Ismael and Armena bring their daughter Chamyra to Mutopia, a center for "transmutation" that promises to activate latent or undeveloped mutant powers. Izzy's not sure Chamyra needs powers, as she's perfectly normal now, but Armena pushes, point out potentials for sibling rivalry with Esteban, a telekinetic, and just trying to let Chamy reach her potential.

Inside, they see Gregor the tree and the paintings of Nemesio Pietri as Patricia Hamilton (Merwoman), Chamyra's "advisor" at the Center, explains to them about AGD, the "condition" that has kept Chamyra's powers dormant. Then Absolon Mercator, the "sensei" steps in as Izzy's complaining, and senses that not everyone is in agreement about this decision, so he tells them to go home and think about it. Patricia tells Armena that they can hold Chamyra's spot in the transmutation ceremony only for a few days.

Izzy sort of apologizes to Armena on the way out, but he's disturbed that being human is a "condition" that needs to be cured. At home, Izzy wants to fool around, but Armena's not in the mood, and he wonders if this is "punishment" for his earlier behavior.

After Armena falls asleep and grows her nightly shell, Izzy calls Lara Kaufman. They set up a place to meet...

Two reporters are on a stakeout looking for juicy news - one spots a grotesque toad-faced woman and says it's Lara, based on her car. Lara meets Izzy inside a bar/restaurant. He's shocked at her appearance, but she quickly changes to a model's body. She uses the "ugly face" to go incognito. She also shows Izzy her illusion-casting powers, which are in addition to her shapeshifting. Izzy worries about her husband and his telepath Erik, but she shows him her telepathy blocker unit, which Danny gave her. They go up to a hotel room. Erik, who's watching from afar, notifies Kaufman, who tells him to let Ortega have his fun, and they'll deal with him after.

In the morning, Lara dresses and leaves, and Izzy walks her to her car. He asks to see her true face. She shows him, and they kiss. The journalists get some ace photos of the clench. Erik stops Izzy and tells him Kaufman wants to know if it was worth it. Izzy says "yes," but Erik tells him to wait until he's done... the whupping begins.

Later, Izzy tells Armena he was mugged. His cell phone rings (Armena wonders why muggers would let him keep it) - it's Lara, who wants to know if Izzy's OK. He's concerned for her, but she tells him Kaufman's just breaking all her stuff - he wouldn't harm her. She says they have to stay away from each other.

At the Daily Bugle, the reporters present their editor-in-chief with the Izzy/Lara pic. She's pumped and ready to hit Kaufman where it hurts, with a big exposé!!!

Review: Ech. Took me a while to work up the fortitude to review this. Truthfully not a bad issue, but totally irrelevant to House of M as a whole, and even mostly to District X. Even the Mutopia angle was only fodder for Izzy's marital breakdown, which we've already seen in DX. Now we just get to see it played to its ultimate conclusion in the new world, where Lara's got a vengeful husband. Yippee. Who really cares? This is a pretty sick story, if you think about it - Kaufman's treatment of Lara and his marriage is deplorable, as is Izzy's. The only semi-decent thing in the story was Izzy's complaint about the way Mutopia looks at being human. He has a good line about leaving well enough alone, because you never know what powers you'll get, and not all are beneficial, e.g., his wife's cocoon, which is contributing to his marriage's failure. But that's about all we get - and it's made almost hypocritical by Izzy's affair. Boy seems to have a thing for mutant women, too, which undermines his fears about Chamyra. It's all a big mess, without even a hint of the terrorist angle and no Bishop. So who really needs this? We could have skipped over the HoM tie-in and picked up the extra 5 issues of DX in the real world and it would have made more sense.

On a more interesting note, look at page 2 of the first look in the post below - the subheading of the Mutopia center awning is..."MUTATIS MUTANDIS" - Was this a nod to the site, or just coincedence? I wonder...