Time for thoughts. With pictures! Pictures of Spider-Man House of M #3! And this time I actually have a hard time limiting what pictures I use; I have 13 I’ve made.

Forgive me if I jump around to various topics out of order of the content itself, I’m going wherever my thoughts lead me.

As mentioned before, I think Lorna has been depicted in amazing fashion throughout this mini. She’s the most clear and obvious level head of the entire family, which has implications I’ll get into later, but for now, I’m just emphasizing Lorna.

Yep, that’s Lorna being sassy as fuck, and I love it. Not to mention this art that gives her such a long overdue badass look.

This is how I’d expect her to look if she had a moment similar to what 616 Jean Grey and Wanda have gone through (which, by the way, Marvel noted would be a great idea via Fantastic Force back in 2009). It also makes me think a little bit of 616 Lorna’s time as Pestilence.

I also love the pet names introduced for Lorna with this issue, between Namor calling her “Green Daughter” and this one.

I imagine Lorna saying “Hey, that’s Princess Moss-Head to you.”

By the by, here’s a segue of a really amazing piece of art from the issue.

Anyway, Wanda equally looks like a major badass here. That’s one of the best things about this mini: the women are the real powerhouses. I expect other people will post her BIGGEST moment of their own volition, so I’m going to post the bits I personally like most.

She is definitely a force of nature here, someone absolutely not to be trifled with. The term “rage demon” comes to mind. She knows what her brother’s done and she’s pissed. Of course, things appear to change at the end, but we’ll see what the final issue holds.

And last but not least, there’s Pietro.

I feel bad that I don’t have more pictures of him to show, but honestly, no panels of him really stood out as “oh crap I really need to take this picture”. I suspect his real big moments in that vein will be in the final issue, as the end of HoM #3 says Hom #4 will have a father-son talk. He at least appears to convince Wanda to join his side, stating that his father died a long time ago, having become a shadow of his former self.

Going into SW HoM, I honestly thought Pietro would turn out to be done all of his “betrayal” as a joint plot to take down Namor and revitalize his father’s spirit, possibly for taking on Doom at some point. By the end of HoM #3, I think that’s unlikely, and he really does want to overthrow his father and become king.

I even thought Pietro was saying Magneto and Lorna died via broadcast as part of the plan, since I felt he wouldn’t be dumb enough to assume they’re dead or non-issues if alive just because they couldn’t be found. I mean, that picture up there, that’s one crafty look.

But, that goes into the thing I’ve held off for the end of this post: Wanda, Pietro and Magneto aren’t really like their 616 counterparts, I think intentionally. I’ve seen through ANXF that 616 Pietro is quite the redeemed hero type. Both 616 Pietro and 616 Magneto know they’ve been poor fathers and want to do right in the future.

This Magneto seems a lot dumber and more clueless than 616 Magneto, despite the chess game analogy in HoM #2; which, I’ll note, can easily be taken as a sign his wits have dulled due to a lack of worthy adversaries. Lorna’s taken over the brains of this HoM, but it leaves Magneto looking foolish.

Wanda’s been treated well in general, having been given a strong presence and impression. The thing that stands out to me with this SW HoM Wanda compared to 616 Wanda is that this Wanda seems like a huge rage monster most of the time, whereas 616 Wanda seems less prone to such behavior unless she’s insane.

Observing how the SW HoM versions of Wanda, Pietro and Magneto differ from their 616 counterparts leads me to a very important question for me as a Lorna fan: what does it imply about the connection between 616 Lorna and SW HoM Lorna?

This Lorna is powerful, smart, sassy, mature, and the clear and obvious heir apparent. Now, there are very obvious differences: 616 Lorna isn’t as devoted to her father as SW HoM Lorna, 616 Lorna hasn’t yet challenged 616 Magneto like SW HoM Lorna does repeatedly, and like SW HoM Wanda and Pietro, this Lorna doesn’t care for humans or human rights, whereas 616 Lorna does.

Yet, SW HoM Lorna has a lot more of the personality I had hoped to see in Lorna in the Magneto solo’s final story arc.

Now to be straightforward and fair, Cullen Bunn’s intended tone for the Magneto solo was much darker and more serious, and Lorna with the personality and zest I expect would’ve messed up his intended tone – and it’s Magneto’s solo, after all. But with all of these factors combined, how Magneto solo Lorna differs from SW HoM Lorna, how 616 and SW HoM counterparts of the other members differ, I can’t help worrying just a little bit that it’s possible all the things I love about SW HoM Lorna may be seen as things 616 Lorna doesn’t have as part of her character.

Keep in mind: I worry about a lot of things that may not be true, because with a lot of other companies, what I worried about actually came true. I’ve been primed to expect the worst, and it takes time and effort for me to trust.

In summation, I loved Secret Wars House of M #3. It’s been an amazing ride, and to me, the best comic I’ve read since 2009 when I read Jeff Parker’s Exiles and read New X-Men #132 and Austen from the early 00s where I saw the impact of the Genoshan genocide on her.

I strongly urge buying and reading this issue, especially if you’re a Lorna fan.