Nunzio DeFilippis

Despite the fact that the House of M grew out of an Avengers-centric crossover event (Disassembled), it has the greatest impact on the X-Men. Not only do mutants rule the world in this alternate reality, they suffer the greatest consequences when that reality is dissolved. This made reading some of the tie-ins a challenge because I do not follow any of the X-Men comic series. I only know the main characters from the movies and some time spent on Marvel's wiki. I was completely confused and show more could not follow the mutant section of "House of M: Spider-Man, Fantastic Four & X-Men," so I was initially wary of this tie-in. And though it was a challenge, the writing was cohesive and provided enough context to make this a very enjoyable and essential tie-in to the event.

The title would suggest that the book covers the aftermath of the HoM, and it does, but it also shows the fates of a few X-Men teams not previously covered: The New Mutants, The Hellions, The Exiles and Mutopia. Though I wasn't familiar with most of these characters, the introductory recaps capably set the stage and the writing was so well done, and downright exciting, that I was captivated. The action scenes were explosive and the dialog full of wit and genuine emotion. I came to care about these characters in a very short time. HoM is meant to be a mutant utopia, but in their hearts, these people are heroes who are horrified when the shiny veneer is pulled away to show the ugly truth of Magneto's paradise. The New Mutants, visionary leaders-in-training, are pitted against the Hellions, SHIELD agents-in-training, over the fate of a sapien terrorist. His motives are not unjustified and the dirty work SHIELD has been engaged in makes the teams question just who are the good guys. The Exiles are parallel universe-hopping saviors who are ready to send one of their team back home, only that home is not the same anymore. This story was completely unnecessary but still interesting none-the-less as a glimpse into how the new reality is for characters at the ground level. Finally, in Mutopia we follow the fate of a human police officer in his life before, during and after the HOM reality. This story was essential as it gives us the aftermath for the X-Men who helped stop Wanda, such as Emma Frost and Scott Summers. Each section concludes when the world burns white again to see that millions of mutants have been reduced to only hundreds. The book has one final, tiny status check on Ms. Marvel who finds that she is not the great hero she thought she was, but has decided that she now wants to be.

Overall, this tie-in was amazing. It was intriguing to see that even the ruling mutants have that same uneasy feeling that the Avengers have - that the world is not right. Moreover, it expands on the HOM storyline and how the various pieces are connected through it. Highly recommended! show less

Dashiell isn't happy about her family's move to a new town. She misses her dad and blames her mom and her older sister Arica doesn't understand or care. But both Arica and Dashiell are excited about their new school - Arica is thrilled to finally be going to a coed public school and Dashiell is excited about the schools' championship baseball team, the Wildcats.

There's just one problem. At Phoenix High School, girls play softball and boys play baseball.

Despite doubts from her friends and show more family and discouragement from the team, coach, and school administration, Dashiell finds enough allies to give her a chance. It's not easy - she spends most of the season on the bench since the coach gives the starting shortstop position she should have had to another player. Her one supporter on the team, Ben (who I think is the captain?) starts dating her sister Arica, which leads to even more drama.

This is an upbeat, positive look at girls in sports - while Dashiell has a rough time initially, her ability eventually wins over the team, even the most negative guys, as well as the coach. Dashiell and the other characters aren't just cardboard cutouts for a story about civil rights though. They have other things going on in their lives - Dashiell and Arica have to learn to get along as sisters even though they're very different. Dashiell learns some hard truths about her dad and grows up enough to admit she's been wrong to her mom. Her teammate Ben, and Arica as his girlfriend, weather some tough spots in learning how to deal with relationships.

Jackie Lewis' black and white art is clean and attractive. It captures the movement and action of the sport as well as the emotion in the various characters' interaction. Even non-comic readers will be willing to pick this one up and will be attracted by the variety of characters and plot lines.

As always, Oni is optimistic in the matter of recommended ages (this is the publisher who suggests Courtney Crumrin for ages 7 and up). They've labeled this All Ages and while there's only a couple mild references to swearing (Dashiell swears at the principal, but her words are jumbled and her sister says "effin" leading Dashiell to respond "Seriously Arica, learn how to swear. It will make your point that much stronger.") this is a story about teens in high school, dating, growing up, learning how to navigate adult relationships and make decisions for themselves and isn't going to be of interest or appropriate for younger kids. I'd give it to middle school and older.

Verdict: A strong story, well-written and drawn characters, and an interesting, multi-layered plot will make this of interest to a wide variety of teens. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781934964798; Published April 2012 by Oni Press; Egalley provided by the publisher through Netgalley; Purchased for the library show less

If I had a tween girl I would pass this comic along to her RIGHT NOW. Great story with a plucky heroine, but also a deeper message about the importance of story in our lives.

Aeslin was used to her parents telling her stories, but all that changed when her father died and her mother banned the notion of anything magical from the world. Fortunately, Aeslin finds the perfect bookstore, and is sold the perfect book, and falls into another world from that book. Multiple times. So jealous.

There's show more fantasy and mystery and new things to be learned about parents. There's reaffirmation that girls can do anything they set out to do, that traditional gender roles are bunk, and that stories are everything we think they are.

The art is manga-style - not my favorite style, but also well-rendered and, in this instance, didn't make me want to barf all over the cuteness. That probably sounds like faint praise, but it isn't. The artist actually made me like a manga style and that's new and different.

Great for tweens, but really for anyone of any age who's looking for a great little story and some true entertainment on a rainy day.

P.S. Did I mention the dragons? show less

Luna is a spy that was born in a test tube and raised in a government lab to be the ultimate spy. Her newest mission forces her to go to high school, which will present more challenges then Luna expected. A fun, goofy spy series, which is my favorite kind. Love getting to see Agent Jennifer from the prequel all grown up.