Re-Reading: Magnus Robot Fighter #5

A week-to-week plan is available for re-reading VALIANT from the beginning...
start anytime, go at your own pace.

Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg

Post Reply

How would you rate this book?

10
2
50%
9
2
50%
8
0
No votes
7
0
No votes
6
0
No votes
5
0
No votes
4
0
No votes
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 4

User avatar
xoken
H.A.R.D.E.R. Corps, with Extra Resistance
H.A.R.D.E.R. Corps, with Extra Resistance
Posts: 1071
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:04 pm
Re-Reading: Magnus Robot Fighter #5

Post by xoken »

I thought we could do a book a day (that way people can read one every day or catch up on weekends), talk about it on its own, in the context of whats next, in regards to what expectations it creates and vote on how good it is. I don't have to be the one that posts everyday. If I miss a day or if someone wants to take over please do

For voting think of your single favourite comic book (not just VALIANT) as the benchmark - thats a 10 - and grade according to that.

Make sure to mention what you like'd about the book, what you didn't, what you wish they would have done, your favourite panels, lines of dialogue, little bits of trivia etc.

Magnus Robot Fighter #5
Image

User avatar
Daniel Jackson
A toast to the return of Valiant!
A toast to the return of Valiant!
Posts: 38007
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:33 pm

Post by Daniel Jackson »

I love the concept of the flip book. What a great way to introduce another character to the Valiant Universe. Rai fits in so well with the future world of Magnus. He is easily my second favorite Valiant character.

User avatar
myron
I do embrace my inner geekdom
I do embrace my inner geekdom
Posts: 16286
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:37 am
Valiant fan since: 1991
Favorite character: Gilad
Favorite title: Pre-Unity Harbinger
Location: watertown, wi

Post by myron »

There is no let down in story directly after steel nation...if anything the tightness of the universe gets even better with the intro of a new character and area of the earth...great stuff.
Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?

User avatar
Todd Luck
Doomed to forever roam the black halls
Doomed to forever roam the black halls
Posts: 4729
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:02 pm
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Post by Todd Luck »

For Magnus this is a much needed breather after the non-stop epic war. Sometimes you just need a bit of time to eat, sleep, and to get to know your new nieghbors. For North Am we get to see the aftermath and we have them come to terms with losing Magnus. And we define Goph culture a bit and give our readers a reason why they deserve have Magnus in their nieghborhood.

Lots of nice little touches here. A privacy treaty between North Am and Japan leaves Magnus in the dark about what to expect and hints that these two nations were on the opposite side of rather large conflict (something mentioned in Mannings run maybe or perhaps an early hint at the Harbinger Wars or something like it?). I always LOVED the line about Gophs must be tough to live in 20th century conditions (Shooter always knew how to put things in context :) ). I just now caught the mention of the exhuasting 30 hour work week Mimsy's men are working :) .

The art work is done by Shooter himself for the Magnus part and isn't as spectacular as Lapham or Nichols (who are top notch artists) but is extremely good none-the-less. I remember picking up an extra copy of this issue last year for 50 cent and reading it since I hadn't had access to my Shooter comics in 2 years. I grinned from ear-to-ear at just the lay out and backgrounds. I really missed that Valiant style of art.

And Rai is absolutely brilliant top-notch stuff in both art, concept, and story. The concept of defending a gaint robot that an entire country lives in was awesome and nothing is cooler than being able to form weapons out of energy.

The dialog between a grumpy old Rai and Grandmother was priceless. There's a great, real world type of conflict going on here between a displaced government and the one currently in power. Having Tohru sympathize with the other side (and be married to it) was brilliant. The conflict between him and Kazayo for the Takashi was powerful stuff (amazing what a zealot she comes off as here, and she ends up being a hero).

Great stuff. A 9 :thumb: .

User avatar
magnusr
I would hang a left...
I would hang a left...
Posts: 9087
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:41 am
Location: Stockholm
Re: Re-Reading: Magnus Robot Fighter #5

Post by magnusr »

When I grew up with comics, they were fun to read. The flip book comes from there. Shooter could keep the fun of the comic book experience and still deliver important stories. There's no contradiction between fun and well written.

The first splash has symbolic meaning to me. Shooter has just spent four (five counting issue 0) issues redefining Magnus' world. Not by tearing anything down, only by asking logical questions and letting the story follow the logical answers.

So here we have a new Magnus in a new world, as shown by Shooter, and it's him himself who shows us the first glimpse from this new world. I've seen this art, color and inks, and to me it defines VALIANT. I have the feeling Jim Shooter is not the person to linger on the past, but I feel that this very first page is a moment for him always to be proud of.

As is the whole story. Again an intelligent story. Even the old cliche of two heroes who fights each-other at their first meeting turns out well executed.

Then as we said, this is a flip book. Two great stories for the price of one. And here as well there's an important splash page. Unfortunately it is not credited correctly, but it is David Lapham and it is one of the most relaxing images I've seen in a comic. As art it's fantastic and as a story-telling element it's complete. In the story we get to know a lot about future Japan, and we follow the complicated relations between Grand-mother, Rai, his father, his wife and their child. Finally we return to the starting image and we have closure.

Both parts are easily strong 9s.

/Magnus

User avatar
magnusr
I would hang a left...
I would hang a left...
Posts: 9087
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:41 am
Location: Stockholm
Re: Re-Reading: Magnus Robot Fighter #5

Post by magnusr »

Seaborn's synopsis (of the Magnus part of the book):
Having eaten a meal at a goph establishment, Magnus finds that his account card has been nullified and he is unable to pay. When the Bouncer-robs attempt to take his tunic as payment, Magnus battles them until he is struck from behind by a Freewill.
Meanwhile, in the milespires, the ambassador from Japan arrives in search of Magnus. He finds that Magnus has forsaken the milespires after disabling the Mainbrain. Without its robot work-force, North Am is descending into chaos. But the ambassador maintains that Magnus has done North Am a great service, and he hopes the Robot Fighter will do the same for Japan.
Back at the goph bar, Magnus is ready to dispatch the robot that struck him, when he realizes that it is a Freewill. He lets the angry robot go, and the bar owner dismisses Magnus’ food charges. The bar dancer, Felina, notices that Magnus’ head-wound is bleeding. So she takes him to her quarters to mend him.
Back at the milespires, President Clane, General Mimsy, and Dr Giardino attempt to decide a course of action against the Freewills without Magnus or the Mainbrain. A new Robot Fighter must be found, and there is a Goph who might fit the bill.
At Felina’s, Magnus sleeps while Felina and the Freewill talk. The Freewill knows that when Felina’s boyfriend returns, there will be trouble. But Felina seems to relish the coming fight. The Freewill is grateful that Magnus spared him earlier. When Magnus awakens, the Freewill warns him that Felina’s boyfriend is the toughest goph of them all and that he’ll be returning soon. And in the goph sector known as Gehenna, Mimsy and her troops search for their Robot Fighter candidate even as Ambassador Tsuda and his contingent search for Magnus.
When Magnus drops by the goph bar to pay for the previous evening’s meal, Felina’s boyfriend, Slagger, is there waiting for him. Slagger blindsides Magnus, and the two battle out into the street. At length, Magnus knocks Slagger down and Felina rushes to her boyfriend’s side. Angered that Slagger never visits except when he’s jealous, Felina walks off in a huff. Only then does Slagger act friendly toward Magnus, explaining that he only attacked Magnus to protect his own reputation. That done, the two can have a friendly drink together. Just then, Mimsy arrives to arrest Magnus. But Slagger and the gophs won’t allow it. To compound the situation, Ambassador Tsuda arrives and offers diplomatic asylum to Magnus if he goes to Japan as a “special advisor”. Seeking to avoid a scene with General Mimsy, Magnus agrees. But only after he’s had a drink or two with his new friend, Slagger.

/Magnus

User avatar
magnusr
I would hang a left...
I would hang a left...
Posts: 9087
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:41 am
Location: Stockholm
Re: Re-Reading: Magnus Robot Fighter #5

Post by magnusr »

Seaborn's synopsis (of the Rai part):

The old Rai, Tohru’s father, is too old to remain Rai. Grandmother brings Tohru to his father where he is told of the coming of Magnus. Reluctantly he accepts the power from his father. He returns to Kazuyo only to discover that she is an Anti-Grannie. After battling her confederates he leaves taking their son with him.

/Magnus


Post Reply