House Of M TPB (House of M (Paperback))

As a mature fan of the Marvel Universe with a strong grounding in Silver Age, Bronze age, late eighties/early nineties and recent story arcs, I found this limited series disappointing to say the least. This was frustrating, as in the right hands, this would have been a fantastic piece of work, especially considering how important it is in re-setting the absurd number of mutants in the Marvel universe back to a reasonable number.The biggest problem is the art. Coipel displays the influence of Moebius (well, he would, as he's French) and that's no bad thing, as this is detectable even in the art of the superb yet quirky Frank Quitely. While this means that the draughtsmanship depicting buildings etc is attractive, Coipel's figure style is apalling - he has a tendency to foreshorten and bulk up characters who are traditionally (and correctly in my view) lithe rather than blocky, consequently making them appear like sweaty wrestlers as opposed to the apollonian titans we're used to. His Captain America is absurdly squat and pumped, while (in the same splash panel), the much more powerful She-Hulk is positively slender. Even worse, his rendering of faces is just dreadful - characters with clearly defined facial identities are unrecognisable and crudely depicted. Is this just style, or just bad drawing> Take a look at (for example) Buscema's Avengers, then look at Coipels - yeah, his 'style' is just plain bad. How did such a terrible, inconsistent penciller get selected for such an important storyline? Making characters instantly recognisable out of costume is the first golden rule of good superhero pencilling and Coipel struggles to make a character look like the same person from one panel to the next.On to Bendis, who is usually a competent writer at the very least, and sometimes excellent (I'll stop short of claiming he's brilliant, as he hasn't quite made it in that respect in my opinion, especially when compared to Brubaker, whose current run on Captain America is state-of-the-art mainstream superhero comic). Here, he seems to be writing to editorial order, and aside from the few big moments of revelation (which are Ok in themselves, but not very subtly done), he seems to be lacking lightness of touch and the humanity he usually pours into work like New Avengers. The reactions of Spider-Man to the plot scenario are interesting, but under-examined (and Bendis writes Spidey well normally), while Wolverine and his fellow X-Men are on hand to spout the cliches they are always over-reliant upon.Having criticised Bendis, I'll add that I would have enjoyed this a lot more if Coipel hand't been involved. If you like strong, consistent penciling and an artist who understands anatomy, then avoid him. If you like a stylist who is consistent, go with Quitely, whose strangeness is offset by his originality and consistency.To sum up for contemporary readers, this is not a patch on Mark Millar's 'Civil War' or the first two hardcover volumes of 'New Avengers', and ranks somewhere lower than 'Avengers Disassembled', another story that should have felt much more important than it did - the hand of editorial control being exercised too tightly again?It's a shame that the First Family of Mutantkind - noble, arogant, fascinating - continue to be depicted so poorly by bad artists and writing that treats them with so little respect. Magneto, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch have been overexposed for years and their mystique is almost lost. Shame - they were long my favourite Marvel characters and it saddens me to see them handled so uninpsiringly here.

Will definitely read more from now on of the marvel comics. Found the story amazing and the twists and turns had you wanting more.

A sizzling storyline of superheroes in shock on discovering that their happiness is not reality.A metaphor for life where things are not always what they seem & being given what you want is not always the best thing.Great story!!!

Never been a huge X-Men fan, but this is a romp. Hardly original, alternate reality set up with only one character realising something is wrong (it's X-Men so guess which one), but done with a lot of flair, has some good tie-in stories, and actually ends with some serious consequences for the Earth's mutant population, something that would of course be eventually rebooted but not for several years.

'House of M' takes off from the 'Avengers: Disassembled' series, so I'd recommend giving that a read beforehand or at least glancing over a summary. If you're looking for a lot of action then you might be slightly disappointed with this, as whilst it does have its fair share of fighting, it primarily focuses on how much the world has been messed up and how our heroes deal with that and are emotionally affected by it.It's more suited towards the more experienced comic fan, as there are quite a few less-than-famous Marvel characters involved who I wasn't familiar with. The collection is drawn by the brilliant Olivier Coipel and as a result the art is fantastic. I'd certainly recommend this to anyone in the mood for a well-drawn, well-written major event set in the Marvel universe.

Following the events of Avengers Disassembled (which you should probably read before this as this is basically a sequel), the Marvel Heroes try to determine what to do about the Scarlet Witch. But during there discussions, she abuses her reality warping powers once again, and does a lot more than anyone believed she could. She completely changed the world.This is a great story and a real turning point in the Marvel Universe. There isn't a great deal of action until the spectacular finale, but I think this kind of story would be ruined if it was filled with explosions and violence. It is a though provoking and intellectual story, and it deserves every last piece of credit it gets.

I'm not really into crossovers but this one is unique. I really love stories that focus on the concepts of alternate realities. Finding details and catching the differences in the genesis of superheroes gives a lot of fun. World of House of M is so addictive that we feel unsatisfied when the story comes to an end. I wish i could stay and explore the world even more. If I could decide I would made this story twice longer. I will definitely buy more comics from "House of M" crossover.

X-men are my “main” in the world of marvel, and this was a brilliant read! It’s been over 18 years since I’ve read X-men…. How I’ve missed them!