Inhumans

Altogether, Uncanny Inhumans #4 stands out among the wave of recently added Inhuman titles, and expectations should be nothing but high for the royal family’s flagship title.

Overall, the Uncanny Inhumans (featuring Johnny Storm and Beast) are doing big things in their corner of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe. Soule puts forth the effort to include Beast, who is relatively new to the new cast, and have the cast interact with him to varying degrees in some fantastic scenes. The interactions between all of the players make the comic worthwhile given their history with one another. Johnny Storm being called out on his relationship with previously dating Medusa’s sister Crystal is complicated, yet funny to think about in the light of the events of the story. Uncanny Inhumans #2 is another big step in Kang’s plan of dominance, and another step for Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, and the rest of the art team to prove why the Inhumans are larger than life and can give the X-Family a run for their money.

Extraordinary X-Men #1 will probably be seen as energetically drawn and colored sacrilege by both long time X-Men fans and ones, who jumped on with Bendis’ work. And for new fans, it’s darkness for darkness’ sake as the X-Men’s outsider metaphor is drowned out by the Inhumans and turned into yet another post-apocalyptic story. Lemire also makes a few stumbles in his plotting, like having characters tell about an upcoming mystery involving Cyclops and a cure for mutant disease instead of seeding compelling visual clues or starting to build arcs for characters. And his final page cliffhanger, which was probably meant to be the triumphant return of a “dead” X-Men, falls flat because it already happened in a Secret Wars tie-in. This is one is probably on editorial though. Even though Humberto Ramos’ manga influenced, yet wide-screen art adds some pep to the X-Men’s powers and fight scenes to go along with Edgar Delgado’s bold color palette, Extraordinary X-Men #1 is a misstep for the franchise in plotting, themes, and characterization.

If Uncanny Inhumans is the flagship title to lead the charge of the wave of books concerning our Inhuman friends, then with the help of Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, and the rest of the art team, it’ll be a welcome change of pace for the Marvel Universe.

Using the Inhumans as a mirror, Jenkins and Lee project the best and worst that humanity has to offer. Like humans, the Inhumans try to mask a prejudiced and divided society beneath a veil of equality and tolerance. They are capable of great disdain, and at times it seems as if their support and love are conditions, yet they are also capable of great sympathy and trust. Despite having tremendous power, the Inhumans still fight at the dinner table, call each other names, and play jokes on each other just like any family would, and at the end of the day, they are indeed a family. Even though they may be Inhumans, Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee prove that, for better or for worse, they’re people too.

Inhumanity #1 Writer: Matt Fraction Penciller: Olivier Coipel Inker: Mark Morales Colorist: Laura Martin Publisher: Marvel Comics On paper, Inhumanity seems like it could be a cool book or event. There are sci-fi elements (futuristic machines and medicines), political intrigue (who will succeed Black Bolt as leader of the Inhumans), and even some superheroics (the cool Inhuman transformations, …