Magnus #3

The "Gold Key Three" from publications outside of the Valiant universe.

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kjjohanson
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Magnus #3

Post by kjjohanson »

I just read the issue yesterday and found something a little odd. I *think* FVL is trying to make a point about gender inclusion, but the way it's being presented is counter-productive.

For example, the point of the Bechtel Test (at least, what it's become recently) is to draw attention to the disparity of interesting roles for women in movies. That a movie passes the Bechtel Test doesn't necessarily make it a good movie. That a movie fails the Bechtel Test doesn't necessarily make it a bad movie. This issue seems to be mocking the idea of gender inclusion with the pointless conversation about a cat.

Second, the idea that violence against women is down in this society seems to suggest that equality between the sexes can only be possible (or will lead to) an oppressive society. I don't think that's what FVL intended, but that's how it came off.

Perhaps we'll find out that the society is not what it appears to be in the first few issues, but right now, I don't have a good feeling about this.
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Baramos
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Re: Magnus #3

Post by Baramos »

Well the opening sequence itself is a tongue-in-cheek joke about it, what with the theme song having the lyrics "Strong female protagonist/Her aggressiveness does not compromise her femininity/Her subjectivity and sexuality exist independent of the male gaze".

I think it's just a joke that some comic books make a very cursory attempt to meet the Bechdel test while ultimately being no more progressive than their fellow comic book ilk. I remember a lot of people talked about the recent New 52 reboot of Batgirl as being an example of something that meets the Bechdel test, but ultimately fails to deliver on a strong female protagonist by having Barbara be utterly terrified of getting shot again and freezing up and letting the bad guy kill someone.

To bring up that kind of satire out of the blue in a comic book that didn't seem to be talking about it all does seem a bit odd, though. If they had been making a lot more social satire references in the first two issues it'd be one thing but there's not much there at all, just the Frederick Douglass thing and the idea that NorthAm has sacrificed freedom for safety (though, on the other hand, they have yet to establish the downsides, although only 1.5 million humans in all of North Am seems to imply a mass extinction). The only real reference to anything in pop culture so far is to the three laws from I, Robot being for humans in this robot-ruled universe and of course, H8R the black robot.

H8R seems to be riding the line between being a tongue-in-cheek reference to buddy cop dramas and something offensive. But at least he's got nothing on Michael Bay's use of black robots.

I think since this issue shows the robots have their own religion and so on, that we're going to see more and more social satire in this book going forward.

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The Dirt Gang
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Re: Magnus #3

Post by The Dirt Gang »

Magnus is the series I'm most interested in but I don't think I like the sound of this. I don't want satire with Magnus. I don't might social commentary but I want it to be handled in a serious manner like Magnus: Steel Nation.
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