House of M: Spider-Man

The House of M was my return to the comic book world. I think it's rather important that you read "House of M" before reading the other story lines as it sets the foundation for issues in the other stories. The Scarlet Witch has the power to change reality and becomes a danger to the point where Professor Xavier tries to help her but soon realizes he can't. The Avengers and the X-Men meet to decide her fate to which her brother QuickSilver implores their father Magneto to do something. The world is remade to where the Mutants are dominant and Homo sapiens ("regular people") are the oppressed. All have had their lives remade; some good and some bad. Peter Parkers world has changed. He is married to Gwen Stacy and has a son. Uncle Ben is alive and both he and Aunt May live with the Parkers. Peter is now a famous celebrity. He involves himself with many areas and he even has his revenge on J. Jonah Jameson who is made to become his publicist and is treated horribly by Peter. There is a birthday party and Jameson is visited by the Green Goblin who announces Jameson will be his pawn in an effort to destroy Parker. The Goblin shows Jameson something and Jameson shows an evil smile and says "When do we start?" As you can expect things start falling apart and Parker seems to have the makings of a nervous breakdown. Is there a secret? Does this play into the first story where Spiderman has memories of the original world? If I had to give this story a simple description I would suggest it could be an extended "what if" story. It's more than a "rise and fall" story of man. It has some interesting twists. One I liked was seeing Aunt May in action. I had to laugh at what she did. All in all; I found I liked this addition to the House of M storyline. However, as previously mentioned I have been away from the comic world for awhile and have not read some of the new story lines.

What's Spider-Man up to in the alternate reality of the House of M? He's a wealthy, famous professional wrestling superstar that's married to Gwen Stacy, has a kid, and his Uncle Ben never died. Needless to say, it's the life that Peter Parker jas basically always wanted. J. Jonah Jameson is his abused publicist, who helps the Green Goblin set up Spidey by leaking the secret that he's not a mutant, but a human given powers via a radioactive spider. Needless to say, this doesn't bode well in a world that is dominated by mutants. Mark Waid writes a compelling and interesting alternate look at Marvel's most popular character, while X-Men artist Salvador Larroca and inker Danny Miki provide solid work as well. The only downside to House of M: Spider-Man is that which was already mentioned by a previous reviewer: by the time the book ends, Spidey's status in Brian Michael Bendis' main House of M storyline contradicts what is found here. That aside though, this House of M tie-in is pretty good, and worth checking out for fans of the main storyline.

I read "House of M" after I read "House of M: Spider-Man," simply because I read the latter when the five comic books came out and I waited for the trade paperback collection of the former. However, regardless of which you read first, if you read them both, then you will notice that they are not compatible. But then I have accepted that the "Amazing Spider-Man," "Ultimate Spider-Man," and "Mary Jane Love Spider-Man" comics are all in different universes, so I can handle another Spider-Man reality or two as well. Ultimately the more important distinction between the two is that "House of M: Spider-Man" is self-continued, while "House of M" is really just the set up for the sundry "House of M" titles. However, as long as you understand the basic premise of "House of M" you do not need to read that eight part story or "The Pulse: House of M Special Edition" newspaper to understand what is happening in this trade paperback. The premise of "House of M" is that the New Avengers and X-Men meet to discuss the fate of Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, and Magneto's daughter. Previously Wanda had lost control of her reality-altering powers and suffered a total nervous breakdown, during which she was reponsible for the deaths of the Vision, Hawkeye and Ant-Man. Magneto was able to stop her and take his daughter away to the devastated island-nation of Genosha, where Professor Xavier tried to aid her with her recover. However, he had failed and now the superheroes had gathered to debate whether Wanda should live or die. But then she, her brother Pietro, and Magneto disappear, the world burns to white and a new reality emerges where humans are the oppressed minority and mutants rule under the united kingdom of the House of Magnus. However, Wolverine remembers what is happening, then helps Emma Frost remember, and the two start gathering the Avengers and X-Men. That includes Peter Parker, who is known as the world famous Spider-Man, married to Gwen Stacy, has a son named Richie, and still takes care of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and has a good relationship with his father-in-law, Captain Stacy. "House of M: Spider-Man" obviously takes place in the House of M world, but the best way to explain it would be that the story is about what happens to the Spider-Man who does not remember his "real" life. Written by Mark Waid and Tom Peyer, with Salvador Larroca as the penciler and Danny Miki the inker, the five-part story begins with Peter in the master bedroom of his Connecticut estate with his wife and child, unaware that this is not the way it is suppose to be. This is a world where J. Jonah Jameson is Parker's publicist and Peter is one of Forbes Magazine's "Ten Richest Mutants of 2005." The first part has Peter's birthday party after which the Green Goblin pays a visit to Jameson and announces Jonah will be the pawn who is going to help him destroy Spider-Man. Jonah's response is, "When do we start?" This cannot be good for our hero. Now,

First off, I want to start off by saying I really like Mark Waid's writting. His stories are always well thought out and interesting. So that isn't my problem with this story. This story goes along with Marvel's big House of M event and is supposed to highlight what marvel's various heavy-hitters were doing during this alternate universe. In Spider-man's story you see that Uncle Ben is alive, Captian Stacy is alive, and Gwen is alive and married to Peter. Furthermore Peter has a kid and is very famous. So at the start everything is good so clearly something terrible needs to happen. And it does, the green goblin (who as a villian, doesn't exist in this universe) unleashes a simple plot to ruin peter's life. There are a few twists and turns through out the story and it keeps you guessing. My problem with this story is that it doesn't fit in with the House of M storyline. I don't know if this is supposed to happen before the heroes find Peter in the main House of M story or after or be happening during but none of those really seem to make sense and I'm not aware of anything that tie the two stories together. It seems as though Marvel told Mark Waid what Peter's life is like as a result of House of M and then had him write a story without filling him in on how the main House of M story would go. I think this hurt the story because at least at my local comic shop sales seemed to drop as the mini series went on. Over all this is a good read if you take as a What If title and don't expect it to follow or compliment the main House of M miniseries too closely

In these five issues of Spider-Man, we see what Peter Parker was up to during the events of House of M. In the reality created by the Scarlet Witch, Gwen Stacey never died, is married to Peter Parker, Parker is a world-renowned celebrity, there was never a Green Goblin (at least not a villainous Goblin), and Uncle Ben never died. Peter is a professional hero/photographer/actor/wrestler (who's in-ring nemesis is called the Green Goblin), and Mary Jane Watson is a famous actress. J. Jonah Jameson is Parker's publicist, and Rhino is his bodyguard. People look up to Parker, but he hides a secret; everyone thinks that he received his powers due to a mutation, but he really got them from a spider bite. Due to anti-sapien sentiments, he would be ruined if the secret ever got out. Unfortunately, the abused JJJ is all too eager to help stir up trouble for his abusive boss when an evil Green Goblin surfaces. Overall, the story is interesting, but it seems to contradict the events of the main House of M storyline. Peter's status position at the end of the Spider-Man subplot seem to go against what it was when he received his old memories in the main story line. The story is pretty good overall. It isn't necessary to understand the main House of M story, but it augments it.