magneto summons up his strength and hurls anything he can find at the closing zombies. Shang Chi, Nova, Thor, Nighthawk, Cyclops, Daredevil and Moon Knight all take damage, giving Magneto the chance he needs to flee. Let's be honest, when you're in a city overrun by super powered zombies, cowardly is probably out of the equation.
Spider-man, out of webfluid, falls behind leaving Captain America to take pursuit to Magneto - shield in tow. I'm pretty sure the accompanying image should adequately inform where that headed. Metal shield, good one, Cap.Magneto takes the shield and runs, finding temporary refuge in an alley amongst the ruins of New York City.
While laying low, the mutant master of magnetism receives word from Asteroid M, which has presumably survived zombie incursion. Intending to find a way to reach his satellite base, Magneto heads for the cover of the sewers, but [Not like this!] he's spotted by zombie Hawkeye.
Magneto decapitates the archer with Captain America's shield, but not before taking an arrow to the gut for his trouble.
Cap is there to retrieve his shield, giving Magneto the opportunity to toss him aside, as more zombies arrive on the scene.
Magneto uses the very arrow sticking out of him, as a weapon, sending it hurtling through Thor's throat. With the little strength he still has, Magneto fights for his life, whipping a car door at Giant-Man, before pulling a building down on he, and others.
Sadly, it's the least threatening of the former heroes that goes unchecked.
Under ordinary circumstances Wasp's offensive abilities in the field are questionable, but here she is the unseen missile that is Magneto's undoing.
As she grows to human-size and chomps down on his neck, the other heroes prepare to take their pound of flesh. As the zombies fight over their meal, Magneto is helpless to watch them tear him apart.
"I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON ME!!"Thor and Hulk play tug-of-war with Magneto's body, Hulk eventually pulling his leg off. The heroes have their long overdue fiest, and one of the most powerful mutants on the planet is no more.
The hammer...Magneto got eaten, so I'd have to think the zombies probably won this fight... Yeah... if you want to dispute that result, by all means, drop a comment!
I've been focusing a lot on fairly recent comics, and I have to admit, this was among the books I got only last month, for Christmas.
There's a very good reason for that, and that's by and large beause the comics have just been so damned good.
The novelty alone made this too attractive a comic to pass up, regardless of execution, which was pretty reasonable. It's an interesting concept, because it's so obvious. When I first heard about the UFF arc, my initial reaction was the mundane realization that nothing quite like mass zombie attack had ever really been done in big-two super hero comics.
In the delicate world of franchises and fickle fans, I can see why something like this might not work in the core universes, so I'm quite pleased with this mini-series on principle alone. It's one of the few praises I've had for Marvel over their last year of decimation of quality.
The Fight - 5.5
The Issue - 5
NEXT WEEK: Tag team action - Batman and Robin? Be here!
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