Magneto Has Cool Outfits
I couldn’t think of a better title
Look. I’m on vacation this week, so my brain isn’t too keen on working too hard at the moment. The best I can do is, “Aren’t these costumes neat?” With that said, I did set some criteria for myself on how to separate them. The first section will be interesting one-off costumes that popped up in main continuity (Earth-616 stuff). The second section will be costumes worn by Magneto in the main continuity that have spanned multiple comic books and series. I thought about doing alternate universe versions of Magneto as well, but that would almost certainly go over Substack’s limit. I would also like to note that I will definitely forget some. Feel free to post in the comments section how betrayed you feel that I left off your favorite. Without further ado, let’s look at the wardrobe of the Master of Magnetism.
The One-Offs
Standing Trial Magneto
Obviously I had to lead with this one from Uncanny X-Men #200 drawn by John Romita, Jr. Just look at it. This is the outfit Magneto chose to wear to his own trial. Clearly this is a man with supreme confidence. All eyes are on you, so you’re going to bust out a purple shirt with no sleeves and a giant ‘M’ on the front along with a purple cape. No jury would ever convict such a man.
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Magneto
This one is extremely close to his original costume, but it has a fancier cape with a large metal clasp on the front. This was drawn by Brent Anderson in the classic X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel. Not a whole lot to say about this one other than it’s a little change of pace.
Battle Armor Magneto
Sometimes a helmet and a cape just aren’t enough. When you’re going up against the toughest of adversaries you need to don some battle armor. Such was the case in X-Men Blue #25 by Cullen Bunn and Jorge Molina when Magneto had to fight *checks notes* Havok. Hmm. Fair enough. To be fair, Magneto had to assemble this costume from metal that was nearby because he was caught without a costume. Regardless of the reason, it looks pretty badass.
Hellfire Gala 2021 Magneto
This is what Erik chose to wear to the biggest party of the year (designed by Valerio Schiti). My only complaint is that gold has never been a color he has worn. I think purple would have worked better.
New X-Men Magneto
Okay. I know what you’re going to say. The Magneto who appears in New X-Men from Grant Morrison and Phil Jimenez was later retconned to actually be Xorn impersonating Magneto while incredibly high on a drug synthesized from a sentient bacteria hellbent on ruling the world, so this technically isn’t a Magneto costume. To that I say he was supposed to be Magneto when the story was written, so I’m totally counting it. It’s a pretty cool look too. Very similar to his original costume but with some modern sensibilities. It more closely resembles the costume from the first couple live action movies which would have been fairly recent when this was published, so it makes sense to take some inspiration from them.
Nazi Hunter Magneto
This is easily the most simplistic costume Magneto has worn. Drawn by John Bolton (not the war criminal), it’s just Magneto in a purple jumpsuit. I only include it because this is what Magneto wore in Classic X-Men #19 while he was hunting down Nazis hiding out in South America. That objectively rules, so it had to be included.
Creator Magneto
They can’t all be winners. This was the outfit Magneto wore while he was calling himself “The Creator” and creating a genetically altered race of “mutates” to serve him while living in the Savage Land. Neal Adams did his best with what he was given while drawing it. It’s a baffling costume with an equally baffling portrayal of the character. Honestly the less said about this particular era the better.
Eve of Destruction Magneto
There was a period of time when Magneto ruled over the nation of Genosha, and this was the costume he wore in the final story arc (titled “Eve of Destruction”) by Scott Lobdell before Grant Morrison would take over as the chief writer of the flagship book in the X-Men line in 2001. I’m not entirely sure why the decision was made to give Magneto a new look right before a new creative team took over, but c’est la vie. It’s a bit over designed with some unnecessary maroon boots and gauntlets in my opinion, but I like the extensive use of purple. It’s fine.
That’s enough of the appetizers. Let’s get to the main course.
The Main Wardrobe
Classic Red and Purple Magneto
The original Jack Kirby design from all the way back in 1963 is timeless and has endured all the way to present day. The Teutonic inspired helmet, the red and purple color scheme, and the fabulous cape can all be attributed to the King. This is what most people picture when thinking about Magneto.
White Costume Magneto
The current default Magneto costume might be my personal favorite. Initially debuting in 2013’s Uncanny X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo, it’s an all white costume with some black accents and a red belt buckle. Originally sleeveless, Pepe Larraz added sleeves when he and Jonathan Hickman launched House of X in 2019. Though he alternates between multiple costumes in the current comics, the white ensemble seems to be his default look when handling Krakoan state affairs.
Black Costume Magneto
This costume first popped up in the Magneto series from Cullen Bunn and Gabriel Walta in 2014. It was a makeshift costume he assembled in the first issue, but it has begun popping up in the current comics as well. My personal favorite variation is when he adds the black trench coat, but it still looks great with a traditional cape. He seems to bust this one out these days when he’s feeling especially ruthless.
Leader of the X-Men Magneto
The last of the regularly worn costumes, Magneto first donned this outfit as leader of the X-Men in 2016’s Uncanny X-Men by Cullen Bunn and Greg Land. He continued to wear it in X-Men Blue (also written by Bunn) when he served as mentor to the original five X-Men who had jumped forward in time from 1963 to present day. This one has an interesting color scheme. It’s a mostly black suit and helmet with red gloves and accents and a purple cape. It’s a solid look, but I prefer the other three regular ensembles in his wardrobe. I think that is likely the case for current creative teams as well since it is the only one of the four not to make an appearance in the current era of comics.
There you have it. Magneto in all his fashionista glory. As I alluded to earlier, the current white costume is my personal favorite with the traditional red and purple look being a very close second. Did I cover your favorite? Any that I missed? Let me know in the comments!
Magneto is one of my favourite characters, thanks in part to reading X-Men in the order it was intended-- skipping everything before Claremont, then picking up the UK reprint issues around the time the Joseph stuff was happening (when I was old enough to pick up monthly comics myself).
The white costume absolutely slaps, and the Bachalo helmet always looks good. I have a minor verisimilitude issue with him looking that ripped at that age with that consistency, but Mutant Alpha, Fabian Cortez, all sorts of genetic to-ing and thro-ing, I have no issue really. Those arms though.
Anyway:
Ambient Magnetic Fields. Magneto was right. "You have new gods now." "And so the Seat of Loss takes command." The Hour of Magneto.
A legend.
It's maybe his most commonly overlooked costume. Very much of its time, but I have a soft spot for it, not least as it represented the character trying to walk a better path.