Thoughts on the "House of M" Marvel storyline

[PhoenixAKG]

In light of WandaVision I was wondering what do people think about House of M which WandaVision takes a lot of cues from (Elizabeth Olsen said it's one of her favourite Wanda stories):

Following Avengers Disassembled where it was revealed that Scarlet Witch in her grief was responsible for attacking and splitting up the Avengers, this is where the Scarlet Witch basically rewrites reality and it ends up affecting numerous things in the Marvel Universe such as Magneto know being in charge, Spider-Man having a happy life, Wolverine having his memories etc. The fallout was also pretty heavy as it lead to the Decimation which reduced the mutant population to around 198.

So what do people think? Was it a good story, a bad one, or meh. I've seen a lot of people criticize it for how it handles mental health and has some unfortunate implications regarding women and their mental health as well.

 

[Mr Paptimus]

It was a cool idea, not greatly executed. The idea of a mutant run will is always fun. Typical bendis though. Way to padded and drawn out. I always remember that Wanda's change was done with two pages of basically all white. And not even a double splash. Two single splash pages with nothing but a giant white blot on them. and did they ever to this day explain who those people in the church with Xavier were? And the less said about the Layla ex mahina the better.

Some of the side stories trying regular life in the House of m were really fun. Especially Captain America not being frozen and living his whole life to get old. Same too with bishop as a regular cop.

 

[Weiss]

Well first it's a story whose fallout lasted 14 years since, even though you had two separate "Mutants are on the upswing" events in Avengers vs X-Men and Inhumans vs X-Men, everyone Wanda depowered remained depowered unless they specifically sought a way to undo it, and a lot of these stories are the absolute nadir of X-Men.

Then it rendered Scarlet Witch completely radioactive for so long that even her writers didn't give a shit about holding her accountable and eventually we found out she wasn't even a Mutant so none of the reasons for House of M to happen actually apply, and now the X-Men are chanting naked and burning pictures of her on their paradise island with a cure for death.

So I'm not a fan.

 

[Mr Paptimus]

Edit double post.

 

[Wrexis]

I re-read it last week so it is fresh on my mind. A couple of things come to mind.

I had forgotten that the Avengers and X-Men spend *half* the first issue debating killing Wanda. Can you imagine the MCU having Robert Downey and Chris Evans debating this? No chance. Wanda (and mental illness) were treated so badly in this comic it feels like something from the 70s or 80s.

Peter Parker was done dirty. A perfect life with Gwen, Uncle Ben and his son taken away.

 

[Freezasaurus]

I liked it fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was one of the first stories I read when I got back into comics circa 2007, so I may like it less if I read it today.

As for the story that actually got me back into comics, that was Planet Hulk.

 

[PhoenixAKG]

I re-read it last week so it is fresh on my mind. A couple of things come to mind.

I had forgotten that the Avengers and X-Men spend *half* the first issue debating killing Wanda. Can you imagine the MCU having Robert Downey and Chris Evans debating this? No chance. Wanda (and mental illness) were treated so badly in this comic it feels like something from the 70s or 80s.

Peter Parker was done dirty. A perfect life with Gwen, Uncle Ben and his son taken away.

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It really does suck to be Spider-Man. Even the other heroes weren't sure that giving his memories back was a good idea and said it was awful.

 

[Lord Vatek]

Peter Parker gets to remember every single traumatic moment that ever happened in his life in the span of a few seconds so that's fun.

 

[KtotheRoc]

It's slow as fuck. There's one issue that's just Wolverine escaping SHIELD.

Someone posted about Spider-Man and his life with Gwen and their son, and the actual Spider-Man comics that came out at the time completely ignored that. The most anyone got was Peter being mad at Quicksilver for one issue in a follow-up comic ("Son of M"). The actual Spider-Man: House of M was a goddamn mess and a half, though. Peter basically undercuts himself and then fakes his own death, but he also threatens Magneto. (Most tie-ins were a goddamn mess. Only the ones actually written by Bendis felt like they were trying to tell a coherent story.) But then he and his family are just chilling in Manhattan when Wolverine and co. show up like nothing's wrong.

There was a Dr. Doom tie-in where Doom has Magneto and co. dead to rights but then he loses in the last issue for reasons (because you can't have Magneto overthrown in a tie-in).

I don't think we got a proper explanation as to where Xavier was in the main mini.

Aside from all that? The art was really good (it was Olivier Coipiel so of course the art was really good).

 

[KtotheRoc]

It really does suck to be Spider-Man. Even the other heroes weren't sure that giving his memories back was a good idea and said it was awful.

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The actual Spider-Man comics at the time didn't want to touch this stuff at all.

(I wonder what would have happened if House of M came after One More Day.)

 

[Nakenorm]

Haven't read it in a loooong time, but I did enjoy it at the time.
Pete's part in it is fuckin heart wrenching. Dude can't catch a break.

 

[Wanderer5]

It was one of the earlier comic events that I have read, and I still a bit fond of it as a result, even though it was dragged out heh.

Haven't read it in a loooong time, but I did enjoy it at the time.
Pete's part in it is fuckin heart wrenching. Dude can't catch a break.

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Seriously. There was the part where he thought about how much more successful he and MJ are being separate in this world that really stuck out for me beside his breakdown earlier.

 

[Dalek]

I remember liking the scene where Wolverine jumped off a Helicarrier.

 

[Mudcrab]

You have to understand the hype for this at the time was immense. This was coming off Disassembled which was pretty controversial at the time, but more than that this was billed as crossover between the New Avengers and Astonishing X-men which were the hottest books at the time.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Some parts I liked, other parts, I did it. But overall, I am generally positive.

The fact that it leads into my favorite X-Men arc helps, too.

 

[Mars People]

Its basically been a huge rock that Wanda has to drag around forever more.

 

[UnpopularBlargh]

I liked it well enough. Art was great. Story felt like a good idea rushed through.

Just like Secret Invasion.

 

[echoshifting]

I hate what Bendis did to Wanda in this and Disassembled. He basically threw her in the garbage. You can't be resurrected or retconned out of brutally attacking your teammates and wiping out the mutants.

 

[djinn]

I reread it only a week ago. They decide to cure someone's mental illness by killing them. So, there's that.

Poor Peter 😔

 

[caliph95]

It was a good idea not the best executed especially hasn't aged well with the mental illness stuff and also ruined Wanda

there were cool moments otherwise meh

it's unfortunately one of the better Bendis events

The no more mutants thing is mixed for me there was some cool stories that sprout from that but it also fucked up the X stuff in the long run and should have been fixed sooner than it was but I guess then we wouldn't have Hickman

 

[PhoenixAKG]

Slayven. Thoughts?

 

[Dalek]

Its basically been a huge rock that Wanda has to drag around forever more.

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Yeah I really hate that she's defined by this.

 

[Launchpad]

It's a decent idea but horribly executed. Events are always like this but it's practically a character assassination for half the cast. Everyone debating whether to kill Wanda, a fellow Avenger, Wanda eliminating all mutants, Peter losing his shit and threatening to kill people. Plus the actual story is super boring and feels like it just exists to eliminate Mutants, which it does.

 

[bawjaws]

Absolute garbage event that ultimately ruined the X-Men for over a decade. Not a fan.

 

[vhoanox]

Cool story but the aftermath was absolutely terrible.
Remember bombing school buses full of depowered kids.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Plus the actual story is super boring and feels like it just exists to eliminate Mutants, which it does.

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That's what it was for, which is why they dropped down to exactly 198 mutants.

And then they realized that was too few, so the world developed like there were hundreds left instead of specifically 198. Then it felt like there were thousands and they stopped focusing on a number. Then they had the Messiah saga and AvX and bumped it back up.

 

[Sblargh]

"Cool idea, not greatly executed" could be the title of Bendis' biography.
These Bendis events are always something you tell people and they go "oh wow, that sounds cool!" but you hope they never actually go to the trouble of reading the stories because they are rubbish.

Also in the line of Bendis, it has the kind of shock value that, again, looks cool, but if you are a scarlet witch fan, get ready because the next your entire life of scarlet witch stories have to deal with that time she commited genocide.
So while I appreciate that mental health issues are part of Wanda's characters, she basically disappears from the continuity for 5 years after House of M and after coming back, there obviously needs a lot of retcons and mind control comic book shenanigans so she can be a viable character again because, you know, she commited genocide, and even after that, a lot of her stories were about her relationship with mutants, which wasn't great because, you know, she commited genocide.

So it wasn't this great memorable growth moment of her story. It was just this time this one writer used her for a plot point to make an editorial mandate happen and now the fans of the character have to live with it.

 

[deimosmasque]

I reread it only a week ago. They decide to cure someone's mental illness by killing them. So, there's that.

Poor Peter 😔

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Didn't even try to get someone like Doc Samson to come and work with her either.

It's not like the Marvel Universe doesnt have any psychologists or psychiatrists.

 

[Canucked]

The entire set up is made nonsense by an Uncanny Avengers arc made over a decade later (which is a shame)

 

[Weiss]

The entire set up is made nonsense by an Uncanny Avengers arc made over a decade later (which is a shame)

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It's a bad series but I kinda love that Rick Rememder wrote Scarlet Witch as, like, completely unwilling to take even the slightest amount of responsibility for the extinction of an entire people.

Talking about how Mutants have no real culture and are just dudes with superpowers was kinda trash but so's Rick Remender so it's a good fit.

 

[IHaveIce]

I hate Bendis of that era so much... Actually besifes Ultimate Spider-Man which also dropped off later on, idk about any Bendis' stories that are actually good.

 

[Pandora012]

This is the one that Wanda fucks over all the Mutants, right? I don't really like it that much due to the consequences that are still being worked out.

 

[Weiss]

This is the one that Wanda fucks over all the Mutants, right?

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Yep.

But it's okay, Doctor Doom made her do it, and the Avengers instantly forgave her.

Meanwhile Pixie and Rockslide are getting shot by Sentinels.

 

[Pandora012]

Yep.

But it's okay, Doctor Doom made her do it, and the Avengers instantly forgave her.

Meanwhile Pixie and Rockslide are getting shot by Sentinels.

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Im annoyed with it honestly, since mutants in the comics are still dealing with that bullshit. Tho, it looks like things are getting better. But Mutants vs Inhumans kinda made it worse. Mutants were like already decimated, then this inhuman toxin.....just why

 

[caliph95]

Yep.

But it's okay, Doctor Doom made her do it, and the Avengers instantly forgave her.

Meanwhile Pixie and Rockslide are getting shot by Sentinels.

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You can tell the creators want to be done with house of m

 

[Weiss]

Im annoyed with it honestly, since mutants in the comics are still dealing with that bullshit. Tho, it looks like things are getting better.

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It technically still happened but every Mutant who was depowered on M-Day now has their powers back thanks to Krakoa being able to create perfect clone bodies.

Though the ones who lived and made it to Krakoa first have to get ritualistically murdered by Apocalypse to get their powers back.

You can tell the creators want to be done with house of m

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The problem, of course, is that the events of it still happened. Scarlet Witch wasn't popular enough to not be rendered radioactive by an uncaring, untalented writer and then 15 years later gets her own TV show.

 

[SilkySm00th]

I enjoyed HoM for the alternate world fuckery.

But Wolverine: Agent of SHIELD had a better helicarrier escape scene lol

Fucking with wanda is like a rite of passage at marvel or something.

 

[Reym]

This is what I remember it for:

 

[Deleted member 13798]

Like most Marvel events, the concept was better than the execution.

They needed to bring in Johnathan Hickman to finally undo the fallout of a story that's heading towards 2 decades old

 

[Weiss]

This is what I remember it for:

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This guy is actually hilarious and I wish he made more than like one cartoon every five years.

 

[Pandora012]

It technically still happened but every Mutant who was depowered on M-Day now has their powers back thanks to Krakoa being able to create perfect clone bodies.

Though the ones who lived and made it to Krakoa first have to get ritualistically murdered by Apocalypse to get their powers back.

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See when i read that, I can't help be feel that the mutants will get fucked over again. Nothing good can come from that.

 

[Weiss]

See when i read that, I can't help be feel that the mutants will get fucked over again. Nothing good can come from that.

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No it's fine, all the Mutants are aligned now under the banner of Krakoa including Mystique, Mr. Sinister, and Apocalypse (he prefers to be called 'A' now).

 

[Zombine]

This absolutely destroyed X-Men. My hope is that House of M's redemption is that in Wandavision they will take the events of that story and reverse it to introduce mutants into the MCU.

 

[Weiss]

This absolutely destroyed X-Men. My hope is that House of M's redemption is that in Wandavision they will take the events of that story and reverse it to introduce mutants into the MCU.

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I feel like making Mutants happen as a result of an action taken by a person would demean the idea that they're just a naturally occurring phenomenon and puts them in the same boat as other Marvel heroes.

 

[Reym]

This guy is actually hilarious and I wish he made more than like one cartoon every five years.

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Seriously.
Hyper-Canadian Wolverine will never not make me laugh.

 

[Pandora012]

No it's fine, all the Mutants are aligned now under the banner of Krakoa including Mystique, Mr. Sinister, and Apocalypse (he prefers to be called 'A' now).

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Mr. Sinister isn't even a mutant afaik. ....this will not end well.

 

[Weiss]

Seriously.
Hyper-Canadian Wolverine will never not make me laugh.

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The series of cartoons he did on the Messiah Complex/War story contains what is the most succinct expression of Archangel's character ever depicted.

Mr. Sinister isn't even a mutant afaik. ....this will not end well.

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In the meantime Mr. Sinister has fielded a small team of violent, deeply traumatized Mutants who came to Krakoa after a past of being minor supervillains and now really have nothing better to do, in a series called Hellions.

It is the actual best X-book right now.

 

[Omegasquash]

See this is the kind of thing that both makes me both regret and respect my decision to not keep up with things.

Even though I did just re-up my Marvel Unlimited.

 

[Nakenorm]

I hate Bendis of that era so much... Actually besifes Ultimate Spider-Man which also dropped off later on, idk about any Bendis' stories that are actually good.

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His run on Daredevil and Moon Knight are great. As well as anything Jessica Jones.
Dude really should've stuck to street level heroes. Irs where he really shine.

 

[dots]

Jumping on the "they screwed up the Spider-Man stuff" train. Can't believe they went with the lame The Other event rather than having Peter have to deal with what happened here.