X-Men #112 (Aug 78): Magneto Triumphant!
Creative Team: Chris Claremont, author; John Byrne, penciler; Terry Austin, inker; Bruce Patterson, letterer; M. Titus; colorist; J. Shooter, editor
Starting Line Up: Cyclops, Pheonix, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Banshee, Storm, Colossus
Guest Star: Beast
Synopsis: The X-Men are face to face with Magento in a circus trailor. Wolervine wants go at it then and there, but Cyclops orders the X-Men to retreat; Nightcrawler to scout ahead. He teleports outside, and screams. Colossus busts down the trailor door and finds Nightcrawler hanging off the steps, as the trailor is now miles above the Earth. Wolverine again tries to go after Magneto, but Cyclops restrains him. If Magneto should be distracted or defeated, the trailor will plummet and they'll die. Magneto explains he went looking for the X-Men at the mansion the same time Beast did, and followed Beast to the carnival. As the trailor flies over the Andes, Magneto ejects Mesmero. He guides him down so Mesmero won't die, but still hurt. Magneto then guides the trailor to Antarcitca and, creating a magnetic force bubble around the trailor, into an active volcano, and deep inside to a giant underground base. Once they land, the X-Men immediately launch into an attack. Again, the X-Men are unable to get anywhere against Magneto. They continue to attack as individuals, not a team. Magneto again uses Colossus and Wolverine as weapons against the other X-Men. Magneto tries to cover Banshee in iron filling again, but Banshee scream disrupts their formation. Magneto warps his scream right back at him, however. Pheonix finally goes on the attack, but her immense cosmic powers suddenly plateau, and she's not strong enough to defeat Magneto. Finally, all of the X-Men are defeated. But Magento doesn't want them dead. As revenge for the humiliation being turned into an infant, Magneto wants the X-Men to live as infants. He has them straped with collars that not only inhibit their mutant powers, but prevent from even speaking coherently and limit their motor skills. He then introduces them to a robotic nanny that will take care of them and treat them like infants until their dying days.
Yeah, but is it good? Magneto totally kicks ass. This is why he's my favorite villain of all time. Either he's fighting for what he believes him, even if others think it's wrong, or he's getting revenge and not killing, because that's too easy. Making the X-Men suffer by living as infants is just pure evil genius. While not an all time super great issue, I still cannot think of anything negative to say. Well... I guess... It wasn't the X-Men who turned Magneto into an infant. It was his own creation, Alpha. I never read the story, so maybe there's information I just don't have (which I can get when the finally release those Defenders reprints).
Significata: Magneto finally gets his revenge for turned into an infant. He introduces nanny to take care of the infant like X-Men. Magneto's sub-Antartic base is shown for the first time. The X-Men continue to lose major battles by not working as a team. The X-Men comic goes monthly after this issue.
