Explore the people and places of the World of M! In Black Panther, a United Africa - ruled over by Storm and T'Challa - has become an economic powerhouse and a thorn in Magneto's side. When Storm speaks out about the persistence of supremacist notions in the mutant-controlled world, a furious Magneto is determined to stop her at any cost. In Captain America, see Steve Rogers move from the '40s to the present day - bearing witness to a changing landscape, and watching as man becomes the minority and mutant the ruler. In New Thunderbolts, only Private Genis-Vell, a member of the Titan/Kree Exploratory Council, can see that something is desperately wrong with the House of M. Why does he keep having visions of people who wanted to hurt him? Is the only way to keep his mind from coming apart require him to destroy an entire world? In Cable/Deadpool, Deadpool, Cannonball and Siryn desperately search for the missing Cable. After scouring several alternate worlds and various alternate Cables, where they find the one true Cable will come as a very, very big shock! And in The Pulse, House of M mastermind Brian Michael Bendis peels a shocking layer off the mystery of the Marvel Universe that no Avengers fan (old or new) dare miss!
Collecting: Wolverine #33-35, Black Panther #7, Captain America #10, Pulse #10
A Wolverine story where Mystique takes center stage and Wolvie is just a supporting character. It's all about Wolverine and Nick Fury's history together in House of M. I loved the ending. Also included are some odds and ends solo stories of Black Panther, Captain America and Hawkeye in House of M.
Collecting a few odds & ends from the House of M tie-ins, including - obviously - the 3-part Wolverine story, in which our favourite, over-exposed, adamantium-skeletoned, healing-factored, Snikt!-makin' mutant is relegated to a supporting player role.
Here, then, are the reviews for the individual parts comprising this overall strong collection:
Wolverine #33-35 - 4 stars
Wolverine's jumping ship (literally - from the House of M mini-series) is investigated by SHIELD Director Sebastian Shaw. Through flashbacks, Mystique explains some of Wolverine's past, as Shaw is trying to determine how long Wolverine has been... "unstable" (more than usual, I guess he means). All in all, it is a pretty (but good) sad story.
Black Panther #7 - 5 stars
This stand-alone tie-in is something all comic book writers should read: that way they'd see that (1) you don't need 3-4-5 issues to tell a great story, and (2) THIS is how a great tie-in is done. A lot happens in this issue, and yet there's no clutter. I want more comic books like this.
Captain America #10 - 2 stars
(Yawn) This one's about Steve Rogers' life, from World War II to 2005 (without him spending years/decades frozen in the Arctic/or wherever that was). Of course this is skewed through the House of M reality, where mutants eventually become the big dog on campus, and homo sapiens become the oppressed minority. Steve Rogers is old, and of absolutely no use to our intrepid heroes, who're recruiting en masse so they can take down Magneto and his kids.
Pulse #10 - 4 stars
Hawkeye. He's dead. He's not dead. He's both. Huh? Wait. Back up. This stand-alone tie-in is interesting on many levels: Hawkeye, who bit the big one in Avengers Disassembled, shows up very much alive in the House of M reality, and he's got 2 sets of memories: his own (pre-"death"), and a brand-new set (supplied by the Scarlet Witch's reality-altering shenannigans). These two sets of memories are distinct, concurrent, and Hawkeye thinks the reason he was allowed to remember his existence pre-"death" is so that he realises that this reality is only an illusion, and that Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) wants him (on some level) to take her out of her misery (by way of death-by-arrow, of course, as this is Hawkeye we're talking about).
This was a somewhat uneven collection. You had the main story, which was a three issue Wolverine story which really dealt more with Mystique. Then you had a one issue Black Panther story, which was okay but seemed a little unnecessary. Then you have a one issue story from The Pulse, which dealt with Hawkeye. I think Hawkeye basically figured out what's going on with the House of M, but I'm not sure why. Then things are finished up with a one shot Captain America story showing what he's been up in the House of M Universe. Basically, he never got frozen and we got to see how his life progressed, which included some McCarthy style hearings related to mutants.
Not bad, but really, the House of M had more mediocre crossovers then really good ones.
This one was just alright. I have to admit I skimmed through the second half. Just not that interesting to be honest. And despite having his name on the cover Wolverine is barely in this book at all. Definitely skippable.
Well This is better than the House of M core book. The first half of the book is about Wolverine, but really it follows Mystique and is about her. It is mostly her being debriefed by Shaw after Logan ran off. But, it does get into a little world building for the constructed reality. It builds up her and Logan's relationship (they call him James in this story, I've seen him called James in other books before too, but he's Logan to me). It is the strongest story of the bunch, and gives the people with the constructed universe a reasoning behind Wolverine going insane and AWOL. Now, did that need an explanation form their perspective? No, not really, considering it's still crazy, just a different kind of crazy. But it's a pretty solid story, so we'll give it a pass.
Next we get a middling story of political intrigue involving BlackPanther, Storm, Namor, Black Bolt, Quicksilver, Magneto, Sabertooth, and Apocalypse. It has some cool moments, but over all it's pretty weak.
After that, we get to see the fallout and breakdown to Hawkeye learning about his own death. Mileage will vary.
Then we round it off with Cap'n America reminiscing over some alternative history. How this world turned out a little different, and what Rodgers was doing while the mutants rose and humanity fell.
Taken as a whole, it's a decently written bit of world building. Though, none of the stories are strong enough to stand on their other than the Wolverine story, Even together the other stories are middling at best and can't stand on their own without the Wolverine story. But when you add it all together. You get a better written, more cohesive story with better art over all than the core book (not 100% on the art, but it's mostly true)
So what bugs me about the HOUSE OF M is that unlike, say, the AGE OF APOCALYPSE--an alternate reality created by an event that was changed from ours that occurred 20 years on the past, allowing 20 years of story to accumulate to the point we the audience are brought in--the HOUSE OF M was generated by Wanda in literally a day. So all the memories, all the "events" that led to the reader's entry into the world: they're implants, hastily created forgeries to help our characters assimilate into the world Wanda has created. They are, as Hawkeye so eloquently points out in THE PULSE issue herein, "paper thin": so paper thin that an actual artifact, like a newspaper, still reads the way it would in actual reality. It only appears different to a person affected by Wanda's manipulations, it hasn't *actually changed*.
Which is why this volume is, for the most part, so deathly, deadly dull to me: I don't care how Shaw, Mystique, Captain America, or anyone else remember how things were, because unlike an actual What If...? scenario, *none of this happened*. The Scarlet Witch didnt reset the timeline or magic up a government conspiracy for Magneto to unmask; that's why those events are only vaguely alluded to and then handwaved away! Intentionally or not, Bendis draws a think black line under what *doesnt work* about his story with his contribution to this trade, and renders two of the other stories moot with its inclusion.
The Panther story, at least, is decent, though it feels like uts trying to cram too much into to tight a space. Still, it saves this volume from a single star review.
Mimo, że coś mało Rosomaka w tym barszczu, to i tak była to piekielnie dobra lektura.
W pewnym momencie postanowiłem prześledzić losy Wolverine w komiksie po roku 2000. Dlatego też mamy ten zbiór wzięty tak trochę z "d#@y", bo skupiam się głownie na końcówce New 52/początku DC Rebirth oraz końcówce Marvel NOW!. Wolverine to projekt poboczny, niemniej świetny miejscami.
Mamy czasy wydarzenie House of M. Wolverine współpracuje z Mistique polująca na Nicka Fury'iego. Szkopuł w tym, że jednooki jest uznany za zmarłego i cała sytuacja niepokoi przełożonych pary. Finał tych trzech zeszytów jest wyborny. Potem Logan znika z zasięgu scenarzystów, ale wchodzi wiele dobra, jak kapitalna opowieść o Czarnej Panterze, na którą poluje sam Apocalypse na zlecenie od Magneto... I choć zakulisowe układy tamtego okresu nie są mi znane to i tak bawiłem się kapitalnie.
Troszkę mniej radości miałem z przegadanej historii gdzie główną rolę odgrywał postarzały Kapitan Ameryka, ale już nie miałem zastrzeżeń do opowiadania, gdzie przewija się pewna dziennikarka i Hawkeye, który ma przecież nie żyć...
Taka swoista antologia około dużego eventu, ale dla odmiany dobra. W dodatku wyglądająca naprawdę zacnie, mimo różnic artystycznych.
Daniel Way's arc on Wolverine is fascinating in so much that, while it is an alternate history where Wolverine's rivalry with Nick Fury is a defining feature, he is a supporting character in his own story. Indeed, Mystique is actually the main character, but Way uses this to get into the world of M and what S.H.I.E.L.D would look like very compellingly. Reginald Hudlin's one-off with Black Panther leading a resistance against the House of M is also fairly good, Storm and Panther continue their dialogue in defiance of the Master of Magnetism. Wakanda is clearly able to hold its own. Brian Bendis's Pulse issue focusing on Hawkeye falls very flat and is, frankly, confusing, despite Kat Farrell's attempt to ground the story. Ed Brubaker's take on Captain America as a agent of equality and an American hero who ages into a sad irrelevance given his resistances through the system had largely failed. This issue is an extreme anti-climax and at first is disappointing, yet the longer one sits with it, Brubaker's genius here starts to come out and the tragedy of the story is compelling. It is a very mixed bag of House of M odds and ends.
Wolverine 33-35: 3 Stars - The story was okay. It was basically about trying to figure out why Wolverine jumped off the big SHIELD ship. The only good part about the three issues is the twist at the end other than nothing really happens. It is pretty disconnected from the actual House of M story itself so it is easily skippable.
Captain America 10: 3.5 Stars - Pretty much just a what if Captain America won World War 2 and Bucky hadn't "died" and the Mutant population was gradually overtaking the normal human population. It was interesting and a little sad but I enjoyed it.
Black Panther 7: 4.5 Stars - This one was really fun. This was all about why you really shouldn't mess with Black Panther and his allies. The best part was probably Black Bolt's scene it was short, but it was awesome. I really wish this issue had been much longer.
The Pulse 10: 2.5 Stars - This one was pretty meh until about halfway through and only because of who showed up. I haven't read much of the actual House of M event yet so I don't know if it has any impact whatsoever, but this issue itself probably won't have any impact at all and is therefore most likely very skippable.
This volume felt like it had more separate plotlines going on at once than some of the other collected editions. There are three issues covering one Wolverine arc, one Black Panther issue, one issue following Hawkeye, and one Captain America issue. I'm not the biggest fan of what Wolverine's life is like in the alternate House of M universe, but I did like following his story through Mystique's point of view. The relationship between Nick Fury and Wolverine was also interesting. I loved the Black Panther issue included here for the parts involving Ororo, but didn't like how much of a playboy they made T'Challa into. Even though I'm not much of a Hawkeye fan, I did like his issue here for how it shows how disorienting the new reality is for those who still remember what the world was like before Wanda changed it. I usually don't like any Captain America comics, but thought the way this reality rewrote the McCarthy hearings to be about mutants was a solid way to continue to tie real world history into this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Continuing the great X-read of 2017 (and we are actually back to one of the books that makes it “great” finally)…
This is probably the strongest of the side volumes of House of M. While the Wolverine/Mystique story was pretty good (it is what keeps this volume from hitting five stars for me), the Black Panther and Captain America single issue stories were absolutely fantastic. Both had strong plots while also having strong emotional cores. The Black Panther issue in particular also really tackled some heavy topics and handled them *extremely* well without talking down to the reader.
Honestly, this issue of Black Panther absolutely blew me away. I have never been much of a reader of that comic but this issue makes me think that I absolutely need to check it out. This is one of the best single issue stories that I have read in quite some time.
I think this volume is definitely worth a read right alongside the main book.
The final addition to the collective House of M story arc before it moves on includes a few comics of Wolverine, with Mystique taking more of a center stage unfortunately for me, and several other comics that tie in some loose ends, namely Black Panther and Storm, Hawkeye, and Captain America.
Although, overall, the whole collection is good, I crave more Wolverine and less Mystique and more Hawkeye than what this provides. Still, the story is moving and shows the true deterioration of Wanda Maximoff's alternate reality and just how "paper thin," to quote Hawkeye the reality has become. With several mutants and humans alike being able to peer through the disguise it's clear that Wanda's rule over the House of M in her father's name will eventually crumble.
A good collection, but the first House of M series is where its at with building the momentum for the storyline, the rest is interesting, skewed, and often uncomfortable anecdotes to add to it.
All the stories in this trade are in the House of M reality, so there’s nothing really here that anyone needs to go out of their way to read, but there’s some fun gems in here.
I am mostly familiar with Daniel Way from his Deadpool run, so I was pleasantly surprised by the decently crafted Wolverine story. The Captain America issue was a fun inclusion as I believe it is or was omitted from the trade paperbacks for Brubaker’s run (unsure if it is in the Captain America omnibuses). The former is a fun SHIELD story involving Logan, Fury, and Mystique. The latter a look at what Captain America’s life would be like if he’d never ended up frozen in ice (Cap in place of Neil Armstrong is a neat idea).
This volume also includes the tie-ins for Black Panther and Pulse, but while neither one is particularly bad, I didn’t find them to be particularly interesting either. The Pulse issue is probably the most relevant to the main House of M series, but not really required reading.
If this only included the Wolverine story, it would probably be one-star. The big problem with the Wolverine story is that it tells you about a character you never see in the House of M main story (because when he “wakes up” he knows his real life and this tells you about his fake one). So it tries to say something unique about the character you never saw which somehow reflects on the Logan pre-Wanda reality rewrite. And it never feels like it says anything of import.
The Cap story is fine, though it feels like a blip within the Winter Soldier story.
Black Panther was fun, but brief.
The Pulse puts an interesting highlight on what Hawkeye is enduring.
Fokusnya adalah di World of M karena Wolverine memang hanya bintang tamu yang tiga nomor di serialnya muncul di sini. Sisanya adalah satu nomor dari Black Panther, satu dari Captain America, dan satu lagi dari seri Pulse. Secara keseluruhan, koleksi ini menceritakan tentang bagaimana kehidupan yang dialami oleh beberapa tokoh di komik ini di dunia yang didominasi oleh mutan. Favorit saya di sini adalah satu nomor dari Kapten Amerika.
These are really great companion stories to the main House of M event (which I have to say, I enjoyed the main event as well). It is timely that I read this since the Black Panther and Storm are King and Queen of Wakanda in one of the arcs.
A mishmash of House of M stories, tying up some loose ends. The spinoffs weren't necessarily my favorite thing, but these were more entertaining than some of the others. I enjoyed the Wolverine story, and the ARC of the Captain America story felt the most applicable to present day.
I liked that there were 4 diffrent storys in the book. I just think it would have been nice if they were evenly spread through the book because I liked one story more but it was shorter than the other ones and then the forst story was reùllly long but not so good in my opinion.
The title is a bit misleading, the main focus is Mystique and Wolverine is more like an important supporting character. She is the one who sets everything in motion and has more screen time. The story is supposed to explain Wolverine and Nick Fury's history, even if it's a made-up one that is created while trying to tie in the alternate reality Wand had created. And we get a few tie-ins of Captain America, Black Panter, and Hawkeye.