The House of M

House of M Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Illustrated by Olivier Coipel.

What Has Gone Before.

Magneto was the perennial enemy of the X-Men. The Mutant Master of Magnetism was embarrassed that the passion that had produced two of his children, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, had been directed at a mere human woman. He felt degraded, because his great love had not been a mutant like himself.

Magneto set himself up as a would be conqueror more than once. Sometimes, his children fought at his side, as Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch. Sometimes, they opposed him. The Scarlet Witch, in particular, chose to use her powers for good, serving as an Avenger for many years.

But Wanda's powers are based in chaos; and driven by desire. They are so powerful, that they have allowed her to give birth to twins, sired by her android husband, the Vision. Impossible, right? That's the point. Wanda can make impossible things happen.

The trauma of her early life, the strain of constantly saving the world, the deep seated insecurities, all served to give her a complete nervous break down. But when Wanda looses control of her mind, all she really does is loose control of her powers. And in her deranged state, she caused the deaths of her fellow Avengers, Hawkeye, Antman, and the Vision.

Now, Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men and the world's greatest Telepath has been trying to put together the shattered pieces of her mind. He has not succeeded.

The Plot

The X-Men are summoned to the Avenger's mansion. There they meet Charles Xavier. It is a strained meeting; they had parted ways on less than good terms. But now, they have a topic that both groups need to discuss; The Fate of Wanda Maximoff.

Xavier can not restore her to sanity; in fact, she is deteriorating. With her powers, she could wipe out all life on earth. So what is to become of the Scarlet Witch?

The room quickly falls into two groups; the cold hard bastards, (Wolverine, and the White Queen) and the bleeding hearts get us all killed, (Captain America, Spiderman.) But the Wasp has an idea; she wants to talk to Wanda. So the group flies to Genosha, where Magneto is taking care of his daughter amongst the ruins. But once there, they find her missing. Then Charles Xavier goes missing, and then, the world goes white.

When Peter Parker wakes up, his wife informs him it is his turn to feed the baby. His wife Gwen. The world has changed. Kitty Pride is a teacher, with a classroom of hip high little mutants. Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man's romance is the stuff of Tabloids. Alison Blaire is a talk show hostess. Tony Stark is the most powerful Sapien in the business world, Hank McCoy and Henry Pym work for him. Steve Rogers is an old man, never having been frozen and forced into the future. T'challa rules the Wakandan Commonwealth, Princess Ororo rules Kenya, Namor rules Atlantis, and Magneto rules the world!

Wolverine and his lover Mystique are the SHEILD elite, along with Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Spiderwoman. And Wolverine knows something is horribly wrong. He dives off the helicarrier and goes AWOL. Fate brings him to Luke Cage and his associates, dedicated to fighting for Sapiens rights, the rights of the tiny fraction of the population who are not mutants. Among his followers, Iron Fist, Cloak, and Hawkeye. Yes, the late great Clint Barton, killed by the Scarlet Witch six months earlier. And they have one last recruit. A little girl, named Layla Miller. Layla knows things, like how the world was yesterday. So the underground goes to recruit the most powerful telepath they can find. Emma Frost, leader of the X-Men, wife of Scott Summers, and psychologist for exceptional cases. (And she is not a bitch.) But reading Layla's mind restores her to her former self, and together, they begin collecting most of the X-Men and Avengers, freeing them from the effects of the Scarlet Witch's spell.

Then they head for Genosha, to confront Wanda and her father. And they are out for blood. But in Genosha, they discover Wanda is the human daughter of Magneto. (Polaris, Lorna Dane in our world, is recognized as Magneto's child.) While the rest of the team take on Magnus and his family, Dr. Strange projects to Wanda's side, and confronts her with what she has done.

And Wanda utters three little words.

No more mutants.

And the world goes white.

The Analysis

This is one of the most important Marvel Books written in the last several years, and for several to come; it sets in motion multiple events that spawn the Decimation, The Civil War, and The Initiative, and leaves the Marvel Universe ill prepared for the Secret Invasion.

Fortunately, the writing bears up to the duty. Bendis is particularly skilled at portraying emotional consequence. This is very important in this title. One of the most important things is that the reader not loose sympathy for the Scarlet Witch. Though her powers have done so much harm (and who knows, might account for Magneto's last return from the dead?) it is not her fault. Bendis brings that across, so that the reader suffers with Wanda, and the other heroes.

The art is also superlative; I have seen relatively little of Coipel's art outside of a few odd issues of the Avengers I happened to glance through. But I like it. It has a realistic approach; good proportions, realistic anatomy, and tries for distinctive portraiture, though he does not always succeed. Still, his style is rich in detail, and excellent in the action scenes. I like it, and give it a B+.

If you want to understand the consequences of the Civil War, this is the place to start. I give this volume my highest recommendation.