737

It irks me a bit how the continuities of these tie-in stories don't quite seem to jive with that of the main miniseries, but beyond that, this was pretty satisfying. The "Fantastic Four" (really Doctor Doom) story was engrossing and fun, with the characters feeling true to themselves even if in an alternate world. The "Iron Man" story was on paper similarly solid (though I found the artwork in it a bit confusing -- I shouldn't have to squint and double check the necktie colour to know if I'm looking at Stark Sr. or Jr.), though in spite of the strong emotional plotline I found the story a bit shallow somehow. ( )

Fantastic Four was pretty good. Kind of dark and creepy with the family lovin on Doom. It must be fun to write this alternate universe stuff because they can kill off whoever they want and it doesn't effect the regular continuum.

Iron Man was okay, but I got kind of sick of Howard Stark treating Tony like crap. I felt like It was a little over done. Still not sure why Tony made the decision he did in the end about Magneto. ( )

There are two separate stories in this collection, as is obvious from the title: House of M: Fantastic Four, and House of M: Iron Man.

I really liked the House of M: Fantastic Four story. Reed Richards died a long time ago, and Victor von Doom has created instead a "Fearsome Four" of superpowered humans (including himself). In the House of M alternate reality, Victor is an "ally" (but feels more like a servant) of Magneto and the House of Magnus. Of course, knowing Victor's personality, this chafes him until it's past bearing. I thought the art was well done and the story was good, too. I'd give this one four stars.

I didn't care so much for the House of M: Iron Man story. This is about the "birth" of Iron Man in the House of M reality. The art wasn't very good, and the story itself wasn't either. I was surprised, considering that I normally like what Greg Pak comes up with for comics, but this just fell flat. ( )