The Age of Apocalypse hit our local comic stores in 1995. I was 22 years old and the worst version of myself I could be. BUT… I was old enough to know that this “things will never be the same” event was indeed going to wind up with things being the same.
We had a few changes, mainly a Dark Beast who annoyed us for the next two decades. Sabertooth was sort of good for a few minutes thanks to his Logan-administered lobotomy. Truth be told, that was one of the storylines I was the most excited to see return. The “last” issue of Wolverine ended with him popping his middle claw through Creed’s noggin.
That following month, the title was replaced with Weapon X.
However, while I was waiting for that story to finish, something odd happened. I found myself loving this new reality.
As I said, I was older and knew that eventually, this would be righted in any number of ways. Yet seeing the X-characters I’d grown to love over the years altered (some slightly, some were seismic shifts) was just enough to keep my curiosity piqued.
If you want to go down this particular rabbit hole, you can start here.
For a 30,000 foot view, here’s what happened:
Xavier’s nutbag son David (Legion) goes back in time because he realizes he could have probably been in more father/son three-legged races if Magneto was never around to crap on his dad’s dream constantly.
When perennial eff up Legion arrives he accidentally kills his own father (Charles Xavier) when Chuck tosses himself in front of Magneto to save him.
Apocalypse vies for power a decade earlier, and most of North America becomes one big culling factory. Erik (Magneto) (Magnus) (Max Eisenhardt) Lehnsherr takes Charles’ sacrifice to heart and forms The X-Men in his deceased friend’s name.
Hilarity ensues.
I have both Age of Apocalypse Marvel Legends wave, but those were all in anticipation of one thing… displaying them all next to my then preordered Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure.
If you know me at all, you know I am a big fan of when the bad guys have to be good. Something about the ruthlessness when they deliver that “good.” Namor, Thanos, Magneto, Luthor, Deathstroke, Braniac… when forced to fight on the side of the angels, they do it with the devil as their shepherd.
Yet, the Age of Apocalypse Magneto was a more gentle soul than we had seen in any version of him prior to “Joseph” and the current House of X storyline. That does not detract from the strength of this story and lest we forget, one of the primary artists on the main AoA titles was Joe Madureira. A fresh face at the time that merged Manga and American comic art in a seemingly flawless delivery of fantasy.
What comes in the Age of Apocalypse Magneto box?
We get the Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure.
Mafex gave us three unique headsculpts. There is a non-helmeted version (my favorite for the figure).
A helmeted look.
Finally, another helmeted sculpt, but the face is all black with white eyes. What you’d see in a dark comic panel.
There is a standalone helmet. I know it’s dumb, but given that Hasbro can’t be bothered, I like having this as an option.
Thre are five sets of hands.
There is a set of fists.
A set of widely splayed hands.
A set of less widely splayed hands.
A set of neutral hands.
The last set are these really cool effect pieces, brimming with what I assume is magnetic energy.
The Age of Apocalypse Magneto comes with a wired cape.
The last item is the Mafex stand. Again, the best stand on the market for 1:12 figures in my opinion.
What doesn’t work with the Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure?
The Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure suffers from the principal ailment a lot of Mafex figures seem to struggle with… the joints are not quite tight enough.
Like, they aren’t floppy or anything, but they also bend if the heater kicks on and blows on them.
Due to the sculpted hair (not a complaint, it had to be that way), the head has almost no up and down movement.
Minimal complaints, really.
What works with the Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure?
With the exception of the aforementioned up/down movement, his articulation is great. Magento is not a character I view as very “bendy” (as opposed to a Spider-Man, Dick Grayson, Deadpool, etc), so the articulation really delivers for this character.
The colors pop on the outfit (and I am very much looking forward to their 616 (when I wrote this, it was still the 616) Magneto release).
The hands stay on with no issues, and I never felt like I was going to snap a peg when I was swapping them out.
The effect piece hands are extremely welcomed. I love things like that. Would have enjoyed seeing a similar effect that the Mezco Magento has with the gun being disassembled.
The headsculpts capture the compassion of the character in the comics as well as his strength.
As with a lot of Mafex releases of late, this one is superior to its Hasbro counterpart in every way. Take a look:
Should you purchase the Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure?
This is a Mafex figure. They are not cheap. My recommendations are always under the assumption the person reading them isn’t a lunatic.
If I say “Yes, you should buy this figure or you’ll regret it” I don’t mean, “Don’t pay for rent or your kid’s insulin.”
That disclaimer out of the way, yes, this is a fantastic representation of a very specific era of comics. The big plus of all of this is I found out they revisited the AoA in 2015 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release.
Of course in true modern comic form, they removed the happy ending, and instead of it being a thing that happened and then went away forever, it now *sigh* has its own earth. Additionally, the Age of Apocalpyse had its own chunk of the planet carved out for itself during Hickman’s Secret Wars storyline.
If you’re interested, you can still grab him here:
Because I’m so awesome, here are a few more pictures for your viewing enjoyment!
