MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Charles Soule
PENCILS: Steve McNiven; Brandon Peterson
INKS: Jay Leisten; Brandon Peterson
COLORS: Sunny Cho; Nolan Woodard
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: Steve McNiven and Jay Leisten with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS: Jim Cheung with Justin Ponsor; Art Adams with Richard Isanove; Art Adams (Kirby Monster Variant); Skottie Young; Adi Granov; Damien Scott (Hop Hop variant); Kalel Sean costumed by Brian A. Parsley and photographed by Judy Stephens (cosplay variant)
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2015)
Rated T+
Inhumans created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
The Inhumans are a race of super-humans in Marvel Comics. Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, they first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (cover dated: December 1965). The Inhumans are a strain of humanity that began with genetic manipulation by visitors to Earth from an alien civilization (the Kree), long ago in human prehistory. Exposure to the mutagenic Terrigen Mist (a process known as Terrigenesis) reveals if a person is an Inhuman.
Little more than a B-list character group, the Inhumans are in ascendancy in the Marvel Universe, especially over the last four years. In 2013, Marvel even launched a new comic book series, entitled Inhuman. The launch of the “All-New, All-Different Marvel” sees the Inhumans continuing to rise to prominence. The latest Inhuman comic book series is Uncanny Inhumans. This series is written by Charles Soule; drawn by Steve McNiven (pencils) and Jay Leisten (inks), colored by Sunny Cho; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Uncanny Inhumans #1 opens the series with several sub-plots. It is dough boys and dinosaurs when Triton and Reader (and his dog Forey) join Black Bolt in a time-traveling mission. This trip, however, breaks a deal Black Bolt made with Kang the Conqueror, and the latter strikes back. Also, Medusa and a group of new Inhumans (NuHumans) are engaged in a Central Park battle against the Chitauri.
Later, Medusa looks to the X-Man, Beast, to use his scientific knowledge to end the friction between mutants and Inhumans. Plus, a visit from the Human Torch exacerbates marital discord. Plus, in a bonus story, Frank, Flint, and Naja travel to Morocco to recover a lost Inhuman.
For a long time now, first issues of comic books that work on a five or six issue story arc are little more than introductions to the story and characters. They are also often infuriatingly vague. That is not the case with Uncanny Inhumans. Writer Charles Soule has a way of making practically every page not only satisfying to read, but also intriguing enough to encourage the readers to come back for more.
The drama is convincing, and Soule gives the characters interesting personalities and/or engaging individual melodramas. Medusa/Beast: I want more of that. Black Bolt: it's all good. I am not ashamed to say that Soule makes me feel like a fanboy about the titles he writers.
Of course, he has a great art team. Steve McNiven has mastered making style work as high drama. McNiven pencils are a series of flourishes and bells-and-whistles that come together to convey character, setting, plot, and drama. In the back-up story, artist Brandon Peterson does something similar, but I'm not going to play that game of who is better – McNiven or Peterson. I must admit, however, that I prefer Nolan Woodard's beautiful colors for Peterson's art, although I am not slighting Sunny Cho's excellent hues on the main story.
I'm ready for more Uncanny Inhumans, and if you listen to my recommendation and buy Uncanny Inhumans #1, you will be ready for more, also.
A-
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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