Inhumans
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Inhumans (1998) is a limited series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee which ran for nearly a year. It’s an introduction to the Inhumans and Attilan and the reason why I was excited to read it was because I loved the Inhuman’s characters in Fantastic Four.
The run has easy world building and makes it simple to understand how Attilan runs, and what the people are like. I liked how it focuses on not just the royal family that come up in other comics but also the people of Attilan and how the humans affect their lives too.
This series explains the society of Inhumans, including the monarchy and alpha primitives. It also explains how the inhumans get their powers through terrigenesis so acts a little bit like an origin story.
The concept of hiding from humans to avoid confrontation isn’t a unique take in the Marvel unvierse, but even when humans start a war they don’t really fight back. I liked the insight into Black Bolt and how he reacts (or doesn’t react) because he’s a strong strategic leader and has a longer plan. Even when other Inhumans were doubting him, he continued with what he believe to be right and he ends up with his goal.
Overall the series isn’t filled with action even with the war scenes, but more about getting to know the Inhumans. I don’t think this was bad, but definitely manage your expectations before jumping in.
Inhumans #1 – Sonic Youth Trouble is brewing in the city of Attilan and King Black Bolt isn’t helping matters
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Sonic Youth starts with setting Black Bolt up as a king, ruler, and almost God. It also shows his backstory with his parents and brother, making the reader understand why he doesn’t talk which is a great intro to his character.
This issue also sets up inhumans and how they differ from humans. They’re like Chimeras, beings of pure power, although the air on earth is a poison to them which is why they stay within the city. It also shows that Attilan as a city is protected but watched.
It’s a lot of set up in this issue and introduces Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal and even Lockjaw. I like how it hows how they interact with one another as the royal family, and not dissimilar to an actual family.
Genotypical expands on the Terrigen Mists, the transformations they bring, and how the “inhumans” in Attilan are created. I loved how they showed off the mists, including the process of kids getting ready to get their powers.
The change brings out the full potential for the inhumans, and the change is a positive within their community. It’s a change up from normal society, where not being different enough is a negative. This flips human society on its head where conformity is what is held up as the standard.
One of the inhumans is transformed into an alpha primitive, which is a sub-serviant race in this world. It’s a reminder that being the “same” makes you less in this society, but it also brings in a counterpoint to the positives shown in the story. Society still has issues due to the class systems in place.
Inhumans #2 – Genotypical A group of young Inhumans embark on the greatest journey of their lives. It’s time for Terrigenesis!
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Inhumans #3 – Ghost in the Machine A startling truth is revealed to Black Bolt about the nature of Terrigenesis. Everything the Inhumans thought they knew about their society was wrong.
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Ghost in the Machine is the third issue and delves deeper into the Inhumans society. The Terrigen Mists are a way for the inhumans to adapt to survive. They don’t gain powers by genetics, but by what the community needs and this makes a large proportion of the population happy.
Woz as the inhuman turned alpha primitive is a great introduction to the alpha primitive subculture. These people have been “freed” but are still expected to work in the less-liked job roles for the good of inhuman society. Jenkins has worked to lay the foundations of the society as well as the characters we follow.
Maximus is finally met in this chapter, and seems to be planning something. There’s minimal time with him, but I liked that we get the sense of him using words to manipulate others (the opposite of his brother).
Chinese Whispers gives the first look at how those outside Attilan think of the inhumans. It shows the danger they’re in despite not showing any threat to humans all because they’re different and isolating themselves. A classic case of the titular Chinese Whispers has warped the perception of the inhumans to be negative for humans.
This issue shows how Maximus taunts Gorgon and Karnak, with no regard to lying about having a visitor to his cell.I love Maximus as a villain, as he’s not overly secretive about him breaking rules since he’s already in a cell.
Chinese Whispers also starts to link the Inhumans back to other heroes and other areas of this world. Reed Richards makes an appearance, discussing how inhumans aren’t a threat based on their shared history. It’s a nice nod to anyone who’s read the Fantastic Four when they met Inhumans.
Inhumans #4 – Chinese Whispers The situation in Attilan grows more complicated as Namor claims the island as land belonging to his kingdom.
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Inhumans #5 – First Contact The humans forces marshaled outside the city of Attilan discover a weakness in the energy shields.
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First Contact is a quick story and compared to the previous issues doesn’t add a lot to what we don’t already know. It starts with a story where humans are likened to children, and Attilan/Inhumans are a dragon to be awakened. The set up was intrigueing but reads more like a fairytale than most comics.
There’s a smart inclusion of a Trojan Horse which the humans use to plot against Attilan’s defenses. This storyline also pulls in a Black Widow to the story, as well as showing different people are getting involved.
Inhumans uses a lot of politics with multiple parties involved to move the story forward. I liked reading this, but it does feel a lot slower than other comic stories because of it.
Welcome to the Jungle centres aroun why Black Bolt doesn’t just use his powers to defeat the enemy. Looking back on all the antagonists Black Bolt has defeated in the past builds up his character, and shows off his inaction in this situation.
The artwork throughout is beautiful and very character focused. There’s quick switches between rushed war frames, depicting a frantic energy and quieter diplomatic scenes to slow the pacing down.
Inhumans #6 – Welcome to the Jungle King Black Bolt struggles with what to do about the humans outside his city. To destroy them with but a word…or not? That is the question.
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Inhumans #7 – Coming Apart At The Seams It’s voting day in the city of Attilan
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Coming Apart at the Seams shows off how Inhuman society responds to murder. It’s very much an eye for an eye, life for a life and nothing more nothing less. In order to take revenge on the human that killed one of them, they must find the correct human to have revenge on. This doesn’t quite correlate to how humans see war, and further pushes them as different to us.
I liked the plot of Maximus escaping to the substructure where alpha primitives live and work. He further divides the society by showing off the inequality of people, and the substructure secedes from Attilan.
The overall pace of this comic is fast and chaotic. The switches between between characters create a sense of chaos that is replicated in the storyline and shows exactly how it affects the different characters.
Can we first talk about how much I love Lockjaw? We follow him around a bit with his (adorable) The Thing toy. This links back to the Inhuman’s connection to the Fantastic Four, but I just love seeing Lockjaw act like a giant dog.
The actual comic starts off around diplomacy, and specifically how diplomacy with humans is getting nowhere. This is fairly accurate to how real life goes, and it shows theInhumans as willing to negotiate whilst still not fighting back.
Not much really happens in this one, but I think this kind of represents the getting nowhere frustration with the in-comic situation.
Inhumans #8 – Woof Mendicus petitions the U.N. Security Council, looking for an eleventh hour diplomatic resolution while Attilan crumbles from within.
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Inhumans #9 – Oceanic Triton goes to Prince Namor to plead for help on behalf of the king.
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Oceanic shows use the price on inaction, and why taking action is sometimes what you have to do.
We meet Namor in Atlantis as Triton goes to ask for aid. He soon gets rejected, and this shows off some backstory where there’s a dispute on who really owns the island Attilan is on rightfully. This backstory helps hint at why other hidden societies aren’t willing to help.
There’s also a second sub-plot flashback of Triotn first meeting humans. He’s conflicted as to whethe humans are really good or bad, and this is a theme throughout the series as the two “other” each other over differences whilst both sides have good, bad, and in-between people.
A Window to the Soul starts with a prologue focusing on Winston Churchill. This compares his strategic thinking decisions to Black Bolt’s now and whilst I don’t think it was the best way to do that, I do think the comparison may have been more powerful 20 years ago when released.
The story shows how Woz finally rises up against Maximus but it’s too little too late. I liked his overall storyline, and it really shows off how evil Maximus can be. This is also the comic where Medusa’s hair is iconically cut, which is mirrored in other adaptations of the Inhumans.
Inhumans #10 – A Window to the Soul Black Bolt’s leadership continues to be called into question as Woz fights for survival and Black Bolt’s wife Medusa fights for her very survival
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Inhumans #11 – Plan A Can Black Bolt regain control of his city without going to war?
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After the previous comic, we’re feeling a bit like the Inhuman’s aren’t going to make it. But Plan A shows that Medusa is not just a damsel in distress.
There’s the final reveal of the overall plan for those in the know from Black Bolt. Now the plan has started, more people can be told and we finally see some action and reaction from the Royal Family.
Despite being kept in the dark, I like how the character still trusted Black Bolt’s judgement immediately. It shows how great of a leader he’s been to them before. This is a great penultimate story to the series.
The ending is here and we get to see Black Bolt’s plans come to a bittersweet happy ending. I loved that it wasn’t a traditional ending of the good guys winning, but a strategic move for the Inhumans to bring back the status quo that they desired.
Plan B also brings up a lot of the behind the scenes work that Black Bolt has been doing in the previous comics. Because as a reader you’re not fully in the head of Black Bolt, it was easy to read the reactions of the other humans and take that at face value, but it’s not always the case.
Inhumans #12 – Plan B What does fate have in store for Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Triton, Gorgon, Crystal, Maximus, and Lockjaw?
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