Today sees the final issue of House of X, the Jonathan Hickman-written X-Men series that’s promised to bring the mutants back to a prime position in the Marvel Universe. Unsurprisingly, this book and its sister book, Powers of X have done just that.
(Spoilers)
House of X #6
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Pepe Larraz
In the conclusion of House of X, Hickman wraps up a significant story that kicked off the series – the punishment of Sabretooth who, during a mission given to him by Magneto, wound up killing multiple humans. This resolution comes as the new guiding lights of the Krakoan government sit for their first meeting to establish the laws of their new mutant world.
As I’ve written previously, it’s hard not to be in awe of what Hickman has achieved with this series. The new status quo that has been set up feels wholly original, with multiple details ripe for future storytelling (which is coming soon enough, as Marvel readies a slate of new mutant books). The biggest question that I’m left with as House of X concludes is how can all these personalities co-exist? When you’ve got characters like Mister Sinister and Apocalypse taking up the same space, the answer is simple – they can’t, and likely won’t, and that will make for great creative fodder.
Our own E.A. Henson and I had a back and forth this morning about the issue, and Henson raised the point that mutants, under the leadership of Charles Xavier and Magneto, have now positioned themselves as taking over the position that humans have had until now.
“It’s kind of an expansion on Cassandra Nova’s talk from Grant Morrison’s first issue with the Neanderthal’s being wiped out,” he said. “So this is going to set up the conflict going forward.”
We still have the final issue of Powers of X to go next week, and I have no doubt that Hickman is going to stick the landing. The two series together have set a beautiful stage, the most exciting comics I’ve read in forever.
