Issue #3

Page 3 - House of M Analysis

So, if after two pages of House of M recap you are still with me, then I commend you.  I honestly didn't mean it to be so long, but it just happened.  Anyways, on with some background info.

The 3 Act Play

There have been many people who were angered at all the loose ends that weren't wrapped up at the end of House of M, but there is a perfectly good explanation for that.  House of M has been described as Act 1 in a three act play.  House of M is the beginning and set up for the rest of the story.  I think when you look at it this way, House of M fits its role.  You have so many stories that are able to be told (and are being told) in the aftermath of The House of M, which has been titled Decimation (Act 2).

The mini-series titled Son of M (by my understanding, I'm not currently reading this) follows Quicksilver, the man behind House of M, and his journeys in his life after being out-casted.  It also deals with the ramifications of Peter Parker's events in the House of M.

Generation M, another mini-series, focuses on the mutants who have lost their mutations and have turned into normal people.  It is somewhat of a murder mystery, as someone unknown is killing the ex-mutants, but it is also an overview of what the world has become after M-Day (the name of the day when mutants lost their powers).

X-Men: Deadly Genesis (yes, another mini-series) deals with a new mysterious villain and secrets held by Professor X.  It hasn't really been revealed just how this relates to House of M directly, or if it will...

X-Men: The 198 is yet another mini-series that will follow the 198 mutants remaining on the planet.  This one is still a little ways away, so I am unsure of the plot.

There will be a new ongoing series titled Wolverine: Origins.  This whole series deals with Wolverine's memory returning after The House of M and will follow him through different adventures in and involving his past.

Even with all of this, there are also interwoven stories throughout many regular ongoing titles such as X-Men and The New Avengers that will take place in this new world.

Of course, this will all lead up to this Summer's big event, Act 3, which is titled Civil War.  Not much information has been released on this yet, but it seems that due to the events of House of M, there will be some sort of push for a Super-Hero Registration Act that will split the marvel heroes onto different sides.

Cracking the Internet

This all started with head writer of The House of M, Brian Michael Bendis, stating many things to hype the last page of issue #3.  He claimed that it very well could be the greatest panel he has ever made, and that it would "Crack the internet in half."  This of course started lots of talking about just what would happen at the end of issue #3.  As one could guess, expectations were high.

Well, the big surprise ended with Hawkeye returning from the dead.  Now why the controversy?  Let me explain...

Brian Michael Bendis is the man behind Avengers: Disassembled.  This event (which I touched on briefly in the first issue) was Marvel's attempt to revamp The Avengers into what is now The New Avengers.  To say fans didn't take kindly to BMB destroying their beloved team was an understatement.  Mostly though, they were outraged that he killed off the fan-favorite hero Hawkeye.  Poor Hawkeye.

So now all of a sudden Hawkeye is back, who has only been dead for maybe a year.  You would think the fans would rejoice wouldn't you?  Think again!

People were once again outraged that Hawkeye was already back from the dead.  They saw this as disrespectful to not let Hawkeye rest in peace, and further weakened any sense of realism or caring when someone dies in comics.  Why care if someone dies if you just know they will be back in a year?

Here is my suggestion.  Don't get caught up in hype.  Just read the stories you want to read and take things for what they are.  If you get caught up in the hype you will most likely be let down in the end.

So maybe it did crack the internet in half, but not in the way they were hoping.

My one major complaint

I only have one real complaint with The House of M, and it was that the Tie-Ins hardly tied in at all.  These were the three stories that I recapped earlier.  These were 3 of the 4 core Tie-Ins which had their own mini-series.  I figured that these would tie into the story at least a little bit, but still not be essential (as it should be).  What I found out though, is that these stories in no way tied in, and sometimes it was hard enough just to figure out when they occurred.

I would have to say the one I enjoyed the most was Fantastic Four.  It was a fun, cool story, and I can almost figure out where it fits into the House of M continuity.  It just seems odd to me though that in the end, Doom is some broken down man and Magneto hates him, but then in The House of M he invites him over for a party.  It just doesn't make much sense, but I can let that one pass.

Iron Man didn't tie in a single bit.  His story was completely out of the way of the others, which I suppose is ok, but in the end just made it feel pointless.

Spider-Man is where I have most of my problems.  First of all, the story is so confusing, I still don't quite know what happened.  We never really found out why Peter Parker was The Green Goblin or what.  The story also doesn't fit at all into continuity with the main House of M line.  I mean, at the end of Spider-Man, he fakes his death and goes and lives happily ever after on some lake.  Then, all of a sudden in The House of M, there is Peter Parker waltzing down the street.  Wouldn't some people recognize this hugely popular movie star that supposed to be dead?  I guess not.

It seems as though the writers only loosely collaborated when writing up these stories.  I mean, the characters were the same, but the whens, wheres, and whys just don't match up, which can be bothersome to me sometimes when it seems as though they should.

Wrap-Up

Well, after three pages of House of M, we made it.  This is the end.  Even after my big complaint there, I would say on the whole I was pleased with The House of M.  I look forward to the things it started into motion, and the story was fun.  Even the Tie-Ins were ok when you don't look at continuity.  I would recommend reading the main House of M line to anyone interested, but you could skip everything else if you wanted.

Next Issue! - I think I'll take a look at the new craze of Trade Paper Backs.  They may not be bad thing!

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Jaybird currently resides in Seattle where he reads comics, works in a library, and writes for this site.  He has also been known to blow your mind, rock your world, and eat pizza.