Magneto is a fictional character that appears in
American comic books published by Marvel Comics, as well as in a number of television, movie, and videogame adaptations; most often in fiction related to the X-
Men. Created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack
Kirby, Magneto is the X-
Men's first and most famous adversary.
Magneto is a member of a fictional subspecies of humanity known as "mutants", who are born with superhuman abilities. Magneto can generate and manipulate magnetic fields, which gives him
power over metal objects. A Jewish Holocaust survivor, Magneto is driven to protect the mutant race from suffering a similar fate. His role in comics has varied from supervillain to antihero to superhero.
Magneto first appeared in the debut issue of X-
Men in 1963, along with the titular team. Through the decades from the 1960s, Magneto has appeared in several issues of the original X-
Men series, generally known as Uncanny X-
Men, as well as in such spin-offs as X-
Men, Astonishing X-Men, Alpha Flight, Cable, Excalibur, The New Mutants, many X-Men miniseries, and several other Marvel titles. His first solo title was a one-shot special, Magneto: The Twisting of a Soul #0 (September 1993), published when the character returned from a brief absence; it reprinted Magneto-
based stories from Classic X-Men #12 & 19 (August 1987 & March 1988), by writer Chris Claremont and artist
John Bolton.
