Magneto was right: the vulgar and genteel shaping of a Holocaust antihero (original) (raw)

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics

Abstract

Chris Claremont, primary author of the X-Men from 1975 to 1991, introduced Judaism into the X-Men metaphor, in large part by making the series’ primary antagonist, Magneto, a Holocaust survivor working to prevent mutants from suffering the same plight. In 2003, Grant Morrison pushed Magneto back towards the origins of the character as a charismatic terrorist (later overruled by Claremont and others). The 2008 work X-Men: Magneto Testament rooted the character’s history in the Holocaust. Through a deep reading of these texts, we use an analogy related to Maus author Art Spiegelman depicting the ‘tug of war’ between the vulgar and the genteel in comics. Magneto embodies this struggle–the trauma of the Holocaust and the desire for reprisal by its victims. The interplay between the vulgar and the genteel, told through Magneto as a cultural icon, opens up a space for thinking through the Holocaust.

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