Stillanerd Reads: House of X #2

If you’ve read enough superhero comics, you know there’s always that one issue which promises, “Nothing will ever be the same again.” It’s a lie, of course, but one we always believe. When one creative team makes any sort of sweeping, monumental changes to the comic’s canon, the new one sweeps it aside, makes new changes, then also promises, “Nothing will ever be the same again.” Repeat, undo, repeat, undo, and so on.

Ironic, then, that Jonathan Hickman’s second chapter for House of X revolves around a seemingly endless cycle while also promising “Nothing will ever be the same again.” Only this time, this promise might be sincere. And it involves a character who you wouldn’t think would completely upend everything we ever believed about the X-Men. That character is Dr. Moira MacTaggert née Kinross.

To the uninitiated, Moira is a Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, Charles Xavier’s ex-fiancée, and the X-Men’s constant ally. She’s also the mother of the reality-shaping mutant, Proteus, the foster mother of the lycanthrope, Wolfsbane, and had a romantic relationship with the X-Man, Banshee. She even co-lead a version of the X-Men from her research facility on the fictional Muir Island.

At least, that’s what happened during her current life. For as House of X #2 reveals, Moira is secretly a mutant with the power of reincarnation. Only instead of being reborn as a different person, Moira is reborn as the same person. Like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, she’s trapped in a time loop which, upon death, resets her back to the moment of her conception with all her previous memories intact. She’s lived nine lives already and is currently experiencing her tenth. This tenth life also just so happens to be the present X-Men timeline as we know it.

This revelation gives the opening pages of Power of X #1 (which Hickman and artist, Pepe Larraz recreate for this comic) a completely different context. Not to mention it radically alters everything readers ever thought they knew about Moira and Xavier as characters. It even changes our presumptions of what’s official Marvel Universe canon. As retcons go, it’s close to perfect.

Like with any retcon, there are still hiccups. After all, it means Xavier, through Moira, had advance knowledge of possible future events from the beginning. Yet Hickman manages to cover most of his bases for this retcon to still work. He establishes clear rules behind Moira’s power rooted in the observer effect. There’s an in-story explanation for why no one discovered Moira’s true nature in any of her lifetimes. The comic even addresses the question of why Moira never married Xavier–because she already did once before.

As for Moira herself, Hickman single-handedly transforms what was once a minor supporting character into a fascinating enigma. Throughout her many lives, Moira transforms from an ordinary woman into a radical, then an assassin, and ultimately a world-renowned scientist. In more than one life, she’s Xavier’s staunchest supporter; in other lives, she bitterly opposed him. Through it all, we experience her self-loathing, her disillusionment, and her hope that things will be different this time.

There’s also a kind of fairy tale aspect to House of X #2, as well. Perhaps that’s because, in chronicling Moira’s lives, Hickman summarizes more than he dramatizes. Only two lives feature any dialogue exchanges. Twice, the point-of-view shifts from Moira’s into third-person omniscient. Two pages contain nothing but prose. Yet in spite of this, the narrative that Hickman weaves remains compelling.

House of X #2 is also a comic that’s artistically challenging, as certain scenes must both look and not look the same. Larraz more than accomplishes this. Moreover, each of Moira’s lives visually evokes classic X-Men eras and not just in what Larraz’s panels depict. His Xavier bears a remarkable resemblance to how Jack Kirby illustrated him. More than once, Larraz depicts the X-Men in their Dave Cockrum designed costumes. A scene between Mystique and Destiny feels like something drawn by John Byrne.

As a result, Larraz doesn’t just show the cyclical nature of Moira’s lives. His art conveys the very themes Hickman attempts to get across. That no matter how many times Moira alters events, she remains trapped in a universe governed by fate. Evolution, innovation, and conflict are inevitable, but real change isn’t. Nothing will ever remain the same, but in the end, it always does.

Yes, House of X #2 is pessimistic in its outlook. Is also one of the most thought-provoking, ambitious character studies ever produced by a mainstream comic publisher. It is a story not about spandex heroes and villains but about those around them. Those, like Moira, who seemingly stand meekly off to one side, quietly shaping the world around them. Or at least they try.

Stillanerd’s Nerdy Nitpicks

• One thing to note about Moira’s first life isn’t just the absence of mutants. There’s also an absence of Sentinels. Obviously, both still exist but they do leave a remarkably small global footprint. Until Moira gets involved, that is. So are mutants and Sentinels really making the world worse, or is it just her?
• Wow! So Xavier was such a self-important egotist, he drove Moira down the path of almost committing genocide during her third life? Good job, Chuck!
• Considering what Mystique, Destiny, and Pyro did to Moira during her third life, it surprises me that she’d want anything to do with them afterward. Because yikes! That death was brutal.
• Why would Pyro call Destiny “Mother” when he isn’t her biological son? Unless it’s a title of respect, acknowledging her leadership. Only, Mystique is the leader of the Brotherhood. Or maybe Destiny was the real leader all along?
• “Through the lost decade.” Dang! Way to throw some shade on the post-Grant Morrison era there, Hickman, especially Avengers Vs. X-Men. Not that that AVX didn’t deserve it, but still.
• Hold on? What about Moira’s sixth life? We’re just going to skip over that one completely? It’s like Hickman’s deliberately hiding some…oh!
• Seems there are some inconsistencies in the handy-handy “Many Lives of Moira X” flowchart. In life 4, Moira becomes comatose after a Sentinel attack on Faraway the year before the Sentinels kill all the mutants on Faraway. So were there two Sentinel attacks? Also, as pointed out by Hickman himself, Moira’s supposed death in her tenth life should take place before Genocide at Genosha. Speaking of which…
• The Moira who died during the Legacy Virus era was “Shi’Ar golem?” Guess it’s goodbye to that whole story where she teamed up with Gwen Stacy. And it looks like we can toss out “Chaos War,” too. Man, Hickman really has it in for the Aughts, doesn’t he?
• It seems Moira’s ninth was also her longest. Makes sense given what happened to her during that life. Only notice that timeline keeps on going? Why it’s almost as though we might revisit that timeline at some point.

Check Out: Stillanerd Reads: Powers of X #1