Asteroid M | |
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Notable characters |
Magneto Acolytes X-Men Mutantkind |
First appearance | X-Men #5 (May 1964) |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Utopia | |
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Utopia
Art by Niko Henrichon |
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Notable characters |
X-Men Mutants Atlanteans |
First appearance | Dark Avengers #8 |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Asteroid M is the name of several fictional settings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are each depicted as an asteroid converted by the mutant Magneto into his home/orbiting base. Asteroid M was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in X-Men #5 (May 1964). The X-Men converted the remains of the first version of Asteroid M into Utopia, a separatist mutant homeland.
Asteroid M has been destroyed and reconstructed by the Master of Magnetism many times since it was first introduced. Each iteration has had several internal levels, including an observation deck, hangar bays and medical facilities. The various facilities have had technology that keep the asteroid concealed from standard detection technology. They have all been positioned in a low geosynchronous orbit. Each asteroid was relatively small yet sufficiently large that it could not be shot down, or destroyed externally, without the risk of massive devastation to Earth.
Magneto completes construction on Asteroid M just before recruiting his children, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch into his group, the Brotherhood of Mutants, as seen in X-Men, vol. 2 #-1 (July 1997). This first version is destroyed in a battle with the original team of X-Men in X-Men #5 (May 1964) after the Brotherhood kidnapped the Angel and held him prisoner there. The X-Men got there using a rocket that was being used to transport the Toad. This version has a device on it that can increase Magneto's magnetic powers.
Asteroid M is reconstructed just after Magneto imprisons the X-Men in his Antarctic citadel, reducing them to the level of six-month-old babies, around the time of X-Men #113 (September 1978).