Amph House of M and Decimation trades

I've been catching up on my Marvel reading this past year, and am about ready to get to the whole silly House of M business. My question: which trades should I read.

I'm obviously going to read the core House of M story. Otherwise, I'll be reading World of M, as it contains comics from several titles I follow, and Fantastic Four/Iron Man, because even though they don't look to be that important to the main story, I like Greg Pak okay and I like both of those titles. The X-books I probably won't read for a bit, because I'm not all that interested in recent Claremont and Milligan X titles. I'll also be reading Mutopia X, because I've heard it's the best thing to come out of the whole House of M business. I've already read Hulk, because it was by Peter David, and I don't think I'll be reading Spider-Man, which sounds like it contradicts Spidey-continuity anyway.

What about Decimation? Are Son of M or Generation M or any other such titles particularly good (or important)?

 

As far as house of m goes i only read the core story when it was coming out. I later picked up the spider-man, wolverine, and cap tie ins. The wolverine ones are a waste. The story that is told is basically mystiques story. Spiderman was ok, but i didn't feel that it was a must read. The cap tie in issue was good. I read all of the decimation stuff except for sentinel squad one. Generation M and son of M are two really good books that help set up future events in the marvel universe. The day after trade, which has the day after one shot and a few issues of x men, is essential reading for the rest of the decimation stuff. The 198 is a direct prequel to civil war x men and it also ties in with son of M in a small way, it's a decent read. The gray?s end book is ok, it has some baring on the current line of uncanny x men as does the blood of apocalypse trade. X men deadly genesis was good. It wasn't spectacular, but it was good. It's the direct prequel to the current run of uncanny.

My recommendations:
The day after
Son of m
Generation m
Deadly genesis

 

Most of the House of M tie-ins were garbage. I enjoyed Mutiopia X, mostly because I'm a fan of the characters though. The Incredible Hulk wasn't bad either. There's some great lines, especially in a scene where Banner, as the new president of Australia, is dictating a letter, "Cooperate with us on ALL business matters...or Hulk will smash. Very truly yours, etc...etc."


Son of M is good, but kind of confusing. When it was coming out I had to keep re-reading the previous issues to figure out what was going on. The events of that book lead into next years "Silent War".

The 198 is awesome and I highly recommend it. But I wasn't a fan of how it ended.

 

I didn't get any of the House of M tie-ins, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. From Spider-man's appearance in Son of M I'd guess his House of M tie-ins were the most significant - that's the only time I've noticed a major reference for anyone other than an X-character. Except in New Avengers, where it was Spidey again, being questioned about it. He also talks about it in one of the Civil War issues of X-Factor.


For Decimation, I'd also say you've got to get The Day After, and Son of M and Deadly Genesis are both really good and important. Son of M leads to Quicksilver's current status in X-Factor as well as the upcoming Silent War. And the 198, which does lead directly to X-Men: Civil War, which is really more of a Decimation story than a Civil War story.

 

I would suggest just reading the core House of M series. In my opinion, that's all that's worth reading.


Good to see you, Nathan.