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What are House of X and Powers of X?
House of X (pronounced “ex” and abbreviated as HOX) and Powers of X (pronounced “ten” and abbreviated as POX) are two new six-issue mini-series’ that are the jumping off point for a new era in the X-Men comics led by Jonathan Hickman. They’re written both written by Hickman with art by Pepe Larraz on House of X and R.B. Silva on Powers of X.
Marvel Editor in Chief, C.B. Cebulski, says that this new era in X-Men will “bring them back to the prominence they deserve.” That’s definitely a bold statement, but it’s one that Marvel hasn’t thrown around in regards to the X-Men in what feels like the better part of a decade.
X-Men Senior Editor Jordan White says, “It draws on X-Men from every era. It draws on the history of the X-Men and reshapes it. This book is all about getting to the core of what X-Men is and always have been.”
What will these books will be about?
Beyond the covers and solicitation text that have been released, there’s not much we know about what the actual story is. While someone has theorized that the X-Men will make their way to Mars, everything at this point is just wild speculation.
Here’s what we know about House of X :
- Charles Xavier is back and he has a “master plan for mutant-kind that will bring mutants out of the shadow of mankind and into the light once more.”
- Krakoa, the living island, may have something to do with this master plan. Marvel is sending out “Krakoa seeds” to local comic retailers, and you can see Krakoa-like structures in covers and interior pages that have been released so far.
- The truth will be revealed about “one of the X-Men’s closest allies.”
- The humans have yet another plan to eliminate mutants.
- There will be a big brawl that will “turn deadly for some of [Xavier’s] students.”
- It will take place during “a pivotal month in the history of the X-Men where everything changes for mutants on Earth.”
Powers of X is a bit more cryptic, but here’s what we know:
- It will “reveal the secret past, present, and future of mutant-kind.”
- The book will “change the way you look at every X-Men story before and after.”
- The helmet that Xavier wears looks like a portable Cerebro, and solicit text even mentions “As Cerebro does as it was intended to do…”
- Sinister will be involved in some way: “Sinister does what Sinsters does best.”
- It also hints at some important event about how the X-Men’s “future comes to an end.”
Some other odds and ends that don’t relate to one specific book:
- Both books will set up a brand new status quo for years to come.
- Hickman has said that the two series work “as a series of reveals and revelations where each issue of [House of X] that follows [Powers of X] — and vice versa — makes you reinterpret the issue you had previously read.”
- There is not an alternate reality or is time travel involved here. Hickman says, “This is a very cause and effect, very linear, straightforward story.”
- Hickman also tweeted “I’ve done it again” with an image of symbols that looked like they were some sort of alphabet.
Marvel is keeping a tight lock on details, but Jordan D. White did have this to say about what Hickman has in store for us: “It’s really exciting the stuff he has planned for X-Men. It really shakes things up… I was immediately impressed by how thorough it was, how intricate it was, and how brilliant his planning and idea was.”
Will [insert character here] be in these stories?
While the first promo image released had a lot of new and old characters on it, the covers and interior art give us a much better idea of who’s actually involved in these two books specifically. Here’s everyone prominently featured in a House of X or Powers of X cover and/or their interior art:
- Charlex Xavier (aka X)
- Jean Grey
- Magneto
- Cyclops
- Wolverine (Logan)
- Emma Frost
- Nightcrawler
- Storm
- Colossus
- Mystique
- Apocalypse
- Sinister
- Sabretooth
- The Stepford Cuckoos
- Monet
- Husk
- Armor
- Toad
- Archangel
There are a few characters that haven’t been confirmed yet, but fans have assumed their identity. The most prominent one is assumed to be Moira MacTaggert. (It has to be her, she’s got a hat!) Also unknown at the moment are a few characters from Powers of X that look like suspiciously similar to existing X-Men. We’ll have to wait and see what these characters are all about.
When will they be released?
The two series will release on a somewhat alternating schedule, releasing one issue per week for twelve weeks. According to listed dates on ComiXology and a tweet by Jordan D. White, the release schedule is as follows:
- House of X #1: July 24th, 2019
- Powers of X #1: July 31st, 2019
- House of X #2: August 7th, 2019
- Powers of X #2: August 14th, 2019
- Powers of X #3: August 21st, 2019
- House of X #3: August 28th, 2019
- House of X #4: September 4th, 2019
- Powers of X #4: September 11th, 2019
- House of X #5: September 18th, 2019
- Powers of X #5: September 25th, 2019
- House of X #6: October 2nd, 2019
- Powers of X #6: October 9th, 2019
Will these books be new reader friendly?
Yes! Absolutely. Almost every #1 is a good place to start, but these books in particular are the start of a new status quo that is perfect for new (or lapsed) readers.
C.B. Cebulski said, in regards to X-Men continuity, “[Jonathan Hickman] is looking back at the past and building upon what is going before it, and taking it to the next level. It truly is a new era for X-Men, but not forgetting anything that has come before. As much as Jonathan is relying on the past tales of X-Men as the basis to build this story, it’s going to be completely new reader friendly.”
Jordan D. White mentions adds, “If you have been a fan of X-Men at any era, there is something in her for you.”
Marvel is positioning these new books as a major turning point in the franchise and are comparing it to Giant Size X-Men #1, the X-Men relaunch in 1991, Age of Apocalypse, and Grant Morrison’s New X-Men from 2001.
Does each book stand alone?
According to Hickman, they’re “two stories that act as one story. They absolutely are separate, but by the end they collide together. Coming out of that is the new paradigm for the X-Men universe.” So it seems like while you can read them separately, you probably shouldn’t especially if you’re going to be reading the new series’ that launch out of these two books.
How do I buy and read these?
You can buy these books as they are released in two ways: physical, single-issue, comics from your local comic book store or digital single issues from an internet storefront (the most popular being comiXology).
If you want to get these books physically, use the Comic Shop Locator to find the closest place to you. Once you find your store, go and see them! They love getting new customers who are excited about comics. Tell them you want to set up a “pull list” with House of X and Powers of X. By doing this you are pre-ordering the book. Most places will not make you put down a deposit or pre-pay for these books, but keep in mind that all stores have different standards and practices (some even offer a small discount if you pre-order instead of buying it off the shelf). They will set them aside for you on release day for you to buy at your convenience. Always go and pick up the books that you have pre-ordered from a comic book store. They usually order based on customer demand, so there may not always be someone to buy a book that you decided not to pick up.
A second way to get these books physically, if there isn’t a comic book store near you, is a Marvel Print Subscription. This is a way to buy physical, single-issue, comic books directly from Marvel. With this method you pay for a certain number of issues up front, and Marvel will send them directly to your house as they’re released. Also, you will save money by getting these books directly from Marvel. House of X and Powers of X, specifically, give you a 25% discount off the cover price. Though it is more convenient and possibly cheaper than buying from your local comic book store, there is a downside: Marvel is very slow at shipping books. Expect to wait up to two months after the release date to get your comics.
The fastest and easiest method is going the digital route. If you have a computer, phone, or tablet, then you can read digital comics. ComiXology is the go-to service for digital comic books. You can buy single issues, collections, or even subscribe to a whole comic series. If you decide to subscribe you’ll have the latest issue of each series delivered to your account the day it’s released. The best part is you’re not charged all at once (as you are with Marvel’s print subscription). You’re only charged the day each issue comes out, so you can cancel at any time.
If you’re someone who likes to read the whole story at once, eventually there will be collected editions of these two stories. There’s no release date for them yet, but you can buy them anywhere books are sold, your comic book store, or a digital retailer like ComiXology.
What comes next?
As of now no specific titles have been announced beyond House of X and Powers of X, but Hickman has stated that the first wave of books are already in production, and in early June they were just about to hire the talent for the second wave of books coming in 2020.
The first wave of books will be announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20th starting at 1:45pm. As stated by the SDCC website, “Jonathan Hickman is joined by Marvel editor-in-chief C. B. Cebulski and other mighty Marvel panelists… Learn what comes next for the X-Men after the senses-shattering revelations of the House of X and Powers of X !! Plus, stick around for a few things they can’t even hint at yet!”
Panels aren’t live streamed, but you can expect any of the major comic book websites to cover the event and relay all the details.
While we have no idea what to expect from this announcement, Jordan D. White had to say about the first wave of new books launching later this year: “When you get through the other end of [House of X and Powers of X], it’s a whole new world of stories that are opened up to you. Things that just wouldn’t have been possible for X-Men before.”
It also seems like this Jonathan Hickman era of X-Men is here to stay for a while. His earliest conversations about a return to Marvel date back to very late 2017 or early 2018, so this has been in the planning stages for a long time. Hickman’s even mentioned, “…that this is what we’re going to be doing for the next few years.” Also, while talking about the art on House of X and Powers of X, he said that this is “all of the character design and environmental design that we’re going to be using for years down the road… It’s primal world-building.”
If you haven’t already noticed, this is a colossal story that’s being told here. If Hickman’s other Marvel work is any indication, we’re in for a multi-faceted, deeply mapped out story that will be told for the next two to three years of X-Men comics. Senior Editor Jordan D. White puts it best, “What happens in House of X and Powers of X isn’t going to be a thing that only affects the five characters on the cover of House of X #1. It’s a story that spans all of mutant-kind. That in turn will affect the entire Marvel Universe.”
