House Of M
Plot Summary and Credits
After a previous storyline where Scarlet Witch caused the deaths of several heroes, the Avengers and X-Men reluctantly agree that her power makes her too dangerous to remain alive, so she alters reality before they try to kill her. Her father Magneto rules the world with mutants as the dominant species; Luke Cage runs an underground human resistance movement; Spider-Man has a wife and child; and both teams are scattered in their new lives. Only Wolverine remembers the world as it was, so with the help of a young mutant named Layla, he tracks down his fellow heroes and restores their memories, leading them in an assault on Magneto’s castle. When Scarlet Witch finally puts things back to normal, the majority of the world’s mutants are stripped of their powers.
Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Olivier Coipel (penciller), Tim Townsend (inker), Frank D’armata (colourist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Esad Ribic (cover artist)
Collects House of M #1-8
My Copy
My family were visiting relatives in Glasgow one summer, and I begged my dad to take a detour to the big comic shop on Buchanan Street. After a lengthy period of browsing the shelves very closely (literally, as I’d forgotten my glasses), I decided on three Marvel entries: Origin, Ultimate Invasion and, of course, this.
Before Reading
I’d already read a bunch of House of M’s subsequent stories, like Avengers vs X-Men and several issues of All-New X-Men, where the effects of the crossover are especially evident. Because it’s such a big part of modern Marvel lore, I was pretty excited to read it.
After Reading
When two teams like the Avengers and X-Men come together, you know that something big is going to happen, and House of M doesn’t disappoint. The first issue is about the meeting of the two teams, and the back and forth regarding Wanda’s fate. Debate sequences can drag on a bit, but a topic like this needs to be backed by a lot of opinions, so the discussion is given the time it requires without feeling too long.
Once the alternate reality storyline kicks off, it hits the ground running. Wolverine’s chase sequence was fun, pitting him against several of his teammates and still having him put up a good fight, showing how well he knows them and their techniques. It seems that, in every timeline, he really is the best there is at what he does.
Although the mutants get hit pretty hard by the end of the story, the one who I felt for the most has got to be Spider-Man. In Scarlet Witch’s world, he’s married to Gwen Stacy and has a child with her, Aunt May and Uncle Ben are still alive, his secret identity is public and Mary Jane is a world famous actress. When the world gets out back to normal, he’s one of the few heroes who remembers his alternate life, and begs Doctor Strange to erase his memories. This series of breakdowns hit me because we’re used to seeing Spidey keep himself together, despite whatever his dual life forces him to endure, so it was almost like seeing all of this built-up stress finally being released. The guy just isn’t allowed to be happy, is he?
My biggest issue with this comic is the pacing. It has a lot of ground to cover, between establishing Magneto’s new world and locating all of the forgotten heroes, so feels a little rushed in places. Half of one issue is just Wolverine explaining X-Men lore to his fellow displaced heroes, where a simple ‘five minutes later…’ would have sufficed. Later, after a recruitment montage, we go from a small team to a small army, a transition that fells a little jarring.
The ending really feels like it means something. We see the School for Gifted Youngsters become slightly less Gifted, and it’s pretty sad to see all of these kids lose the powers that they’ve been taught not to hate. This is an all-time low for the mutants, who are now in more danger than ever, and their fears are presented really well both in their interactions and in the visual form of a giant red holographic Earth dotted with a handful of mutant life signs. I also liked seeing the return of the Phoenix Force teased at the end, especially after reading AvX (even if that story left something to be desired, but that’s a review for another day).
Closing Thoughts
House of M is an impressive and important part of Marvel lore, with lasting effects on the universe’s two most powerful teams, even though the pacing is a bit uneven and some characters could have been given some more time to shine.
I’ve always seen it as the Flashpoint of Marvel, where a character tries to use their reality-bending powers to improve their world but ultimately ends up making it worse, and their efforts to repair the damage brings about a new era of their universe.
And speaking of Flashpoint, be sure to check out next week’s review.
