I'm trying to pretend that the current MAGNETO WAR isn't happening. Of course, that isn't very productive. In the future, this column might be filled with analyses of the various parts of MAGNETO WAR, and re-examinations of XM #85 (because so many of you don't seem to understand how mediocre and philosophically incompetent that book is). Examining the destruction of Magneto, my favorite character, in minute detail as it were.
But now, I thought it would be interesting to examine the way Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch, Magneto's daughter, descended into a kind of madness and depravity, as portrayed in the infamous John Byrne issues of WEST COAST AVENGERS (or AVENGERS WEST COAST) running between #42 and #62 (with the last few issues of the story-arc completed by Roy and Dann Thomas and Paul Ryan).
First, it should be noted that when this story-arc begins, Wanda is in love with and married to the Vision, a synthezoid who (despite what Byrne has repeatedly insisted) was capable of all the functions of any normal human male. Second, the Vision and Wanda are the proud parents of twin sons, Thomas and William, who were conceived by way of a mix of biology and magic.The first blow to Wanda's happy family life is struck when the Vision is "erased." He is taken apart, put back together, but he no longer has any emotions. Wanda holds up well; she channels her pain into a spirited attempt to get someone to do something about the situation. She is angry, but controlled. She is mostly concerned about her two boys, Thomas and William.
Because of Vision's condition, Wanda is lured to Texas by Jeremiah Random (AWC #47) who offers to help. But, while the Vision is contained, Random kidnaps Wanda, who he really is after. He subjects her to treatment with this black, primordial ooze, and tries to brainwash her. His goal (and the ooze's goal) is the end of Homo sapiens, and the rise of mutants. At this point, Wanda starts finding herself agreeing with her father's worst rantings -- but wait, she is being brainwashed by the ooze.When Wanda and Vision and the Avengers break free from Random, she returns to normal. But Retcon-Man Byrne next reveals that the Vision is not the original Human Torch, implying it was impossible for him to ever have had anatomical working parts. (The Vision, not John Byrne.) This is in AWC #50 and #51 -- important for us because this is when the Scarlet Witch starts to lose it! This is not brainwashing. The widow of the original Torch visits Avengers' mansion, trying to get the Avengers' help, and Wanda lashes out at her. And this is not a usual PMS, or bad-hair-day lashing-out.
Meanwhile, the reader is shown that Immortus is watching all this, but there is no indication he's responsible for Wanda's behavior. In AWC #51, Wanda says some very nice things like: "Human? Why would I want that, husband? Why would any mutant worthy of the name wish to associate herself with humans." Vision answers: "And yet ... you are a mutant, and for years you have gladly associated with the Avengers ... most of whom are human." Wanda answers, "A passing weakness, Vision. Soon I will ... "At which point, Agatha Harkness shows up, and the whole sad, sad adventure begins, wherein Byrne reveals that Thomas and William are the missing fragments of Mephisto's soul. During the first phase of the battle, when Master Pandamonium kidnaps Thomas and William, Wanda is of course, incredibly upset. She has been incredibly upset before, in her life. But this time, as she's yelling at the Avengers for joking around while her babies are missing, and the Wasp tries to calm her down (reminding her that her babies have been vanishing now and again), Wanda socks the Wasp, and shouts. "OH SHUT UP!! Stupid, prattling ineffectual humans! My babies have been stolen! Either help me find them... or GET OUT OF MY WAY!" This is her father's daughter. Wanda was reacting to the stress; and she was falling into the same safe place of power, and feelings of superiority.
Agatha Harkness, (the meddling old witch), then erases Wanda's memory of her sons, supposedly to help her.Next, Wanda is kidnapped yet again, in an FF Annual, and brainwashed again, into becoming one of the brides of Set, apparently, and this time she goes into a catatonic trance. Hank Pym remarks, that she seemed to be bearing up well, under the strain. Now here is where Immortus is shown directly interfering with Wanda. He is the one who put her in the trance.
Magneto also appears in AWC #53, at the beginning. In AWC #54, Wanda is back in a trance-state and Magneto diverts a three-headed beast to attack the quinjet and Wanda, Hank Pym, and Janet are forced to the ground. Magneto spies on Pym, and says he's taking Wanda, but then, he doesn't. Meanwhile Magneto's every thought and move are being watched by Loki! And Loki and everyone else, is being watched by Immortus.In AWC #54, Magneto takes Wanda's California house (with Wanda in it), for a ride in space. Why he didn't do this earlier, like he threatened to -- I don't know.
The important thing for us to consider is -- Magneto interprets Wanda's "almost comatose" state as being the result of her life-tragedies. He seems part-concerned, part-analytical about it. He thinks, "Clearly the time has come for a more direct approach." He puts a hand on her shoulder, and says, "Wanda..." and the scene breaks away. Next thing we know, Wanda is Dark Wanda, and blows away Wonder Man.What caused Wanda's transformation? She says, in AWC #55, that she is indeed powered up, and she loves it! Splash page -- "So this is power! What a pleasing thing it is! How foolish to have so long denied myself its pleasures!" Agatha Harkness says, "... You are not in control of yourself! The tragedies of the past few weeks have unhinged your mind!" So, Harkness, who just previously had been right about everything, knowing the truth behind the twins Thomas and William, who had defeated Mephisto with the help of her familiar, Harkness is now wrong? She knows Wanda better than just about anyone! Furthermore -- Hank Pym has a flashback, and tells us, that Wanda's powers were increasing incredibly, before Magneto got to her. So, the upshot is, Magneto didn't do this to her. He didn't turn her into "Dark Wanda." And, he didn't brainwash her either! Harkness would have caught that.
It's Hank Pym who surmises -- wrongly -- that Magneto is merely playing along with Loki's ACTS OF VENGEANCE scheme in order to "reclaim" Wanda. He's making the assumptiont that (a) Magneto knew about Wanda's condition all along, and (b) that Magneto had no other motive for joining Loki and the group of villains in the ACTS OF VENGEANCE crossover. But the reader knows, Magneto tells us, why he was associating himself with Loki. It was to see what the villains were up to, and to see if anything they did impacted mutant affairs, either positively or negatively. A short time later, however, Magneto's attention is diverted to "reclaim an allegience that is rightfully mine."Magneto finds out about Wanda, and he becomes immediately distracted -- the personal situation takes precedence over the political. But Magneto doesn't do anything to Wanda's mind.
Wanda tells Hank, "My father has returned to my life at just the right moment, Doctor. In the past few weeks I have come to clearly understand the position he has so long held..." And this is true, we've seen her developing this attitude in the comics, before Magneto made contact with her. Magneto merely gives form and direction to what Wanda already is becoming. But Wanda is way more blood-thirsty than he is, at this point.Magneto says he was monitoring the goings-on of the world below, and that's how he found out about Wanda's tragedies. Magneto starts to talk about this -- "...I was able learn of your travails, daughter. The loss of your husband, my grandchildren..." He calls them his "grandchildren" -- which to me is significant. Wanda's answer is even more significant -- "Do not speak of such things, Magneto, it was a time of tempering, a fire in which my steel was reforged and made stronger." This to me, is more proof that Wanda is not just being controlled by Immortus, vis a vis her nasty behavior and attitudes. The power upgrade is helping to ameliorate her pain! It is both a psychological and physical analgesia.
In AWC #60, during that discusssion between Magneto and Pietro, in which Magneto pretends to threaten the world using Wanda's powers, to flush Pietro's true motives into the open, the two make the distinction between (a) the change in Wanda's attitude towards life and people, and (b) her power-up. Magneto identifies the power-up as being "...a mystery even to me." Readers are thus left to conclude that the change in Wanda's attitude is Magneto's doing! But it's not. We have seen her attitude slowly changing, as her powers were increasing! (Whether Byrne intended this or not.)When Wanda, Pietro, and Magneto are transported via Lockjaw's powers (AWC #60), to the faux-Avengers mansion, the Avengers immediately assume Magneto is the main enemy, and warn Wanda to "step away." Wanda makes it perfectly clear that she is their main enemy, but it's unclear just what her philosophy is. Magneto's philosophy, on the other hand, is easily understood! He says, "Keep back, Wanda. These fools do not understand that the dark days are coming ... and I will NOT lose any of my family again!" Wow. And we readers of the X-books know, too, that Magneto is right! The governments of the world have been, and still are, gunning for mutants. As Wanda is suddenly frozen in place, and a voice of control speaks to her -- Magneto has no idea what is going on. He can't do anything -- all his electromagnetic force is sucked away into another dimension when he tries. So, he leaves, abandoning his daughter to her fate.
In the finale of the "Evil Wanda" story-arc, Agatha Harkness confronts Immortus, and explains all -- "I half-sensed your lurking presence behind poor Wanda's misfortunes ... her increased powers... her growing alienation from humanity ... even her objectively nonexistent children." But hey, wait -- Agatha said earlier, she knew that Wanda's attitude problem stemmed from the tragedies of her life! In other words, the power-up was caused by Immortus, but the resultant mental problems -- (Agatha didn't know to link the power-pleasure to the pain) -- were Wanda's own! My explanation -- Agatha Harkness was trying to put words in Immortus' mouth at this point, to clear her precious Wanda of any wrong-doing. But later, Agatha says to the astral-image of Immortus, "You manipulated that poor girl's life for years -- so she would one day learn she had been living a lie ... " And Immortus continues, "...and the resulting TRAUMA would make her, at last, my powerful and indispensible PUPPET!" He says further, "And when her offspring finally vanished forever ... you, dear lady, did me the service of explaining to her how they never truly existed! This was the final straw that turned her into a hard-hearted human-hater ... and thus perfect for my purposes. Magneto's blundering along just then was an annoying, but quite temporary, nuisance ... one which scarcely delayed the implementation of my plan!"In AWC #62, Harkness is just such a witch. The Avengers are all fighting Immortus, and Harkness' spirit-self tries to get Wanda to wake up from the trance. She talks to her telepathically. She asks Wanda to: (a) give up her power that Immortus "bred unnaturally" in her -- which is bull. Immortus is a scientist, and he just unleashed Wanda's full potential, as Wanda herself said earlier. And (b) she shows Wanda a vision of the Vision holding her two babies -- which is just stupid. It's like waving amonia under a person's nose when they've fainted, I know, but Agatha knows perfectly well that she herself erased the memory of those same kids in Wanda's mind, knowing it was the cause of her trauma in the first place! Harkness is really gambling here. And it brings some emotion back to Wanda's face. Harkness says, "...For the first time since her rescue from Magneto..." Say what? Rescue from Magneto? Agatha is already reordering events to suit her own POV.
Agatha then supposedly talks Wanda into giving up her extra power as a token of "love" for the Avengers, who are about to be killed by Immortus -- in other words, her argument isn't just "you must save the Avengers whom you love, wake up Wanda," it is, "Give up the extra power first, and then you will save those whom you love."In the denouement, Wanda gives up the power, the timekeepers whip Immortus' butt, and the Avengers go home.
One final point: How does this fit with subsequent portrayals of the Scarlet Witch? It's interesting, because, as a nexus being Wanda must have untapped raw power. She recently has been shown to manipulate chaos energy, and her potential is unlimited! (Even though her excess power was supposedly zapped at Immortus, immobilizing him, in AWC #62.) In FORCE WORKS, she was shown testing the limits of her powers -- pushing herself -- and getting those headaches. My explanation for the seeming contradiction in AWC #62 is: the extra power that Immortus tried to give her, was her own, but unnaturally and too rapidly produced. Wanda bypassed the headache stage, and went all the way to the insane stage. Just because that power was siphoned off, and zapped at Immortus, doesn't mean Wanda's mutant body, and nexus-being-ness, can't be powered-up again. Wanda herself can do it, if she wants to. But it's a slow, painful process, because, her body isn't made to handle that level of power. In the same way that her father's body can't really handle the strain of all the power he tries to use at one time.
