It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another new edition of Kickin’ It Old School, our weekly column in which we look to the past and review books from the original Valiant universe! This week, I’ll be discussing Magnus Robot Fighter #14
Magnus Robot Fighter #14
Published in July 1992
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Ernie Colon
Synopsis:
Magnus arrives at the asylum on Phobos to find chaos. Guard robots are trying to control the failed attempts at creating a robot fighter, who are all off their rockers. One of the failures, Cooshie, reports to the Maker, who turns out to be the Grand One (Grandmother and 1-A’s merged self), of Magnus’ arrival. Once she departs, we find out that Grand One is planning on gassing all of the inhabitants of the asylum to destroy 1-A’s mistakes once and for all. Izac, the most cognizant of the inhabitants of the asylum, has been leading the rebellion and helps Magnus understand, as well as giving him a device to use to defeat the impenetrable guard robots.
Grand One finds out from another snitch, Cordik, the fact that Magnus has received help and the robot guards can’t keep him out of her chamber. She advises him to lead an inmate rebellion against Magnus, which works to subdue him and destroy his key to entry. Seeing this, Izac slips into Grand One’s chamber and opens the door so Magnus can get in and stop Grand One from murdering all the humans. Magnus is forced to defeat Grand One. His maker defeated, he promises to help the inhabitants after needing some time to himself.
Review:
This is even better than the last issue! I was very intrigued to see what Magnus would find when he arrived at the asylum, but I didn’t expect to see a showdown with Grand One this quickly. I think this was a great step for the book to take. Everything that bound Magnus to his old way of life is now gone and he can act on what he thinks is right rather than on what he feels it’s his duty to do. This arc makes Magnus feel much more like a scifi title, which suits it much better. Ernie Colon’s fully painted art is fantastic. Seeing the differences between all of the failed robot fighters adds more variety to the previously fairly homogenous book. I’m excited to see the conclusion of this arc, but even more curious to see what lies beyond!
Originally from ValiantCentral.com
Nice review, bro. Loved Magnus back at this time.
Were I better with words when it comes to describing emotions I could adequately share the feeling of reading Magnus when I was young. Maybe high school has that effect on people, we root for the underdog when feeling under appreciated. To me Robot Fighter was the only one in his world to ‘get it’ when those around him shrunk at the least sign of peril.
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