Fall of the House of X #1: Through a Glass Darkly

This event was designed to put all of the toys back into the mansion-shaped playset box, and Duggan does so with all of the wonder and inescapable order of an ocean draining into a whirlpool. Every single plot point or beat set down four years ago in House of X finds its counterpoint here. To save space, I’ve compiled a list of inversions, in no particular order. I’ll expand on them, just a little (without giving spoilers), so that you can get a feel for the sheer dramatic artistry on display in this book.

The Fastball Special: the story opens with a brief history of the first Mutant Circuit, constructed during a more carefree time, and reversed (to gory effect) by its traumatized inventors.

Kill No Man: we see the first Mutant Law being repeatedly, brutally broken, underlining the fact that the Mutant Nation is so far gone that even its ideals have crumbled.

She Hulk: when Nightcrawler asked Jen to serve as the lawyer Krakoa (in a cameo that provided some of the best writing the character has had in nearly four years. Go look it up) he meant citizenship paperwork and driver’s licenses, not criminal defense.

Krakoa: this mutant was originally billed as the island that walks like a man, and they have returned to their previous appearance, appetites and inclinations. Seeing this is painful, and brilliantly rendered.

‘That’s the thing, Charles. It’s not a dream if it’s real’: the issue opens with Scott’s own all too real dream, and the ramifications are chilling. There’s also the fact that Xavier’s dream is for the future, whereas Scott’s is told in images taken from the past.

‘No more.’: When Xavier said these words during the original HoX event, he meant that no more mutants would die. Well. Things have changed a bit, haven’t they? The implications are quite different, when he says them in this context.

‘While you slept, the world changed’: Instead of a message of hope, for everyone on earth, this is a brutal promise of slaughter which Orchis delivers via the sentinels.

All of this could be almost unreadably dark, but Duggan manages to maintain an adventurous tone. There is still hope. Quite a lot of it, actually. There are still people fighting for good.

There’s also Nightcrawler, back to being himself (rather than whatever nonsense Spurrier was up to) and he’s wearing that sexy ass beard again. So. You know. If that’s your thing…

Lucas Werneck has grown from strength to strength as an artist. It has been an absolute pleasure to be able to watch his talent develop over the past several years. He’s clearly approaching the height of his powers, and this book is drawn with such immediacy, such an incredible level of detail, such thrumming emotion that it’s impossible to imagine anyone doing it better.

There’s also this: Pepe Larraz is a genius. No getting around it. He’s operating on another level. His art contributed, in large part, to the sense of strange, almost alien wonder that Hickman infused within the original House of X series. That wonder would be inappropriate, here. This is a return to the known. It’s painful, but it’s a familiar pain. Werneck can capture that beautiful familiarity better than anyone, and that’s another inversion for you. The books are artistic mirror images.

Before I close, here’s a theory: as Powers of X contained a series of futures wherein the mutants always lost, Rise of the Powers of X will be alternate futures where the Mutants ‘always win’, from the perspective of Omega Sentinel. But that’s a mystery to be solved next week.