Writer: Daniel Way
Illustrator: Reginald Hudlin, Olivier Coipel, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Javier Saltares, Mark Texaira, Trevor Hairsine, Michael Lark, Lee Weeks
Genre: Graphic novels, Comics, Superheroes
Publication date: February 22, 2006
Book description: 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!
Review:
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.
It starts with Wolverine jumping off a ship and deserting his SHIELD taskforce, now he's being investigated by the director Sebastian Shaw. Mystique comes into the picture, she has a romantic relationship with Wolverine, and through flashbacks, we get more information from his past. Shaw is trying to determine when has Wolverine become unstable. It's a story with depressing aspects as you can imagine.
We have a few tie-ins from other characters Black Panther, and Captain America.
We follow Steve Rogers' life starting after the end of WWII to the near present. He never ends up frozen- that alone is an interesting take. His life spirals out of control due to the House of M rearranging of reality. The fact that the world changes did not mean that Rogers' moral code was altered. Initially, Captain America falls from grace as he refuses to step on the wagon of Humans hating mutants- then he keeps falling as he also refuses to hate humans and place mutants as a superior race. He wants people to be considered equals, not changing a suppressed race for another one.
We get another feature of Hawkeye, he's dead. But due to a glitch, he is back now. But his mind is posing some issues- he has two sets of memories: his own before his death and a brand new set due to the Scarlet witch's reality-altering shenanigans. These two sets of memories are distinct and concurrent, and Hawkeye thinks the reason he was allowed to remember his existence pre-death is so that he realizes 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.
It was an interesting ride. I will continue to get through this collection.
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