X-Men: "House of M" Event in Marvel Universe

Scarlet Witch Strips Mutants of Powers

Sep 2, 2008

A confused and mentally disturbed ex-Avenger, Scarlet Witch, utters the words "No More Mutants" and the epic events of the House of M storyline are set in motion.

In the summer following the events of Avengers Disassembled, Marvel Comics lauched the multi-book story line known as House of M. The series, written by Brian Michael Bendis, has 8 issues of its own, and included numerous series crossovers in such books as Iron Man, Fantastic 4, and Spider-Man. House of M is sandwiched between the major shake-ups of Avengers Disassembled and the Civil War.

Scarlet Witch and House of M

Following her slow mental breakdown that spurred the decimation of the Avengers team and the death of several of her teammates, a fragile Scarlet Witch was taken away to be set straight by her father Magneto, Professor X and Dr. Strange. Her reality-altering powers only seemed to become further out of control and it seemed that the only option may be to kill her to prevent her accidentally causing anymore mayhem.

Quicksilver Convinces Scarlet Witch to Change Universe

Fearing for his sister's safety, her protective twin brother Quicksilver secretly convinces her to alter reality to one where she, him and Magneto rule over mutants and mankind in the House of Magnus. It seemed to be a mutant haven, except that one girl, Layla Miller, used her ability to remind the mutants of the reality as it had been.

Once the rest of the new Marvel universe got wind of the fact that their reality had been altered, they met and decided to overthrow Magneto, blaming him for altering things. Once Dr Strange uncovered the truth, that it had in fact been Quicksilver, a furious Magneto killed his own son.

Quicksilver's Death Further Traumatizes Scarlet Witch, Causing "M Day"

Upon seeing her brother's death, Scarlet Witch hits a peak of mental disturbance, uttering the reality-altering words "No More Mutants." With these words a flash of blinding white light appears and across the world millions of mutants are stripped of powers, reducing mutant numbers to less than 200.

Since M Day, many mutants have regained their powers through various means, however the numbers remain extremely low compared to before the House of M storyline.

House of M and Marvel's Comic Bool to Graphic Novel Writing Style.

The House of M is one of several recent Marvel comics' events that take place in multiple books at the same time. The event also exemplifies the shifts in Marvel Comics' writing style that is geared away from single-issue storylines toward multi-book graphic novel events. Marvel has taken to spreading plots out over several issues known as "story archs" then quickly generating graphic novels once the story wraps up, instead of creating copies of back issues.

House of M Checklist

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