1164 ( )

House of M - Civil War
Author: Cage, Di Vito
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2016
Pgs: 120
Dewey: 741.5973 GAG
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
Collects Civil War: House of M #1-5. The biggest House of M story is revealed: how did Magneto take over the world? He began life as a penniless refugee, but rose to conquer the entire planet! Witness Magneto's first battle with the Sentinels...the tragic end of his marriage...and his fight against Apocalypse for leadership of all mutants!
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
Military
Marvel Comics
Superheroes

Why this book:
Magneto vs the world.
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Favorite Character:
Magneto. His justified war on the world of the humans. Considering what happened to him, he makes more sense than a lot of the villains/characters that run around in these events.

The Feel:
Love the inside Magento’s perspective that this provides.

Favorite Scene / Quote:
Love the forgotten members of The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants showing up in this; Shocker, Peeper, etc. Wonder if Banshee is on the dark side, though which is the dark and which is the light in this circumstance, or if he is Secret Agent Man in this.

The splash page of Magneto’s assault on Genosha is a great visual.

The “all my dreams have come true” page, defeat in the jaws of victory.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
How in the hell does this relate to Civil War though? This is like a piece of untold House of M stuff from the HoM event, not part of the CW continuity.

Hmm Moments:
Visually House of M: Civil War is incredible. Full marks to Andrea Di Vito on art and the color team of Villari, Fairbairn, and Hang. The faces are all well textured. Magneto, Polaris, and Quicksilver look awesome.

Missed Opportunity:
Having the High Evolutionary being a manipulative bastard in the Lensherer family genetic pool in a similar way to what Mr Sinister has been doing with the Summers family tree. A Sinister vs Evolutionary would be pretty cool. This would be a way for Marvel to close that stupid movie driven loophole where Wanda and Pietro aren’t mutants. Stupid. They’ve only been mutants since their first appearance in 1964.
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Last Page Sound:
Really enjoyed this book. Very well done. This will disappear since it’s just a piece of Civil War, though not even vaguely related beyond having the CW moniker on the covers, and not the “real” House of M. I wonder at the staying power of these related/unrelated filler books that are designed to not detract from the line and to give the books that aren’t crossing over something to do while the linewide crossover is happening?

Author Assessment:
Well done.

Editorial Assessment:
Too many events disease is way too prevalent in Marvel Comics.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
really good book
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I've read three of the four House of M hardcover compilations and enjoyed them all. Before starting the last, “No More Mutants,” I decided to read this short prequel/tie-in. I never expected it to be the best of the lot outside of the main event itself!

For such a small book, HoM Civil War sure packs a punch. All of the tie-ins give a little bit of history on how the characters got where they are in the House of M reality, but mostly focus on their lives in the “present.” This goes back and shows Magneto’s rise to power in the most believable, well thought out what-if scenario I've ever read. As is usually the case, the best villains are those that are complex and with whom we can sympathize on some level. And Magneto has always been top tier. Here, he is reimagined as an anti-hero. His tactics can be brutal, but he is fighting a war to save his people from oppression and death, which are harrowingly detailed in mutant concentration camps and worse. There is a lot of action, expertly depicted by the artists, but also enough quiet moments to explore Magneto’s character in this reality. Often, it is difficult to remember he’s the villain and this is not how things are supposed to be! The writer and artists deliberately use imagery to evoke the Nazi’s and the Holocaust, an effective tool for adding emotional depth to the storyline. All the major players of Magneto’s life take part, including Charles Xavier, whose actions and fate make perfect sense. It’s amazing how the writers throughout the HoM event (mostly) kept true to the characters, even in this alternate reality.

Overall, this is a fantastic and essential addition to the House of M event. I am flabbergasted as to why Marvel has allowed this to go out of print. It really should have a hardcover edition, or at least have been included in the House of M main event hardcover release. Highly recommended. ( )

I've yet to read something by Christos Gage that I haven't enjoyed immensely. This book details how Magneto rose to power in the House of M storyline; it explains a lot of things that weren't expounded upon in the original House of M limited series, like what happened to Charles Xavier and how exactly Magneto came to rule the world. It has practically nothing to do with the Civil War event, though. ( )