Released 1 November 1975 Recorded January - April 1975 Length 3:16 | Format 7" single Genre Rock | |
A-side "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" | ||
"Magneto and Titanium Man" is the B-side song to Wings' single "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" in 1975.
Contents
Lyrics
The song is in narrative form, and includes the Marvel Comics characters Magneto, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo in its story. When asked his opinion of the song decades after its release, Stan Lee (who co-created all three characters) said he thought it was "terrific".
Live
The song was included in the setlist for the band's 1975/1976 world tours. While it was performed, comic art of Magneto, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and Titanium Man & the Crimson Dynamo, created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, was projected onto the large screen behind the band. The Magneto figure on the backdrop is by George Tuska and John Tartaglione from X-Men #43 (April 1968, on sale February, 1968), the Titanium Man is by George Tuska and Mike Esposito from Iron Man #22 (February 1970, on sale December 1969), and the Crimson Dynamo is by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton from Avengers #130 (December 1974, on sale October 1974). The two BG figures are flopped from their original Comic Book presentation.
McCartney, a Marvel Comics fan and comic book fan in general, met with Kirby on the L.A. leg of the tour, giving him front row seats and back stage passes (his daughter was a big Wings and Beatles fan), and Kirby backstage gave Paul and Linda an original comic drawing he did of them.
The song can be heard coming from a radio, creating an argument, in a scene in the 1976 Mike Leigh play Nuts in May.
The Roots played the song as walk-on music for Michael Fassbender for his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon during his promotional tour for X-Men: Days of Future Past.