Decimation: Son of M

Decimation #3

by David Hine (Writer), Roy Allen Martinez (Illustrator), Peter Pantazis (Illustrator)

Pietro Maximoff was Quicksilver, the fastest living creature on Earth - until the Scarlet Witch took it all away. Now, the son of Magneto is despised and powerless. Crushed and defeated, his only hope and refuge lies with the Inhumans. Re-united with his wife Crystal, will his desperate ambitions lead him to an even greater betrayal?

Collecting: Son of M 1-6

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2006

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

When M-Day struck Pietro Maximoff was one of the many mutants who lost his powers. He's depressed and desperate to be who he once was.


Son of M is all about Pietro losing his powers and doing what he can to regain them. Pietro reaches out to his estranged wife Crystal who is an Inhuman and comes up with a reckless plan. A few other Inhumans appear in this lackluster tale.


Son of M was largely forgettable and had twice as many issues than it needed.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quicksilver gets depowered in the Decimation era, and on the verge of suicide, he ends up finding a way to bring those powers back, unfortunately Pietro ends up making it worst for him and others around him. This is the first book on the road to War of Kings, and it was quite a good start, I really enjoy reading stories about flawed characters like Quicksilver. Next stop, Silent War.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has become more relevant now that Marvel is pushing Inhuman to be its new X-Men. But really, the main reason I got this was because it was illustrated by Roy Allan Martinez, a countryman whose work deserves more notice.

The story is a carryover from the time there were "no more mutants", so Quicksilver lost his powers. He figured that exposure to the terrigen crystals guarded by the Inhuman would restore his powers and he figured right. Does this make Quicksilver of Inhuman origin? I hope current Inhuman writer Charles Soule would explore this weird exception from the current status quo of the global terrigen mist poisoning and sterilizing the mutant population.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn’t really work for me. Something about the art and the tone just didn’t move me. Pietro is a character I haven’t read a lot of. The only aspects of his character I understand is arrogance and a loyalty to mutant kind. I expected to love this because I loved the House of M storyline.

Instead, I came out of this liking Pietro a hell of a lot less. Not only did he harm a lot of people because of his own stubborn belief that he was right: he manipulated his kid into helping him. I don’t really see a way this could have been written where I would think of Pietro’s actions as understandable.

Anyway, this just wasn’t for me.

[Rodolfo Santullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Algo buenísimo que tiene la colección Marvel/Salvat (quizá ya lo dije antes, de ser asi disculpen uds que me repita) es el incluir series, historias y autores de los que no tenía el menor conocimiento, permitiéndome así descubrir una parte de este universo de superhéroes que de otra forma no podría. Es el caso exacto de la que toca en suerte hoy, Heredero de M sigue las desventuras de Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) otrora el hombre más rápido del mundo pero que luego del evento conocido cómo House of M perdiera sus poderes mutantes al igual que la amplísima mayoría de ellos (se estima que tan sólo unos 200 mutantes quedaron en todo el mundo). La clave de esta historia, el elemento motivador podríamos decir, es que Pietro no va a quedarse cruzado de brazos ante esta situación y buscará a cómo de lugar recuperar aquello que lo volvía distinto, so pena de causar muchísimos problemas y hasta desencadenar una guerra (pero esa es otra historia, una que reseñaremos la semana próxima). Así, el guionista David Hine guía al personaje -que en su propia construcción ya es un hallazgo: ¿es un héroe caído en desgracia? ¿un villano por completo desconsiderado? ¿simplemente un pobre desgraciado?- a lo largo de su búsqueda y esto funciona además cómo un baño de inmersión en el Universo Marvel, desde cruces puntuales con Spider Man hasta verdaderas revisiones de Genosha, Magneto y, por encima de todo, Los Inhumanos (que desde la miniserie de Paul jenkins y Jae Lee no los veía tanto y tan bien desarrollados). Aunque en cierto modo es una saga de transición -vamos desde House of M a Silent War- tiene muchísimo valor por sí misma, por profunda, bien desarrollada y muy entretenida, y eso sin contar con el arte magistral de Allan Roy martinez (quien, al igual que a Hine, conozco por este trabajo) en un estilo que recuerda tanto a Frank Quitely cómo al mismísimo Moebius (nada menos). ¿Quién hubiera pensado que una miniserie con Quicksilver sin poderes sería semejante viaje dramático, tenso y hasta angustiante?

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decimation takes place after the Scarlet Witch got rid of the mutant powers of all the mutants everywhere.

Pietro, Quicksilver, goes to Attilan to talk to his wife Crystal, of the Inhumans and see his daughter Luna. Luna is half-Inhuman and Half-mutant, but since there are no more mutants she is just half human now. But Pietro decides to get his hands on the Terrigen Mists to see if they can help to reactivate his mutant powers-and it seems to work.

He decides to flee Attilan with the Crystals and his daughter Luna. Heading back to Genosha he tries to restore the remnants of mutant-kind to their past glory. But the Terrigen Mists have unforeseen side-effects and the I humans are looking for their crystals and for Luna as well.

That is the gist of this story, more than that would be spoilers. The artwork is pretty good, though I must pay particular credit to whomever did the cover art- well done! The story? Interesting and I enjoyed it since I was aware of the whole "no more mutant" story in regards to the Scarlet Witch. I also knew that at some point, meaning current time, the mutants get their powers back. Son of M helps to explain just how this ended up happening. Sounds damn good right? Yeah, I'd say so. So why 3 stars?

The issue I had, albeit slight, with the rather nebulous ending. Is it war between Inhumans and humans? Or not? Also what the hell is going on with Pietro? Maybe those answers lie in another series..I look forward to finding out that answer. If you are an X-men or Inhuman fan I think you will really like this story. Pietro is rather a pain in the ass. In fact, to be honest, no one in this damn story is likable, except for Black Bolt and Lockjaw. Still good story, decent to good art and it fills in some holes of my Marvel-Mutant lore. Works for me.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mission: catch up on the last decade's worth of Inhumans. Reason: Inhumans are the new "mutants" of the MCU. Challenge: wade through some of the most tedious, second-rate, forgettable stories of the Marvel Universe that I've studiously avoided like a bad STD since getting back into Marvel comics. Round two: bridge between Jenkins Inhumans glacial primer and the War Of Kings event.

Weird. This book starts out like a coda to the House of M series by Bendis - like it's here to clean up after the abrupt reversal from millions of mutants to 200. I've never read anything else that I remember working so hard to try to account for the shift - as if this book was supposed to make the next major step. But I never heard of it. Never heard anyone proclaim David Hine's mastery of the art form or his great tales of Marvel wonders.

No wonder. This book is the definition of average. Average art, average plotting, average dialogue. I read it so fast because I couldn't wait for it to be over and let me read something better.

Pietro mopes around like an emo victim for a couple of issues, tries one of those "call for help" suicide attempts in front of Spidey (who's the poster boy for depressive rage in this book), then kidnaps his daughter from the Inhumane after taking steps to get his powers back by any means necessary (which include talking to an emaciated future version of himself - dude, if you're dying and a past version of yourself shows up asking how you dropped the weight so fast, spill - stop being so fucking sly and coy).

Troublesome: I could swear Quicksilver has been in stories I've read since this time, and he hasn't appeared this emaciated, warped or desperate - what gives? Did Marvel retcon this crap story of failed redemption, or was there some place where they reversed this storyline later?

The art is mostly crap - flat colours, sloppy linework. Decent camerawork, and decent if washed out colours.

Onwards.

[Coeurnoble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a fan of the art, but I love quicksilver anyway :)

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming out of Annihilation and Conquest and into the prelude to War of Kings.

After House of M, Quicksilver was one of the many mutants that lost his powers. He has been pretty miserable. He eventually gets it in his head that the terrigen mists will give him back his powers. He also wants to try and use it on the rest of the unpowered mutants. This leads to the Inhumans coming after him and O.N.E. chasing him down as well. Decent story. Nothing to get too excited about but ok.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think out of all the post House of M books that there are, this one feels the most like a sequel. Of course, there's the X-Men books that detail how they dealt with the fallout. But this one is much more personal, and told from the viewpoint of the villain of House of M.

With the three words said by his sister, Pietro Maximoff is left in a personal nightmare. He's human. No powers. And according to him, no purpose. He meanders through life until he gets the idea to steal terrigen crystals to restore his powers. What follows is his selfish and dangerous plan to do exactly that, and he doesn't care who gets in the way - even his daughter. It really shows you the consequences of House of M for Pietro, because you truly get the sense he is a broken man at this point. Flailing against the inevitable, he resorts to betraying much about who he is and what he stands for.

I really liked the art by Roy Allan Martinez as well. It fit the tone really perfectly in my opinion. He has really interesting style that accentuates the human body, without it being too gratuitous. He also can do the more outlandish characters justice, such as all the inhuman characters who look less than human.

Overall, I thought this was solid and I would recommend this for anyone who wants to read about the effects of House of M.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm . . . okay. It does do what I kinda hated after M-Day which is "Oh, that was sad - ON TO OUR NEXT ADVENTURE!" Never give anything time to breathe, never give anyone time to reel, never give the story any space before the next retcon, the next disaster of the week, the next exploding room you've seen a thousand times before. But it does do some of the stuff I do like, like examining a character, like watching someone totally unwind in the face of things they cannot control. Which is why I forgave a lot of the running around and time travel and cosmic nonsense, because the writing does get the main character right, and you are just watching him slowly unwind. You are watching him lose it.

Quicksilver starts the book suicidal, like a lot of ex-mutants after M-Day. His wife Crystal tries to encourage him to start a new life, one where is a constant presence in his daughter's life, one where he is not being sucked into the world's drama. And you'd think that'd be enough. Instead, when he discovers there is a way he might regain his powers - or any powers - he violates everything he claims to care about, the most sacred tenets of his new home, betrays his wife, brings her world to the point of war, kills a man, and kidnaps his daughter and addicts her to this new power-imbuing substance. He brings it all crashing down around his ears because he can't stand being ordinary. In a way this is a good thing to read in conjunction with Alias, which poses the question of what would drive someone to want to be a superhero, with all the danger, sorrow and pain, if not the absolute, petrifying fear of being an everyday, overlooked, ordinary person.

Because the story is told from Quicksilver's point of view, you just watch him drive himself on and on, never outwardly questioning or reflecting on what he's doing or why, just convinced it is the right - no, the only thing to do. Even though he must see the damage he causes, even though he must know the danger. Never a bad intention but always an evil outcome.

My favourite part of this was watching his relationship to Luna, his daughter. He hates his own father so much, for his abandonment, for his manipulation, for his conditional love. He swears he is nothing like his father. And yet, he jumps at the first chance to be anything other than a loving, present father to his daughter. He destroys her entire world without any thought to her. He separates her from the care of her mother. He addicts her to a substance he doesn't fully understand, changing her in ways he can't imagine. He places her in harm's way alongside him again and again. And he does this because he wants to prove himself a father, but completely on his terms, completely without any regard for what she wants or is best for her, completely without any responsibility. And yet he protests he is nothing like his despised father.

The only redeeming act he commits throughout the entire piece is to return his daughter to her mother when he realises where his actions have taken him, and where they will lead. He realises he is not good for the people he loves, that he is not capable of being the man they deserve. That he cannot get through a day without fucking up and these days he's fucking up quite badly.

All in all, it's a good story.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Esta historia me sorprendió para bien. Trata de cómo Quicksilver intenta seguir adelante luego de los acontecimientos de House of M. El guión muestra una profunda construcción del personaje y de cómo no parece haber aprendido nada de lo pasado, manteniendo así su enorme soberbia.

El problema es que luego la historia se va para el lado de un conflicto entre los Inhumanos y el gobierno yanqui que la verdad me importa poco. Una lástima.

El dibujo está bueno, tiene un aire europeo tipo Moebius que le aporta un toque distinto a un cómic de superhéroes.

[Marianna Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This actually started out pretty interesting, but it all went into a really strange direction, and then the ending was pretty abrupt as well. Wasn't a fan of the art either. If you're looking for what to read after House of M, skip this one for sure.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the award for "most egregious failure to learn from the mistakes of his own father" goes to...

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pietro Maximoff is all sorts of screwed up. Post-House of M he has no powers and his enormous ego can't take being "normal" like everyone else. Being slow and sluggish and unable to cope, he decides to fight the inhumans and use terrigenesis to get his powers back. What ends up happening is a cascading series of terrible decisions as the person formerly known as Quicksilver proves just how far he's willing to go in order to be superior. The inhumans star a major role here and get a big new status quo change, Pietro proves to be one of the worst people, and a few mutants suffer.

As someone who really enjoyed the bizarre AU of House of M, I loved this. It's one of the few times where Spider-Man's trauma is actually followed up on- issue #1 had some fantastic Peter Parker content. Quicksilver had such an integral role in the event that having him deal with the repercussions is interesting, and to see a series wiling to be so dark and solemn about a former superhero was neat to see. As far as I know this new status quo - for the main characters, at least - doesn't really go anywhere, which puts a damper on such a fill-in story. It's a quick series about Pietro's continuous fall from grace that also happens to bridge the gap between some new status quo changes in the Marvel Universe. It's only something worth reading if you want to see some good post-House of M content, and some good Inhumans content, as if you don't care for both of those things then there's nothing in here for you.

[samet]

garip bi kitaptı

[Alfit0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pietro se obsesiona con recuperar sus poderes y en el proceso se lleva a todos en su paso

[Aisling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six issues of Pietro being a worse father than Magneto.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this one! Surprising because I've never really cared one way or the other about Quicksilver. But there is some really superb character development in this volume, especially in the relationship between quicksilver and his daughter, Luna.

I really enjoyed the sketchy and roughly drawn artwork as well. I thought it lent itself very well to the mental state that Quicksilver was in. Plus, Atillan and the Inhumans really looked fantastic! Listen, Blackbolt? You need to be showing up on my doorstep sometime, m'kay? But leave the giant bulldog at home. He's scary.

I felt, of all the Decimation titles, this one dealt with the fallout of House of M the best. It gave us a really good taste of the cataclysmic affects on a mutant when they lose their powers and the extremes they are willing to go to get that identity back. Where as other titles in this arc scratched the surface of the fallout, this title goes very deep, and actually sublime to the main House of M storyline.

My only qualm is this: if you are going to write a story about time travel, then you MUST follow the rules you lay out. So, if Future Quicksilver says that it is only possible to travel forwards in time.... Then Past Quicksilver shouldn't be able to time-travel back to the time he came from. It's a GIGANTONORMOUS plot hole.

3.5/5

[Tomás · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una miniserie bastante buena con uno de mis mutantes favoritos como protagonista principal. Bueno si, Pietro es un forrito, nada nuevo, pero siempre me provocó un poco de simpatía. No es ni bueno ni malo...creo que más que otra cosa quiere que alguien lo comprenda. Pero bueno...le sale todo mal y termina siendo una mala persona.

En esta historia, ideal para leer después de Dinastía de M, vemos como el personaje cae en un verdadero infierno por intentar recuperar sus poderes que su querida hermana le robó (y a otros miles más) con 3 palabritas. Entretanto, hace calentar a los Inhumanos al robarle ciertas sustancias que se le van a permitir volver a ser Quicksilver y todo se va al tacho. Es una especie de historia de redención y de la desesperación de un personaje que lo perdió todo.

Por otro lado aparece Magneto, su padre, que está en la misma que él pero parece estar completamente ido de lo que está ocurriendo (muy muy deprimido). Magneto es...un personaje de la san puta. Lo respeto mucho, y en este comic llega a dar un poco de lástima por su estado emocional.

El guión se lleva aplausos, aunque los más se los lleva el dibujo de Roy Allen Martínez, que me recuerda con sus líneas a Frank Quitely, pero que mantiene una personalidad propia acompañado por unos buenos colores.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y esta es la cuarta, si no me equivoco. La cuarta vez que voto un comic tomando en cuenta más el dibujo que la historia en sí. No digo que la historia sea mala, tampoco es una maravilla, pero sí que sirve para que el bestial dibujante cuente un relato trepidante, con algunos de los diseños y armados de página más alucinantes que haya visto en mucho tiempo. Por un lado una cara de Manara (para mi sorpresa, sobre todo en los varones), por otro unos cuerpos a lo Moebius, por otro unos escenarios de la Samputa, dignos del mejor Van Hamme, y un montoncito más de elementos gráficos europeísticos que me hicieron devorar este comic con pasión casi inverosímil. El guión, repito, no es malo, aprovecha bien a los personajes y la situación en la que habían quedado tras "House of M", pero sigue siendo secundario, y hasta terciario, para contemplar la narrativa de Roy Allan-Martinez (Aunque en la edición que tengo diga "Allen"), voy a buscar otros laburos de este capo para ver si es tan grosso como parece o lo agarré en un trabajo particularmente inspirado.
Cuando me lo pueda comprar, seguro lo termine releyendo y analizando con mayor atención.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for Silent War, and to fill in some blanks regarding Quicksilver. I'm not too fond about the way he's portrayed in here - after having lost his powers after the events of House of M, he steals the Terrigen crystals from the Inhumans, ultimately instigating a war. Still, this had some great moments - all bits involving Quicksilver and his daughter, and every scene with Black Bolt (simply because Black Bolt is incredible and really the kind of character who can just stand there and be 1000% more awesome than anyone else in the room).

[Gustavo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta historia lidia con las consecuencias de House of M, y nos muestra a Quicksilver deprimido porque ha perdido sus poderes y como intenta recuperarlos, convirtiéndose en una persona totalmente desagradable en el camino. No me pareció una historia mala, pero tampoco me parece que sea tan trascendente como para incluída en esta colección de "esenciales" de Marvel. El arte está bien, aunque el dibujante es medio un imitador de Frank Quitely.

[Limboscene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem with stand-alone issues, sometimes, is that they go so quick and can often feel rushed or ends abruptly.Son of M does not break this mould. However the story line remains one of my favourites. My biased towards all things Inhuman and Magneto's lineage may come into play on the adoration though. A must read for all Inhumans and X-Men fans. I will re-read very soon.

[James Hough · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. The more stories that I read involving the Inhumans, the more I dislike them. Definitely not the best part of the Marvel Universe.

[Tehanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still think that the Inhumans are kind of boring.
The highlight of this book, to me at least, was Spider-Man's appearance.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Edición para Argentina en tapa dura. Corroborar ISBN.

[jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story set after House of M. Quicksilver is one of the many millions of mutants who was depowered when Scarlet Witch spoke the unforgettable "No more mutants" line. Broken and depressed, he stumbles on through life in a listless manner due to the loss of his powers. He feels lost without them and angry at Magneto for never feeling proud of him for his actions in the HoM era. In a way, Pietro felt like Magneto owed him respect for that. After being beaten up by anti-mutant thugs and jumping off a roof, Pietro is rescued by his Inhuman ex-wife Crystal. She takes him to Attilan where he can recover but is told he cannot stay permanently. Still reeling from the loss of his mutanthood, he begs Black Bolt and Medusa to grant him the privilege of Terrigenesis believing that the Terrigen Mist will restore his mutant powers. However, Medusa informs him that the process is only for pure Inhumans and forbidden for humans. She denies his request and also tells him that his daughter Luna can never undergo Terrigenesis either as she is half-Inhuman and half-human. This doesn't hold Pietro back from breaking into the caverns and bathing in the Terrigen-infused waters. At first, it seems like it had no effect but Quicksilver actually did regain his powers, albeit in a really unexpected way. It's after this that Quicksilver's mental state rapidly deteriorates. He manipulates his daughter into leaving Attilan by painting a rosy picture of Earth and saying that he can restore all the mutants' powers. He steals the Terrigen Crystals and basically guilt-trips his daughter for her to accompany him. He then travels to Genosha and convinces the depowered mutants there to undergo the Terrigenesis process. At first, all their powers are restored but proves disastrous and horrifying for them as the excess power is too great and uncontrollable now. The resurgence of their powers alarmed the US government and government agents were ordered to seize the crystals. The Inhumans also arrive and after being denied ownership of the crystals, declare war on the United States. See what you caused, Pietro?! After all this, Pietro is in a really weird place which makes me wonder if he's a villain now..
Anyways, on to Silent War!

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 5 out of 5]

De una forma o de otra, Dinastía de M y sus consecuencias son un sitio al que suelo volver, y El Vástago de M puede ser uno de mis favoritos. Creo que David Hine es uno de los autores más infravalorados del mundo del cómic, en esta época escribió cosas que eran absolutas maravillas. Y una de ellas es precisamente El Vástago de M, quizá también por el particularísimo dibujo de Ray Allan Martínez, que le sienta como un guante a la historia en la que Hine nos habla de Mercurio, el gran culpable de los acontecimientos de Dinastía de M, en los días posteriores a este acontecimiento. Pietro Maximoff debe lidiar ahora con las consecuencias de sus actos, y lo tiene que hacer como humano, como uno más de los mutantes que han perdido sus poderes el Día M... pero Mercurio nunca ha tolerado bien la normalidad, y decide acudir a su familia política, los Inhumanos. Y así nos encontramos a un Mercurio que es un auténtico cabrón con pintas dispuesto a todo para recuperar sus poderes, arroyando incluso en el camino con la inocencia de su propia hija, Luna.

Un pedazo de historia que además sirvió de puente en su momento para acercar a los Inhumanos al presente del Universo Marvel, de donde ya no se moverían en mucho tiempo...

[MatiBracchitta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque cuente con mucha menos prensa que House of M, no es para desvalorizar el trabajo que David Hine realizó en este cómic. Si bien es cierto que las escenas de acción son escasas y discretamente retratadas, lo cierto es que es un cómic intimista. Nos mete en la piel y en los pensamientos de una persona destrozada como Pietro.

Hine logra hacernos empatizar de alguna manera con Pietro, a su vez que nos aleja de él cuando nos va mostrando su perversión y caída frente a lo que, erróneamente, considera que es su redención. El arte, al menos para mi gusto, tiene tantos puntos fuertes como débiles en esta historia. Por momentos nos brinda imágenes muy poderosas como cuando Quicksilver se encuentra con su yo del futuro, o la primera vez que Luna usa sus poderes, pero a la vez hay escenas que se sienten simplemente vacías.

No estoy muy seguro de que nota ponerle a esta historia. Lo cierto es que empieza muy bien y el tono que maneja me gusta, pero a su vez me deja con un sabor amargo de que se podría haber hecho mucho más con esta premisa.