The new era of the X-Men is off to a great start. House of X #1 certainly met the hype for me. I came away thinking that you essentially need to know Xavier, Magneto, and that there are mutants going in, and it gives you pretty much everything else.

I particularly enjoyed how the creative team worked in the infographic elements that are a staple of Jonathan Hickman’s books, and mutant language angle they introduced.

“One cannot create a distinct culture without it.”

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As Marvel’s Avengers versus X-Men event looms on the horizon and Avengers: The Children’s Crusade wrapped up this week, this edition of Standard Deviations takes a look back at the set of variant cover images from 2005’s House of M. The Scarlet Witch’s “no more mutants” spell has been a defining moment for the Marvel Universe and set both of these recent series in motion. While the significance of House of M‘s story is clear, the series was also one of the first high profile examples of the return of variant coves since their hey day in the 1990s speculator market.

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Let me start by saying I’m not a fan of the cancellation and renumbering of long standing series, but I understand it from a business standpoint. I’ve had the luxury of seeing the title I’m most invested in maintain a continuous run since I began collecting, but that ended two weeks ago. Marvel Comics published the final issue of Uncanny X-Men to make way for a new post-Schism relaunch to go along with Wolverine and the X-Men as part of this Fall’s X-Men: Regenesis. Putting the renumbering and relaunch aside, the series’ conclusion was remarkably sentimental and left me with a genuine sense of loss.

Spoilers for Uncanny X-Men #544 will follow.

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Today sees the release of Marvel Comics’ new Incredible Hulk #1 by Jason Aaron and Mark Silvestri. As a long time Hulk fan (I’d argue long suffering… But that’s just me), I was very interested to see what Marvel had cooked up. I’m hoping we’ll see a return to a version of the character that sees his personality struggle as the core element of the series, but I have no real expectations one way or the other. PTB and I will launch into a spoiler-filled discussion of the issue starting right now…

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With DC Comics’ “New 52” dominating comic shop shelves this month with more number one issues than any other time in history, other titles that are launching right now couldn’t have more competition for readers’ attention. This week, we’re going to try to shine a light on some other big titles that are launching this month, beginning with last week’s Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 by Brian Bendis and Sara Pichelli. It’s part of an entirely revamped Ultimate line-up from Marvel, and as a jumping on point it’s hard to do better.

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