Decimation (comics)
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"Decimation" is a storyline published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
in
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, spinning out of the events of the ''
House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...
''
limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
. The event started with a one-shot issue and took place in a number of various series all carrying the "Decimation" logo on the cover. The 2005 miniseries '' Generation M'', ''
Sentinel Squad O*N*E The Sentinels are a fictional variety of Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant-hunting robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are typically depicted as antagonists to the X-Men. The Sentinels played a large role in th ...
'', '' X-Men: Deadly Genesis'' and '' X-Men: The 198'' were all launched specifically for the "Decimation" storyline. The various stories were collected in five trade paper backs. The storyline focuses on the ramifications of the
Scarlet Witch Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...
stripping nearly all of the
mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...
population of their powers, thereby reducing a society of millions to one of scant hundreds. This event, which occurred on November 2 according to ''X-Men ''(vol. 2) #191, is known as "M-Day" in the
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
. Reception among fans and critics was mixed, with a common complaint being the inconsistent manner in which mutants retained their powers while at times depicting "depowered" mutants as still having their physical mutations.


Overview

"Decimation" began with the self-titled one-shot ''Decimation: House of M: The Day After'', and heralded the relaunch of the Excalibur team in ''
New Excalibur Excalibur is a fictional superhero group appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as an offshoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-write ...
'', focusing on
Pete Wisdom Pete Wisdom is a fictional secret agent published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Excalibur'' vol. 1 #86 (February 1995), and was created by Warren Ellis and Ken Lashley. Wisdom is a British Secret Service agent with the mutant abilit ...
looking for
Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain Weekly'' #1 by writer Ch ...
to head up a new British super team, as well as the relaunch of ''
X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
'' from the '' MadroX'' miniseries. It also includes several mini-series—''
Son of M ''Son of M'' is a 2006 American comic book limited series, a follow-up to Marvel Comics' 2005 "House of M" storyline, starring the depowered Quicksilver. Quicksilver was one of the many mutants to lose his powers as part of the Decimation, for ...
'' starring a depowered Quicksilver, '' Generation M'' focusing on other depowered characters, ''
Sentinel Squad O*N*E The Sentinels are a fictional variety of Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant-hunting robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are typically depicted as antagonists to the X-Men. The Sentinels played a large role in th ...
'' showing the latest iteration of the mutant-hunting Sentinels to be robots piloted by humans, '' X-Men: Deadly Genesis'', and '' X-Men: The 198''—and continues throughout the Marvel Universe, particularly in the ''X-Men''-related titles. One consequence is an upswing of anti-mutant sentiment, especially among certain religious groups, who consider M-Day to be God's judgment against mutant-kind. It has been confirmed through various sources that there are considerably more than 198 mutants remaining—the number has been referred to as "symbolic" rather than actual, and in ''The 198 Files'' is said to be the earliest confirmed number. Numbers for pre-Decimation mutants vary from "over a million" (''House of M'' #8) to 14 million ('' New X-Men'' #115, where it is said that the 16 million mutants who died on
Genosha Genosha ( or ) is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as "Earth 616" in the Marvel Universe and a prominent place in the X-M ...
was around "over half" of the estimated global mutant population of 30 million mutants), giving a population, if the commonly used 90% depowered figure is true, of between one hundred thousand and one and a half million. Based on the mathematical comparisons of the oft-repeated 198 and several million, Marvel re-evaluated the 90% figure into "over 99%", as shown in ''Civil War: Battle Damage Report'' when
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
comments on the Post-CW world. Both
Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in ''Tales to ...
and Beast note shortly after the event that it is impossible for the energy that certain mutants controlled to simply have vanished, and that it must have been "sent" somewhere. As would later be revealed in '' New Avengers'', most of this energy became a
sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
entity called the Collective, who has since come into violent conflict with the Avengers. In addition, a portion of the energy revived the body of Gabriel Summers, brother of both Alex (Havok) and Scott Summers (Cyclops), who had been trapped in space for many years following the defeat of
Krakoa Krakoa is a fictional living island appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 and was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. Initially depicted as an antagonist, Krakoa has since gro ...
, as depicted in the '' X-Men: Deadly Genesis'' limited series.


Mutants affected

According to Marvel Editor-In-Chief
Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...
, the "Decimation" event was designed to reduce the number of mutant characters in the
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
, which he felt had gotten out of hand after forty years of publishing. Most criticisms by fans have been aimed at inconsistencies regarding the roster of mutants who retained their powers after the event. For example, in the ''Generation M'' mini-series, several characters were considered depowered, even though they retained their physical mutations. The ''Civil War Files'' one-shot revealed that the US government's assessment of the number of mutants on Earth may not be accurate, which allowed Marvel to change the number of depowered mutants. Additionally, characters such as
Namor Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc. ...
and the
Great Lakes Avengers The Great Lakes Avengers (also known as The Lightning Rods, The Great Lakes X-Men, The Great Lakes Champions, and The Great Lakes Initiative) are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The cha ...
, who are described as mutants but not particularly tied to the ''X-Men'' series of books, have not been affected by the event. '' Wizard'' magazine published a speculative list of supposedly decimated characters, which Marvel Comics dismissed as including a number of mutants who still have their powers. While it has been stated that there are at least 198 remaining mutants, according to
Henry Peter Gyrich Henry Peter Gyrich () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a liaison of the United States government who is against the superhuman community. Publication history The character first appeared ...
in '' Avengers: The Initiative'', there are actually "around 300"; the 198 number is merely the number of mutants the US government has cataloged, with a 199th mutant (
Mutant Zero Typhoid Mary Fisk ( née Walker), also known as Bloody Mary and Mutant Zero, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was initially depicted as an enemy of Daredevil suffering from dissoc ...
) being off the record. Over 198 mutants have already been identified post M-Day, more than 30 of whom have since died.


Necrosha

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...
and her servant Eli Bard have used the Transmode Virus to reanimate the mutant
Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell H ...
so that he may track down and reanimate deceased mutants (to both form an army and an energy source for Selene). The reanimated army appeared in the "Necrosha" story arc, consisting of thousands of inhabitants of
Genosha Genosha ( or ) is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as "Earth 616" in the Marvel Universe and a prominent place in the X-M ...
, as well a number of notable deceased mutants associated with the X-Men. See the main Necrosha article to view the full list of those resurrected during the story arc. Necrosha notes: * The majority of these mutants were used as a sacrifice for Selene to reach her godhood, and have since gone back to being deceased. Those who were not sacrificed likely perished with Selene and the energy she used to keep them alive, as was implied by Destiny at the end of the ''X-Men: Legacy'' tie-in.''X-Men: Legacy'' #233 * Unus and Feral are reanimated but should still be depowered as they were not mutants after M-day. Feral had her feline appearance restored prior to her death, and Unus was temporarily repowered by the Terrigen Mists, resulting in his death. * Cypher, using his power and assistance from Warlock and Magik, eradicated the techno-organic virus (effectively resurrecting himself). * Due to his nature, Proteus was able to separate himself from Destiny but was seemingly destroyed in a confrontation with Rogue and Magneto. Magneto doubts if the effects of dispersing Proteus' energy are permanent.


Collected editions


References


External links

*
Marvel.com - Official Decimation webpage

UXN's "Generation M" issue summaries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decimation (Comics) Genoshan