Welcome to Unifying VALIANT, our celebration of the 25-year anniversary of VALIANT’s companywide crossover ‘Unity.’ A precursor to the now omnipresent annual comic event, ‘Unity’ and VALIANT changed the face of the comic industry in the early ‘90’s. In each entry we’ll be focusing on one of the company’s storylines until culminating at ‘Unity.’ Follow along as we dig deep and rediscover what made VALIANT the innovative and revolutionary company it was.
This week we’re reviewing “Magnus, Robot Fighter” #1-4: ‘Steel Nation.’
It’s Place within VALIANT:
In maintaining VALIANT’s reverence and admiration to the historical legacies of their Western Publishing characters, the opening issue of “Magnus” does not reboot his origin, but picks up on it as if it had never ended. This first storyline, titled ‘Steel Nation,’ opens with a 6-page synopsis of the prior series from the perspective of Magnus’ creator, 1-A. Additionally, in a move that would be mimicked (whether purposefully or by coincidence) by Marvel decades later, the title page of the comic includes a 1-page synopsis of the original “Magnus” series, as well as a tribute to his creator Russ Manning and those responsible for granting VALIANT the publishing license. Both summaries provide the reader with an ample background to the character and his world.
An important aspect to these issues, as well as their long-term worth comes from VALIANT’s first marketing technique. Within each of the first 8 issues of “Magnus” would be a coupon centrally attached to the spine. Once all 8 coupons had been accumulated by the reader they could be presented to VALIANT for a copy of “Magnus” #0, which provides a colorful background story regarding the key contributors to the ‘Steel Nation’ storyline. When collecting these issues there is a significant price premium to those who still have the coupon attached.
As per the industry norm issue #1 received the highest print run, with approximately 90,000 units. Subsequently, issues #2-4 shipped between 55,000 and 60,000 units.
Storyline Summary:
“Magnus, Robot Fighter” #1-4
Publication dates: May 1991 – September 1991
Written by Jim Shooter
Penciled by Art Nichols
Inked by Bob Layton with Kathryn Bolingar
Colored by Janet Jackson
Lettered by Jade Moede
Having recently put down a number of freewill robot attacks, Magnus and his adoptive robot father, 1-A, know now that up to 10 million freewill’s may be in existence. While the pair reminisce about their beginnings, they intercept a transmission being sent to all freewill robots, a call to arms. 0-1X, the freewill robot leader, has broken into Senator Clane’s office to negotiate peace between the two sides. His request for peace though falls on mute ears. As Magnus arrives General Timbuc of the human army attacks the robot mass. The ensuing battle is mayhem. While the human forces ultimately win, it comes at a great personal cost to Magnus, as in the ruckus Leeja is thrown from the tower, smashing to the ground.
As the war against the freewill robots continues, Magnus pushes himself to the extreme, constantly running at full exhaustion. Yet, for the freewills he is devastation incarnate. Obliterating robots battle after battle. During one particular mêlée Magnus makes his way to their leader. With 0-1X within his grasp, he stops just short of killing him. Instead Magnus pleads with the rebel leader to abandon their fight and search for peace. But it is too late for peace.
Branded a traitor Magnus is now on the run, taking refuge in the Goph levels. There he befriends a freewill, W-23. As they go their separate ways Magnus is surrounded by thousands of robots. The ensuing battle lasts over 5 hours, with Magnus destroying swarm after swarm. He finally reaches Central Rob, collapsing, his body a bloody pulp from the battle. Meanwhile a group of freewills prepare to install the stolen pieces of T1’s brain into 0-1X, hoping it will grant him control over all robots. While the operation is a failure, a Goph robo-tech acquires the carcass of 0-1X. The tech reanimates 0-1X, whose new brain chips allows him control over all non-freewill robots.
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With total control the rogue robots take over Central Rob and kidnap General Timbuc and Leeja as well. Breaching Central Rob, Magnus wages his one-man war against the freewill robots. Demolishing wave after wave, he destroys everything in his path until making his way to 0-1X. With a sea of robots trying to hold him back Magnus lashes out and decapitates 0-1X, releasing his controls over the non-freewill robots. Taking the carcass of a fallen robot, Magnus hurls it through the main processing station at Central Rob, severing remote access to all robots. Now outnumbered, the remaining freewill robots retreat. Saddened by the lengths that he was pushed to, Magnus decides to leave the general human population and retreat into the Goph levels. Here he will start a new life as a free man. No longer weighed down by his father’s design for him as a living weapon, nor as humanity’s gleaming beacon as the Robot Fighter. He is now just a man.
Review:
Having been published over 25 years ago, the disparity in the ‘Steel Nation’ storyline to that of modern comics is astounding. ‘Steel Nation’ would be the equivalent of popping in a DVD and having The Empire Strikes Back come on as your first introduction to Star Wars. With little backstory provided to the reader the story runs at breakneck speed jumping from one setting to the next. While modern comics have adopted a more theatrical aesthetic with wide encompassing establishment shots, including running monologues and emotionally charged dialogue. The complete opposite is true for ‘Steel Nation.’ Shooter and Nichols use a variety of techniques to bring to the reader a voluminous story in just 4 short issues.
One of the first things to grip you as a reader is the panel layout within these “Magnus” issues. Tight and focused, each page is divided into a 1/3rd grid. As such, while the number of panels within the page can range from 5 to 9, the vast majority are 9-panel pages. The minimization of gratuitous splash pages or overly fanciful panel boarders allows the team to present the maximum amount of content on each page. In fact, the story almost reads like a serial comic, with short heavy busts of action every few pages. Additionally, the dialogue quantity is voluminous, with the only respite being the wonderfully choreographed action beats. While this causes the characters to suffer from heavy doses of exposition, it is a necessary aspect to maintain the pace with so little background information. Ultimately ‘Steel Nation’ feels more akin to a multi-part story told in a “2000 A.D. Future Shock” style than anything else. Tight, focused and teeming with information, it is the recipe for a wonderful action storyline.
The true unifying force that maintains the continuity of the issues are Nichols’ pencils. His line work is incredibly tight, which brings out the detail considering the vast amount of smaller panels being used. One can appreciate the subtle emotional characteristics that he provides the robots, allowing them an opportunity to emote their intentions while still maintaining a uniformed industrial aesthetic. Nichols is able to take the principal design style of Russ Manning’s artwork and modernize it. The net result is partially an evolution of the “Magnus” art style while maintaining a deference to who and what made it great in the first place.
A small side note on the artwork that is indistinctly enjoyable is its influence over other media. While probably more attributed to Manning’s original works than Nichols or Paris Cullins (who penciled issue #0), it is impossible to ignore how the robot design and future aesthetic has been used in pop culture. Of particular note would be the TV series “Futurama.” Robots within the series all bare remarkable resemblances to those found in “Magnus” comics, from the keg style torso’s to the slinky like appendages. Most enjoyable though is the “Futurama” character Captain Zapp Branigan, who sports a Magnus like tunic in a similar rose hue with his iconic black belt. His characterization though is a direct parody of Magnus. While both have unfettered confidence, Magnus’ almost surefire ability to do what is right is directly opposed by Branigan’s ability to screw up.
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As wonderful as the series is though we would be amiss to not point out some of its shortcomings, nitpicky that they may be. One small issue that stems from the storyline’s breakneck speed is that it causes a character’s change of mind to seem impulsive. While Magnus is clearly torn between doing what’s right, what was taught to him by his father 1-A, and what the human populace expects from him; he tends to change his mind rather suddenly. The ebb and flow from his decisions ultimately add to the storyline, but at that moment he comes across as wishy washy. He seemingly goes from supporting the robot cause in one page to taking up arms against them a few pages later, and then back again. While Shooter does his best to show the external factors that are pressing him in these various directions, “Magnus” still feels a bit directionless at times.
The biggest deterrent to the storyline though are the Gophs. Particularly the Goph Ezly. While there is nothing inherently wrong with her character, she speaks in a strange broken English. Her speech pattern is full of Goph specific dialect. Plus, she constantly refers to herself in the third person. During panels where her contributions are minimal it is easy enough to understand. However, as she speaks more and more it turns into something akin to Jar Jar Binks. Luckily her role is small, so it doesn’t end up being too significant of a deterrent.
By the time one reaches the end of ‘Steel Nation’ it is almost impossible not to understand why the character was one of Jim Shooter’s favorites. “Magnus” is quite simply an exhilarating read. It’s a fast paced story whose disregard for destruction is overshadowed by a man coming to terms with who he was brought up to be and what he truly believes. It’s easy to see why “Magnus” has been so influential to the sci-fi robot lore throughout the past 50-years.
Coming up Next:
We check in on Phil Seleski and see how he’s handling his new powers. Take a peek at “Solar, Man of the Atom” #5-7 ‘First Strike,’ as Solar comes face to face with some of the most horrific villains in all comics, the Spider-Aliens. It’ll be Solar, Spider-Aliens, X-O armor and a giant space battle as we dive deep into VALIANT and ‘Unity.’
