X-Men: House Of M Graphic Novel Review

House Of M is a graphic novel that massively changed the X-Men universe and though it’s often lauded with high praise, this is my first time reading it.

It’s not that I haven’t wanted to but as I’ve already been through the entirety of Avengers Vs X-Men, this seemed like a step backwards.

However, I’m brushing all that to the side and looking to the future to see if this is worth going back for.

Throughout this review we’ll be discussing the ins and outs of the work and if it’s worth picking up if you’ve missed it until now.

There will be some spoilers here so if you don’t want anything ruined then I highly recommend that you skip to the score.

With that out the way let’s get into our breakdown of X-Men: House Of M!

Death Of X

Scarlet Witch has had a complete and utter breakdown resulting in the loss of Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Vision.

Crippled with grief over killing her husband the character has been tearing apart reality and rebuilding it for her to have a perfect life. However, due to her mental instability, things are getting dangerous.

The X-Men and Avengers have decided that strict measures need to be taken with the character and thus they travel out to put an end to her powers.

Unfortunately, they stumble into something they don’t understand and Wanda completely bends reality, making it so that they are all living in a world where mutants are the majority and humans are excised similar to how homosuperior are in the real world.

It’s an ideal life for some and nobody can remember they’re true life.

Well, everyone except for Wolverine…

It’s an astounding way to open the book and this mind-bending opening will really catch your interest in my opinion.

The graphic novel hits the ground running and I was instantly swept up in its aesthetic.

Laced with Twists, Turns and changes to the status quo the book really feels like it has stakes, even though a lot of it is fantasy early on.

This is no easy feat and the creative team should be applauded for managing to balance the drama with the more fantastical side of the story.

It’s an excellent way to start the book and early on I was gripped and ready to go on this reality-warping adventure through the pages of the work.

Wolverine Explains It All

Now like most books centred around alternate timelines where one character remembers the original one, there’s a lot of explaining to do.

Wolverine has to convince everyone of the reality that they all really come from and it does grind the book to a halt for the mid-section.

It’s something that’s been done over a thousand times in fiction and it does slow the pace down completely.

They create a team, go hero to hero asking them to sacrifice their perfect life and whilst it is well executed on the panel, it does feel like a cliche at this point.

I really wish they’d just had a panel that paid lip service to the Ragin’ Cajun filling them in as it does drag its heels a bit getting through the information dump and recruitment process.

As I’ve stated it isn’t badly handled it just feels rather rote and it’s a large aspect of the middle of the work that slows everything down…but…eventually…they do get back to the meat of the storyline.

The House Of M

Since the world has been remade in his image, the group figure that Magneto is at the centre of it all.

Whilst this isn’t the case (and there is a nice twist) it does allow there to really be two sides for the finale.

At the core of a lot of the best X-Men stories has been this idea that the brotherhood of mutants and the X-men are different sides of the same coin, however here they really do change things up to show family Magneto in a new light.

They know that to break out of it they will need to find Professor X and tracking him down becomes paramount.

They storm Genosha and it really gets the book back on track.

The action scenes turn the work into a real page-turner and it feels like a breeze to get through.

The group discover that Quicksilver was actually the one who convinced Wanda to remake the world.

There’s a huge showdown and Wanda finishes the battle by uttering the devastating phrase:

“No More Mutants”

This returns the world to how it was except for one big caveat, millions of mutants have lost their powers and abilities.

It’s a devastating finale, akin to the snap at the end of Infinity War and it completely leaves everything up in the air.

Even though I knew it was coming it still caught me off guard and its impact can still be felt several years after it was first printed.

It ends the work on a sombre note, reminding us that the X-Men never have it easy and it’s the perfect set-up for what’s to come.

The Verdict

But what did I think of the book overall?

Well, other than its underwhelming mid-section, I do think that the work holds up.

It has a finale that is still talked about today for good reason. The graphic novel closes out with a devastating ending and as someone who loves it when the heroes lose, I have to say that I was enthralled by its closing chapter.

House Of M, though not perfect, still does far more good than bad and it is definitely worth your time if you want to get into the Avengers Vs X-Men story.

This is essential reading for Marvel fans and that’s why it gets an…

8/10