Fantastic Four: House of M #1 (2005)
by John Layman & Scot Eaton
“House of M” was a crossover event when reality was altered to have Magneto ruling the planet, making mutants the ruling class.
Despite the title, this is actually a Doctor Doom 3-part miniseries.
Weirdly enough, the story begins with an infodump informing us that Reed Richards is dead.
There are no Fantastic Four in this series titled “Fantastic Four: House of M”…
…but there’s still alliteration, because we’re following the Frightful Four.
Two of its members are familiar faces, but for now they’re completely unrecognizable.
The exceptions are The It, who you might recognize…
…and the team’s leader.
Instead of building an armor, this Doctor Doom IS the armor: he gave himself the power to turn into living metal.
Yes, in a world ruled by Magneto, Doom just made HIMSELF made of metal.
Doom’s team is dealing with the Mole Man, who is rebelling against Magneto’s leadership.
Pay attention to his words because he’s basically laying down the theme of the miniseries.
Doom may need a couple more issues to figure it out.
Once the team returns to Latveria, we learn that the Inhuman Torch is actually Kristoff! Like the rest of the team, he was given powers by Doom’s magic.
Kristoff’s age is a bit of a mystery. He was older than Franklin during the Byrne run, but not that much… I assume he was eight, at most. That was twenty years before this story, sure, but given comic book time I don’t think Kristoff should already be a teenager.
Of course Doom’s time travel shenanigans could have something to do with it.
I don’t think the Doom from the regular timeline would allow this kind of behavior.
“Invincible Woman” is Doom’s old love interest Valeria, who he has married in this timeline.
For context, this was published a couple of years after her death in Fantastic Four v3 #67.
And finally, The It is the only member of the Fantastic Four to survive in this timeline… mentally handicapped and treated like an animal by Doom.
Mole Man’s words cut deeper than Doom originally thought.
This is something I wish we’d see more often from regular Doom: how he deals with his own scientists. And obviously these finds will come up later.
Still, Doom’s got to Doom. He’s STILL obsessing over Reed!
One of the things that makes this timeline unique is that Doom’s mother is alive!!!
That itself is pretty rare. But his is an even more unique timeline because it’s the only one I know where Doom’s mother being alive… is NOT A GOOD THING.
Just look at her. She knows the effect of manipulating her son.
Quicksilver basically acts as Magneto’s second-in-command…
…which irritates Doom to no end. Love the way his rage is shown: he’s keeping his composure, but you can tell he’s about to explode.
Doom reluctantly accepts talking to Magneto, traveling to Genosha (that is basically the world’s capital here).
Keeping Ben Grimm in this state is one of the most evil things Doom has ever done in ANY timeline, but it should be noted that Magneto is no angel either.
The official reason why Magneto summoned Doom is to be informed about the Mole Man…
…but the REAL reason is to put Doom in his place, reminding him that the two are not equal.
Once again, Doom maintains a façade of going along with it.
But beneath it, things are different.
So we end the first issue with Doom vowing to defeat Magneto and take his place as the ruler of Earth.
I don’t think Magneto will be surprised.
Did any of this show up in continuity? Nope!
In general, Layla Miller is the only thing originating in “House of M” and transitioning to the regular timeline. And she keeps the name with almost nothing else.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Definitely too brutal for it.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
A bit of a disappointment compared to the more solid following issues. It’s still a very interesting Doom, but it would’ve been better to have a proper introduction to him and the Frightful Four.
This is a fascinating version of Doom: he’s achieved most of his goals, but at the cost of being the SECOND most powerful man on the planet.
It also makes me think… was it REALLY a tragedy that his mother died when he was young, or would she have encouraged his thirst for power?