Earlier this year Marvel Comics announced that fan-favorite artist John Romita Jr. would be returning to the House of Ideas and now his talents are already being used to tease an upcoming storyline. A simple press release was put out by Marvel teasing a new storyline titled The Trial of Magneto, featuring new promo art by JRJR. The release is only two lines long and reads: “The trial that threatens to divide Mutantkind. Stay tuned next week for more information about THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO, coming in August!” No other details about the story or why Magneto would be on trial (again) were released.
We can perhaps make some educated guesses about how the X-Men titles from Marvel will get to this storyline based on what we know is coming this summer in the books. Kicking off in June will be the Hellfire Gala, a twelve-issue event that will crossover across the many X-Books and introduce a brand new X-Men team in the flagship series. Russell Dauterman (Giant-Size X-Men, The Mighty Thor, War of the Realms) designed new outfits for the highest-profile mutants in the Marvel universe, drawing equally from the fashion world and X-Men history.
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So what does this have to do with the Trial of Magneto? The teaser art shows Magneto in an alternate black version of his costume with a pair of train tracks crumbling under his powers, but considering the larger bonding experience Magneto and all other mutants have had since establishing Krakoa it would be surprising to see him make yet another heel turn. Magneto also sits on The Quiet Council of Krakoa who previously sentenced Sabretooth to an eternal prison sentence deep inside the island, which begs the question of what an actual trial of Magneto might look like and what his punishment could be if he’s found guilty.
As for Romita Jr. it’s unclear what his involvement might be but based on the wording of the art above, he might just be helping to tease everything.
“I have been very fortunate more than a few times in my life, and now I can add this latest event to that list. I have returned to Marvel, the company that I started my career in, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!” Romita said previously in a press release. “I am literally, at this very moment, working on my next big Marvel project, and it’s a blast!!! I am JUST as excited as I was when I first started, and I will do my best to let the work show that again. I hope fans will see that too!”
