Infinity ends but opens the door to the latest event, Inhumanity. A few questions arise: can Marvel sustain events forever, will the audience care enough to stick around and most importantly, is it good?
Inhumanity #1 (Marvel Comics)
For those of you just joining us, Black Bolt blew up his homeworld which released a gas that’s covered the Earth. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it wasn’t turning humans into so-called Inhumans with powers. Say what?! They were among us all along it seems, at least their genetic code. And now a very small amount of Inhumans are going to turn into many more. This issue covers thousands of years, briefly touches on some new characters we may see later and involves a suicide. Sounds like enough for an event to keep your interest, right?
Ah, the obligatory fight sequence between heroes.
Matt Kindt writes what might be the wordiest event-opening issue I’ve ever read. There isn’t a lot of showing, but there is a ton of telling. That isn’t to say the telling is poorly written or paced, but it does become a bit of a slog when you’re waiting for something to happen or someone to do something. The issue opens with the Avengers nabbing Inhuman Karnak and bringing him to a Hulk-proof cell. Then they chat—a lot—and ruminate on what happened and what it all means for Inhumans everywhere.
Two elements of this story felt a bit “been there, done that” for me. The first was how Inhumans were manufactured by aliens sticking their DNA into humans thousands of years ago; it all just reminds me of X-O Manowar. The second is the fact that Inhumans are among us on Earth and your regular average neighbor might have superpowers simply because he has a bit of Inhuman DNA stuck in him. Hmm, super powered beings among us, this remind anyone of Secret Invasion?
This definitely reminds me of X-0 Manowar.
Art is by Olivier Coipel and, for an issue that is light on action, does an amazing job. Much of this book is unconventional as far as layouts go with some interesting choices made, like a close up of Beast amongst the remaining Avengers in a medium shot or characters popping out of their panels and bleeding into other panels with no relation. It goes a long way making this read more interesting, but it doesn’t quite save it because there’s just so much exposition.
Inhumans, the Skrulls of 2013!
7.0
- Great art and pacing
- Compelling story
- Feels like we’ve seen this story before
Is It Good?
This is a mediocre introduction, especially considering it’s an event. There’s just too much exposition and not enough action and when it comes to visual mediums of the blockbuster kind that’s a failure. That said, the story is intriguing enough and the pacing is exceptional, both visually and story-wise.
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