Being more than halfway through “Secret Wars” doesn’t slow down the tie-ins train, so here we are with “House of M” #1. Dennis Hopeless, Marco Failla and Matt Wilson bring the House of Magnus back to power but ultimately come short in providing a spiritual successor to the original series. Read on for our spoiler free review.
Written by Dennis Hopeless
Illustrated Marco Failla and Matt Wilson
• The House of Magnus controls all, having crushed all resistance to their reign. Magneto rules with an iron-fist, while his children and grandchildren live their lives as royals-with all the privileges and pit-falls that come with that title.
• But is Magneto’s control as all-encompassing as it seems? And what happens to a conqueror when there is no one left to conquer?
As part of the MC2 “Secret Wars” column, I’ve read a ton of tie-ins so far. I won’t lie and say I’m not getting a little jaded at this point. A lot has become forgettable but there’s been a few standouts that still leave me feeling excited for the next week’s batch of books. “House of M” was one of the few tie-ins I was genuinely interested in reading. “House of M” was one of the first “event” books I ever read and while it was painful for Scarlet Witch, it did set the stage for a lot that came later in the Marvel Universe. As far as these tie-ins go, books that have revisited specific “events” like “Age of Apocalypse”, “Civil War” or “Years of Future Past” have offered new storylines that in essence continue on that storyline as if the reason it ended didn’t happen. For example, “Years of Future Past” has been a story that takes place years after “Days of Future Past” happened. “House of M” basically does this and that’s why it doesn’t entirely work.
“House of M” begins with a narration by Magneto is lamenting the loss of his warrior spirit. He’s been King for so long in this domain and he’s bored with winning. His kids aren’t doing much better. Wanda is struggling with her misbehaving teenage boys, Pietro is inattentive to anything that matters and Lorna is ignored, despite offering some important advice. While the royal family deals with all of this, humans are having a tough time watching themselves become extinct. A rebellion is brewing but the last page cliffhanger proves that they aren’t the only threat facing the House of Magnus.
“House of M” was a series that really focused in on Scarlet Witch’s progressive breakdown and how this affected the rest of the Marvel Universe. It was a story with a very specific focus and while the tie-ins did feature alternate versions of familiar Avengers and X-Men members, it was not something that lends a lot of room for new storytelling. That’s where things get weird with “House of M” #1. I’m not exactly sure when this takes place in regards to the original storyline. As I mentioned, “Years of Future Past” and “Civil War” are continuations but in this world, mutants are still superior while humans are slowly becoming extinct. We’re not led to believe these characters in this domain have their memories of the old universe in tact, so when exactly does this happen and why does it matter if Wanda will eventually wish it all away? It’s just a little tough to gauge where this falls into that world especially when the Magnus family is basically a royal family right out of a soap opera.
The characterization is fine for the most part. Wanda is a problem as she comes off as just an exacerbated mother. For a character who was so vital to the original version of this “event”, her development here is very one note and disappointing. Pietro is petulant and seemingly distant but Hopeless gets him a bit better than he does Wanda and gives us enough to know that he’s not all he seems on the surface. Magneto is kind of middle of the road as far as character development. He’s a little bit of a stereotype by not being happy once he gets what he wants but since this is Magneto, there’s a lot of potential in that. He’s bored but that doesn’t mean he won’t be active and if you’ve read anything involving Magneto, you know that’s more than likely what’s going to happen. Lorna, the often forgotten daughter of Magneto, is the most likable character in this issue. She’s the only one with a clue and I can only hope that she continues to have the spotlight.
Continued belowMarco Failla’s art is the best thing about “House of M” #1. The character designs and world they inhabit have a certain modern flair. Failla has the royal family dressed in some pretty classical regal attire but in contrast to the rest of the world, it makes them feel more out of touch, which is a nice thematic thing the writing only barely touches. Failla is good with character expression. He stumbles a couple of times with Pietro not really looking the same throughout the entire issue. Failla uses every little space he can with layered panels and a couple of very good double page spreads. Backgrounds are not simply color blocks. The palace is grand, the city is futuristic without going too far and costumes are finely detailed.
Where he truly succeeds are in the big single page spreads and action heavy sequences. From the very beginning he crafts these truly epic scenes with lots of great detailing and scope. He’s very precise about where he angles things and it creates this great cinematic effect. The fight scenes at the rebels base show off enough super powers and Failla is able to channel each character’s different fighting style nicely with Nightcrawler and Hawkeye being the standouts. Matt Wilson’s colors are, as is to be expected from him, fantastic. He creates light so nicely and I really like how he approaches the royals compared to the rest of the characters as they feature a far more vibrant palette.
“House of M” #1 is not great but it’s not the worst thing that “Secret Wars” has offered so far. The cliffhanger ending offers up something intriguing and worth sticking around for despite the flaws that exist in this issue. What is worth noting is that this, like many of the other “Secret Wars” tie-ins, is not new reader friendly but it doesn’t do anything to tie-into the main series, leaving it as something a true fan of “House of M” could enjoy. Failla and Wilson combine for a good art team and that alone might just be worth coming back to.
Final Verdict: 6.8 – “House of M” stumbles but has enough here worth coming back to but will be a tough sell for those not invested in “Secret Wars”.
