Fans are accustomed to seeing X-Men comics incorporate the letter X in their titles, with examples ranging from X-Factor to X-Force. But with the announcement that writer Jonathan Hickman is launching House of X and Powers of X ahead of his relaunch of the X-Men franchise, a lot of attention is going to be paid to deciphering every single clue that's available to get an idea of what to expect.
Of course, that leads us to ponder exactly what the meaning is behind the titles House of X and Powers of X. For example, why were those names chosen? And how important is it that Powers of X is actually pronounced "Powers of 10?"
Thankfully, Hickman answered those questions during a rapid-fire Q&A session with Marvel Comics.
"House of X is the House of Xavier, mirroring back to [Brian Michael] Bendis' House of M," Hickman revealed. "Powers of X is a play on a movie that's about a constantly expanding scale... times one, times two, times three," in regards to mutants' powers.
Hickman previously revealed story details on House of X and Powers of X, with one series dealing with a pivotal month in the X-Men's history, and the other looking at the franchise's history in the Marvel Universe.
"One, House of X, is a story about a pivotal month in the history of the X-Men where everything changes for mutants on Earth. And the other, Powers of X, is a story about the history of mutants in the Marvel Universe," Hickman said. "It works as a series of reveals and revelations where each issue of HOX that follows POX -- and vice versa -- makes you reinterpret the issue you had previously read."
House of X #1 goes on sale July 24, followed by Powers of X #1 on July 31.