The Final Fate of the Scarlet Witch!

 

We've reached the end of a long and winding road involving Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, having tracked her activities following her devastating attack on her fellow Avengers at Avengers Mansion which led to her involvement in reshaping our reality to suit the worldview of the House Of M. The culmination of that saga saw Wanda, furious after witnessing her brother's fate at the hand of their father, Magneto, not only shifting reality once more but in the process removing the mutant powers of nearly every mutant on the planet, in addition to excising even the potential to become a mutant from the human genome.

As for Wanda herself, she would end up in the European nation of Transia, bereft of her memory. To the Avengers as well as the X-Men, Wanda's guilt as far as what she's done and the lives she's destroyed is a certainty; but to the Young Avengers, two of whom may likely be the sons she believed to be lost to her forever, she represents not only a person perhaps too quickly condemned by her former comrades, but also the means by which all can be put to rights again. (And hopefully allaying the concerns of the Avengers that one of the young group's number, Wiccan, isn't going to turn out like his "mother.") Joined by Magneto and setting out to find her, they locate her in Latveria, in a curious twist to this story as the fiancée of none other than Victor Von Doom.

With the reappearance of Iron Lad (the Young Avenger who's destined to become Kang the Conqueror), the group (including Wanda at this point) return in time to the point where the Jack of Hearts destroys Avengers Mansion--only this time, the life of Scott Lang is saved, though the event also serves as the catalyst for Wanda regaining her memory and resulting in an onslaught of guilt which sees her attempting to use the forces she's marshaled at the mansion to end her own life. Yet more certain than ever that some outside force has taken control of Wanda, Wiccan chooses the moment to reveal to her his steadfast belief that her children are alive, which acts like a bucket of cold water thrown on her. Standing down, she resolves to answer for what she's done, as well as do what she can to undo her actions toward mutants.

One such victim, Rictor, arrives on the scene with the rest of his group, X-Factor--and he decides to volunteer to test Wanda's plan to help the affected mutants by asking her to restore his ability to cause earth tremors.

But on the way are not only the Avengers, who are pleased to hear the news about Wanda appearing to have regained her sanity, but also the X-Men, who collectively are of a different frame of mind entirely regarding the woman who devastated the world's mutant population. And the lines are all too quickly drawn, in a story that has taken over six years to at long last reach its conclusion.

Witch Hunt!

 

We've reached the final installment of the House Of M limited series from 2005, where the X-Men and the Avengers found themselves swept away into a new reality created by the Scarlet Witch at the behest of her brother, Quicksilver--one which made mutants the dominant species, while our heroes were made to forget their past lives and histories in favor of an existence which saw their fondest hopes and dreams realized. Yet all of that changed when Wolverine, who somehow retained his memories, began to gather the troops--and with the help of a young mutant named Layla Miller, those who could be located traveled to Genosha once more to confront the ones involved in the deception, unfortunately leading to the Scarlet Witch again unleashing her power to alter the state of the world, for better or worse.

In this issue, which essentially has everyone pulling themselves together and picking up the pieces upon finding themselves back in their previous lives, we'll unfortunately be left with lingering questions which still lacked answers even in the course of eight issues. For instance: Where is Charles Xavier, taken from the heroes' midst when they first landed on the island of Genosha to settle the matter of the Scarlet Witch's disposition, the only indication of his fate being a memorial garden set up in his honor? And what finally happens with Wanda, who remains at large? From a publication stance, the only thing that this issue makes clear with reasonable certainty is that the goal of House Of M was to set up plots tying in to any number of upcoming books (e.g., Civil War (mid-2006) and Secret Invasion (mid-2008), two other multi-title events) for the foreseeable future, profitable ventures which appeared to be the only "reality" of concern to Marvel in the early 2000s.

Still, let's see where things stand following Wanda's cryptic declaration of "No more mutants" and a subsequent blinding flash which signaled another seismic shift in reality. For what it's worth, it appears that Magneto isn't going to walk out of this unscathed, if Wolverine has anything to say about it.

No More Mutants

 

Unknown to the heroes caught up in the new reality of the House Of M--which came into existence when the Scarlet Witch, at the direction of another, reshaped the world as we knew it to conform to a utopian existence for mutants at the expense of homo sapiens--things appeared grim indeed for those among them who had regained their memories of their prior lives and have decided to travel to the island of Genosha to confront both Wanda as well as Magneto, the man they presume to be responsible for forcibly twisting their lives, and those of the planet's entire population, to better favor his own worldview. For we have been witness to evidence that the man they seek, Charles Xavier--presumed to have been forced by Wanda's power to help bring those changes to life--is now deceased.

And so, having commandeered the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and its resources (including its formidable Sentinel guard detachment), the group arrives just as the House of Magnus celebrates a glittering evening of special guests assembling to pay tribute to Lord Magnus and his family on the anniversary of "the rebellion against homo sapien oppressors that held the world captive for decades." It's Cyclops who lays out the stakes for everyone (in words that Captain America, unavailable to the group, might or might not have chafed at--it's a fair topic for debate)--and following the deployment of their initial sortie in the form of one of the Sentinels, all hell breaks loose.

Reality Check

 

We've recently begun taking a detailed look at the 2005 Marvel event known as House Of M, which followed up on the chain of events that led to the Avengers falling victim to one of their own--the Scarlet Witch, who suffered the breakdown of all breakdowns and unleashed her reality-altering abilities on her former friends, shattering their ranks and leading to a confrontation that saw her taken into the custody of her father, Magneto, who returned with her to the (now devastated) island of Genosha.

Together with Charles Xavier, the two sought to treat Wanda's mental state, though it became clear that they could do nothing for her. That led to a briefing with the New Avengers and the X-Men, and a decision to travel to Genosha to hopefully meet with Wanda and settle matters between them. But soon after arrival, both teams became engulfed in a wave of power that changed their thoughts, their histories, and their lives to align with a new reality where mutants were the dominant culture, and the world's population fell under the reign of the so-called House of M[agnus] which consisted of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Lorna Dane, Wanda's two children, and the man himself, Magneto.

It's not the ideal world for homo sapiens, the dwindling race of humans who still enjoy decent lives but are nevertheless looked down upon as "sapiens"--though you'd never know there was any serious discord if you passed by the magazine stand and picked up the news on the latest goings-on.

But will this be the "new normal" for sapiens--for everyone? That depends on the actions of the one man who somehow retains his knowledge of the prior reality--the premiere operative of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite Red Guard unit, who struggles to piece things together from what he knows to be the final moments of a world now ripped away.

The House Of Magnus

 

"You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? Well, this time believe it, buster!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!"
-- Promotional copy taken from Marvel.com

In December of 2004, the first volume of The Avengers came to an end after the team was rent asunder by a fierce conflict set in motion by the unbalanced mind of one of their most long-standing members--a woman finally dealt with by Dr. Strange, and subsequently retrieved by her father, the master of magnetism.

Eight months later, Marvel segued from that tragic development to embark on an ambitious crossover event which would be spearheaded by the eight-issue House Of M series, an attempt to capitalize on resolve the fate of the Scarlet Witch whose ability to alter reality remains a clear and present danger but would also involve--and revolve around--the world's mutant population to a degree we'd never seen before.

That level of involvement takes its cue from a prior issue of X-Men, where the sister of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova, had sent a squad of Sentinels to destroy the island of Genosha, resulting in the deaths of its mutant population to the tune of over 16,000,000 people (including, presumably, its ruler, Magneto). It's to those ruins where Magneto returns with Wanda, where we learn in a synopsis that he's called on Xavier to do what he can to heal Wanda's shattered mind.

Knowing what's to come, one can't help but think of a certain proverb at this point. But thanks to the logo of this series, which is ever-present on every title that this event extends to, it would seem that there is one figure who appears to benefit from the seismic repercussions which are to follow.

Finders, Keepers

 

Slipping by the wave of issues which were branded with the Assistant Editors' Month stamp in January of 1984 was the 1983 X-Men Annual #7 (which also happened to slip by the PPC's roundup of 1983 annuals in the fall of '22). Written by Chris Claremont with art by Michael Golden (with an assist by Bret Blevins) along with inkers galore, the story makes a fine addition to the who's-running-the-asylum theme of the other AEM books whose editors were attending the San Diego Comic Con, leaving their underlings free to publish their own stories in their own way. Unfortunately for them, they become collateral damage as they're swept up with others in the X-Men's pursuit of a powerful "foe" who is engaged in a series of thefts for reasons unknown.

As we can see, however, the jig is up almost immediately, since it appears that no one thought to advise cover artist John Romita Jr. not to spill the beans on the identity of the perpetrator first thing. (Also, Mr. Romita, Cyclops doesn't appear in this story at all, but Professor X certainly does. Those asst. editors pranked you but good, didn't they?) But mum's the word, since everyone else in the issue will remain in the dark for the duration of this crazy roller coaster ride we're about to embark on.

Taking a leaf from Asst. Editor Eliot Brown, whose clever title/credits page appears at the very end of the story (which coincides with his detonation of same), we're placing it instead alongside the issue's cover, just to give you a taste of the ride you're in for in this forty-page tale. Because while the X-Men treat this "threat" with all due seriousness, you can bet that with the Impossible Man at the center of it all, the situation has the potential of spiraling beyond the control of anyone and everyone involved.

The Fall Of Magneto!

 

Within the top twenty-five issues which constitute The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time*, we find coming in at No. 16 the 1993 X-Men #25--written by Fabian Nicieza, with art by Andy Kubert and Matt Ryan, its story bringing to a head the tense situation involving Magneto and his group of acolytes in his orbital base of Avalon.

*A twist on the 1969-81 Marvel's Greatest Comics concept, but instead took its title more seriously and solicited votes for the top 100 comics published by the company and, in a ten-issue series of trade paperbacks from 2001-02, counted down and reprinted the twenty-five issues which topped the list. (SPOILER ALERT: The No. 1 fan favorite turned out to be Amazing Fantasy #15, featuring the debut of Spider-Man.)

Underlying the conflict which follows between the X-Men and Magneto, as you may have already guessed, are the differences that Charles Xavier and his old friend/foe continue to have in their respective approaches to how best to safeguard the mutants of the world vis-à-vis their relations with homo sapiens--a very old argument between them that has once more led to Magneto taking a stand of force in his efforts to prevent mutants from being oppressed and/or killed by those humans who harbor hatred for them, rejecting Xavier's dream of integrating the two races in peace which Magneto views as futile. But in the story's appearance in the 100 Greatest series, Bob Greenberger (Director-Publishing Operations), in his foreword, reveals at least one of the two more prevalent scenes (while hinting at the second) which were likely responsible for this issue of X-Men coming to mind for the over 50,000 voters who filled out their ballots. (Which constitutes SPOILER ALERT #2--but perhaps a moot point, given that the issue is nearly thirty years old.)

But let's take things one step at a time, as we're first witness to what serves as the last straw for Magneto--what he considers an act of provocation when the powers of the world decide to implement the so-called Magneto Protocols, which leads the Master of Magnetism to respond with a reprisal that technologically cripples the entire planet. Consequently, the X-Men, who have the benefit of their equipment from the Shi'ar to help them recover, assess the stakes involved if they do not act decisively against him.

(NOTE: The splash page's dedication which mentions a thirty-year future for the X-Men, and the PPC's review today, thirty years after the issue's publication, is purely coincidental--honest!)

Fortunately, before throwing the world into darkness and chaos, Magneto managed to light a fire under Kubert and Ryan to provide an impressive wrap-around cover for this issue--which throws in (no pun intended) a Gambit hologram which regrettably can't be discerned in a two-dimensional representation. I'm not the greatest fan of such gimmicks, but it did look pretty cool when tilted at the correct angle.

The Second Coming of... Kukulcán!

 

In the fall of 1966, while Jean Grey is away at Metro College, Professor X and the rest of the X-Men are tracking what they believe might be a new mutant. Readings from Cerebro, the Professor's mutant detection apparatus, are inconclusive in that regard--but the decision is made to deploy the X-Men to Manhattan to locate him. Talk about trying to find a needle in a haystack.

But we readers are more knowledgeable than even Cerebro, since we've already been introduced to Juan Meroz, better known in gem-hunting circles as El Tigre, a treasure hunter scouring the ancient sites of Central America with his two hired hands and currently attempting to locate the gold of one of the Mayan gods. His search bears fruit, but, in the process, he comes across an ornament which intrigues and dazzles him even more than his find.

When his men, however, decide that they've had enough of their master's mistreatment and move to reverse their roles while taking the gold for themselves, El Tigre discovers not only the stone's powerful abilities that can be wielded by the one who possesses it, but also that when joined with its other half within its pendant it can bestow on him the power and might of the god Kukulcán.

With his two hirelings in tow, El Tigre's research on the pendant leads him to the pre-Colombian wing of the city museum in (you guessed it) Manhattan, where, thanks to Cerebro, the X-Men have followed. But our hirelings are good at skulking as well as setting traps--and soon enough we find Cyclops on his own, taken by surprise by a museum guard who is then put under El Tigre's control. Consequently, the deputy leader of the X-Men can only stand in place helplessly as El Tigre claims his prize, and his power.

Obviously the X-Men's Danger Room training never included any sessions on how to battle your foe(s) in the dark or how to disarm someone holding a gun on you, two pieces of information that should make a lot of petty criminals happy when the news gets out. Now the team (minus Marvel Girl) have an incarnation of the Mayan god Kukulcán to deal with--and from the look of this story's two covers, this could be a battle that, win or lose, may see the X-Men paying the price.

...Where The Hero Doesn't Get The Girl

 

In the fifty+ years since the shock-value 100th issue of Amazing Spider-Man hit the stands, Marvel appears to have been content to avoid bringing back Peter Parker's extra four arms which resulted from an experiment gone wrong--seemingly a closed subject* in the House of Ideas following the three-part story which did away with them for good, barring some new twist that would make such a development feasible. The one exception to be found occurred in an imaginary story the 1992 What If tale profiled today, produced by writer Michael Gallagher and artists Kevin West and Ian Akin, which introduces a radical change to the web-spinner of 1971 that gives us an idea of how a true "Spider-Man" might have looked at the time--a six-armed character that, had the company decided to retain that change, would have taken Amazing Spider-Man, and Peter Parker, through the Bronze Age of comics and beyond.

Wrath of the Proletarian!

 

OR: "Whole Lotta SFLANNGin' Goin' On"

Previously, we'd been taking a look at a mid-1979 issue of Uncanny X-Men which catches up with the team following their return to the states from Canada and finding their Westchester base virtually mothballed, with no sign of Professor X. Yet we also learned that Peter Rasputin, the steel-formed Colossus, was experiencing doubts about his capabilities as an X-Man--even as an assassin by the name of Arcade is hired by "Black Tom" Cassidy and the Juggernaut to destroy the mutant team.

Arcade is also known by readers of Marvel Team-Up from a prior story in early '78 where the Maggia had contracted him to kill Brian Braddock (the civilian identity of Captain Britain)--and it's that story we briefly return to first, as Spider-Man joins forces with the Captain only to fall prey to a method of capture which is as clever in its simplicity (and originality) as it is perplexing in its ability to succeed against super-powered individuals who appear helpless to either evade or stop it.

Thankfully, both Spider-Man and Captain Britain prevailed in their struggle against Arcade--but when Arcade begins to corral the X-Men for their own visit to "Murderworld," artist John Byrne, perhaps with the old adage of if it ain't broke, don't fix it in mind, recycles Arcade's previous method of capture which turns out to work just as reliably with super-powered X-Men.

(You can bet Cyclops didn't waste time adding this rig to the team's Danger Room.)

Being a careful man when it comes to a job, Arcade naturally doesn't put all of his eggs in the same basket when it comes to capturing his new targets--and so he personally surprises and snags the rest of the X-Men from their mansion, and off they go to his Murderworld complex, where his planned treatment of Colossus is soon underway.

For the sake of the story, a brainwashing treatment that would have normally taken a minimum of days to succeed is expedited--and faster than you can say "Dmri, tovarishch!", the Proletarian is unleashed on his fellow X-Men, who have become separated in the deadly chambers of Murderworld.

As for the instigator of this madness, he couldn't be happier at the X-Men's predicament. After all, for Arcade, fun is the name of the game when it comes to murder.

(I wouldn't go so far as to say the Proletarian is "power-mad," Mr. Cover Captioner.)

Homecoming

 

As a transition issue that sees the X-Men return from Canada following their retrieval of Wolverine from Alpha Flight, and prior to their first engagement with the assassin-for-hire known as Arcade, "cry for the children!" from mid-1979 lets us see some down time for a few of the team members even as they collectively face the mystery of the absence of Professor X and finding their Westchester school for all intents and purposes mothballed. Scripter Chris Claremont continues to guide these diverse characters on a steady course toward becoming a solid fighting team while also establishing deeper ties getting to know one another; but you'll also find impressive work here by Terry Austin, who once again inks but also acts as finisher to the pencil breakdowns of John Byrne (their roles being the same in the first half of the Arcade arc), though frankly it's difficult to tell if Byrne is simply a strong layout artist or Austin is more than than comfortable with giving Byrne's style room to breathe.

As for the opening pages of the story, "down time" for the X-Men doesn't necessarily mean their "Danger Room" training facility is going to be collecting dust, if Cyclops has anything to say about it; in fact, you might say the recent performance of Colossus in the field has become Scott Summers' *ahem* pressing concern.

Judgment Day (Or Not)

 

As an unofficial encore to Captain Marvel's role as chairwoman of the Avengers during writer Roger Stern's run on the title, those of you who have followed Stern's Marvel work and were fans as well of either The Avengers or X-Men might have caught the four-issue limited series The X-Men vs. the Avengers from mid-1987, which Stern would write ¾ of (at which time a different writer/artist team would take the reins of the story for its conclusion). The series takes place roughly between the time Captain Marvel accepts Captain America's nomination for the team's leadership position, and the Avengers' mission to Olympus which would conclude Stern's work on the book. The true focus of the series, however, would prove to be Magneto, the Master of Magnetism--and, more specifically, the resolution of the Paris trial which had been convened to hold him accountable for past crimes against the human race.

Yet the prelude to this story occurs years earlier, with the explosive arrival of an alien we would come to know in the New Mutants as Warlock.

Magneto survives the impact, thanks to the ministrations of Lee Forrester, who fishes him out of the ocean and brings him to the island where he once fought a pitched battle with the X-Men--the repercussions of which led, in part, to his trial. As for his asteroid, two sizable parts of it survive their fall to Earth a few years later, and draw the interest of not only Magneto but three super-teams which would vie to decide his ultimate fate.

In Defense of... Magneto!

 

No doubt "The Trial of Magneto" from late 1985 was anticipated on a number of levels by those of us who were following recent issues of Uncanny X-Men, where readers had lately been seeing the Master of Magnetism turn over a new leaf and acclimate himself to members of a team who for much of the book's history had been his most tenacious foes.  Indeed, it's his own history that remains the elephant in the room for some of the X-Men--as well as for those in government circles, foreign and domestic, who see him as nothing less than a deadly threat to humanity.

Magneto's gradual development of a conscience, as chronicled by writer Chris Claremont, has been fascinating to watch--but for the book's double-sized 200th issue, a long-awaited reckoning for Magneto finally looked to be on the horizon when Mystique, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, decided that it was in the best interests of herself and her team members to make a deal with the Feds for amnesty in exchange for their services as super-powered operatives who report directly to the government. To that end, she approaches Valerie Cooper, Special Assistant to the President's National Security Advisor, who has taken up an aggressive posture against mutant activities and certain mutants in particular but finds Mystique's offer convincing, as well as the perfect means to remove Magneto's threat.

Against the X-Men, however, "Freedom Force," though clearly having become a tight-knit fighting unit under Mystique's leadership, proves less than equal to the task. Instead it's Magneto himself who acquiesces to his arrest in order to put the matter of his crimes to rest once and for all.

Which paves the way for a riveting anniversary issue that, when all is said and done, will have provided anything but closure on the issue of Magneto's guilt or innocence.

Heroes Defeated!

 

Few moments in comics are more dramatic than your favorite comic book hero(es) meeting defeat at the hands of a villain. And while in some cases there are extenuating circumstances to the situation, you can always count on the story's cover to not mince words and make it seem as if there's no coming back for the beaten--a stain that cannot be purged.

(Though things can't be too bad for Dr. Strange if the same cover buffers the impact of the announcement with images of the Thing and the Human Torch in Beatles wigs.)

Here, then, is a sampling of covers which made the most of the stinging word:

(Even if the jury may have still been out on the matter.)

A Smattering Of Smashers

 

There's no doubt that comics have had no shortage of recycled character names over the years, the circumstances varying depending on whether it was thought there would be potential sales reader interest in introducing another character who had taken on the name of a previous hero or villain. The short list of examples would include Captain Marvel... Thor... Spider-Man... Dr. Strange... Captain America... and on the villain side, so far we've taken a look at some Slashers and a few Crushers.

And since villains are known for choosing names for themselves that imply the threat they pose, what's another name that tends to be at the top of the list for bruisers who want their reputation to precede them?

THAT'S RIGHT, they're

Something Daredevil thought he was pretty good at, until he ran into a brawler who laid claim to the actual name.

To Die Anew!

 

At the end of its run in the fall of 1998, X-Factor lost its leader, Alex Summers (aka Havok, the brother of the X-Man Cyclops), presumed dead from an explosion of the airborne ship he had boarded in an attempt to stabilize its systems. Yet the following month, a new series began that took advantage of the ruptured craft having space-time properties to merge Alex's essence with the body of his counterpart in an alternate reality, a man who had just met his own death at the hands of the Sentinels--and subsequently, Alex fell in with the Havok-led group of mutants named The Six, whose history and whose world were dramatically different from his own.

The first issue of the new series has already received its due in the PPC--yet now we jump ahead over 2½ years to its final issue, the one story missing from my collection of Mutant X which I'm now going to take a look at for the first time. Writer Howard Mackie has helmed this series from beginning to end--and we arrive at a time of crisis for this world, for its heroes, and certainly for Alex Summers, who doesn't appear free from the capricious whims of whatever fate brought him to an Earth for which he alone holds the key to its survival.

As far as world-ending threats go, who or what could be responsible for such a doomsday scenario on a global scale? How about this universe's version of the Beyonder--who has broken free of his imprisonment at the Earth's core thanks to a battle with a mutated version of Captain America, and who takes a crash course in getting up to speed with current events before setting his sights on one person in particular. [Images taken from the third and final Mutant X Annual.]

A New Life, A New World--The Coming of Mutant X!

 

I couldn't tell you exactly why this is, but, in the spirit of full disclosure, I collected and read nearly the entire run of Mutant X fresh from the comics rack during its nearly 2½ years of publication, an admission that seems puzzling to me today considering that I can make the same claim about a number of Marvel titles sold during the years 1998-2001. I can state for a fact, however, that my curiosity got the better of me where Mutant X was concerned, given its focus on Havok, the leader of X-Factor who was killed off in the closing pages of that title's final issue, which served to pave the way to the new Mutant X series.

The circumstances involved Havok's attempt to stop Devlin Greystone, a member of X-Factor who constructs a space-time distortion vehicle in order to return "home" (i.e., the same future as Bishop hails from)--yet it turns out Havok has boarded a highly volatile aircraft that doesn't react well to his attempt to disarm it, seemingly killing both men.

I can't say that Greystone thinks much of Mr. Summers' promises right now (assuming the man survived to mull it over). As for Havok, he's subsequently shunted to the new book, where we'll find there are a lot of new things and people to concern him, as a house ad for the series that appears in the X-Factor issue teases:

That book's letters pages had otherwise kept coy about its plans--even up to this point, where they break the news that anyone with X-Factor subscriptions will see them transferred to X-Men. The following month, Mutant X is launched--bringing along Howard Mackie, who had scripted the last thirty-five issues of X-Factor and who would steer the course of Mutant X for the duration.