Decimation: X-Men - Generation M (House of M) [Paperback]

Paul Jenkins (Author), Ramon Bachs (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2006

House of M has changed the world forever. Now, from the ashes of this cataclysmic event comes a new generation... Generation M. Find out exactly how things have changed as a group of mutants brought together by this common tragedy must fight together for a better tomorrow. Collects Generation M #1-5.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (July 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785119582
• ISBN-13: 978-0785119586
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than I expected, September 11, 2006

By 

Steve Fuson "comics geek" (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Decimation: X-Men - Generation M (House of M) (Paperback)

(This is a direct sequal to House of M. If you haven't read House of M, there will be spoilers. You have been warned.)

Stop me if you've heard this one: A reporter with a troubled past finds herself at the bottom of the barrel at work, and at the bottom of a bottle at home. She says she doesn't care about anything anymore, but the truth she hides, even from herself, is that she cares too much. And in a troubled world it's hard to know what the right thing to do is, and it's even harder to do it.

Sound cliched? It is! Our main character Sally Floyd is a modern day Humphrey Bogart, smarmy quips and all.

After the M-Day event most of the world's mutant population are now no longer mutants. And our intrepid reporter finds herself needing to tell the stories of those left behind. Her quest is overshadowed however by a serial killer, killing mutants and former mutants, each time leaving a note "Not enough died."

This story is really an excuse to meet a few mutants who lost their power. We see what has become of Chamber, Jubilee, Beak, the Blob, and a significant number of Morlocks, among others.

Despite an obvious and cliched format, Paul Jenkins manages to write a decent story. Sally Floyd is a well written and sympathetic character. We understand why she needs to undertake this quest of telling the public about what's happening to the mutants. The descriptions of mutants losing their power in midflight are as graphic and heart wrenching as events documented in a real newspaper. We understand why she and the police don't immediately go public about the serial killer. And when she tells the story of her own troubled past, we understand why she is who she is.

The artwork by the team of penciller Ramon Bachs and inker John Lucas was pretty strong. The visual of Chamber on lifesupport missing his jaw and most of his chest is one that's going to stay with me for quite awhile. There's a good sense of staging and composition. The characters are visually distinct, and they look and move like real people, and best of all, backgrounds! There are backgrounds in almost every panel! It makes the story seem that much more accessible, that much more real.

There are some weak points though. Besides the aforementioned cliches, there's also the fact that the few new mutant characters we are introduced to are less than spectacular. There's a scene in a prison where there used to be a number of mutant prisoners and now the few remaining mutants are at the top of the food chain. Problems being that (a) every superpowered prisoner has been wearing a power dampener for as long as there have been superpowered criminals in comics so why aren't they wearing them now, and (b) some of they're powers are so low level that a normal human could beat them up anyway.

I have a few problems with the Decimation story in general. In "The Day After" it's established that mutants' powers aren't just shut off, the x-gene is gone so it's like they were never mutants at all. But if that's true, then why do some mutants retain their physical appearance. If they were always human, shouldn't they look human. The other thing is, if so many mutants lost their power, why isn't humanity celebrating? Why do they consider this a bad thing?

Oh, and the revelation of who the serial killer is is kinda lame.

But overall, I'd say this is a solid story, and it definately achieves it's purpose: showing us what the world is like after M-Day.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong, intelligent understated storytelling, November 12, 2006

By 

Marc A. Buxton (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decimation: X-Men - Generation M (House of M) (Paperback)

For a book spinning out of a complex comic event, Mr. Jenkins serves up a refined dish of mutant fun. The books only fun was the dragon thing at the very beginning. Now why would nature, or evolution choose that power for a homo superior? Sorta dumb!

But from there this books becomes a very intelligent murder mystery that introduces some characters that Jenkins truly gives life in Civil War Frontline (comic soon to TPB!) This book has the best characteriztion of Jubilee since the characters inception and an awesome shock involving Angel. Most of all it's the complexity of the consequences to the characters that make this book a profundly enjoyable read. Jenkins breathes life into these charatcers and gives a human face to the usual Marvel Mayhem.

3.0 out of 5 stars A sad tale of life's unexpected changes!, April 15, 2011

By 

S. Penrose (Small Town, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decimation: X-Men - Generation M (House of M) (Paperback)

Paul Jenkins writes a truly sad tale of what happened to many lesser known or completely unknown mutants in the Marvel Universe after the event known as M-Day. He crafts this tale very well as readers feel for characters we don't even know. That's an impressive piece of work. The story centers n Sally Floyd, a reporter with an even more depressing past. And that's a huge part of the book. Its really depressing but it has to be to tell this story. This is not the book to read to have a good time but it is a good read. The art by Ramon Bachs was, in a word, ugly. At times it fit the needs of the script but there were to many faces that looked odd and out of place. It was not a good example of comics art. Overall, a good story that would have been better with a better artist.