The Bum’s Rush #19

Crisis In Da Hizouse (Part Two)

Infinite Crisis from DC Comics and House of M from Marvel Comics. They are the two biggest comic events of the year, at least according to their respective publishers. They’re heavily supported, feature top-tier talent and promise sweeping changes for each of their comic book universes. They’ve both been hugely successful so far and a lot is hinging on those successes. But there’s also been plenty of missteps in the handling both series.

Last week I talked about DC’s Infinite Crisis. This week I’ll be discussing Marvel’s House of M. House of M is an 8-issue mini-series that spins out of the “Avengers Disassembled” story-arc in which the Avengers were basically destroyed due to an insane and out of control Scarlet Witch. The Scarlet Witch, daughter of the powerful mutant Magneto, has been under the care of Charles Xavier and her father on the island of Genosha since the close of “Disassembled”. Unfortunately her condition has not improved and Xavier calls together the New Avengers and the X-Men to decide her fate. When the combined forces of the New Avengers and the X-Men travel to Genosha to see just how bad her condition has become they discover that the Scarlet Witch and her father Magneto have disappeared. And then the world goes white. Our heroes wake up in a world very different from their own, one in which humans are the minority and mutants rule the globe, led by none other than Magneto himself. And what’s more, they don’t remember the way the world used to be.

To be truthful, I wasn’t as interested in House of M compared to Infinite Crisis. The reason is simply that it spins out of a story, the aforementioned “Avengers Disassembled”, which I had no real interest in to begin with. And at the moment I’m a much bigger fan of what is happening at DC Comics in general. But I don’t want this to come off as Marvel bashing by any means. I’m not against House of M or anything like that. The story just didn’t appeal to me when I first heard about it. That having been said, in order to look like I know what the hell I’m talking about I did go out and read all issues of the series that are currently available (#1-5). And I enjoyed what I read. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about is it?

I think one of the biggest problems with the mini-series is that, by itself, it doesn’t feel like a complete story. You almost get the feeling that you’re missing out on something, like there’s something the writer isn’t telling you. It’s obvious that this world is intricate, detailed and has had a lot of planning put into it. Especially when reading the Secrets of the House of M one-shot. Why, then, does the main House of M series feel like it’s only scratching the bare surface of this world? The series writer, Brian Michael Bendis, does a great job at introducing characters and having them interact with one another but what’s missing is an actual fleshing out of this topsy-turvy world these characters inhabit. You’re basically thrown into this world that has been turned upside down and before you even get a chance to get to know the place, the heroes are running around, memories intact (thanks to a nifty memory restoring plot device named Layla Miller) trying to restore the natural order of things.

And the tie-in books. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason to these things. Some of the multi-part tie-ins happen within the pages of actual ongoing series (such as New X-Men and The Incredible Hulk) while others get their own separate series (like Fantastic Four, Spiderman and Mutopia X … yeah, Mutopia X). Then you have one issue tie-in’s that take place within certain books, sometimes interrupting ongoing storylines, as is the case with Captain America and New Thunderbolts. I’m not saying these tie-in’s are without merit, but they do seem a bit slapped together and erratic, almost as if they are an afterthought to the House of M mini-series itself. Perhaps they help to build on the fabric of the world of House of M but I personally think this is wasteful when the mini-series itself would be better served to flesh out the world on it’s own, without having to rely on a multitude of tie-in’s. And the cover packaging for the tie-in’s themselves? Ugh. There’s barely any room left from the garishly bright packaging to put some decent cover art on the books.

What about originality? Does this sound familiar – reality has been changed, characters that are supposed to be alive are dead and characters long thought dead are alive, a single person remembers how the world is supposed to be and has to gather a group of heroes together to set things right. Oh and don’t forget … nothing will EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN! Marvel has done tons of stories featuring a variation on this same theme. Age of Apocalypse? Check. Heroes Reborn? Check. Days of Future Past? Check. Did we really need another story like that?

There’s other, smaller stuff that is bothersome. The over-hyping to the point of nausea, like Marvel’s promise that they would “crack the internet in half” with the revelation of character’s return from the dead at the end of issue 3 of the mini-series. And said character had been dead for less than a year at that point. And he was a second-tier character to begin with.

How about the hype over the brand new character Layla Miller, who is being touted as “the most important new character” in the Marvel Universe. Well she seems more like the series’ McGuffin than a really interesting and important new character. And unless it’s Bendis writing about her, I can’t really see her lasting long after House of M. A confused and overwhelmed young mutant with unimaginable power? Yeah, I think we’ve already got one or two of those, but thanks anyway.

What about making Wolverine the main character of the mini-series and the one man who remembered how things should be? Really? Wolverine? He isn’t high profile enough already? Let’s make him the main player in the biggest series of the year. Why not? Especially when there are so many other character ripe with potential who could have taken the spotlight.

I was discussing this series with a friend and he told me that while he’s enjoying the series, it hasn’t been all that different from other books of this type that he’s read before. What he’s really looking forward to, he said, was the “real event” as he put it. The aftermath of House of M. I’m inclined to agree with him. In regards to this book, House of M, as well as DC’s mega-event, Infinite Crisis, it’s what comes next that I’m really looking forward to. Will there be lasting consequences? Will the changes be permanent? In the case of House of M, while I really like what I’ve read so far, it still doesn’t hold my interest quite as much as the Distinguished Competition’s efforts, but it does have me intrigued. I’m genuinely interested in the events that will spin out of this book and it’s a sure bet that I’ll be checking out more than a few of the new books Marvel will be debuting once House of M wraps up. So I suppose on that level the book has done its job well. And that’s really the point of all these big event books in the long run really; to get the reader interested and make sure he comes back for more.

Special thanks to Aaron Hall for giving me some of his own insights on House of M and its related books.

Quick Bits

1. If you want to see some superstar artists in action go check out the Sun of Gelatometti blog, home of artists like Jim Lee, Carlos D’anda, Ale Garza and Rich Friend. All this week the guys have been posting video clips of a recent art challenge the four participated in. Ale (pencils) and Carlos (inks) teamed against Rich (pencils) and Jim (inks) and it’s great fun to watch, not to mention inspiring.
2. Batman: The Animated Series Vol.4 and Superman: The Animated Series Vol. 2 DVD collections are set for a December 6th release.
3. Stemming from his involvement with the new Spirit ongoing series Darwyn Cooke has signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics.
4. Check out Alex de Campi and Igor Kordey’s Smoke from IDW. It’s a great book.
5. The new Green Lantern book from DC is good fun and all but I was kinda hard pressed to believe that a superhero, even one as charismatic as GL, could realistically convince anyone in the military to let him “borrow” an F-22 Raptor to stop a bad guy. I know it’s comics and if you’re gonna believe a man can fly blah, blah, blah, but seriously, that was a bit too much to swallow. I wonder if maybe Geoff Johns is stretching himself a bit thin? I’m just saying.
6. I’m on a bit of an anime kick right now. Samurai Champloo and Fullmetal Alchemist are my current favorite series. Samurai 7, a futuristic retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai, looks really good. And if I don’t mention Yu-Yu Hakasho my sister will beat me up.
7. Anybody remember me mentioning that Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira could be the new creative team for Ultimates Vol. 3? Looks more and more like that’s actually going to happen.
8. Did anyone else notice the conspicuous absence of the character Shepard Book from the Serenity trailers? Well I finally saw him in a publicity photo released on the movie’s website. So all you Book fans can rest easy. You know who you are.

NEXT WEEK: Corey Lewis, PENG and more.


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