Comic Book Reviews (Week April 10, 2024): Resurrection of Magneto Issue 4, MMPR: The Return Issue 3, and More!

Welcome to my comic book reviews for this week (April 10, 2024). I will be covering The Resurrection of Magneto Issue 4, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return Issue 3, and Deadweights Issue 1.

Let’s begin by talking about The Resurrection of Magneto Issue 4. Writer Al Ewing brought the miniseries to a close by having Erik return to the land of the living and team up with Storm and Blue Marvel to rescue a bunch of mutants from an Orchis prison.

With Ororo showcasing who she was during the previous chapter, the finale focused on Erik choosing between his past versions and realizing that, in a sense, a new version of Magento was required this time around. I liked how he showed mercy to the Orchis guards until they pushed him to do otherwise. Of course, given the choice between killing anti-mutant soldiers and saving innocent mutant lives, Erik was going to go for the kill. Kudos to artists Luciano Vecchio, David Curiel, and Jesus Aburtov for impressively visualizing a gross yet awesome attack.

Even though I still can’t take Orchis seriously as a major threat to the X-Men and mutantkind at large, I do appreciate certain writers trying to come up with Orchis-created countermeasures against powerful mutants. The trap Magneto found himself in made sense. Someone not as wise and OP as Erik would have failed against it.

As for Storm, from what I understood, it’s all about giving Sentinels lightning resistance which… talk about a lack of creativity. I say that for both Orchis and the writer in charge of Ororo during a particular story. If lightning doesn’t work, why not have Storm summon some other force of nature to shatter the Sentinel’s armor?

The soundwave attack was kind of interesting- but then again, it’s Ororo we’re talking about. Shouldn’t she be able to stop painful soundwaves from entering her ears by manipulating the air or sound energy patterns? [Editor’s note: we were all wondering this. She should fully be able to block a soundwave attack because soundwaves move THROUGH AIR!]

But… I guess Ewing wanted to give Blue Marvel something to do during the 3-vs-1 match against the “formidable” Sentinel that had been amped up with stolen Stark Tech.

The goal of the finale was to make mutants and humans work together. The confrontation with the Sentinel cumulated into Erik, Ororo, and Adam creating a mutant/human circuit to guarantee their victory. The entire sequence was visually appealing. However, unlike the previous three chapters the fourth installment lacked a bit in the character introspection department. The fourth chapter didn’t give me a lot to talk about. However, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t enjoyable for what it was.

All in all, the four-issue-long Resurrection of Magneto story will be remembered as a well-written look into two Omega-level mutants. The stuff related to Storm will continue to live on in fandom discussions about her magical heritage, Godhead, and feats. 

Does it have obvious queer characters? No.

Recommendation: Pick it up!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return Issue 3

I can’t with co-writers Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson. The previous two issues showed the duo having a knack for delivering twists and turns that were exciting and also made narrative sense. And the third issue of MMPR: The Return was no different.

It turns out that Selena had kidnapped the original Power Rangers and was ready to use their Power Coins to summon her mother Rita Repulsa. Why? According to Selena, Rita somehow managed to attach herself to the Morphin Grid before the explosion on the moon. How? Rita had apparently used the link between Kim’s energy arrow she got shot with and the Morphin Grid. See what I meant by delivering an exciting twist that also made sense?

However, Selena’s plan was thwarted when Kim mentioned a missing Power Coin. Tommy wasn’t morphed during the explosion. His Power Coin had been… Well, I’ll get to that in a bit.

The third chapter was all about giving readers Selena’s backstory. Her survival cemented Tommy’s character. He was indeed a true hero. The storytelling paired with the visuals (by artists Nico Leon and Dono Sanchez-Almara) did an awesome job of hitting the right emotional beats as Tommy tried to ensure baby Selena’s well-being during the countdown and how it all connected to what was happening in the present. I’m looking forward to seeing how Selena will react when she realizes what Tommy did for her.

Coming back to what happened to Tommy’s Power Coin, as telegraphed, Olivia owned it. Having her appear to save Kim and the OG Rangers made for a great cliffhanger. I’m here for Selena vs Olivia!

Now, I might be wrong, but it looked like Kim had told Olivia about her and Tommy’s time as Rangers. It also looked like Kim had Olivia undergo some amount of combat training. While I’m not against Kim doing that, I’m left wondering why Kim would be so open with Olivia about her past because we have seen Kim being adamant about wanting nothing to do with the Rangers anymore and talking about how the world doesn’t need them at all. Hopefully, the final chapter will offer some kind of explanation.

Does it have obvious queer characters? No.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

Deadweights Issue 1

I was provided with a free digital copy of Deadweights Issue 1 for review. The opinions I have shared are my own.

I was looking forward to reading the debut of Deadweights ever since I got to know about this project back in January of this year. Writer Tyrone Finch and artist Sebastián Píriz brought forth an interesting premise of exploring two ex-supervillains trying to turn over a new leaf. However, leaving one’s past is easier said than done.

The first issue opened with Jerry and Clarence being kicked out of their supervillain team. They immediately find themselves questioning their future and being led to help clean up the destruction left in the wake of one of the battles with the superheroes. While helping others kind of gives them a new purpose in life, things turn bad when a superhero attacks the duo.

I’m all for exploring the complexity of villains. However, in my opinion, the tone of Deadweights just didn’t do it for me. Everything happened too quickly. Frankly, if it were up to me, I would have had the superhero attack on Jerry and Clarence serve as a cliffhanger to the first issue. Doing so would have allowed more space for the narrative to develop the two characters and give a reason for the readers to root for them.

I’m not saying Deadweights is a bad comic book. It’s definitely isn’t. It’s just that I would like the upcoming issues (this is supposed to be a 6-chapter-long mini story) to slow down just a little and tackle one narrative theme at a time. Again, I would have liked to see Jerry and Clarence spend more time with their emotions as they contemplated the consequences of their actions instead of the story taking a rapid sharp turn near the end of the chapter. 

Does it have obvious queer characters? No.

Recommendation: Up to you.

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What did you think of The Resurrection of Magneto Issue 4? Which comic books did you read this week?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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