Comic Book History: Marvel’s House of M
While Civil War exploded the event scene for Marvel, forwarding the blockbuster train for the publisher, House of M kicked off the crazy. It seems like every other month both of the big two publishers have at least half a dozen books with earth shattering mega events that will change everything forever. This statement holds doubly true for event books. With House of M, this claim is actually true.
Brian Michael Bendis wrote his first event book after tearing the Avengers apart in Disassembled a few months prior. He and artist Olivier Coipel delivered a tale that was very well executed with an interesting conceit. Something not often seen in event books.
After Wanda Maximoff officially went crazy, tearing the Avengers apart in the process, she was sequestered to the ruined mutant nation of Genosha were Professor X and Magneto tried to help her. The Avengers and X-Men gathered to decide what to do with her. A few, including Wolverine and Emma Frost, thought it would be best to kill her. Quicksilver, Wanda’s brother, overhears this and races back to warn her. As the heroes arrive, a flash of white light consumes them. Wolverine wakes up in a different world where mutants are the superior power, not humans. The House of M is the ruling governing body. Along with these changes, Wolverine finally remembers his mysterious past before Weapon X.
Again, the story had an interesting premise, though it was remembered for more so for it’s outcome, and perhaps a few story beats along the way. Wolverine had his memories back. I didn’t really care for this. Hawkeye, after dying at the hands of the Scarlet Witch, was brought back to life. The major outcome though came from the phrase “No more mutants.”
Magneto learned this new world was caused Quicksilver. His son convinced the daughter to alter the world, giving everyone what they wanted. Magneto nearly killed his son in his rage. As Quicksilver lay dying, Wanda uttered the phrase, and the world changed once more. Reality was restored with nearly every mutant losing their powers. Except the cool ones like Wolverine and Cyclops. The mutant population was reduced to 199. They were now an endangered species. Only the heroes who were awakened in this reality (by Layla Miller) recall the event.
Along with the main story, there were dozens of tie-ins that amounted to little. The purpose was to show what this new world was like for the Fantastic Four or Iron Man. While the Spider-Man one was slightly interesting, most of these books amounted to nothing as the head lining characters were predominately non-mutants. Cash grabs. At least they didn’t completely derail the monthly books like some other events.
The loss of mutants in the Marvel Universe had interesting ramifications that stuck around for years. It wasn’t until last year’s Avengers vs. X-Men (2012) that this was finally resolved. Granted, certain mutants regained their powers much sooner (like Magneto), but the general population wasn’t restored for years. Some interesting stories came out of this for the Avengers, X-Men, and even the Young Avengers. I think this is when Marvel became obsessed setting up their next big status quo. Eventually this turned into them worrying about dropping the mic instead of finishing stories. Lightning in a bottle is hard to catch twice.
Like the status quo change? Enjoy any of the tie-ins? Comment below!
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This was about when I jumped back into comics.
The only thing I didn’t like about this event was how Scarlet Witch became this all-powerful, reality-bending character. Prior to Disassembled, she was just this probability-shifting hex throwing mutant.
I love how Marvel, despite some plot holes and loose ends, was able to tie their events together starting from Disassembled all the way to Dark Reign. They were putting out a lot of good titles and if I can recall correctly, were beating DC in the monthly sales charts consistently.
She was a little deus ex machina, but it worked for me. Her powers were never firmly nailed down so there was some room to play.
Since Bendis took over Avengers, the company as a whole turned a corner. I think today, since the All-New creative team shuffle, they’ve been the best they’ve been in decades.