Seven Years Ago: A bunch of Texas rednecks with guns crowd around a black teenager, but it's not a simple racial incident. The rednecks say the boy's a mutant with the power to explode, and are going to put him down. The boy begs for his life, but the good ol' boys fire anyway. Nothing happens, as the black kid is protected by Erik, who also stops the bullet from leaving the gun. Charles then telepathically sends the rednecks home. The two older mutants promise the boy that he will soon learn to control his gifts.

Six Years Ago: Charles and Erik lead a reporter through the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Mutants in San Francisco. The reporter wants to know about Erik's family's oil connections, but the mutants want only to talk about their manifesto, complaining that the world press has stifled their efforts to get mutants recognized. The reporter notes that people might be right to be afraid of being "replaced" by mutants.

Five Years Ago: Charles and Erik move their students to an island far off the coast of Australia in order to get away from humanity's restrictions. Erik forsees a whole mutant society on the island that will rule the world. Charles checks Erik on that idea, and of course he meant "voluntarily."

Four Years Ago: The black teen, now called "Detonator" and outfitted with a costume, comes to see "Magneto," who is wearing duds of his own. Detonator complains a bit about the mutant names, but Magneto reminds him that it is the name that really describes him, not a name that pays homage to his human ancestors. Magneto wants to know about Professor X's activities, and Detonator relates that he is very popular among the telepaths. He says they're all feeling a little cooped up. Magneto understands, because while Xavier has been building a haven and university, Magneto has really been building an army.

Five Months Later: Charles tells Magneto that he thinks his helmet looks dumb. Magneto doesn't care, since it blocks telepaths from reading his mind. Magneto is enraged that Professor X has been meeting with American and British humans, and leaving Magneto's name out of press releases. Xavier tells Magneto that he's being paranoid.

Three Years Ago: Scarlet Witch finds Magneto on the floor. Magneto angrily relates that Professor X and his followers knocked him out and are trying to escape the Savage Land. Magneto uses his powers to locate them, then sends a shaft of metal flying through the air. It impales Charles, leaving him seriously wounded.

One Week Later: Magneto prepares his Brotherhood for an attack on the human world.

Two Weeks Later: A doctor examines Charles and says he's lucky to be alive.

Three Weeks Later: Detonator walks into the Pentagon and through a metal detector. He laughs at the cops around him - he doesn't need a weapon, he IS a weapon. His eyes begin to glow.

Today: Magneto and his revamped Brotherhood (now including Sabretooth) have arrived at a snowy location, perhaps one of the poles. Magneto agrees that it's better than the desert and more practical than space, but he needs to check out the local magnetic fields before settling in. Sabretooth notes that Toad was worried that Magneto had gone soft and wouldn't avenge himself on Xavier. Magneto spits back that Xavier will suffer greatly for the humiliation he was put through. He believes they are almost ready for their assault on humanity!

Review: Eh, not bad. Again, I would love it if the cover was relevant, but I understand that they are done way in advance due to the need for solicitations. The first scene was a little annoying, because we basically saw it during the Proteus saga. However, as part of the whole issue it's a perfect set up shot.

On the whole, this issue was a pretty good look at the history between Charles and Magneto, something that we've heard about, but never really gotten details on. I think that will be important for the next arc, so it's good that Millar threw this in here, even though it breaks up the story. But with Ultimate War out now, there's enough action going on to keep me happy.

I really enjoyed the way Millar brought out Magneto's anti-human tendencies slowly over the course of time. It was interesting to see how Charles and Erik started off together with real accomplishments, but then split up over time. The one thing missing was what drove Erik over the edge. There had to have been something to push him that far.

It was cool to see Ricky become "Detonator" and to see the construction of the Savage Land and all the other mutants. My question is, what happened to them? Were all of Xavier's supporters killed? Did Detonator die in the Sentinel attack?

Anyway, so I liked the story as the prelude it was meant to be. The art was OK, but not great. Colors and shadows were kind of lacking. Forms were good, and the limited views of the Savage Land were nice. All in all, good prep for the return of Magneto!