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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
One of the best X-men and Avengers stories ever told. Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff is depressed and looses control of her mind and powers, resulting in a major world event that Wolverine and others must put back to rights. Only it doesn't quite work out like they were expecting.
Full of great character moments, explosive action, and a world defining event that affects the X-men world to this day.
My one problem with it is that the art has a tendency to be so dark that details and characters get completely lost in the background. It took me out of the story when I had to pause and decipher who was in the panel.
Full of great character moments, explosive action, and a world defining event that affects the X-men world to this day.
My one problem with it is that the art has a tendency to be so dark that details and characters get completely lost in the background. It took me out of the story when I had to pause and decipher who was in the panel.
Finally got around to reading this. Great stories, really recommend the trade book for casual readers of conics like myself.
Yes, I read this now because of WandaVision. Yes, I think there are some cool moments from this book that would be amazing to see happen in some way in the MCU. I don't know how much they'll wind up pulling from it as the show goes into its final few episodes, but it was still a blindspot in my comic reading I wanted to fill. And I'm glad I did! I'm not the biggest fan of Bendis's writing style but the guy is full of crazy, great ideas, and he knows how to build twists and turns that pretty much defined this era of comic books. He pretty seamlessly weaves what would otherwise be alternate history or "what if" style stories into mainline Marvel continuity here, as he presents us with a world where Mutants have become the dominant race and it's Ho Sapiens that are discriminated against. Maybe not the best way to approach the racial aspects that have historically defined X-Men, but interesting in concept nonetheless, and certainly fun to read.
This is an interesting story, but I think about what it seems to imply and I'm scratching my head a bit.
As Deadpool has said, the X-Men are an outdated metaphor for minorities. Mutants have been treated poorly their entire lives and are largely in the minority. Here, Wanda creates an alternate reality wherein the mutants were (and I'm not entirely clear on this) the majority and/or the superiors? So, naturally, that means they rule and homo sapiens are discriminated against, treated as lesser than and praised when they manage to be great despite that.
I'm not sure the message here? Given the chance, mutants would treat homo sapiens as poorly as they've been treated? Yikes... having grown up in TX and hearing all about people worrying about POC "taking over"... this story is a little questionable.
Anyway, on its face, it's an interesting concept. In this world, Carol's a big name superhero (despite being homo sapien), Beast is a well renowned scientist, Hank Pym is trying to start eugenics (YIKES) and Spider-Man is a beloved superhero married to Gwen Stacy. Captain America became an old man (does that mean he never became Cap? His story is told in a tie in that didn't leave a mark on me). Tony Stark is still a rich scientist. Storm is still trying to marry T'Challa (who was dressed in African garb that I didn't understand). I don't understand why Luke Cage decides to become a gangster... but I've never really liked the way Bendis wrote Luke. Sam Wilson became a cop... okay? Not sure why. There's this conversation between them about Sam being a token human and that's... a mess.
Anyway, the Avengers and X-Men join together to fix this world because it's wrong... although, honestly, it didn't seem all that bad. The worst part to me is that Jessica Drew is belittled for suggesting that it's not that bad. Like to the extent that, if superhumans really were the minority they're supposed to be, Wolverine's words to her were not only ignorant and patronizing, they were offensive. She had every right to say "hey, a world where we're not treated like shit for changes to our DNA that we can't control might not be such a bad thing."
I didn't like the art. I really, really didn't like the art. The children werehaunting, their heads were scarily shaped and at times, they looked like Whos from Whoville. The men kind of looked like Lego bodybuilders which was strange.
Also, once again, we have a story seemingly bred out of Wanda's inability to control her powers.
Its a recommend because it's a big story for Marvel history. It brought Hawkeye back, iirc, it brought Scott Lang back, it took away a lot of mutants and their abilities, it was the catalyst for things that come later and it's the reason for people hating Wanda later on. So, it's you kinda need to know what's going on, or read Wikipedia because seriously, those children were terrifying.
As Deadpool has said, the X-Men are an outdated metaphor for minorities. Mutants have been treated poorly their entire lives and are largely in the minority. Here, Wanda creates an alternate reality wherein the mutants were (and I'm not entirely clear on this) the majority and/or the superiors? So, naturally, that means they rule and homo sapiens are discriminated against, treated as lesser than and praised when they manage to be great despite that.
I'm not sure the message here? Given the chance, mutants would treat homo sapiens as poorly as they've been treated? Yikes... having grown up in TX and hearing all about people worrying about POC "taking over"... this story is a little questionable.
Anyway, on its face, it's an interesting concept. In this world, Carol's a big name superhero (despite being homo sapien), Beast is a well renowned scientist, Hank Pym is trying to start eugenics (YIKES) and Spider-Man is a beloved superhero married to Gwen Stacy. Captain America became an old man (does that mean he never became Cap? His story is told in a tie in that didn't leave a mark on me). Tony Stark is still a rich scientist. Storm is still trying to marry T'Challa (who was dressed in African garb that I didn't understand). I don't understand why Luke Cage decides to become a gangster... but I've never really liked the way Bendis wrote Luke. Sam Wilson became a cop... okay? Not sure why. There's this conversation between them about Sam being a token human and that's... a mess.
Anyway, the Avengers and X-Men join together to fix this world because it's wrong... although, honestly, it didn't seem all that bad. The worst part to me is that Jessica Drew is belittled for suggesting that it's not that bad. Like to the extent that, if superhumans really were the minority they're supposed to be, Wolverine's words to her were not only ignorant and patronizing, they were offensive. She had every right to say "hey, a world where we're not treated like shit for changes to our DNA that we can't control might not be such a bad thing."
I didn't like the art. I really, really didn't like the art. The children werehaunting, their heads were scarily shaped and at times, they looked like Whos from Whoville. The men kind of looked like Lego bodybuilders which was strange.
Also, once again, we have a story seemingly bred out of Wanda's inability to control her powers.
Its a recommend because it's a big story for Marvel history. It brought Hawkeye back, iirc, it brought Scott Lang back, it took away a lot of mutants and their abilities, it was the catalyst for things that come later and it's the reason for people hating Wanda later on. So, it's you kinda need to know what's going on, or read Wikipedia because seriously, those children were terrifying.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
I want to rate this higher, but it’s not really a complete story. The art is awesome, the story dark but different, however just feels incomplete, and to have to read every crossover issue after, just seems a bit unfair to the reader. Good, but could have been great.
House of M is one of those books that everyone recommends reading. One of the marquee Scarlet Witch stories that poses some really compelling questions and one of the arcs that put Brian Michael Bendis on the map.
Reading it almost two decades after it was published, I wasn't sure what to expect. So many stories have come out after this that have been influenced by this story, I wasn't sure how well it was going to age. Wandavision and Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness are two films that were also heavily influenced by this story.
I am happy to say that the story still holds up all of these years later and poses some very compelling ethical questions while doing so. Wanda and her control of her powers serves as the core struggle in this story, and we are asked the question, is it cruel to give people everything they could ever want? Is that somehow worse than any amount of torture could ever inflict. Spider-Man grappling with this question in particular really stands out to me as a great section of this story.
I give it a 4/5 not because there are any glaring flaws to speak of, I just wish that Wanda herself was explored in a little more depth in this event book, which isn't a bad problem to have when I am clamoring for more.
Reading it almost two decades after it was published, I wasn't sure what to expect. So many stories have come out after this that have been influenced by this story, I wasn't sure how well it was going to age. Wandavision and Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness are two films that were also heavily influenced by this story.
I am happy to say that the story still holds up all of these years later and poses some very compelling ethical questions while doing so. Wanda and her control of her powers serves as the core struggle in this story, and we are asked the question, is it cruel to give people everything they could ever want? Is that somehow worse than any amount of torture could ever inflict. Spider-Man grappling with this question in particular really stands out to me as a great section of this story.
I give it a 4/5 not because there are any glaring flaws to speak of, I just wish that Wanda herself was explored in a little more depth in this event book, which isn't a bad problem to have when I am clamoring for more.
