Asteroid M was scattered over the Middle East, but Magneto was saved by the timely sacrifice of one of his Acolytes. All the other Acolytes of his first band, died. Badly injured, he reached his Antarctic base, and his citadel there, to recover. Once again, he went through a spell of isolation, letting his appearance go unkempt, not knowing which direction to turn. At this time, he saved Charles Xavier's life when he was injured during a blizzard, near my citadel.

A mutant named Exodus now joined the Acolytes. Exodus, a telepath and teleporter, who suffered from psychotic episodes, became, in essence, a catalyst for the return of Magneto's aggressive behavior. He was attempting to create a mutant homeland in space -- a homeland named "Avalon." Using the newly acquired Greymalkin (a space station that once belonged to Cable) as the chassis for his haven Magneto created his Mutant Nation.

When Magneto made his encore, it was a grand one; he returned briefly to Earth during the funeral of Illyana Rasputin, a young former pupil of his who had recently perished of the Legacy Virus. He offered any X-Man who was willing to come under his protection sanctuary on his newly constructed space station Avalon. To everybody's surprise, the disillusioned Colossus accepted. In retaliation for Magneto's attacks, the United Nations initiated the Magneto protocols in defense. These set up an electromagnetic web around the Earth's atmosphere, presumed to negate Magneto's powers. The Master of Magnetism scorned this puny attempts to control him and, in retaliation, unleashed an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which shorted out the entire world for a moment. It also seems to have resulted in thousand of deaths world wide.

In this last battle with the X-Men, Magneto used his powers to extract the adamantium molecules from Wolverine's skeleton, causing him tremendous agony and almost killing him. Infuriated, Xavier used his mental powers to shut down Magneto's mind. For a time the Acolytes cared for Magneto at their orbiting base. At one point his newest band of Acolytes retrieved a curious cocoon from the depths of space. It appears to have housed the dimensionally displaced mutant Holocaust from the AoA arc of stories. On Avalon, Holocaust reawakened and the ensuing fight between he and Exodus destroyed Avalon, plunging the Acolytes, along with the X-Men Cyclops and Phoenix, who had come to help save the Acolytes, to Earth. Colossus saved me and we landed in Antarctica. It was thus that Magneto returned to mother Earth with the destruction of Asteroid M/Avalon, falling once more from the heavens like a fiery comet. It was here, in Antarctica, that Astra found Magneto and healed his mind. As we shall see that wasn't all she did.

For the Master of Magnetism was now supposedly suffering from amnesia, after regaining consciousness in a village in South America. He was cared for by a young nun, Sister Maria, in an orphanage. Magneto awakened as a young man in his early twenties and began calling himself Joseph, the name he was given by Sister Maria. Or so it all seemed. Looking through her books, Sister Maria remembered a group of mutants like him and sent him off to search for the X-Men.

Subsequently, an amnesiac man appeared to the X-Men who called himself Joseph, possessing control over magnetism, and looking as Magneto must have when if he were still in his twenties. He joined the X-Men, who believed him to be Magneto, somehow rejuvenated and reformed. Joseph himself came to believe he was Magneto, until the real Magneto reappeared and began his campaign of terror against the human race anew.

In his search for the X-men, Joseph met with Rogue. She wasn't terribly inclined to believe his admittedly lame amnesiac story and they fought briefly before she finally agreed to help him in his battle against Bastion and Humanity's Last Stand. When the Onslaught crisis took the X-Men unaware, Joseph joined in their battle and effectively became part of the team.

Joseph repeatedly denied remembering his past misdeeds, much to the chagrin and distrust of his fellow X-Men. Very few of the X-Men truly believed him, especially Gambit. Joseph's obvious fascination (and hers with HIM!) with the lovely Rogue also strengthened Gambit's distrust of the newest addition to the Team. The two men came to blows several times.

At one point, the confused and despairing Joseph left in search of the truth about himself in the company of the Israeli freedom fighter Sabra. Unfortunately, he didn't find it.

Magneto, in the mean time, dressed as Eric the Red, put Gambit on trial for his part in the Morlock Massacre.

Moreover, although the X-Men had come to believe that Magneto was really a man named Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, it was revealed that Lehnsherr night be a false identity Magneto had assumed to both ease his search for Magda amongst the insular Gypsy campos and to hide from the Soviet authorities and the KGB in the aftermath of the tragedy of Vinnitsa. A forger named Georg Odekirk (whom Magneto later slew) seems to have provided Magneto with the Lehnsherr identity. Magneto's real identity, apparently, still remains a mystery at this time* (SEE FOOT NOTE). Joseph, it was subsequently discovered, after he sacrificed his life to preserve the Earth's magnetosphere, was not Magneto, after all. He was a clone created by the traitorous Accolyte Astra in an aborted attempt to replace Magneto and control her fellow Acolytes through the hapless clone.

After a few more weeks of preparation, Magneto launched his next offensive: another electromagnetic pulse that began to spread across the globe. Astra returned and had Joseph attack his originator while Magneto was busy controlling the Earth's magnetosphere, which severely disrupted Earth's magnetic field. It was all Magneto could do to keep from becoming pure electromagnetic energy. The untimely intervention of the X-Men distracted him, once more, however, leaving the poor, hapless imitation Joseph to fix the magnetosphere. Magneto was briefly subdued by the X-Men and Joseph was killed.

Before the battle could resume, a U.N. ship landed in the Arctic Circle, and Magneto was offered sovereignty over the island nation of Genosha in return for some security considerations and a promise never to initiate hostilities against the nations of the world. He joyfully accepted, but after everyone else left, he discovered to his horror that his powers were gone, due to fatigue. Cautiously, he recuperated his strength and set about consolidating his political power and regenerating his physical power.

The U.N. had hoped that the civil war would keep the Master of Magnetism to busy to ever threaten Earth again. As the ruler of Genosha, he has, contrary to all expectations, actually succeeded in restoring most of the island to its former glory, the ideal place to live: a high standard of living, an excellent economy led by advanced technology, and ample food and space for all. There are also internment camps for those suffering from the Legacy Virus, unfortunately. No, Genosha isn't perfect ... but it *is* at peace.

Recently opposed by a mutate, the son of the late Genegineer, as well as by his own son Quicksilver and the X-Man Rogue, he defeated the mutate Zealot's forces. Rogue left, but Voght and Magneto manipulated Pietro into staying as a minister in the cabinet, in the hopes that he will learn to be a loyal son.

The future of Genosha and it's Master, Magneto remain to be seen.

*

Ah don't really intend to use this Bio to editorialize ... BUT! Just me moi say that Ah really, really HATE this idea! For a lot of reasons! Not the leat of which is that it puts an entirely different light on his friednship with Charles Xavier (A VERY important facet of the fascinating man known as Magento!) if'n Charles has never really known Magneto's real name! ARRGGH!

Dannell, the po'd!

The Magneto FAQ's! For more information on Magneto, the Holocaust and Magneto's part in it this Page by the incredible Alara Rogers and Rivka Jacobs is a must! Go! Immediately! If not sooner!