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| The original SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M |
For time immemorial both man and Spider-Man has wondered "What if?" "What if I had caught Gwen?" "What if Uncle Ben hadn't died?" "What if, after returning from an alternate universe, my alternate reality wife and son came back with me?" That's the premise of writer Frank Tieri and artist Brian Haberlin's tale in this week's WHAT IF? SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M #1.
For those of who may not remember the 2005 House of M event, Tieri sums it up quite nicely:
"Basically the Scarlet Witch had a Margot Kidder-esque breakdown and made reality go ka-blooey. So this creates an alternate reality where mutants are now the ruling class and Spider-Man finds himself married to Gwen instead of [Mary Jane]. And, oh by the way: he's got a kid."
Of course, as comic fans know, these alternate universes don't tend to stay the status quo for long and soon enough, Spider-Man had to head back home where he would fight a civil war, make some costume changes and eventually alter his whole reality. But, that doesn't mean we can't revisit this possibility gone away, exactly what Tieri-along with Sean McKeever and Luke Ross who worked on an accompanying story-have in mind by bringing Spider-Man back from the House of M reality with a few guests: Gwen Stacy and their son Richie.
"Of course, MJ's certainly not going to be thrilled to find out Peter was hitched to Gwen in that other reality," Tieri shares. "And then look at it from Gwen's point of view: she's married to Peter and then suddenly she wakes up in this other reality and now she's not supposed to be married anymore? And what about Peter? Remember, he's just coming back from House of M so the last thing he remembers, he had a life with Gwen and Richie, so those memories and feelings are still fresh. But now he's back and he remembers everything he had with MJ too, and naturally feels a responsibility to her, as well. The hard thing about all this is this really
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| WHAT IF? SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M cover by Terry Dodson & Jorge Melina |
That's right, not only does Spidey have to deal with all kinds of lady drama, but also a run-in with his greatest foe. As Tieri points out, the Goblin be playing a major role in this story, but it may not be exactly what you think.
"There's a bit of mystery surrounding him and his motivations," Tieri teases of the villain. "When he does show up, it's really what brings everything to a head.
"Then there's the matter of our narrator. There's a big reveal at the end as to who he/she is, and maybe what's an even bigger surprise, why this person is telling the story in the first place."
With so much going on in a fairly limited space, Tieri and Haberlin really had to be on the same page in both tone and pacing and the writer couldn't be happier with the results.
"Brian brought a nice, realistic style that I thought fit our story well," he says. "This story ain't exactly what you would call 'light and bouncy'. I go to some dark places here. And Brian wasn't afraid to go there with me."
After he had so much fun playing around in the WHAT IF? sandbox, it should come as no surprise that a classic issue of the series had a pretty big effect on Tieri when he was younger.
"'What If Wolverine had killed the Hulk?' [is my favorite] because I hadn't known much about Wolverine up to that point as a kid and that story helped to open my eyes to the character," Tieri recalls. "I think mainly because I wasn't aware that Wolverine could kill the Hulk, that that was at all possible."
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Aha! So they admit Spidey's whole reality changed!But back on topic, this should be good.