Magneto taking charge of Xavier’s school puts his attempt to change into a situation where speeches are not enough. He has to teach, protect, listen and make decisions for child…

Magneto taking charge of Xavier’s school puts his attempt to change into a situation where speeches are not enough. He has to teach, protect, listen and make decisions for children who know what he used to represent. New Mutants #35 establishes the mistrust immediately. He allows the students to confront him in the Danger Room and shows them that he has something to teach. That demonstration can establish competence. Earning their confidence takes considerably more than proving that he is the strongest person in the room. The temporary move to Emma Frost’s school gives him one of his first major failures and opportunities to respond. By #40, he is trying to bring the children back while the Avengers see the familiar threat associated with his name. Restraint matters there. The task is to recover his students, not settle every argument about his past through overwhelming force. His conversation with Illyana in #52 offers another side of the job. He can meet a frightened student on the subject of guilt because he knows what it means to live with actions that cannot simply be erased. There is genuine care in that relationship. There is also an ongoing problem in how he responds to danger. The more frightened he becomes for the students, the more protection can shade into control. Their growing independence collides with his conviction that he understands the risks better than they do. Keeping those sides together is important. Magneto is neither a flawless replacement for Xavier nor a man pretending to care about children he considers disposable. This period shows an adult trying to become their teacher while carrying a history, temperament and set of fears that make the position extraordinarily difficult for him and for the class.