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95 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvel's Universe Is Sent For a Tail Spin in One of the Decades Finest Miniseries, February 10, 2006
This review is from: House of M (Paperback)
Alternate realities and other worlds are nothing new in the world of comic books. DC has the multiverse, where an infinite number of Earths exist, each with parallel versions of Superman, Batman, and all of the other major players in the world of DC comics. Marvel has the Ultimate universe, which serves as a way to retell the classic stories in a separate, but parallel world to the 616 universe, which is the "normal" Marvel world. There was also the Age of Apocalypse miniseries, in which Apocalyspe, in an altered reality, controlled the world, and Magneto was the leader of the X-Men. However, in most alternate reality storylines, the ending seemed to undo everything. The characters remembered nothing of the other world when things went back to normal. Such is not the case in House of M.
Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, is the daughter of Magneto. She and her brother Pietro, also known as Quicksilver, are mutants, and thus have lived a life of oppression at the hands of humans. It doesn't help that their father is a maniacal terrorist bent on making the world a mutant paradise. Wanda's powers to alter reality have served her well as an Avenger, but lately, they have begun to take their toll on her mind. Prof. Charles Xavier has tried to help her, but she is quickly losing her grip on reality, which means that she could unknowingly alter the reality of everyone around her. Concerned for the safety of the world, Prof. X asks the X-Men and the Avengers to help decide how to deal with the problem. Fearing that Wanda's death is imminent, Piertro asks Magneto to do something, and suddenly, in a bright flash of light, everything changes.
Peter Parker (AKA Spider-Man) wakes up to hear his young son crying, and his wife Gwen Stacey (who died years ago in the 616 timeline) asking him to take care of it. Scott Summers and Emma Frost are married, Hank McCoy never took the serum that made him grow blue fur, The Kingpin has been taken out, Dr. Doom doesn't need to wear his mask, and Wolverine is a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. along with Rogue, Nightcrawler, Mystique, and Toad. And he has all of his memories of his life before the adamantium was added to his skeleton. Furthermore, mutants are the dominant species on the planet, and they oppress homo sapiens, and Magneto is the king of the world. While a few humans are respected, such as Tony Stark, Peter Parker, and Victor von Doom, most are terrorized by mutants, and human criminals are hunted down by sentinels. Operating out of Genosha, which is a sprawling metropolis as opposed to a desolate wasteland, Magneto and his children are the leaders of the free world. Every person that Wanda knew has had their greatest wish come true. So why is Wolverine suspicious?
Eventually, a series of events is set into motion that allows the heroes to remember the truth while living in the lie. While everyone is upset that Magneto used the Scarlet Witch to take over the world, some are more affected than others, especially Peter Parker. In this reality, he is a celebrity photographer, married to his first love. His Uncle Ben never died, and he knows nothing of the tragedies that he went through in the true reality. He nearly snapped upon learning the truth. By the end of the series, things occur in the Marvel universe that will have lasting effects for years to come.
Nearly every major character in Marvel's history makes some sort of appearance, either in this series, or a number of the tie-in series. Sadly, my favorite X-Man, Gambit, was only in one scene, but oh well. The story is very good, and it will be interesting to see how things turn out in the near future. The art is also great, and it makes the book as much fun to look at as it does to read it.
The series is steeped in backstory, so this is definitely not for beginning comic book readers (unless you're like me and you know people who can fill in the gaps for you). If you haven't read House of M yet, prepare to be blown away.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too much glossed over way too quickly, July 13, 2008
UPDATE - After reading the other graphic novels in the house of M (Wolverine, Hulk, Fantastic Four/Iron Man, Spider Man) I'm more likely to give this 3 or even 4 stars... if and only if you buy the other titles I just mentioned (see below - stop reading house of M "main" book immediately after wolverine jumps off the helicarier (or whatever) to the ground, read the other graphic novels I just mentioned, then go back and finish this one)... I would NOT recommend the X-Men (Captain Britain) and New X-Men graphic novels however..
I guess everyone's entitled to their opinion ... I bought this based on the positive reviews it's been getting when I should have listened to the not-so-positive ones... mind you one person's trash is going to be another person's treasure, that goes without saying.. having said that... while I found the artwork to be absolutely gorgeous and the storyline POTENTIALLY fascinating it was just that, potentially... I have to disagree with the other reviewer who said enough is covered in this graphic novel to let it "stand alone" without reading the other related house of M titles (spider-man, wolverine, x-men et al) ... I became interested enough to go ahead and pick up the wolverine and iron man/avengers house of m tie ins after reading House of M but I have the distinct feeling the other titles will be a bit of a let down for me only because I already know how the whole meta-plot ends after finishing hosue of m...
I think a far better approach would have been to combine ALL the related house of M books into one entire whole - then break that whole down into several graphic novels that move sequentially, piece by piece, covering events as they occur in a chronological order... if you do want to give house of M a try, strange as this sounds I'd suggest the following.... stop reading house of M around the same time Professor X mysteriously vanishes and Wolverine "wakes up" wondering WHAT the hell just happened ... at that point read any other house of M titles you'd be interested in (apparently wolverine and iron man/avengers got good reviews though I have yet to read those two titles)... and after you're done with that THEN go back and finish house of M so you're not dealing with "plot spoilers" ahead of time and you don't feel like you're reading half a graphic novel instead of a whole one with several "chunks" and "gaps" missing. It's quite possible that after reading those two other graphic novels...maybe "spider man house of M" too (spidey is also featured prominently in house of m ) ... that the house of M will be worthy of the praise heaped upon it by other reviewers but to me, right now it just seems... well, incomplete, for lack of a better word. Yes I know Marvel wants to make money just like any other organization but seriously, I think the way they organized the graphic novels for this whole thing is (very) wrong.
UPDATE - After reading "House of M Wolverine" and "House of M Fantastic Four / Iron Man" I'm inclined to have a more favorable view of this graphic novel, enough to bump it up to 3 stars if amazon would let me , although my earlier criticisms still stand... definitely purchase House of M Wolverine, purchase House of M Fantastic Four / Iron Man if you can get it at a reasonable price say nine dollars or so (the alternate version of the "Fantastic Four" - really Doctor Doom and his imitation of the FF but a fascinating read, Iron Man part was okay but not great)... read one or both of those graphic novels that THEN finish reading House of M (after pausing halfway through House of M at the part I mentioned above to read the Wolverine and FF/Iron Man House of M graphic novels - sounds ridiculous I know but that's really the only way you're going to enjoy House of M, otherwise it just leaves you feeling like the story was incomplete)... I may end up adding Spider Man, Hulk, Uncanny X-Men and New X-Men House of M titles to the recommended reading list too - recently ordered them so they haven't arrived yet.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"No more mutants...", May 30, 2006
This review is from: House of M (Paperback)
Much to the dismay of many fans, Brian Michael Bendis' run on the Avengers saw the destruction of the team from the inside out as the Scarlet Witch's reality altering powers killed members Hawkeye, Vision, and Ant-Man; and caused much more chaos beyond that as well. House of M picks up in Genosha with Professor Xavier failing to help the Scarlet Witch reclaim her sanity, leading Xavier to unite his X-Men and the New Avengers to decide her fate. Then everything goes white. When X-Men and New Avengers member Wolverine comes to, the whole world is upside down. Mutants are the dominant species on the planet and humans are looked down upon. Magneto and his family are the royal leaders of the planet, and Wolverine is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who knows that this world isn't right. As he scrambles to locate his friends and team mates to find Xavier and figure out just what happened, we are given glimpses of this alternate reality, which is surprisingly well thought out and written by Bendis, who had a reputation for being a top writer with his indie-crime work and his early work on Daredevil, but has been labeled lately as being overrated and working on so many Marvel titles it's almost impossible to keep up with what he's doing. While this mega event mini-series doesn't focus on as many of the characters as one would like (there are seperate TPB's focusing on Captain America, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Dr. Doom led Fantastic Four in this alternate world) but that is forgiveable here. There's some nice art here by Olivier Coipel, and Bendis' story has plenty of twists and surprises, and an ending which actually leaves the Marvel universe in a situation it hasn't faced, and a delicious twist for Wolverine as well. All in all, House of M may be seem as yet another mega cross over mini-series, but the biggest twist here is that it's actually pretty good.
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