FullCup

review by: the wandering storyteller


House of M is a comic book crossover mini-series published by Marvel Comics back in 2005. Lead writer Brian Bendis was quoted that House of M would "shake the world" of Marvel. While this claim may sound extravagant, House of M's far-reaching and lasting effect on the Marvel universe certainly propels it as one of the more important mini-series the publishing house has produced. Unlike Days of Future Past or the Age of Apocalypse which happened in alternate timelines, House of M took place in the mainstream Marvel universe.

Prior to House of M, the number of mutants in the Marvel universe were pegged at millions. Hank McCoy, or Beast of the X-Men, was even quoted in the New X-Men series that the evolutionary age of homo sapien sapiens (humans) are coming to a close... in four or five generations, homo superior (mutants) would take over the globe.

Meanwhile, the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -- longtime avenger, fraternal twin of Quicksilver and daughter of Magneto - who formerly only had 'probability powers' have been trained by the witch Agatha Harkness. The greater discipline provided by the training, Scarlet's mutant powers, and the magical residue of her place of birth all contributed to the Scarlet Witch's new-found ability to tap into Chaos Magic: one of the most powerful - and most dangerous - forms of magic in the Marvel universe. According to Agatha, the Scarlet Witch could practically do anything with Chaos Magic - a power inherently dangerous by nature.

Certain tragedies in the Scarlet Witches' life, coupled by the volatile nature of Chaos Magic, later broke Wanda's psyche and made her very unstable. In another mini-series titled "Avengers Disassembled," a crazed Scarlet Witch caused the deaths of Vision, Scott Lang and Hawkeye. The Avengers disbanded after these tumultous events.

House of M starts with Scarlet Witch giving birth to twins, and later on the cold voice of Charles Xavier tells her to "put it back" -- showing that the birth and the people around her were just the Scarlet Witch's constructs. Xavier later admits to Magneto that he is close to being unable to control her, and that a solution must be found to her problem.

The X-Men and the newly reinstituted Avengers meet to decide the fate of the Scarlet Witch. The X-Men, most notably Emma Frost and Wolverine, argue that Wanda is lost and with the inability of Professor X and Doctor Strange to help her, the whole world is in danger and that she needs to be put down. The Avengers disagree and eventually concluded that they need to ask Scarlet Witch what she wants.

Their trip to Genosha quickly becomes a fiasco as one by one, the members of the team vanishes on thin air until it was only SpiderMan who was left alone. A blinding light soon engulfed them, and they woke up to a completely different world.

SpiderMan wakes up as a well-loved hero, with Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy (his 1st love) alive and well. Hank McCoy is busy and content with his scientific experimentations. Steve Rogers was never put on ice and grew old. Cyclops and Emma Frost are married, and Wolverine is head of Shield. Storm is the Queen of Kenya, Doctor Strange is a low-key psychologist, and Magneto was ruler of Genosha.

Mutants, not humans, ruled the planet.

It was everything they ever dreamed of -- the friends they lost were alive again, mutants were no longer oppressed by humans, and peace was evident. They were happy -- and all the heroes forgot their past lives... except Wolverine.

Due to the massive psychological traumas Wolverine experienced in his Weapon X days, Logan was able to remember everything that happened in the 'real' universe. He soon found a way to wake up everyone and together, they found a way to confront the "House of M" and battle Magneto.

Doctor Strange, in his quest to talk to Wanda, soon found out that it wasn't Magneto who made Wanda to alter reality, but Quicksilver. When the Magneto woke up to this revelation, he savagely attacked Quicksilver, bringing the Scarlet Witch into the battle. Broken, disappointed and unstable, the Scarlet Witch uttered three little words... and changed the whole universe.

"No more mutants."

A cosmic reddish light soon engulfed the whole world and the heroes soon found themselves waking up to the world they knew -- but only a few of them remembered. It was only the broken form of Doctor Strange that confirmed what all of them was afraid of -- that House of M really happened and the ramifications were only beginning to unfold. Worldwide, the number of mutants who numbered in the millions were snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Now, only a handful hundred remain.

House of M is the 2nd part of a summer trilogy offered by Marvel. The first part was Avengers Disassembled and the 3rd was "Civil War." The effects of the trilogy have been significant -- changing the whole face of the Marvel as we know it. Currently, the most apparent effect of the trilogy is the death of America's most beloved hero -- Captain America himself.

While House of M brought far-reaching effects to the Marvel universe (decimation of mutants, Wolverine remembering his wholehistory), it is important to note that most of the marketable characters didn't lose their powers. The series also provided a convenient way to bring back dead characters (Hawkeye being an example) and solving the conundrum of the impending dominance of mutants in a Marvel universe who has always milked the struggle of mutants in its storylines. Essentially, the mini-series provided a suitable platform where new storylines can be catapulted (Civil War, Wolverine's memories, return of Onslaught).

A particular scene in House of M, however, captured my attention. In their helijet trip to confront the House of M, Jessica Drew (Spiderwoman) urged the heroes to take a minute to consider: should they even try to change everything back? They were, after all, happier there -- everything they ever wanted was given to them, and none of them were cheated. Long-dead loved ones are alive, mutants are no longer oppressed, and the world was generally at peace. Isn't it time, she asked, for something like this to happen?

Wolverine was quick to dismiss the idea, but I'm not so sure if I would do the same thing. Years and years ago, when I was still a kid, I repeatedly asked God why He didn't give me a power -- perhaps something as useful such as telepathy -- so that I could do what I want, such as changing the minds of those who disagree with me.

Logan was quick to decide that it wasn't right to impose what they wanted on the whole world, difficult and as painful as it would be, the right thing to do would be to honor the choices of everyone.

I honestly don't know if I could make that same choice. "If I could do things better... why not?" is a temptation perhaps too much for a selfish being like me. How much more so, for God, who could actually do what the kid me dreamt of doing so many years ago?

Just how great is this love that He allows us to make our own choices, instead of forcing His own on us?