HOUSE of M #1
“” (20 pages)
Writer: Dennis Hopeless Artist: Marco Failla 
Colors: Matt Wilson Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna Covers by: Kris Anka; Jorge Molina; Dale Keown; Mahmud Asrar; Dave McCaig 
Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $3.99 
Magnus, the Master of Magnetism has realized his life-long dream: homo superior live freely and reign supreme. He is still in disbelief given the massive effort on his part, the continuous battles, and the toll on his body. All is peaceful. 
Not quite!! The Sentinels, manned by mutants, hunt down humans. The homo sapiens are resistant to Mr. M’s magnificence. Luke Cage is the outspoken leader of the rag-tag group. His overused speech is cut short when the mutants locate the hideout. The muties gain the upper hand leaving only a trio of escapees: Hawkeye, Black Cat, and Misty Knight. 
Breakfast with the Magnuses is anything but tranquil. Wanda is fuming that her two sons are not at the table. Pietro acts smarmy. Lorna poses various questions to her brother, the most important one being the tremulous talks between their House and Atlantis. Wanda leaves angrily once she sees news footage of her boys’ antics. Pietro, slick as ever, takes off. 
Hawkeye and his two female companions are not faring well. They are too public. The Sentinel easily finds them and is about to vaporize them when an unexpected save comes in the form of Becca, better known as Deathlocket. Lorna can’t put her finger on it but she is highly suspicious of Pietro. She addresses her concern to her father, the monarch. He brushes it off. Magneto states that Namor likes Pietro although that is unfathomable [pun intended!] to him. He mutters under his breath that a war with Namor wouldn’t be so bad. He dismisses her and wants to continue with reading. Pietro, acting as emissary, returns to Atlantis. After some smart remark and pun, Pietro assures the Sub-Mariner that no one suspects their plan for invasion. Betrayal is always by those closest to you!! 
Domain #29: The Monarchy of M Dennis Hopeless lives up to his name! Things are always bleak when he’s involved!! Let me take that back. This first entry is fairly light, all things considered. The loss of life among the heroes is unfortunate but they experienced a quick death, thus sparing the suffering. This issue was breezy in terms of the time I took to read it. No need for overused exposition nor flashbacks nor drawn-out dialogues to spell things out for the casual or well-versed reader. Mr. Hopeless brings over one of his original creations from AVENGERS ARENA: Deathlocket! This short appearance is but a tease since she will be spotlighted more. Magneto is mostly at ease with his existence leaving little room for insecurity. How trenchant that there is mutant-on-mutant hate in this illusory idyll. I wonder if Magneto is even aware of Namor’s mutancy. At the risk of contradicting myself, Mr. Hopeless injects some humour into the more serious scenes – (1) Luke Cage being magnetized by the Sentinel. Who knew his body was made of metal? LOL (2) Toad’s tongue getting the worse of him. (3) Hawkeye phrasing “If you want to live.” in addition to Death Locket’s strong suggestion. *chuckle* 
Marco Failla has been on the scene for at least thirteen years. He’s fresh off SPIDER-MAN and the X-MEN. Thus, illustrating mutants is not uncharted territory. Wanda is on the way to being unhinged. The “bit” blocks are a sure sign of things to be undone! Lorna is the green-haired stepdaughter: barely acknowledged and somewhat ignored. Dreads are definitely different for cool Cage Luke. Matt Wilson uses a soft palette to animate the various characters. There are no forceful nor harsh tones. Pietro’s outfit is quite regal and militaristic. Magneto has aged gracefully. His silver mane suits him. Joe Caramagna brings the noise with the sound effects!! He also eerily captures the Sentinel’s metallic voice. I believe this issue was delayed by two weeks. That’s not too bad considering the follow-up is in another two weeks. This will advance rapidly since everything is reset in October. Since M is the letter of the day and is particularly stylized in the logo, I give it 7 points out of 10. 
