House of M (Greatest Stories Ever Told)

House of M was written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by Olivier Coipel. It was a comic series that spanned over eight-issues. The story follows that of one of Marvel’s most powerful mutants and her inability to control the rage from within. No, just in case you’re wondering, it’s not Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix.

Is now the time…?

The story picks up as many of the most well-known superheroes are talking about and deciding the fate of Wanda Maximoff. Due to her mental instability, they are forced to decide exactly how to keep not only her safe but those around her safe. These talks had gotten so strong that they even involved destroying her.

As she sat waiting to hear her fate, Wanda couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was to happen to her. Luckily for her, blood is thicker than water and her brother, Quicksilver began to take matters into his own hands.

Upon meeting with her, he explained to her what just may happen. In full understanding of the severity of the situation, Wanda used her reality warping powers to cause the reality around her to change.

Master of Magnetism rules the world

In this newly created world, mutants reign supreme and not the humans. Naturally, this new world is ruled by the one mutant who has craved this since his beginning, Magneto. In this world, he holds the power to the government, military, and everything else that may seem important.

This, of course, led to speculation that he as responsible for what had happened.

Two for the price of one

Even though the reality had been altered in the House of M story, there were two mutants that had remembered what the world was like before Wanda’s change. These two were everyone’s favorite Canadian, Wolverine and a child named Layla Miller, whose power enabled her to activate the memories from the past into the present.

Almost at the exact moment of Wanda’s reset, she began to realize something was wrong. That is, she knew that the House of M reality was a fake reality. As she took the fight to Magneto, she was able to show him exactly what had happened and that the world he now knew, was not the world as it should be.

Angered by the knowledge he now possessed he looked to figure out what had caused this to happen. In the flip of a page or two, he learned that it was Quicksilver who was responsible for the chaos that they all now lived. When asked why he responded by explaining that he could not stand by and watch as the fate of his sister lay in the hands of those he thought he could trust.

In one of the most brutal displays of honesty, he is seen screaming at his father that those he trusted were going to kill her. Magneto somberly responded that maybe it was better this way…

No more mutants

When it came down to it, the Master of Magnetism Magneto, chose his fellow mutants over his offspring.

Angered and enraged by this choice and looking for a convenient way for Marvel to reset its ever-growing mutant population, she uttered the now immortal words, “No more mutants”. These three simple worlds sent the world into a tailspin and when it was over, the world reverted back to how it was. More than that, the mutant population fell from the multiple thousands it had climbed to, to a mere 198.

…198…that didn’t include Quicksilver…

No matter how ridiculous the story seems, I cannot stress how important these events were in the Marvel timeline. Not only did it provide a way for Marvel to reset its mutant population, but it further proved that the Scarlet Witch had a set of powers that had gone untapped.

Unfortunately, due to this, this new power set had made her an anomaly in the Marvel Universe. From this point forward, and to the demise of the character, Marvel now had a problem. In short, she had become so powerful that they simply didn’t know what to do with her.

Cheers,

Jeff