In this issue we meet the New 52 version of the Metal Men. This band of intelligent robots has been a feature of the DC universe for a long time, and has figured prominently in some of its most important books, most notably to my mind Alex Ross's JUSTICE. Here, the robots are yet again the product of the genius of one William Magnus, a top scientist working under the auspices of the US Military. Magnus is obsessed with the 'flaws' of humanity, finding human beings less than suited to run the planet as a whole. He seeks to create a race of perfect beings, without the (to his mind), flaws of human emotion. He seeks a perfected consciousness, a consciousness that is substantive, adaptable, but focused on whatever particular mission it is given.
To that end he creates the responsometer, a device that is dropped in molten metal and reforms it into anthropomorphic robots that contain the 'spirit', if you will, of the metal into which they are submerged. Expecting metal to create true machines, Magnus is shocked to learn that nature is as much spirit as matter, and finds that the beings he created have inherited from the metal personalities, feelings, and will that he neither thought they would, nor sought for them.
You see, Cyborg sought Magnus out so that Magnus could create a new round of metal men for Cyborg to team up with in his battle against the Crime Syndicate (this is a Forever Evil crossover storyline), and Magnus keeps mentioning the 'flaw' in the creatures created by the responsometer. For most of the book we think this is the emotion and the feeling the robots express. The metal men, once they discovered they were going to be used by the US military, escaped from the lab, not wishing to be tools of war. This disobedience, we are led to think, is why Magnus at first refuses to help Cyborg.
But instead, we see that what really haunts Magnus is how well the robots carry out their programming. They were programmed originally to protect and save humans, no matter the cost. This was the nature of the responsometer, this was it's gift to them: a directive. But they were willing to save, and save, taking whatever risks necessary no matter the threat to themselves. Magnus could handle putting cold machines into this situation, but once he realized that the consciousness of the robots was much like that of humans: full of feeling and thus of all the responsibility that comes with that feeling, Magnus was devastated. He was forced to see very human-like beings destroy themselves to save others. In the end the 'flaw' Magnus spoke of was not the human emotions, which he now realizes is the very substance of consciousness, but of their unwavering willingness to be self-sacrificing for others.
This was a beautiful story, with incredible art and coloring, that added to the depth of the themes explored. There is probably no way to create a consciousness without the 'flaws' of human emotion and intentionality. The chaos that exists with the human mind is a part of the interplay of chaos and order that is the mark of both nature and mind. Without some measure of disorder there can be no creativity, without order, no consistency. The resentment Magnus feels at the willingness of the metal men to die for others is also very poignant. It reminded me, yet again, of that line I've gone back to so many times from Luke where Jesus tells the women of Jerusalem to 'weep for yourselves' (Luke 23:28). Isn't that God's message to us? We resist self-sacrifice for others as a burden, but Christ tells us something very different: that it is an honor to serve, and give even our lives for Him and for His children.
Awe is sometimes mixed with resentment. We resent what we cannot do, we are envious of those stronger than ourselves. Magnus' resentment towards the Metal Men is presented as a kind of fear: a fear that he is bringing feeling beings into this world that are meant to die for others (the fear the Father must have had when He sent the Son to Earth). Yet in Magnus' feelings do contain something more like resentment than fear, for he seems almost broken by seeing in his creations what he never had in himself: a genuine willingness to care for humanity itself. Magnus' resentment for humanity was turned towards his creation. It is Cyborg who helps the good professor see that this was not a flaw, but perhaps the key to humanity's salvation. The Christian undertones are not hard to see.
Aesthetically, this book was really well done. The storyline was good, the dialogue was good, the art was excellent on every level. The pacing was a little off, but that can be forgiven. Overall, I'd give this comic 4.5 Stars.
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