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Magneto: A Biographical Timeline, 1963-1991

Magneto just might be one of the most iconic comic book antagonists of all time. He was created in 1963 by Stan Lee and started out as the X-Men’s deadliest foe. Not much is revealed about Magneto through the 60’s but when author Chris Claremont takes over writing the X-Men starting in 1975 he began to develop the character and give him a complex backstory. Magneto quickly started his journey to being a hero and by the 80’s he was no longer a foe of the X-Men, but an ally, and eventually the leader of the Xavier Institute. After corporate meddling forced Magneto back into an antagonistic role in the 90’s, Magneto was eventually killed off and Claremont was fired. This was the end of a cohesive story and trajectory for the character.

Magneto’s backstory has become murky in the years since. The wiki pages (both fan wikis and wikipedia) often take the angle of attempting to synthesize everything ever said about the character into one cohesive story. That, of course, isn’t very helpful when there’s been sixty years of contradictory information and continual reboots – both hard and soft – of the character, his relationships and his backstory. Even his name has come to be muddled with every few years someone deciding to give him a new one. Below, I’ve compiled a list of all the relevant biographical details as they appeared in print from 1963 – 1991. This is a comprehensive overview of the character during his most iconic storylines, many of which have gone on to be adapted to both television and film.

I have included links to relevant historical information at various points as well as to an excellent 2018 documentary, available on YouTube so be sure to check that out as well.

1963

September

X-Men #1 published

1964

March

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #4 “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” by Stan Lee

Wanda and Pietro are introduced with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They are introduced as brother and sister, no last names are given.

Wanda owes Magneto a life debt because he prevented villagers in the heart of Europe from burning Wanda as a witch. Wanda and Pietro aren’t happy about being in the Brotherhood.

Magneto is described as tall.

1965

May

Avengers (1963) #16 “The Old Order Changeth!” by Stan Lee

Wanda and Pietro join the Avengers.

Wanda mentions that Pietro is older than her.

Wanda is described as “black-haired” (though in many later appearances she is most often drawn with brown or red hair)

1968

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #50 “Hail, Queen of Mutants” by Arnold Drake

Mesmero claims the Polaris (Lorna Dane) is Magneto’s daughter and attempts to brainwash her to join Magneto.

1969

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #52 “Twilight of the Mutants” by Arnold Drake

Iceman (Bobby Drake) reveals to Polaris that Magneto is not her father and is “conning” her.

July

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #58 “Mission Murder” by Roy Thomas

The Magneto who appeared in issues #49-52 is revealed to have been a robot all along and Magneto is unconnected to the plot of the robot Magneto.

December 1970 – June 1975

No new books are written for X-Men and the title exists solely as reprints of earlier issues. In effect, the book is dead.

1974

October

Defenders (1972) #16 “Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant” by Len Wein

Magneto is turned into a baby by the mutant Alpha.

1975

August

Chris Claremont begins writing for the Uncanny X-Men starting with issue #94.

1977

April

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #104 “The Gentleman’s Name is Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is returned to adulthood by Eric the Red.

November

The Champions (1975) #16 “A World Lost!” by Bill Mantlo

Magneto works with Beast (Hank McCoy) to free the former X-Men team from Doctor Doom’s mind control. (I believe this marks the beginning of Magneto’s turn to being a hero)

1978

May

Marvel Team-Up (1972) #69 Featuring Spider-Man and Havok “Night of the Living God” by Chris Claremont

Polaris reiterates that she is not Magneto’s daughter.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #112 “Magneto Triumphant” by Chris Claremont

Magneto reiterates that he never worked with Mesmero and the being who claimed to be Polaris’ father was a robot.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #113 “Showdown!” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Magneto’s Antarctic base is destroyed and with it the “work and memories of a lifetime.”

Magneto is sad to have the X-Men destroy everything but steels himself with the thought “I am alive.”

1979

August

Avengers (1963) #186 “Nights of Wundagore!” by Steven Grant, Mark Gruenwald and David Michelinie

Wanda and Pietro return to Transia looking for information about their past.

Transia is a German-speaking nation.

Their mother is revealed to be Magda, no last name is given for her.

Magda left her husband because she feared his powers and desire to rule the world. (This story will change somewhat as the idea is developed)

Magda ran away from Transia after giving birth.

The narrative implies she went into the wilderness to die.

Wanda and Pietro were then given to Django Maximoff and his wife to raise.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #125 “There’s Something Awful on Muir Island” by Chris Claremont

Magneto runs across an image of Magda on a memory tape and reminisces about his late wife thinking “Magda… my late wife. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful you were… How deeply it hurt when you ran away from me.”

This reveals him to the reader as the father of Wanda and Pietro.

1980

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #138 “Elegy” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Polaris is once again mentioned as not being the daughter of Magneto.

1981

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #141 “Days of Future Past” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

In a far distant possible future Magneto is revealed to be working with the X-Men after mutants face genocide and persecution.

Magneto’s name is revealed to be Magnus for the first time, no last name is given.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #148 “Cry, Mutant!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto meets Cyclops’ (Scott Summers) girlfriend, Aleytys “Lee” Forrester, for the first time on his island base in the Bermuda Triangle.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #149 “And the Dead Shall Bury the Living” by Chris Claremont

Charles Xavier reveals that Magneto is “Caucasian, probably Nordic.”

Charles reflects that Magneto was “the first ‘evil’ mutant the X-Men fought.” (The use of quotes around the word evil is intentional to suggest that Magneto is not really evil)

Charles thinks that “Magneto and I are uncomfortably alike.”

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #150 “I, Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto learns of Jean Grey’s death and says that he grieves for her. He states “I know… something of grief. Search throughout my homeland, you will find none who bear my name. Mine was a large family, and it was slaughtered.”

Magneto speaks to the crew of the Soviet submarine Leningrad in Russian.

Magneto keeps his computer programming book written in a language neither Kitty nor Storm (Ororo Munroe) can read.

Later, after a fateful confrontation with the X-Men, Magneto thinks he’s killed Kitty Pryde. He is gripped with remorse saying “What have I done?!” and “Why did you not understand? Magda – my beloved wife – did not understand. When she saw me use my powers, she ran from me in terror. It did not matter that I was defending her… that I was avenging our murdered daughter. I swore then that I would not rest ‘til I had created a world where my kind – mutants – could live free and safe and unafraid. Where such as you, little one could be happy. Instead I have slain you. I remember my own childhood – the gas chambers as Auschwitz, the guards joking as they herded my family to their death. As our lives were nothing to them, so human lives became nothing to me.” (This is the first time Anya is mentioned even if she is not yet named, as well as the first time that Magneto is mentioned to be a Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor.)

Storm tells Magneto to pray to his deity as she intends to kill him for hurting Kitty. Magneto replies “As a boy, I believed. As a boy, I turned my back on God forever.”

When Storm suggests that his good dreams have been corrupted, Magneto insists that he is too old to change and has lived with his hatred too long.

Afterward, Charles offers that Magneto “Will emerge from this crucible the good man he once was and may yet be again.”

1982

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #161 “Gold Rush” by Chris Claremont

The narrative tells us the following took place twenty years ago placing these events around 1962.

Charles recalls meeting Magneto long ago in Israel when he went there to help treat Holocaust survivors.

Magneto is a volunteer at the hospital where Charles is working.

Magneto is introduced as Magnus, no last name is given.

Magneto reveals that he grew up in Auschwitz and states that “I have no family, Dr. Xavier. Anymore.”

The Auschwitz prisoner number tattooed on Magneto’s arm is revealed to be 214782.

The doctor Charles is working with says most of the volunteers were concentration camp survivors who “bring a degree of empathy to their work that the rest of us can’t match.”

Charles and Magneto grow close during their time together despite different views on the future of humans and mutants.

They also become close with Charles’ patient, Gaby Haller who is suffering severe psychic trauma from her experiences during the Holocaust.

Charles eventually comes to realize that “in many ways, Magnus has been as deeply scarred by his experiences as Gaby.”

Charles and Gaby start dating.

Eventually Charles and Magneto reveal to each other that they are mutants.

Charles and Magneto go to Kenya to rescue Gaby, who has been kidnapped by Hydra.

Magneto tells the Hydra leader, Baron Strucker, “You will find me considerably harder to slay than your countrymen did my family at Auschwitz.” and “Unfortunately, my power did not manifest itself ‘til I reached adulthood. By then the war was over. But had I possessed it in the camps, butcher, the tyranny of your Third Reich would have been ended overnight!”

They rescue Gaby and part ways still ultimately disagreeing about means and ends because of the violent methods Magneto used against Hydra.

Magneto flies off with an enormous stash of Nazi gold plundered from Hydra.

Until he disguises himself as Hydra, Magneto only wears white throughout the issue.

December

Marvel Graphic Novel #5 “X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills” by Chris Claremont

(This story is a stand-alone story, it doesn’t really get mentioned in the regular Uncanny X-Men timeline or referenced anywhere else, unlike the Dazzler graphic novel published in the same line. That does not necessarily mean it is out of continuity, just that it doesn’t ever get called back to during Claremont’s further writing.)

Magneto joins forces with the X-Men to save Charles from Reverend Stryker and prevent his anti-mutant genocide. He tells Cyclops “I am not your enemy, X-Men, nor do I consider you mine.”

Cyclops presses Magneto about his plan to become world dictator and Magneto replies “I have lived under a dictatorship… and seen my family butchered by its servants. When I rule, it will be for the betterment of all.” Cyclops asks who takes over after Magneto dies, Magneto responds “You, of course, Cyclops. And the X-Men. Why do you think I want you by my side?”

Charles refers to Magneto as Magnus.

Magneto asks Charles to join him and his cause after they defeat Stryker, and though tempted, Charles ultimately refuses holding on to his dream of human/mutant integration.

Magneto parts ways with the X-Men despite them asking him to stay.

1983

February

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4 “Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself…!” by Bill Mantlo

Magneto discovers what happened to Magda after she left him and finds out that he is Wanda and Pietro’s father.

Magda’s fate is more vague in this telling, saying only that she “fled into the night” without the implication that Magda wanted to die.

Magneto reveals this information to Wanda and Pietro. He meets Pietro’s daughter, his granddaughter, Luna.

Magneto asks Pietro and Wanda to accept him into their lives.

1984

May

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #1 “The War Begins” by Jim Shooter

(Though the Secret Wars story line continues to be published after this date, the event ends and the regular in-universe timeline resumes with Uncanny X-Men #181 published in May 1984.)

When the Beyonder transports heroes and villains to a far away planet to fight each other, Magneto is placed among the heroes.

The other non-mutant heroes are leery of Magneto so Magneto decides to leave and solve their predicament by himself.

July

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #3 “Tempest Without, Crisis Within!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto captures Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and brings her to his headquarters in hopes of convincing her to join forces with him

Wasp, addresses Magneto as Magnus.

Magneto and Wasp have sex.

August

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #4 “Situation: Hopeless” by Jim Shooter

The X-Men leave the other heroes and join Magneto to try and end the situation they were brought into.

November

The New Mutants (1983) #21 “Slumber Party!” by Chris Claremont

When Warlock falls from space he crashes into Asteroid M. Magneto attempts to create a force field to protect Asteroid M but is unable to do so. Asteroid M is destroyed and Magneto is apparently knocked to Earth from space.

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #188 “Legacy of the Lost” by Chris Claremont

Lee Forrester finds Magneto injured and floating in the water near the center of the Bermuda Triangle. She fights off a shark and brings him aboard her boat.

1985

January

New Mutants (1983) #23 “Shadowman” by Chris Claremont

Magneto insists on leaving the hospital and going back to his island base in the Bermuda Triangle.

Lee and Magneto journey there alone on Lee’s boat.

Magneto is seasick the entire way there.

On the island Lee challenges Magneto on his anti-human stances.

February

New Mutants (1983) #24 “Hollow Heart” by Chris Claremont

Magneto apologizes to Lee for being rude to her and compliments her appearance.

Lee begins to see Magneto in a new light.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #10 “Death to the Beyonder!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto is tempted to join forces with Doctor Doom, who the narrative implies is using some sort of power to sway Magneto to his side. Magneto “Reaches out to grasp Doom’s spectral hand – but then, he hesitates. His eyes find Xavier’s, and for an endless split-second, he trembles on the brink…”

April

New Mutants (1983) #26 “Legion” by Chris Claremont

Lee is awakened by Magneto having a bad dream, he is making noise and screaming.

Magneto is using his powers in his sleep and speaking in a language Lee doesn’t know.

She wakes Magneto before he causes himself harm and he is grateful to her for saving his life.

Magneto tells Lee that he was dreaming of “a time and place I thought forever… buried.” Lee says she’s never heard such desolation in his voice. Magneto replies “Death. Resurrection. I’d have died tonight, I think, if not for you. Twice now, I owe you my life.”

Magneto and Lee have sex.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #12 “...Nothing to Fear...” by Jim Shooter

It is reveled that the Beyonder placed Magneto in the hero team because “His desires seemed like theirs.”

June

New Mutants (1983) #28 “Soulwar” by Chris Claremont

Lee has second thoughts about Magneto the morning after.

Magneto brings her breakfast the next morning, complete with a rose.

Magneto uses his powers to prevent Lee from leaving their conversation and this frightens her.

Magneto pleads with her to give him a chance. He tells Lee how Magda left him after learning he was a mutant. “My wife, Magda, had such a look on her face – I had saved us both from a marauding patrol of secret police, yet all she saw was that I had used super-powers to do it. In that moment, I became different – our love meant nothing. I was no longer human. I was a mutant, a thing. She ran from me, in terror. I never saw her again. Never knew – until much later, far too late – that she had borne my children. Don’t – please Lee, don’t you run from me, too. I cannot bear to be alone and I am sick at heart at the realization of what I have become. Help me, Lee, I… beg you. I need you.” (In this telling there is no mention of Anya, only a reference to the twins – Wanda and Pietro)

Lee refuses Magneto leaving him brokenhearted.

July

New Mutants (1983) #29 “Meanwhile, Back at the Mansion” by Chris Claremont

Lee has time to reflect and realizes she does have feelings for Magneto. She confesses her feelings for him and they reconcile.

Magneto apologizes for using his powers in a high-handed way and promises to do better.

Charles asks Magneto to lead the X-Men and the New Mutants against the Beyonder.

Secret Wars II (1985) #1 “Earthfall!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto rallies the X-Men and the New Mutants to fight the Beyonder, and as the Blackbird is out of service, Magneto uses his powers to fly the Xavier institute limousine from New York to California.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #196 “What was That?!!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is brought into the X-Men fold.

Magneto dissuades Rachel Summers from killing an anti-mutant extremest demonstrating his full acceptance of doing things the Xavier way.

Magneto states that “My children have disowned me.” Referring to Wanda and Pietro.

Magneto draws a parallel between himself and Rachel Summers saying that he “Like Rachel… has dwelled too long in the valley of the shadow of death. In too many tragic ways, we are kindred souls – survivors of the holocaust, children of the abyss.”

Kitty remarks that Magneto has the makings of a hero and Magneto replies “No. I am no hero, merely a man… who has seen and done and endured what can never be forgotten… or forgiven.”

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #199 “The Spiral Path” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Kitty attend a reception at the National Holocaust Center in Washington, D.C.

Kitty asks those in attendance if they have any news of her great-aunt Chava who lived in Warsaw before the war.

Magneto reveals that he knew Kitty’s aunt at Auschwitz. He also runs into some friends, other survivors who were at Auschwitz with him. They remark that Magneto helped to save them, and many others. (One could read this conversation as implying Magneto was Polish by nationality)

Magneto’s friends state that he had been in Auschwitz “from the very start.”

Neither of his friends use his name during the conversation.

Mystique and the Freedom Force arrest Magneto for the US Government. Magneto surrenders himself into their custody.

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #200 “The Trial of Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is put on trial before the World Court.

Gaby Haller acts as his defense attorney.

She argues that Magneto should only be judged for actions undertaken after his rebirth from infancy.

She reveals that Magneto was an inmate in Auschwitz “as an adolescent.”

Magneto is revealed to be, biologically, only in his early thirties.

The proceedings are interrupted by an attack. Charles and Magneto end up away from the court.

Charles entrusts the running of his institute and the keeping of his dream to Magneto telling him not to return to court to be martyred. Charles is then beamed aboard a spaceship for urgent medical care.

1986

January

New Mutants (1983) #35 “The Times, They Are A’changin’!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto takes up his post as the headmaster of the Xavier Institute. Magneto tells the New Mutants he is doing this to “honor that friendship” he has with Charles.

The New Mutants are skeptical of Magneto, but Magneto asks them to give him a chance. He says that both he and Charles view this as a way of “putting things right” after all the evil he has done in his life.

Magneto has doubts about his ability to run the institute.

Magneto wishes Lee were with him, but she’s running her ship. Magneto misses her which surprises him because Magneto “thought I was beyond such caring.”

Lee wrote Magneto a letter telling him that she loved him and calling him darling.

Mirage (Dani Moonstar) is attacked on her way home from town and once Mirage is safe, Magneto finds the attackers. He destroys their house and threatens “Once, with far less cause, I would quite cheerfully have slain you – rent your bodies limb from limb as easily as I did your house. Indeed, I am sorely tempted. The world would not miss such as you. But I am older, a littler sadder – and I hope, wiser. I have learned a better way.” and “Mine is the power to destroy – but I choose not to. Profit from my example. The evil you do others returns unto you a thousandfold – it scars both body and, far worse, soul. Continue down this cruel and bloody road you’ve chosen and one day, you’re certain to meet one not as forgiving as I. Is that what you want? The choice, as ever, remains your own.”

Mirage’s attackers turn themselves into the police.

February

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #202 “X-Men, I’ve Gone to Kill the Beyonder!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto uses Cerebro.

March

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #6 “No Strings Attached!” by Steve Englehart

Wanda invites Magneto to her thanksgiving dinner but ultimately tells him that he will have to prove himself before she’ll accept him into her life.

Magneto takes responsibility for being a bad father. (the author doesn’t write consistently on if Magneto knew he was the twins’ father or not, he also doesn’t seem to care if Pietro has any hard feelings about Magneto, Wanda is the only one who counts. Also, he has Magneto call pregnant Wanda hysterical for no reason, just fyi.)

April

New Mutants (1983) #38 “Aftermath!” by Chris Claremont

The New Mutants are collectively dealing with psychic shock after their meeting with the Beyonder. This includes nightly collective nightmares for the students and Magneto.

Magneto has doubts about his ability to help the students recover.

Emma Frost offers that Magneto should send the children to her Massachusetts Academy where she can use her powers to help them.

Magneto meets the Salem Center High principal Analie Hogarth. Magneto reveals that he is posing as Charles’ “mysterious older cousin” and going under the alias Michael Xavier, an identity Charles created for him.

One of Emma’s students, a Hellion named Empath (Manuel de la Rocha) is revealed to the reader as having manipulated Magneto to feel lost and confused.

Magneto tries throughout the issue to help the New Mutants, but nothing works. He finally agrees to Emma’s offer.

May

New Mutants (1983) #39 “Pawns of the White Queen” by Chris Claremont

Magneto goes into a spiral after sending the majority of the New Mutants away to Emma’s school, Mirage and Warlock being the only students who didn’t go. Mirage criticizes Magneto for not doing more before leaving to go back to her family.

Magneto swims.

Magneto shaves with a straight razor.

Magneto learns that he was manipulated into letting the New Mutants go to Emma’s school. Magneto proclaims Emma “Will learn – very soon and to her eternal sorrow – the Magneto is not a man… to have as one’s enemy!”

Emma alerts the police, telling them that Magneto is attempting to abduct her students knowing that the Avenger’s will try and stop him.

June

New Mutants (1983) #40 “Avengers Assemble!” by Chris Claremont

The Avengers are told Magneto is going to abduct children, all of them assume Magneto has gone bad again and wants to use the children to reboot the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with younger, more malleable minds.

Magneto has a conversation with Warlock reminding him to never take someone’s “lifeglow” aka their life force which would kill them.

The Avengers battle Magneto who tries to keep Warlock safe and not harm the Avengers. He attempts to explain himself but the Avengers refuse to listen. Captain America tells Magneto of Namor’s heroism during WWII, Magneto replies saying “How fortunate for him, Captain. At the time, I was but a victim of that self-same tyranny. Then, I lacked the strength to win my freedom – and save the lives of those I held dear – but Never Again!” Magneto insists that he has “learned a better way” and is no longer a villain.

The New Mutants rally together and come to Magneto’s aid giving Captain America pause to reflect that the Avengers have welcomed other reformed villains, why shouldn’t they also welcome Magneto.

Magneto and Emma work together to heal the New Mutants’ psychic shock. Emma “made their minds whole… but not their hearts, or souls. Now, at last, with their teachers’ help and support, they have faced their nightmares… and dealt with them… each in their own way.” Emma remarks that Magneto was able to reach the New Mutants on a deeper level which made a “crucial difference.”

September

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #12 “Double Size Climax!” by Steve Englehart

Magneto is invited to welcome Wanda and her twins home from the hospital after she gives birth.

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #210 “The Morning After” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is invited to take the place of the White King in the Hellfire Club.

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #211 “Massacre” by Chris Claremont

Magneto chides Kitty for eating junk food and tells her “Just don’t make a habit of such behavior.”

The X-Men discover that the Morlocks have been massacred. Magneto says “No! The horrors of my childhood, born again – only this time, mutants are the victims, instead of Jews.”

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #212 “The Last Run” by Chris Claremont

Magneto uses his powers to heal Colossus from grave injuries. The narrative states Magneto “Has taken life so often – brought harm so easily it became almost second nature. Now he has a chance to heal. He will die himself before he fails.”

1987

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #213 “Psylocke” by Chris Claremont

Magneto informs the X-Men that he intends to join forces with the Hellfire Club and have the X-Men work alongside the Hellfire Club against the Marauders. The X-Men agree.

New Mutants (1983) #47 “My Heart for the Highlands” by Chris Claremont

While dealing with the aftermath of the Morlock attack, Magneto urges Moira to eat and prepares a meal for the two of them to share, complete with full place settings and candelabra.

Magneto tells Moira “I have lived my whole life with despair, Moira, believing the worst of humanity. But since becoming headmaster of Xavier’s – more especially, by knowing the New Mutants – I have learned… the virtue and power of hope. This is a lesson I will not easily cast aside.”

February

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #1 “Are You Sure?!” by Chris Claremont

(This miniseries dovetails into the regular Uncanny X-Men timeline and even though it runs concurrently with the similarly titled “The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987)” these stories are not overlapping timeline wise and the events of the Fantastic Four miniseries only makes sense to have concluded before the Avengers miniseries begins.)

Kitty is in need of high tech medical care to resolidify herself after being stuck in a permanent phase. Without help she will eventually dissipate. Magneto goes to seek help from Reed Richards.

The Fantastic Four are suspicious of Magneto but agree to help.

Upon arriving at Moira’s Muir Island research facility, Reed has second thoughts and declines to help for fear he could outright kill Kitty accidentally. Magneto insists that he at least try and even attempts to steal Richards’ machine to use it himself, but the Fantastic Four thwart this plan and the X-Men are left without hope for Kitty.

New Mutants (1983) #48 “Ashes of the Heart” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is alone at the Mansion, the New Mutants having disappeared and by many are presumed dead.

Magneto goes through each New Mutant’s room and tidies it with the help of little robots he calls widgets.

Stevie Hunter, the school PE teacher, tells Magneto he should give up and face reality that the New Mutants are dead. Magneto tells her “I’ve come to know these children, and… care for them. Whatever I was, Stevie – whatever I become – they mean too much to me… to abandon them.”

March

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #2 “Truth and Consequences” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and the X-Men turn to Doctor Doom for help to save Kitty.

New Mutants (1983) #49 “Ashes of the Soul” by Chris Claremont

Magneto has a dream of when his family was killed by the German death squads known as the Einsatzgruppen.

It is spring time. A small group of people are gathered in front of a pit in the countryside.

Magneto is depicted as a young, black-haired boy, perhaps 10 years old, wearing short pants and long socks.

Magneto’s sister appears to be two or three years older than him.

German soldiers fire at the group of people killing all save Magneto. Without understanding what happens, Magneto’s powers manifest enough to spare him from death, “His mind burns, power he never dreamed existed coming alive.”

He is buried with his family and the rest of the victims, but since he did not die he climbs out of the pit.

Magneto is depicted breaking through the earth to the shock of the German soldiers. Magneto’s black hair has turned white.

Magneto wakes from his memory-dream thinking “So long ago, so far away. Yet the memories are still vivid. Every detail, etched with acid. My power – my mastery over magnetism – first manifested itself that morning. It saved me, why wouldn’t it do the same for those I loved?! The Germans were so astonished by my survival, the decided to spare my life. I was sent instead to a concentration camp. Auschwitz. Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t struggled so hard.”

Magneto wonders if his dream is a harbinger of mutantkind’s eventual fate.

Magneto is still undecided about joining the Hellfire Club thinking “If we stand alone, we could be destroyed. If I accept this alliance… we could be destroyed! The choice is mine – the responsibility is mine – but I don’t know what to do!”

April

The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987) #1 “Justice for All” by Roger Stern

The Avengers track down Magneto and insist they’re going to bring him back before the World Court and end his trail properly.

(Jim Shooter is fired as Editor in Chief from Marvel Comics this month leading to several years of corporate fuckery that resulted in erasing all of Magneto’s character development and pivoting him back to being an antagonist by the 90’s)

May

New Mutants (1983) #51 “Teacher’s Choice” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Storm work together to repair a failing breakwater and save a human community from a hurricane.

Storm urges Magneto to accept the position of White King in the Hellfire Club.

Magneto refers to his helmet as a symbol of his past life as a super-villain.

Magneto and Storm jointly accept the role of White King.

June

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #4 “A Matter of Faith” by Chris Claremont

Magneto confides in Storm his feelings of helplessness to do anything to save Kitty. He reflects on his past saying “Roughly five hundred miles in that direction is Auschwitz – the Nazi death camp – where my parents and sister were murdered. I should have died with them. And due west from Latveria is the Soviet city of Vinnitsa. There was a fire. I was injured saving my wife. My daughter remained trapped in the burning building. She was much like Kitty, my Anya. The most beautiful of children – two years old, Ororo, and she never cried. She only laughed – with wonder and joy – as though life was some magnificent adventure, staged for her alone.” (There is some contradiction between this telling and the others, some of the details change as ideas are developed even though the story remains wholly the same.)

He goes on to say “She burned, Storm! My power was weaker then. I used it to save my wife, but couldn’t reach Anya. A crowd had gathered. I begged for help. They refused me. They saw I was a mutant and some called for me to be hurled into the same flames that consumed my child. Too late – in rage and a grief that ravages me still – I came at last to my birthright: the absolute control over the forces and manifestations of magnetism that is the power of… Magneto! Magda… was so terrified of my power… and how I wielded it… that she fled from me. How different, I wonder, would the pathway of my life have been if she had not? In that awful moment, Storm, I lost everything.” (This telling of the story does not include the secret police)

Magneto tells Storm that he feels he is forever haunted by his past saying that people insist on seeing him as a villain even though he’s changed. He reflects that maybe he should have gone back to finish his trial.

Reed Richards finally comes to help them save Kitty and later Magneto and Richards make peace with each other.

July

The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987) #4 “Day of Judgment” by Tom DeFalco

Magneto surrenders himself to the Avengers and agrees to finish his trial before the World Court.

Gaby Haller once again acts as his defense attorney.

Magneto uses his helmet and advanced technology circuits to influence the chief justice to rule in his favor. It is unclear, however, if he actually was able to influence the judge or if the judge ruled in Magneto’s favor of his own volition. The court declares it has no jurisdiction over Magneto.

Marvel Fanfare #33 “Shadows on the Soul” by Chris Claremont

(This story originally written for a different series but never released until 1987.)

Magneto and Lee are together and confess their feelings for each other.

Magneto calls the X-Men his friends.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #219 “Where Duty Lies” by Chris Claremont

It is revealed that Magneto has publicly assumed the identity as a cousin of Charles’ who also bears the last name Xavier.

August

Classic X-Men (1986) #12 by Chris Claremont

(Classic X-Men reprinted earlier Claremont X-Men stories but added new material (sometimes individual pages, sometimes additional short stories) to fill out the issue and tie into current comic continuity. Claremont wrote both the original X-Men issue that was being reprinted and the new material that was added.)

(New material that takes place directly after Uncanny X-Men (1963) #104)

Magneto is asleep not long after being resurrected by Eric the Red. He is dreaming “As always, the dream begins with Auschwitz… and Magda. More than a million people died in this camp. And with World War II ending – the Third Reich defeated – it’s guards wanted no witnesses left… to tell the tale of this horror.”

Magneto prevents a camp guard from killing Magda, then takes the guard’s gun and runs away with Magda.

Magneto is said to have “been here from the start… grown to manhood within its electrified barbed wire fence. If he was to die, it would not be in this abattoir… and not without a fight!”

Magneto and Magda run into the wilderness, eventually escaping into the Carpathian Mountains where they eventually settle and begin to build a life together. The page shows Magneto felling a tree, learning woodworking, studying, Magneto socializing with friends at a dinner table, getting married to Magda and cuddling his wife and newborn daughter, Anya.

Magneto is described as having “an insatiable hunger for knowledge, coupled with a wildfire intelligence” so eventually “he bade the village farewell and took his family eastward, into the Soviet Union, hoping to win a place at university” (This suggests that Magneto was living in a village in the Polish side of the Carpathians)

Magneto, Magda and Anya come to the “city of Vinnitsa, the biggest they’d ever seen.” (This suggests that Magneto and Magda came from a rural village or town before being sent to Auschwitz)

Magneto leaves his wife and daughter to go find work.

Anya is depicted as a child between 4-6 years old.

Magneto’s powers first manifest when he has a disagreement with another man. Magneto realizes the powers come from himself and isn’t sure what to make of it.

Magneto returns to the inn where he and his family are staying since this is their first day in the city. The inn is on fire and Anya is trapped on the second floor of the building.

Magda is in the building trying to save their daughter, Magneto uses his powers to get her to safety.

Magneto curses in Russian.

Magneto attempts to get to Anya but is prevented by secret police who are trying to arrest him for his earlier disagreement.

Anya dies in the fire, Magneto’s powers break loose killing those around him save for Magda.

Magda is terrified by what she just witnessed and runs away from Magneto.

Magneto wakes from his dream and uses his powers to save a nearby mother and child from a fire.

Magneto speaks French.

1988

January

New Mutants Annual (1984) #4 “Mind Games” by Louise Simonson

Magneto lectures Sunspot (Roberto da Costa) that the new Mutant Registration Act presents a real danger to all mutants. He states “There are diverse elements in the government who are eager to locate us mutants… in part through their Mutant Registration Act. Some of them would use us. The others would destroy us. I have staked my life that they will do neither.”

New Mutants (1983) #59 “Fang and Claw!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is overjoyed when Sunspot and Warlock return from an absence.

A villain pulls up a file on the New Mutants showing their images and listing everyone’s name, code-name and powers. Magneto’s profile lists him as “Magnus, Magneto, Master of Magnetism, School’s Headmaster” no last name is given.

February

Classic X-Men (1986) #18 by Chris Claremont

(Additional material to Uncanny X-Men (1963) #112)

Storm reflects on when Magneto was turned into an infant, thinking “He returned completely to a state of grace.”

March

(The X-Men are presumed dead after the events of Uncanny X-Men #227)

New Mutants (1983) #61 “Our Way!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto discovers one of the New Mutants, Cypher (Doug Ramsey) has been murdered after a misadventure. Magneto lashes out at the New Mutants for not protecting Doug and for disobeying him. Everyone is deeply upset.

Magneto goes to the infirmary where Doug’s body is laying. He pulls back the sheet covering Doug and looks at the boy thinking “Curse you Charles Xavier, for putting me in this position! I have no rapport with these children. Observe the bitter fruit of my labors!” Magneto kneels at the side of the table where Doug lays and weeps over his body. “An ill wind is coming… they are registering mutants like the once registered my people in Poland…! Who knows what horrors await us. But they are only children. How can they possibly understand… any of this.” (This suggests Magneto is Polish by birth)

Classic X-Men (1986) #19 by Chris Claremont

(Additional material to Uncanny X-Men (1963) #113)

Magneto is described thusly: “His wealth places him far beyond the dreams of avarice. And he numbers some of the finest minds on Earth among his acquaintances. The one facet of his personality that has not changed throughout the decades is his love of learning coupled with an insatiable curiosity about the universe.”

Magneto is a regular correspondent with Stephen Hawking.

Magneto is seen working with advanced scientific equipment making discoveries capable of revolutionizing particle physics and would qualify him for a Nobel prize.

Magneto remembers that Magda used to find him studying long hours to the point that he’d “forgotten food, and sleep, and even her.”

Magneto shaves with an electric razor.

Magneto thinks about Magda and Anya thinking since his resurrection he’s never been stronger or more haunted.

Magneto wonders if Magda is still alive and if she recognizes the famous “evil mutant” as her former husband.

Magneto describes Charles as his dearest friend.

(New material presented in the form of a backflash that takes place at some point after the Uncanny X-Men (1963) #161 story which details Charles and Magneto meeting for the first time. This story suggests that these events take place shortly before Uncanny X-Men #1 when the X-Men face Magneto for the first time in 1963.)

Magneto single-handedly takes out a secret Nazi base in South America and captures Oberstrumbanführer Hans Richter to be taken back to Israel and be put on trial.

After using his powers, Magneto suffers from debilitating psychic pain “Worse than the bite of the kapo’s whip, the murder of parents and family. The death of a child. The loss of a beloved wife. It passes quickly leaving him alive – and almost wishing he wasn’t.” Magneto observes that “These seizures strike now whenever I use my powers. More extreme my usage, more debilitating the attack.”

Magneto reports of the captured Nazi to a group called only “Control” (This seems to be a stand in for a Mossod style organization.)

Two weeks later, in Rio de Janiero, Magneto reads an article about Charles Xavier and wonders if he shouldn’t reconnect with him and seek help for his psychic attacks.

A woman in a bikini and sarong approaches Magneto asking why he’s dressed so formally in a suit and tie at a beach front cafe. Magneto replies “This, I’m afraid, is as uninhibited as I get.”

The woman turns out to be Magneto’s lover Isabelle, no last name is given.

Magneto recounts to Isabelle about how Anya died and Magda left him.

Control did not want Richter captured as he was a useful informant, so they send a squad to kill Isabelle and Magneto. They succeed in slaying Isabelle, but Magneto uses his powers to fight against them.

Magneto looks on Isabelle’s body completely disillusioned with humanity. The reader is told that “the dream dies… and the nightmare is born.”

June

New Mutants (1983) #64 “Instant Replay!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is disgusted with himself after being forced to lie about the circumstances of Cypher’s death. He tells the New Mutants “It’s wrong. His parents have the right to know the truth about their son… about the way he died. But I feel that it would be dangerous to reveal ourselves as mutants at this time.”

August

New Mutants (1983) #66 “Sorcerer’s Duel!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is seen in his old purple and red villain costume for the first time since Uncanny X-Men #188 and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12. This seems to be the start of Magneto’s corporate mandated pivot back to being an antagonist.

November

New Mutants (1983) #69 “Bad Company” by Louise Simonson

Magneto, dressed once more in his traditional red and purple outfit, holds his helmet in his hands as he says “All I have ever wanted for mutantkind is peace and prosperity. I thought I had found a better way to achieve my goal… and eschewed my old, violent ways. I had hoped to find solace as teacher and protector of the young. But they refuse to be safeguarded, if they are on Earth, I will find them… and protect them actively in the way that I know best.” Magneto puts his helmet on.

1989

April

New Mutants (1983) #74 “The Right Stuff” by Louise Simonson

Shaw blames Magneto for damages to New York City caused by Magick’s (Illyana Rasputin) Limbo demons.

Magneto and Sebastian Shaw fight each other briefly, Magneto accuses Shaw of not caring for mutantkind.

Later, Magneto talks to Emma and suggests that Shaw was right to blame him.

May

New Mutants (1983) #75 “King of the Hill!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto fights with Shaw for control of the Hellfire Club.

Magneto comes out of the confrontation victorious and Shaw is expelled from the club.

Magneto and the New Mutants have a falling out and the New Mutants refuse to have anything more to do with him.

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #253 “Storm Warnings” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Moira quarrel on Muir Island about him parting ways with the X-Men, the New Mutants and the Xavier Institute.

Magneto is convinced “There is a war coming, Moira. And you are a fool if you do not see it. We mutants cannot be wished away, we are here on this earth, more and more born every day. There are those who will accept us, and those who fear us and seek our destruction. And, worst of all, those like Genoshans… who desire to exploit us for their own power and profit. We must be strong enough – as a people – to survive without the sufferance of the one or the aggression of the others. I mean to ensure that. I must – because there is no one else.”

Magneto tells Banshee “I am sorry things have to end like this – but I suspect it’s for the best. Some roads are better traveled alone.”

Magneto leaves.

1990

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #269 “Rogue Redux” by Chris Claremont

Magneto intervenes to save Rogue’s life after she is reborn from another dimension without her mutant abilities. He attempts to return her to her previous strength and powers in his base in the Savage Lands.

1991

February

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #273 “Too Many Mutants” by Chris Claremont

Jean tells storm that she’s concerned Magneto is returning to his old ways.

March

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #274 “Crossroads” by Chris Claremont

Magneto narrates this issue: “All my life, I have been drawn to the wild and desolate places of the world. As a boy, I saw myself walking where no man ever had. Alone against the elements. The more I came to know of people… the more strongly that yearning dream spoke to me. As the fierce, unyielding emptiness without struck some resonant echo within my heart and soul. Yet for all of that… for all of life replete with it’s share and far more of rage and pain and suffering, as harshly given as endured… still I manage to find myself with allies. Who appear determined to stand by me, regardless. I wonder which are the greater fools: they for trying and trusting, or me for allowing it.”

Magneto is working with Ka-Zar and a depowered Rogue in the Savage Lands against the evil Zaladane.

When Rogue fights one of Zaladane’s goons, Magneto intervenes, thinking “I hear my daughter Anya scream as she burns before my eyes… hear Isabelle’s gasp of surprise as she is murdered… two I loved but were unable to save. Only avenge. It will not be that way with Rogue.”

Rogue presses Magneto to be merciful, saying “We’re the good guys, right?! We’re s’posed t’ stand for something better!” Magneto narrates “She actually believes that. Why can’t I? All I see is blood. That already spilled. That yet to be. I see my path so clearly. But I turn away.”

Magneto narrates “Later in my citadel, I reflect that ages ago – in what for me was another lifetime – I used my knowledge of genetics to mutate a band of swamp savages into super-powered beings. When they were no longer useful, I abandoned them to their fate, forgot their very existence. More of my past come back to haunt my present and threaten the future.” and in regards to his past as leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants “It is a goal I once had, in those long-gone days of madness, when I was reviled and condemned as a super-villain” and then later “My life’s ambition has been to safeguard my fellow mutants. Zaladane has no such compunction. And I hear the echo of Der Führer’s voice in the radio of memory, smell the awful stench of the sick and dying as the cattle cars brought the condemned to Auschwitz. I wear red, the color of blood, in tribute to their lost lives. And the harder I try to cast it aside, to find a gentler path… the more irresistibly I’m drawn back. I should have died myself, with those I loved. Instead, I carted the bodies by the hundred by the thousands… from the death house to the crematorium… and the ashes to the burial ground. Asking now what I could not then – why was I spared?! To bring others the death that passed me by?”

Magneto narrates on Zaladane “The more I come to know of her… the more I find myself trapped in a mirror… staring at a distorted vision of myself. Sleep is a mistake. But I’m so weary this once I can’t resist. Any more than I can hold at bay… the nightmares that come along. Flowers. Scent of growing things. Joyful sounds of life. So clear. So crisp, after more than half a century. Someone sobs. My sister holds tight my hand. My father still cannot believe this is happening. I hear laughter. The guns blaze, and I’m falling with the others. Into darkness. Loamy earth smell tainted by the acrid burning of lime. All of us pressed so tight together, embracing eternity. So easy to give up. Lie in my grave. Breathe my last. But I fight!” (This recounts the events around Magneto's family's death depicted in The New Mutants #49)

Rogue wakes Magneto and they share a moment before being interrupted by Ka-Zar. Magneto thinks “Am I imagining the sudden spark between us. Leaving Rogue as shaken as I? Leave well enough alone. I am pledged to another. As much as one can pledge a heart full of ghosts.”

Magneto narrates “I cannot recall a point in my life when I did not fight. Nor any longer of a time when war held the slightest horror for me.”

Magneto’s group is aided by Nick Fury’s group which includes the father of one of the Soviet sailors killed my Magneto on the submarine Leningrad. Magneto narrates “Again, a cry from the past. One father to another, in anguished grief for a slain child. At the time, my actions seemed quite appropriate. The Leningrad had fired a salvo of nuclear ballistic missiles at me, so I sank her, with all hands. Thinking of that crew not as people, but merely an object lesson: how dare they defy me, threaten me, these Russians whose countrymen let my daughter burn to death? There is too much history and hate between us. I cannot talk to these men.”

April

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #274 “The Path Not Taken” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

The Russian colonel guns down Magneto leading to him being captured by Zaladane. The colonel joins Zaladane. Zaladane uses a machine to try and transfer Magneto’s powers to herself. Under the influence of the machine Magneto narrates “Try as I might, I cannot stop this. And worst of all, as my life is torn from me, turned into a sideshow entertainment for the Brainchild’s sadistic pleasure… with my strength devoted wholly to that struggle, I have nothing left to block my emotional responses to the memories themselves. Once more, I hear myself howl ‘til my voice shatters at the sight of my daughter, Anya, burning to death before my eyes. Once more, hot blood mixes with salt tears as my beloved Isabelle’s throat is cut by those I thought my trusted friends. Once more, rage flashes through me… hand in hand with a terror I’d not felt since Auschwitz… as at last I confront the Shadow King. Followed by sick shame at the awful cost of my survival.”

Zaladane leaves Magneto with her minions. Rogue and her team have infiltrated Zaladanes stronghold and once Magneto realizes they are there, he strikes the minions unexpectedly. Magneto narrates “They think me beaten, finished. A mistake many have made in the past. As I found the strength, as a boy, to survive being machine gunned and buried alive, and later the unimaginable horror of Auschwitz… so do I find it in me, here and now, to break free.”

Magneto narrates “The primal, paramount lesson of my life is that I can depend on no one save myself.”

Magneto fights against the Russian colonel saying “I am sorry for your son, colonel. Which is more than I ever heard… for the slaughter of those I loved.” Colonel Semyanov says “Your… daughter you mean? And that absolves you of any crime?” Magneto replies “I never said it did. For who we are, and what we have done, comrade colonel… we are both of us condemned.”

Rogue and Magneto argue over how he intends to deal with Zaladane. Magneto says “The New Mutants were left in my charge and they suffered for it – because I tried to pattern myself after Charles Xavier. I am not Charles Xavier. I will never be Charles Xavier. I was a fool to try. As he was, for believing I could succeed. My people are in danger – more so now than ever before – from the Hellfire Club and their accursed Shadow Kind, from foul creatures such as this, perhaps even from the very United Nations which Colonel Fury loyally serves. And a kinder, gentler Magneto cannot save them.”

October

X-Men (1991) #1 “Rubicon” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Magneto has established a mutant haven on a new Asteroid M. World governments are wary of it and the X-Men are dispatched to discover what’s going on.

Magneto raises the submarine Leningrad (which he sank in Uncanny X-Men #150) from the sea floor. He finds some of the nuclear missiles the submarine was carrying are intact.

Inside the submarine, Magneto comes finds himself sitting among the bones of the Leningrad’s crew. “Now though, at last, he finds himself face to face with the consequence of his acts. And he remembers another time, other bodies, bones still coated with the flesh of family and friends, tossed into a lime-soaked pit and him along with them, only he was still alive. Somehow, he clawed his way to the surface.” (This again refers to the account of Magneto's family's death in The New Mutants #49)

Rogue tells Magneto that his actions are scaring people. Magneto says “I tried my best to change, I did my best to follow Xavier’s path to a peaceful co-existence between Homo Sapiens and Homo Sapiens Superior. And paid for that folly with the blood of innocents.”

Later on Asteroid M, Magneto ruminates on his latest conflict with the X-Men thinking of Wolverine in particular “For the brief time I worked with the X-Men, he accepted me wholeheartedly. If not as a friend, then at least as a comrade-in-arms. Why then has he turned on me? What has changed? Why must blood always come between me and others?” (Magneto has been working with the X-Men and the New Mutants since 1985)

Radical mutant acolytes that have decided to follow Magneto, led by Fabian Cortez, fight with the X-Men. Magneto puts a stop to it and says “All my life, I have seen people slaughtered wholesale for no more reason than the deity they worshipped, or the color of their skin – or the presence in their DNA of an extra, special gene. I cannot change the world but I can – and will – ensure that my race will never again suffer for its fear and prejudice. Henceforth, I declare Asteroid M a sovereign world. Home and haven to mutantkind. If you are born Homo Sapiens Superior, then you are automatically a citizen, entitled to safe haven above and security below. Even you X-Men – even your mentor, my old friend, Charles Xavier – are welcome here. But mark this and mark it well – harm done against any mutant is harm done to me. And I shall respond accordingly.”

November

X-Men (1991) #2 “Firestorm” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Beast says that the Genoshans are changing for the better, and asks why Magneto is going in the opposite direction. Magneto says “You know that answer, Beast… you would have to live my life. And I would not wish such a fate, even on my most hated enemy.”

Magneto abducts Charles and Moira looking for answers about his genetic structure. Moira admits that she saw there was a genetic instability in Magneto’s genetic matrix, and she tried to stabilize it when he was an infant in her care.

Magneto is infuriated that Moira conducted genetic experimentation on him in an attempt to change who he was. He questions every decision he’s made since his rebirth.

Moira is apologetic, but Magneto’s anger is unabated. He tells her “I heard those same rationales as a boy, in the Auschwitz death camp, from Dr. Josef Mengele himself!”

December

X-Men (1991) #3 “Fallout” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Moira reveals that the genetic experimentation she did on baby Magneto didn’t work.

Moira also points out that Cortez has been using his power to weaken Magneto.

Cortex flees Asteroid M and fires a shot at the complex that will kill all the inhabitants.

Charles and the X-Men prepare to leave in their spacecraft, but Magneto refuses to leave with them instead choosing to stay on the asteroid to preserve its integrity as long as possible using his powers. He tells Charles “My life was shaped by forces and events none of you can possibly understand. You speak to the best of humanity. I have endured the worst. You imagine the reality of the Holocaust, of the Nazi death camps. I grew up in one. Perhaps, as you say, I am tainted by blood and rage – and death. But perhaps as well, that blood and rage and death comprise the armor that will sustain me and those who stand by me through the ordeal to come. The past is prologue, old friend. And the future I behold for you is… war. We have already chosen our path.”

Asteroid M blows up just as the X-Men escape. Charles tells them all “At the last… he opened his thoughts to me. He is still the man I remember from younger, happier days – who was my friend – and yet… none of that matters anymore, does it? ‘I save you, X-Men,’ he said, ‘because that is my task in life: to safeguard my people – Homo Sapiens Superior – mutantkind – from those who would do us harm. And those forces are legion. In that and I suspect nothing else, Charles, we are much alike. I have survived one Holocaust, I could not tolerate another. Nor any who – by accident, by intent – act to bring it about. I bore no animus to you, old friend, or your students until you chose to oppose me. Then, I had no choice but to count you among my enemies. Have no illusions on that score. Perhaps it’s best it end this way, Charles. Best for my dream to end in flames and glory, here far above Earth… for if we were ever to meet again… I would have shown you no mercy. I give you your dream, Charles. But I fear, in time, your heart will break as you realize it has ever been a fool’s hope. Farewell, my friend.”

Chris Claremont was removed from the X-Men without explanation and left Marvel after this book. He had been writing for the X-Men for 17 years. To learn more about Chris Claremont and his work on the X-Men and the corporate fuckery that lead to him leaving watch the 2018 documentary Chris Claremont’s X-Men which is currently available free on YouTube.

If you feel like I’ve overlooked or left out an important issue from the 1963-1991 era, please contact me and let me know. I will update this list with more information if any comes to light.

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notes-from-sarah · 2 months

Text

Graveside

Rating: G/K

Length: 6k words

Link on AO3, FFN

Summary: As Magneto lays his Anya to rest, he’s lost everyone he’s ever loved. Years later, he visits his daughter’s graveside again, this time accompanied by Wanda and Pietro. Claremont canon compliant. 70s-80s X-Men canon compliant.

A/N:

1953 portion takes place after Classic X-Men (1986) #12, “A Fire in the Night!”, 1983 portion takes place after Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4.

During this period of the comics, Magneto’s real name was Magnus so that’s the name I use in this story.

I’m using my own approximation on the timelines because comicbook math doesn’t always add up.

Since Wanda’s powers are very inconsistent throughout the comics I’m doing my own take.

1953

“Magda!” Magnus’ voice cracked, the smoke and heat had scorched his throat raw. Magda didn’t slow down, didn’t look back. He wanted to run after her, to catch hold of her and make her understand. But her couldn’t leave Anya. Magnus dropped to his knees in front of her small body. He wanted to stay there forever, he couldn’t believe what had happened. It just couldn’t be real.

The inn continued to burn and in the distance others were beginning to be alerted to the fact. Magnus knew he needed to go. There was nothing left for him here. There was nothing left at all. Taking off his coat he wrapped it tenderly around Anya’s body as a shroud. The final embrace he could not give her. Her body was so small.

The smell of ash and burned flesh filled his nostrils and made him choke. Bodies, burning bodies. So many bodies. Day after day with no end in sight. Magnus had thought he’d put that all behind him, thought that the nightmare was over. Apparently there was no escape.

Lifting Anya into his arms, Magnus began to walk. Once, there had certainly been a Jewish cemetery in this city, but he could not count on that any more. He would have to make do. Being careful to avoid the citizens who were beginning to stream towards the still flaming inn, Magnus wove through streets and alleys towards the edge of the city.

Magnus wasn’t sure how far he walked or for how long. More than anything he wished Magda was here with him, he wasn’t sure he could do this alone. How could she leave him and Anya at a time like this? Did she really care so much for those animals that had caused the death of their daughter? Was his slaying of them really so monstrous? He wanted to be angry, he wanted to be hurt, to scream or cry or something, instead a familiar numbness settled over him. Magnus just kept walking.

The night was deep and dark by the time he made it to the edge of the city. In the distance he could hear a train. He kept going. He had to find a place where his little girl wouldn’t be disturbed. Out past the edge of the city, the landscape resolved into countryside. Farms flanked the road on either side and Magnus knew the farm houses weren’t too far away. He needed to go further.

Turning off the road he walked on. His thoughts beginning to fill with memories of Anya. She had loved her mountain town in the Carpathians. She was close friends with some of the other children of the village and they could always be found playing together under Magda’s watchful eye. She did all the things you would expect a child to do. She climbed trees and skinned her knees and elbows. She caught bugs and frogs and stalked birds through the forest. She would pick handfuls of flowers to bring back to her papa all summer long, dirt smeared on her cheeks, her hair full of twigs.

She was such a bright and beautiful child, she was every bit as eager to learn as he was. He would teach her the names of the flowers and trees and he had been in the process of teaching her to read. She was starting to understand the alphabet and would sit on his knee puzzling out a book while he was studying a book of his own trying to teach himself algebra or geometry. Magda would say they were quite the pair of scholars. Magnus had always dreamed that his daughter would have the education he never did.

Magnus shifted the small burden in his arms. Wasn’t it just yesterday that he had carried her like this when she’d fallen asleep on the train? She had been so excited for her first trip away from the village. She had seen a picture of a locomotive in a book, but their remote village was nowhere near any tracks. When she finally saw one in real life she was ecstatic. She had said “Papa, they do exist!” He had joked and told her a fairy tale about how trains used to be dragons a long time ago, but had transformed themselves so they could help people get from place to place very fast. You could tell it was true because the trains still had the dragon fire in their bellies. Anya, of course, had believed him. She believed everything he told her. Even the lies like “I’ll always take care of you.”

Coming to the edge of a river, Magnus began to follow its course. He had no idea what the river was called or even where he was, but none of that mattered anymore. He walked on, the dark pressing in on him. Anya was still afraid of the dark. Often, she would wake in the middle of the night and crawl into bed with him and Magda. Magnus didn’t much care for the dark either. Almost any hardship or indignity could be endured in the daylight hours, but come nightfall such things became unbearable. It was just the way of things.

Coming to a rickety bridge, probably one shoddily made for local use, Magnus crossed over the river and found himself in wilder country. Crossing an overgrown field Magnus paused, his senses flaring as he felt something nearby. This power that he had was alerting him to the presence of something metal. Reaching out a hand, Magnus called to the metal laying half-buried in the dirt. To his surprise, the object leapt from its resting place and jumped into his hand. It was a steel bar, maybe forty-five centimeters long and quite hefty. It must have fallen off some farming equipment, but Magnus realized it could serve a purpose instead of rotting away to nothing. Sliding the steel bar through his belt, Magnus kept walking.

Finally, Magnus came to a stand of trees. Anya always loved the forest, she spent much of her days playing in them when the weather was nice. He hoped she would like these trees, they weren’t her friends from the mountains but they’d have to do.

Magnus made his way with some caution now, one never knew what sort of animals lived in a forest. In the mountains he was always careful about bears and wolves and feral dogs. The night was even darker here, Magnus found himself navigating more by instinct than anything else. Thick pine trees overgrew the entire area with a smattering of broad leaf trees in the mix, the forest floor was carpeted thick with needles and his footsteps were practically silent. Picking his way through the untamed brambles, Magnus found at last what he had come for.

A tall elegant tree stood in something of a clearing. Its branches arched high over the earth and the clean scent of pine filled the air. This was a place that could be made sacred. Gingerly, Magnus placed Anya in a cradle of knotted roots at the base of the tree. Then, drawing the steel bar from his belt, he began to dig.

The steel bar was better than nothing, but the process was slow as he carved away the soil. He tried not to think about how Magda should be here to hold their child while he dug. He tried not to think about how she’d abandoned him, abandoned Anya. How she hadn’t even wanted to say goodbye to their daughter. He tried not to think about Magda at all.

Scooping out soil with hands and steel, Magnus began to see the resemblance of a hole. It didn’t need to be very big, Anya was such a little girl. The soil embedded itself under his nails and stained his skin with its rich black color. The smell of the freshly turned soil threw him back to his own childhood. The smell of soil and lime as he’d dug his way out of a grave. Thinking back on it now, Magnus wasn’t sure why he’d bothered. Why did he keep living when everyone else died?

Magnus struggled as his improvised tool began to strike tree roots. If only instead of a bar it was a blade, then it would hardly slow him down at all. He was strong and would not stop until the task was complete. The bar seemed to react to his thoughts. It twitched in his hand and a current of energy flowed between himself and the steel. He wasn’t sure how this magic power worked, but earlier that day when he wanted something all he had to do was think about it. So he did just that once more. Focusing his mind on the blade he desired, Magnus gripped the steel letting the current flow back and forth between himself and the bar. The metal began to morph, and within moments it now had a razor keen edge. Magnus was mystified. How had he come to do this? Was he really some sort of freak, a monster cursed with unnatural powers? He didn’t know what to think, all he knew was that he had to keep digging.

The first light of dawn was creeping up the sky when the melancholy task was complete. Deep enough to not attract animals, the small grave was unlikely to be disturbed. Magnus went back to the roots of the tree and picked up Anya once more. One last time. Sitting with his back to the tree he cradled her small body. He wanted to weep, wanted to shed the tears his little girl deserved. But he could not. The numbness inside him was absolute. It was just another death.

Reaching up, he unclasped the necklace he wore. It was a gift from Magda, a gold Star of David she had given him when they got married. It was very small, it had not cost very much, but he wore it every day. He pulled back the coat and laid the necklace on Anya’s heart. “A gift from your mother and me,” he whispered. Anya had so often played with it when he was rocking her before bed. He had promised her that one day when she was big he would buy her one of her own. He had promised her so much.

Tucking the folds of the coat around his little girl once more, Magnus sat and rocked her, singing her favorite lullabies for the last time. He remembered so long ago when his grandfather had died. His father and nine other men from the community had come to say the Kaddish at the graveside. It has to be ten people, he’d been told. This is how we support each other in a community, his father had said. He had no community, one else at all, the lullabies would have to do.

The orange slivered edge of the sun peaked over the horizon and Magnus knew he couldn’t put this off any longer. Rising to his feet, Magnus brought Anya to the grave and lowered her in as if he were laying her in her bed after she had fallen asleep in his arms. For a long moment he gazed on the small bundle before he lifted his arm and let the first handful of soil fall onto Anya’s body. Handful after handful he filled the grave with the black earth. It was the burial he never got to give his family, the burial denied to so many of his people. A part of him could still feel the metal of the necklace, even when Anya was completely covered. With each handful it seemed like a part of him was being buried, too. The love he’d had for his wife and child, the dreams he’d had of earning a college degree, the life he’d hoped to give Anya as she grew up. All of it gone. All he had left was the smell of burning and the taste ashes in his mouth.

When all the soil had been replaced, Magnus took the steel bar. Turning it over in his hands, he pondered if his newfound powers might make a suitable grave marker for Anya. He hated to think that one day he would forget where he buried her. That he would be unable to find her again. Focusing his mind and feeling that inhuman energy flowing through him, he pulled and stretched the steel this way and that until he had a solid plate, decently sized and roughly square, in his hands. Was there anything this power could not do? If only he had discovered it just a few days earlier.

Even a feeling of regret could not break through the numbness as he traced his fingertip over the metal. The power still charged through him and wherever he traced his finger, an impression formed in the steel. Carefully working in Hebrew, he wrote the appropriate inscriptions as near as he could. His own studies of Hebrew had been limited, but he wanted to give Anya the proper marker no one else in his family had received. In smaller letters at the bottom of the plate he repeated everything in Russian, hoping that if some Soviet found this resting place they might have pity on a little girl and leave her be.

The steel plate gleamed in the morning sun which shone between the tree trunks. Something bright and pretty for Anya, it was the best he could do. His final gift to his daughter. Lastly, at the top of the plate, he drew a Star of David. Then, as he sang Anya a final lullaby, he buried the edges of plate in the earth at the head of Anya’s grave.

Standing and brushing the soil from his clothes, Magnus looked at the final resting place for his daughter. He stood there a while wishing for some tears to come, but they would not. He couldn’t even give his daughter the grief she deserved. Maybe he was a monster. At last, he knew he had to go. He had to try and find Magda, talk some sense into her. He had to find her and leave this revolting country. Maybe it was time to go to Israel. Maybe, at last, he could find some safety there.

“Don’t be frightened of the dark, my dear. I will come back and visit you very soon.” With that, he turned and walked away.

1983

“I want you to take a trip with me today, please, it won’t take very long.” Magneto stood on Wanda’s doorstep, the cool early morning breeze tugging at his clothes, the sun only just up. Wanda was surprised to see him, he hadn’t exactly phoned ahead, but this was important.

“Come in,” Wanda stepped back from the door and waved him inside. She was dressed in a deep purple that suited her red-brown hair more than one would suspect. It struck Magneto once again how very much like Magda she looked. He also thought he saw hints of his own mother in her face, maybe even his sister. How foolish he must have been to be around her and her brother and not even recognize them.

Stepping inside, Magneto saw Pietro sitting on the couch, bouncing Luna in his arms. Pietro’s daughter had grown so much in the months since last he’d seen her. “Good,” Magneto said, “the both of you are here, that will save a trip to the moon.” Wanda exchanged a glance with her brother. Magneto knew they were both still wary of him after he had coerced them into being part of his Mutant brotherhood. For him, that had been another lifetime. He didn’t even recognize the man he’d been back then. That didn’t change things for them, however. They still didn’t trust him. He didn’t blame them.

“What is it?” Wanda prompted.

Magneto glanced between his two children. Only recently had they learned of their true connection to each other. Regret over missing so much of their lives stung at him. “I wanted you to come with me to visit the grave of your sister.”

“Our… sister?” Wanda said, clearly taken off guard.

“You never told us we had a sister,” Pietro said, somewhat accusingly. His deep frown reminded Magneto of his own.

Magneto crossed his arms over his chest. He’d been meaning to tell them about Anya from the start, he just never found the right way to say it. “She died a few months before you were born. Her name was Anya. Today is the anniversary of her death.” All those years ago he’d promised to come back, so far he’d never had the courage to do so. For years he’d tried to forget everything in his past, his human wife and daughter and life and just bury himself in being a Mutant. Maybe, he had thought, if he pretended that none of that happened, that none of that mattered, he could be free of all the pain that went with it. Since his rebirth a few years ago, however, he couldn’t pretend anymore. Who he was and what he had been through were as inescapable as time itself. He couldn’t run from himself any longer. It was time Anya’s papa paid her a visit.

Wanda came over to Magneto and took him by the arm, guiding him to the couch. “Why don’t you tell us a little more about all of this. This is the first we’re hearing of this sister.”

Magneto sat on the couch and looked between the twins. He wanted to tell them everything, how he and their mother had escaped certain death in the Nazi concentration camps and had built a life for themselves before he got selfish and everything went wrong. He wanted to tell them all the little stories about their sister, how much their mother and he loved her and what a good big sister she would have been to them. He wanted to say all those things and more, but when he opened his mouth, the words wouldn’t quite come out.

Long ago, he’d felt nothing, now he felt too much.

Closing his mouth, he shook his head. “I don’t know how to say all there is to be said. Her name was Anya, she was only five-years-old. I haven’t been back since I buried her, I thought you might want to come as well.”

Wanda looked at her brother and some indecipherable communication passed between them. Pietro rolled his eyes and said, “Wanda, can we have a word in the kitchen?”

Wanda rolled her own eyes before jerking her head to the other room and the pair of them vanished through the door. Magneto didn’t try to overhear their conversation. Undoubtedly they were discussing if he was trustworthy enough to follow to who knows where. Certainly they were questioning his credibility or if he was lying to them to gain their trust. He knew he deserved such skepticism, he wished he might one day overcome it. Perhaps in the future he might be redeemed.

Pietro and Wanda came back into the sitting room a few minutes later. Wanda was being logical with her brother, saying “-Vision can watch Luna while we’re gone, it’ll be fine. He’s babysat before.”

“I know, I know,” Pietro said, holding up his hand to put a stop her persuasion, “I just hate leaving her, I miss her when I’m gone.” Wanda squeezed her brother’s shoulder encouragingly. Magneto was happy that they’d always had each other, even if he and Magda had never been part of their lives.

Wanda turned to Magneto. “We’d like to go with you.”

Pietro, ever the more surly of the two, added, “But if there’s any funny business, you’ll regret it.”

Magneto sighed. “Please believe me, Pietro, I’ve changed. I’m not the man you knew all those years ago.”

“That remains to be seen,” Pietro muttered.

Wanda, seemingly wanting to forestall any further comments from her brother, asked, “Where are we going?”

“The USSR."

. . .

It had probably been more than two decades since Magneto had used a passport or entered a country legally. He had long since given up thinking of himself as a citizen of any nation, and instead maintained that since he was a Mutant he was unaccountable to human law and practice. Today was no different. Using his powers to created a magnetic sphere around the three of them, he transported himself, Wanda and Pietro into the sky with his abilities. A journey that would normally take many hours could be accomplished in minutes, before long the three of them were touching down outside the Soviet city of Vinnytsia.

Magneto pointed to the city in the distance. “I came here with your mother long ago, I had an idea that I would earn a place at university and get a degree. I had such a desire to learn back then, I suppose that desire has not yet completely abandoned me. I thought I might be able to get back the education I had lost out on as a boy and maybe provide a better living for my family. Alas, it was not to be.”

Pietro looked around them, the mostly open countryside was carved into fields. “I don’t see any graveyards,” he observed.

“I was not able to lay her to rest in a graveyard,” Magneto said quietly. “The Nazis destroyed all the Jewish graveyards during the war, and the Soviets weren’t much better. I didn’t want someone to disturb her resting place. It was perhaps not a proper burial according to the traditions of our people, but it was what I could manage under the circumstances.” Magneto gazed around the horizon before finding the direction he thought he remembered and, motioning the twins to follow him, set off.

“Why haven’t you told us any of this before?” Wanda asked.

“I wanted to, but it is not always easy for me to discuss. When I think about what transpired, it is as if it happened just yesterday.” Magneto glanced down at Wanda. “I can still smell the fire.”

Magneto pressed on while the twins paused to share a look before continuing. Magneto wasn’t entirely sure where he had been on that night so long ago, but he centered himself and let his instincts guide him. That fateful day three decades ago was etched in his mind in sharp detail. Every thought and feeling flowed though him now as strongly as on that day.

The three of them walked through overgrown fallow fields as they wended their way deeper into the countryside. When Magneto saw the forested outcropping ahead he knew they had found it. He pointed to the woods and said, “There is the sepulchre where your sister lies. I can feel the marker I made her from here.”

“It looks peaceful,” Wanda said, gazing at the forest. “I can feel the quiet from here.”

Magneto glanced at Wanda and gave her a small smile.

Entering the shadow of the trees, the afternoon sun shone on them weakly through the boughs. A hush filled the air under the branches. Using his abilities, Magneto was able to feel the presence of the grave marker he’d laid. Treading softly, they came at last to the spot. Magneto knelt down and cleared the pine needles and other debris from the marker. With a flick of his finger the decades of rust and corrosion disappeared and the plate shone as brightly as the day he had laid it.

“Hello, Anya,” he murmured, “I’m sorry, Papa didn’t bring you any flowers.” Lowering himself to the ground, he kissed the steel headstone.

Wanda and Pietro knelt down on either side of him as he sat back up. Pietro ran his finger over the inscriptions on the plate. “What does it say?” he asked.

Magneto swallowed, his emotions beginning to throb in his chest and throat. He maintained careful control of his voice as he recited what was written. First in Hebrew, then in English. He didn’t even need to read it, he couldn’t have forgotten it if he’d tried. After living in Israel, his Hebrew was much better now than it had been then. Still, he stumbled over some of the words, unshed tears threatening to take control of him.

Wanda put a hand on his shoulder. “Tell us about our sister, Father.” It was first time she’d called him that.

Pietro nodded. “Yes, tell us what she was like.”

“She was the most beautiful of children,” Magneto began. “She was the true light of my life. She was every hope and dream I ever had for the future. Bright, curious, intelligent, kind, thoughtful. I don’t even know how to describe her. But you must know how I felt, Pietro, you must feel the same about Luna.”

Pietro gulped and nodded.

Magneto continued. “After your mother and I escaped Auschwitz, we settled in a village in the Carpathian mountains – on the Polish side. We eventually got married and we had a good life. I worked as a builder, I was quite handy and was able to build us a small cottage up there in the mountains. Soon enough your sister was born. She was such a nice, fat baby. I remember that well. I had seen so many starve and to know that she would always have enough to eat was a joy to me. After losing so many people during the war, I thought maybe Magda and I finally had a chance to begin again. We’d build a new family together and have a new life. One no longer stained by death and destruction. It was a dream that seemed possible then. Back in those days I’d never even heard the word Mutant. I thought I was human, like everyone else. If only I had known, what a difference it would have made.”

Wanda began to pick up fallen leaves from the forest floor around them. “Tell us more, Father,” she urged. It warmed Magneto to hear her call him father. It had been too long since he’d heard it.

“When your sister was five I had a notion that I might be able to earn a place at a top university here in the USSR. Such spots are difficult to achieve unless you are very intelligent, but I told myself that I could do it and your mother believed me. I uprooted our lives to come to the city where I might have a chance to get in.” Magneto now recalled the decision with a bitterness that leaked into his voice. If only he’d not been so selfish and delusional.

“The day we arrived, I went to find work. The entire city was still being rebuilt after the Nazis nearly destroyed everything so I knew I could get a job just about anywhere. When I returned to the inn where we were staying, it was on fire. When I went to rescue Anya from the fire, I was beset by secret police. They prevented me from saving her!” Anger flashed in Magneto’s eyes, the fury he felt then was still every bit as strong. “That’s how your sister died. She burned to death and I couldn’t save her. Watching her die, and like that, like I had seen so many others die, I couldn’t take it. Something in me broke loose and my powers killed all those around me save Magda.”

Wanda’s eyes went wide but Pietro merely said, “I understand.”

Magneto looked at his son, of the twins, Pietro was always the harder one to reach. “Your mother did not understand, I’m afraid. When she’d seen what I had done she ran from me and I never did find her again. She said that I was a monster and ran. She was so overcome she didn’t even stay to bury our daughter. I think a part of me has never forgiven her for that, but now I think I can understand it too. She was a good woman, Magda, but her life had left its scars.” Magneto ran his thumb over his sleeve where underneath he bore the Auschwitz prisoner tattoo.

“I didn’t know your mother was pregnant when she left me, and after I couldn’t find her I decided she was better off without me. It seems that all who love me are fated to a terrible end. Wherever she is, if she still lives, she is most certainly better off without me.” Magneto found himself thinking of Magda often, he’d never been able to find any more about what had happened to her but he hoped she was happy. Glancing between Wanda and Pietro he said, “Had I known of you two, believe me, I would have come for you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you.” Magneto began to sweep his hands over the grave to clear the leaf and pine litter.

“Our adoptive parents were good to us,” Wanda said in a reassuring tone as she shaped her bundle of leaves into a small bouquet. “We were okay in the end and I can’t imagine my life without them.”

“And I am grateful for that,” Magneto said, giving Wanda another soft smile, “still, I regret all the time I lost with you two, and all the paths I’ve walked since your mother left me. I lost my way for a long time, lost who I was. I’m still not sure I’ve found it, but finding you and your brother makes me feel…” Magneto trailed off as he tried to put these emotions into words for the first time. “It makes me feel human again.”

Wanda leaned in and put an arm around Magneto. The demonstration brought tears to Magneto’s eyes. He ached to once more hug his Anya, to give Magda one last embrace before she left him forever. He wanted to say a proper goodbye to everyone who’d been ripped away from him. His mother and father, his sister, everyone he’d ever loved. Thirty years ago he’d knelt here alone, numb. Now, his children sat beside him and all the feelings he’d not been able to muster then came welling to the surface now. Covering his face with his hands, he began to weep.

Wanda and Pietro didn’t say a thing. Wanda just rested her cheek on his shoulder and rubbed her hand over his back. Pietro, somewhat hesitantly, patted Magneto’s back in what he must have thought was a soothing patter. Magneto struggled to regain his composure, but part of him was relieved to finally give Anya the tears she deserved.

Finally, Wanda spoke, “Father, I want to show you something.”

Magneto took a deep breath and lifted his face from his hands. He was unused to appearing so vulnerable in front of anyone, but he’d wanted the twins here for a reason. They deserved to know this part of their family’s story.

Wanda showed him the bundle of leaves she had and asked, “What was Anya’s favorite color?”

Magneto wiped away his tears and smiled as he recalled. “Yellow, it was her favorite because the sun is yellow and I always called her my little sunshine.”

Wanda smiled softly, her own eyes shining with emotion. “That’s beautiful. She sounds like the loveliest sister.” Wanda then raised her free hand and waved it over the brown leaves. Her red Mutant powers leapt forth and in the blink of an eye the bouquet of leaves transformed into one of yellow roses. “Now we have some flowers to leave for her.”

Magneto smiled, holding back a fresh wave of tears. “What a lovely gift you’ve made for her. I know she would be so proud of you.” Magneto turned to Pietro, “And you as well, Pietro. She would have loved to be your big sister. She would have taken care of the both of you so well.”

Pietro wiped his arm over his eyes. “Wait here,” he said, and with that he jumped up and sped off at top speed. Seconds later he was back, his arms filled with a huge array of wildflowers. In the space of a breath he’d arranged them into a lush wreath to frame the grave marker. “Sorry I never got to know you, big sister, I’m sure you would have been the best.” Together, he and Wanda decorated Anya’s grave the way Magneto wished he could have done all those years ago.

When they finished their task, the pair of them stepped back and looked at the beautifully decorated grave. “Is there anything you want to say, maybe a prayer or a poem?” Wanda asked. “I’m not familiar with the Jewish customs.”

A small pain lanced through Magneto’s heart. Of course they wouldn’t know such things, they were raised in a different culture. They had no reason to know the customs of their ancestors. “There are some prayers one might say, but I don’t really follow those beliefs anymore.”

“Then why don’t we make our own tradition,” said Pietro. “For this family.” Hearing that word from Pietro was like a balm to Magneto’s heart.

Wanda nodded. “Yes, something special from us to her.”

Magneto stood. “Last time I was here, I sang her her favorite lullaby. Will you sing it with me?”

The pair of them nodded. Magneto started, going slowly as he said each Yiddish phrase and waited for them to repeat it. It was a short song, the type you sing as you bounce your baby to sleep or sing with them before bed. Within a few repeats they had both gotten it and were singing it with him. Reaching out, Pietro took Magneto’s hand in one of his own, and Wanda’s in the other. Wanda took Magneto’s other hand, completing the circle as the three of them sang a lullaby for Anya.

When they left the graveside and returned to New York, Wanda invited Magneto inside for coffee and the three of them sat together, somewhat subdued, but between them now emanated a closeness that had not been present before.

A cry from the upstairs alerted Pietro that Luna was done napping and he darted upstairs to fetch her.

“Father,” Wanda asked, “do you have any pictures of Anya?”

Magneto nodded. “One, everything else burned in the fire. This one was saved because I always kept it in my wallet” Reaching into his jacket pocket, Magneto pulled out a photo in a clear plastic case. He gazed at it a moment before giving it to Wanda. “That’s your mother and Anya a few weeks before we left the Carpathians. They were my everything.”

Wanda took the photo as Pietro came back downstairs, Luna cradled in his arms. Wanda showed the photo to her brother. “She’s just a baby,” Pietro remarked, holding Luna a little tighter. “Just a little baby.”

Wanda traced her fingertips over the photo before raising it to her lips and giving it a soft kiss. “Hey sis, even though I never met you, I wanted to say that I love you.”

Warmth bloomed in Magneto’s heart upon hearing that. To know his children loved their sister made the distance between Anya and her siblings seem a little smaller. Made his life feel less like it was carved into pieces and made it seem possible that it was some sort of whole.

Pietro came to stand by Magneto. “Hey, um, Dad, do you want to hold Luna?” Holding her out he placed the baby in Magneto’s arms. Magneto looked down at the face of his granddaughter, her innocent eyes looked up at him as she gurgled and reached out to grab his nose. All three of them laughed and Magneto smiled at his family. He still had many amends to make, but the healing had begun.

#X-Men #Magneto #Erik Lehnsherr #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Magda and Anya #Wanda Maximoff #Pietro Maximoff #Family #6k words #Hurt/Comfort #Grief #Mourning #Child Death #Healing #AO3 #FFN

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