#Hack Pack

[notes-from-sarah]

When Magneto became Romani

These three pages were included in an X-Men anthology book titled Magneto #0, The Twisting of a Soul by Fabian Nicieza. It was published in 1993 and seems to be the first, or even only place where Magneto's Sinti background is mentioned. This issue is comprised of two short stories about Magneto's background written by Chris Claremont in the 1980's, plus these three additional pages which contradict everything previously written on Magneto's backstory. Unlike the DC universe, Marvel's mainline books are all in the same continuity since the beginning of Marvel Comics in the 60's. Every writer must follow what is established by the ones before. Of course, retcons will happen from time to time, but that's the idea in general. These three pages represent an almost whole-cloth retcon of everything written about Magneto's backstory to this point. For almost 17 years ('75-91), Chris Claremont developed a well defined backstory for Magneto, some of which is included in the very volume that these three pages come from, and Nicieza ignores all of it.

(Content warning for a word that is often considered a slur against the Romani people, I am quoting directly from the text)

Let's examine some of Nicieza's claims:

Pg 1 - "The man who would become Magneto was born Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, to a gypsy family of Sinte desent"

Fact: Magneto is Jewish, which goes completely unmentioned here, and has never before been suggested to be Sinti. I don't know why this author decided to erase his Jewish background and make him Sinti, but nowhere does Nicieza say anything about Magneto's Jewishness, instead casting him solely as Sinti, born to a Sinti family. The illustration even shows him with two pierced ears, an open shirt and a scarf around his neck to drive home the stereotypical "Romani" look.

Also, many Romani people are religiously Catholic/christian.

Pg 2 - "After Danzig was annexed to Nazi Germany in 1939, the young man then named Erik -- along with thousands of other gypsies -- was shifted to a work camp in the city of Auschwitz. We all know what happened then. It is -- or should be -- indelibly branded on our collective consciousness. Genocide. Extermination. Not only of the Jewish race. But also of the Poles, the gypsies, the homosexuals, the intellectuals. Anyone the 'Master Race' felt was disposable... Lehnsherr lost his parents and sister during his imprisonment at Auschwitz."

Fact: Magneto's sister and parents were murdered outside of their town/village by the Nazi Death Squads called the Einsatzgruppen. Magneto was the only member of his family sent to Auschwitz, the rest were murdered and buried in a mass grave.

Additionally, while many groups suffered under the Nazi regime, the genocide of the Jews was specific, deliberate, and at a scale not experienced by the other groups mentioned. For more information, read up on The Final Solution. There was also never a specific attempt to murder all Poles, that's just a lazy attempt to universalize something that was not universally experienced. People can suffer in different ways and it's a disservice to their stories if you attempt to blend them all into one homogeneity.

Also, why use the term "work camp" instead of calling it what it was? It was a Nazi death camp, no need to say it nicely.

Pg 2 - "But he gained something in the liberation of the camp in 1945, as well. He gained hope in the form of a wife, a woman named Magda. In 1946, they took up residence in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa... where Magda, gave birth to a daughter they named Anya."

Fact: Magda gave birth to Anya in a small village in the Polish Carpathians. Magneto, Magda and Anya lived in that village for some time, most likely 3-6 years, before moving to Vinnitsa.

Additionally, Magneto was around 15ish in 1945, while nothing disputes this claim directly, I'm not sure he was married at 15 years old.

Pg 2 - "But Lehnsherr had learned something else about himself in Auschwitz, something which was becoming more apparent and more frightening to him everyday -- he learned he was a mutant"

Fact: Magneto didn't discover his powers until he was in Vinnitsa. He didn't have a name for it or consider himself a mutant till much later.

Pg 2 - "When Anya was tragically killed in an arsonist's fire, Lehnsherr lashed out at the villagers who refused to help save her"

Fact: Magneto was prevented from saving his daughter by secret police who were trying to arrest him for an earlier altercation he'd had with someone. He did not "lash out" just because nobody would help, he lashed out because his daughter burned to death in front of him while he was actively being restrained and prevented from helping her.

Also, it's never mentioned that it's an arson attack that caused the fire. I don't know where Nicieza is getting this.

Pg 2 - "In his misery, in his loneliness, he went to Israel -- to save his own soul. He chose to work with survivors of the camps, and in turn, helped them regain theirs."

Fact: Magneto went to Israel because he was Jewish and he had nothing left after Magda left and his daughter died. He helped other concentration camp survivors because he knew what they had been through and could help them.

Also, why is this author having such a hard time calling a concentration camp a concentration camp?

For further information on his time in Israel, read Uncanny X-Men #161 by Chris Claremont.

Pg 3 - "Lehnsherr had taken to calling himself Magnus... as if by choosing his middle name, he could bring some semblance of balance and simplicity to his haunted life."

Fact: Magnus was the only name Magneto was ever given. There was never any suggestion that he was hiding his "real" name when going by Magnus and he is referred to solely by Magnus or Magneto throughout the books. I don't know why he suddenly needed a new name in the 90's but Magneto's name was Magnus for more than a decade.

Pg 3 - "I can separate Magnus the man from Magneto the Mutant Crusader. And please note my choice of words, for I have valid reasons to label Magneto Crusader and not Dictator."

Fact: Crusader is such a loaded Christian term, it's very strange for an Israeli Jewish woman to use it about another Jewish person.

Final thoughts: I'm not against comics taking a character in a new direction or developing them in some new way. What I don't understand is why Nicieza decided to rewrite Magneto's backstory so that he would be Sinti instead of Jewish, so that the chronicle of events in his life would happen in a completely different way, and why he literally ignored all the pages that came before the three he wrote in the same issue!

If you like Magneto as Sinti, that's awesome! It has the potential to be a really cool backstory for a reboot of the character, but also remember for nearly 20 years, Magneto was Jewish and it's not wrong for that version of the character to exist without the Sinti addition. I'll also note that the current version of the Character, the Max Eisenhardt version, is also not Romani. It's one of those things that has been done and undone a few times, much like everything about the character since the Claremont era.

Also, this post should in no way be interpreted as me downplaying the suffering of the Romani people during the Holocaust. Their stories deserve to be told and characters ought to be created to respectfully tell that part of the story. What happened to the Romani people was tragic and should not be forgotten. It also deserves to be told in a more thorough and respectful way than just taking an existing character, changing one or two bits of info about him and saying that's good enough. Nowhere does this Sinti background have any meaning for Magneto, it seems more like a random fact someone added because they were bored of him being Jewish. Magneto's Jewishness has meaning for him as written by Chris Claremont, whereas Nicieza and other writers in the 90's makes no mention of the Sinti background having any influence on the character. It has no effect on his life and seems to be a change made for the sake of it. Both Sinti and Jewish characters deserve better than that.

To read more about how Magneto has been portrayed in comics read my Magneto Biographical Timeline covering the years 1963-1991.

[sonichedgeblog]

'Giovanni's Level Pack 2' (Hack) by giovanni.gen Play through 2 giant stages, with red rings to collect. Each stage has multiple exits! https://shc.zone/entries/contest2024/972 Support us on Patreon

[ikiiky]

Last summer I saw a tsitp commercial with Back To December, NOW I SEE A FCKING IT ENDS WITH US BY COLLEEN SHITTER WITH MY TEARS RICOCHET WTF

[kindahoping4forever]

Calum @ The 5SOS Show Tour Rio de Janeiro - 23 July 2023

[thatsbelievable]

[ovisiphorus]

Treating individuals, who are NOT doing shit to harm you, as effigies and proxies in The Gender War is stupid. Why do people (of all kinds, mind you) choose so often to single out trans mascs/men in their “friend groups” as the avatar for patriarchy? It’s not cute nor is it affirming! It’s transphobic and completely ignoring the relationship we ACTUALLY have in real life realistically to patriarchy. It’s actively harmful and dangerous.

You don’t fucking become a 6.5 ft cis white man the moment you realize you’re not a cis woman…

[a-problematic-writer]

If I seem like I'm not writing much, it's because I'm not. I've hit another low point in my journey with writing. It's a chore again. "I'm not as good as everyone else, my work has no rereadability, if it is even readable" kind of rut. I'm sure I'll kick it but for now, I just feel like I'm wasting energy on writing.

[craftyladybug]

DIY earrings travel organiser

[ritzyperry]

just found out that some people apparently think milo murphy's law is transmisogynistic, perry is bad ace rep because he's ace as the "safe" option for queer rep, dan and swampy are bigots who shoehorn all of their queerphobic rhetoric into all of their media, and that phineas and ferb was a bigot's paradise all along... it's joever

[thecoolblackwaves]

Suddenly moving in like 3 weeks 😰 if anyone has any sort of advice for packing and transporting (only like 15 miles thankfully) it would be much appreciated

[sieglinde-freud]

hd nyx… oh i love u girl…….

[physical-media-enthusiast]

ADHD Hack: Fanny Packs

No pockets? Pockets too small? Constantly losing your shit (mentally and physically) all the time? Well fear no longer, because I have a potential solution. The motherfucking fanny pack!!

Just grab one of those bad boys and put small, easy-to-lose shit that you carry with you in it!

What I carry in mine:

Lip balm

Smartphone

Flip phone

IDs and stuff

Bus fare

Dice

Emergency medication

Keys

Pens

Cool rocks

Forbidden artifacts

Wireless earbuds and case

Little snacks

[sonichedgeblog]

'Spyro Triple Pack' (SADX Mod) by Jesus_PK Brings Town Square, Gnorc Cave & Tree Tops from 'Spyro' to 'Sonic Adventure', replacing respective stages, and playable with multiple characters! https://shc.zone/entries/contest2023/894

[nyarlylicious]

All my old followers should know about my horrid collecting habits, but to my new followers: Hello! I wanted to post my new and improved .hack collection once the 20th ani merch arrived—So, here it is!

My last update on this shelf was about 4 months ago, where it was still cramped in this tiny cubby I had. I got a lot more added to it, and a lot of that is thanks to @dorkova for gifting me some stuff, including those CC2 shop cards (Which I adore, thank you so much ;-;)

I have one other thing that's on its way here, but to not jinx it's arrival I'll just wait to post about it until it's safely in my possession. Edit: He's here.

ALSO, putting a slight pin on this for future dates: I did buy all the Set B standees and while I'm giving away a few to my friend as a thank you gift, I might end up selling the rest. I'm holding onto them for now, untouched, as I continue to consume the rest of this series. If I end up not liking these characters enough to keep, I'll probably sell them and make a post about it checking for interest.

[riverofrainbows]

Watching copaganda shows really makes you appreciate your rights just so much more. Right now they're investigating some guy on a hunch from one fbi agent, illegally, hacking his personal information and violating soo many laws because one of the fbi guys had a dream and he just decided to do this, off the books, and his colleagues of course supported him both personally and with government resources. And of course, because it's a copaganda show, they were right in the hunch, and uncovered the details of a heinous crime. But all i can see is some cop investigating a random person because he found them a target of his bigotry (and i know this already blatantly happens with people getting picked up for ""loitering"' etc and worse). But copaganda shows really do try to sell you that as good and righteous, and it makes me feel like I'm being gaslighted by a clown that is trying to convince me that rights are overrated.

[zzoupz]

haha sure I can live with no online transaction for a year why not

*ice nine kills merch dropped*