Inhumans Appreciation 2020

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Other than Black Bolt and Ms. Marvel, I am genuinely curious what the best Inhumans story of the era was? Was it Royals? Did Soule have a particular arc people really liked? I know Uncanny Avengers had Steve Mcniven on it's opening arc, is that any good?

Soule's run on Uncanny Inhumans holds up to me. I liked the Kang stuff in the first volume and the IvX tie in the most. Honorable mentions are the Reader stuff because he's my favorite nuHuman and The Quiet Room should've been used in Ahmed's run more.

I liked Asmus's run on All New Inhumans but i haven't reread it yet.

[Holt]

Yeah I touched it a little above they are books that get canceled and they bring them back with no issue.

And conversely, I do not buy that it's just an issue of them being "rested" because they got cancelled when there are a ton of other places the characters could (and in case of Empyre, logically should have been) appearing. That stinks of someone in editorial looking at the backlash and concluding they need to let the drama die down before they're brought back.

It happens in comics.

[mung]

And conversely, I do not buy that it's just an issue of them being "rested" because they got cancelled when there are a ton of other places the characters could (and in case of Empyre, logically should have been) appearing. That stinks of someone in editorial looking at the backlash and concluding they need to let the drama die down before they're brought back.

It happens in comics.

I got agree just especially with empyre. Look past the Inhuman simply not being involved to the fact that they are almost never mentioned. The imperium Kree are in and nothing they did in the book where the faction was created was mentioned. No Vox, not the leader kree, or any of their intentions from that book. The utopians also haven't mentioned the royals, progenitors, or the biggest reveal that kree are inhuman on some level. The closest we got was the kree and skull guys killed in the setup were mentioned to have met and Black Bolt and Medusa's wedding and that was in the F4 tie in. The book went so far out of its way to avoid them it ignored the reason there are two kree factions in the first place. That being said we also have the possibly cancelled Darkhold which was suppose to have more than little Black Bolt if the tpb solicitation is to be believed.

[Killerbee911]

And conversely, I do not buy that it's just an issue of them being "rested" because they got cancelled when there are a ton of other places the characters could (and in case of Empyre, logically should have been) appearing. That stinks of someone in editorial looking at the backlash and concluding they need to let the drama die down before they're brought back.

It happens in comics.

I get why you feel like that, We don't see the inner working to get a definitive answer on something like this but the toxic thing feels more like some editor personal preferences and yes I agree that happens in comics. I mean I have seen JDW h express some opinions which make me understand why we haven't seen a New X-men/Teen X book. If Ewing said what you guys said he did then I guess you might be more right than I am on this part. But it is still frustrating give the things we have seen them greenlight at Marvel.

[Force de Phenix]

I think the whole Inhumans thing is a pretty interesting case study to look at. It is rare for a lesser known property like The Inhumans to get such a big push by one of the big two. Remember, it was originally going to be Matt Fraction, one of their top writers, on the initial launch of the book. Soule was a pinch hitter and seen as a rising star. Spinning out of a crossover event (Infinity), given a premier artist to launch the book (Joe Mad I believe?) and a rising star writer. Combine that with the success of Ms. Marvel, and it was a significant effort on Marvel's part. Soule did his best to create a bunch of new characters, Marvel tried integrate them into the wider marvel universe (Inhumans were featured in Civil War 2, Secret Empire, etc.). And it just never...quite...worked.

Not to say there weren't fans of the series and some of the spinoffs were acclaimed (Ms. Marvel and Black Bolt specifically). But whether the audience just did not really want it, the X-Men thing was just a burden they couldn't compensate for, or Soule just didn't have a strong enough initial idea for the series...it never coalesced. By the time Ewing was on Royals the whole line had run out of steam I think.


I just cannot think of that many instances of something like the 2010s Inhumans in comics. A publisher throwing real weight behind a less known property, and then having it just kind of...sputter out. One thing it brings to mind is how Guardians of the Galaxy got a real push right around the movie (Bendis on the relaunch! A Team-up book! Solo books for almost every member!) and in the end none of it amounted to much - though this was mostly due to how bad Bendis' run was and the fact that none of the individual members can really be the star of a long-running solo. With Inhumans it was never bad really. Fans just didn't embrace the line the way Marvel hoped.

If someone was going to update Marvel the Untold Story, the book that covers the history of Marvel, I would love a chapter on the whollllllllllle Inhumans thing. I think it's an interesting look at a company putting real effort into revitalizing a group of characters, sort of succeeding, but ultimately not pulling it off.

Still, if the biggest thing the Inhumans era pulled off was the creation of Ms. Marvel, that's a pretty big deal and a feather in the cap of any line.

Looking at the X-Men push now, the inhumans didn't get much. People complained about 2 inhumans books being a push. The X-Men have 26 books! And they're everywhere. As mentioned, the Guardians of the Galaxy got a big push, a bigger one that the inhumans, but the inhumans were being used as scapegoats for the X-Men's absence while no one talked about the Fantastic Four, when they were actually canceled completely.

It's naive to think the vocal X-Men fans working at online magazine and in every part of the industry didn't have anything to do with anything. Also, the inhumans were lumped into the All New All Different Marvel era when people were vociferous about new ideas "shoved down their throats" like diversity, inclusivity, and new status quos. They also got the money taken out of the real money maker, the movie. Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, the Avengers, etc. weren't a thing until they had movie push their readerships. The X-Men had 2 decades of movies, and 15 years of cartoons to advertise their franchise.

Marvel Comics are pamphlets of nostalgia to accompany Disney's money making goal, and no one is seeing money to be made with the inhumans. Does someone actually thinks they're making eternals comics now for the love of art and storytelling?

[J. D. Guy]

Looking at the X-Men push now, the inhumans didn't get much. People complained about 2 inhumans books being a push. The X-Men have 26 books! And they're everywhere. As mentioned, the Guardians of the Galaxy got a big push, a bigger one that the inhumans, but the inhumans were being used as scapegoats for the X-Men's absence while no one talked about the Fantastic Four, when they were actually canceled completely.

It's naive to think the vocal X-Men fans working at online magazine and in every part of the industry didn't have anything to do with anything. Also, the inhumans were lumped into the All New All Different Marvel era when people were vociferous about new ideas "shoved down their throats" like diversity, inclusivity, and new status quos. They also got the money taken out of the real money maker, the movie. Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, the Avengers, etc. weren't a thing until they had movie push their readerships. The X-Men had 2 decades of movies, and 15 years of cartoons to advertise their franchise.

Marvel Comics are pamphlets of nostalgia to accompany Disney's money making goal, and no one is seeing money to be made with the inhumans. Does someone actually thinks they're making eternals comics now for the love of art and storytelling?

I concur that the vocal X-fans (both industry and fandom) who hated and scapegoated the Inhumans had a collective hand in the Inhumans not getting the holistic treatment in their push as they typically would have. In turn, I also agree it's naïve to presume they didn't have a negative effect.

I also agree with some of your other insights/points. When it comes down to it, from a comparative point of view, both during that particular time and from then to now, the Inhumans' push wasn't as holistically backed as it could have been. The Guardians of the Galaxy make for a superb example of this, who were indeed back harder and more fully than the Inhumans ever were. And the Fantastic Four's near-complete absence, while it did have background push pack, was not treated as this brand-wide sin that the Inhuman push was treated as by its detractors. Conversely, the X-Men weren't even close to being absent. But they were treated as if they'd been excised like the Fantastic Four actually had been.

And until further notice where something comes along just as good or better for Marvel, I will forever contend that All-New, All-Different Marvel and the small handful of years that led in to that period was the best point in Marvel Comics, especially Modern Marvel Comics. That's what led me to finally become invested in Marvel Comics and many of its characters. So much had been gained for Marvel then, and so much more was lost when they reneged on just about everything that period stood for.

[stingray]

I don't think enough was done to try and gain new readers. I was always a fan of the Royal Family, but not so much the Nu-Humans. I decided to buy a new Inhumans book (Royals I think), which was relaunching with a new number 1, but instead of a good jumping on point, it read like a later issue in an ongoing storyline. Gorgon was crippled, for instance, with zero explanation of what had happened for someone who hadn't read the characters in a while. No proper introduction of any of the characters either. It just jumped right in and I was kind of lost, and didn't bother picking it up again. Marvel's constant relaunching is actually alienating a lot of readers. It just gets so confusing and bogged down.

[Oberon]

I may remain happy with their status as great guest stars and niche players in the overall. I'm disappointed that they bombed out in the MCU; wanted to like them etc. But I also find so much of their story and continuity weird to me after / during the '90s maybe.

Things I would like in a new title:

Far more about the connections to the Universal Inhumans.

Far more about any earlier/ancient connections with the Eternals or Deviants, and for that matter
how does Atlantis modern, relate to their origins. I have a hard time believing that magic transformed a whole group of humans into water breathers when the continent sunk.
Isn't it more possible that modern Atlanteans are descendants of close-pheno-type in the Inhumans, like the Bird People and the Floating island, or possibly the Centaur or others? Maybe something about Deviants in the genetic mix?

Anyway, I'd like to see resolution to those and also the history of any Inhumans disapora around the globe from remote times.
When did Inhumans first migrate to other colonies and where from was 'that' Atilan? How did those migrations figure into legends or stories from the various lands. Encounters with Eternals or other sub/alt humans during history.

Are the folks from New Salem/Salem's 7 possibly of Inhuman mix? The 7 have some members who are similar to Gorgon in my view. Agatha Harkness supposedly has an origin that places her in Atlantis before it sunk.

so many questions or thoughts.

[Noek]

With the Future Foundation coming back to earth, Power Pack rejoinning, Most of the F4 and the kids going to space, maybe Ahura and or Luna could rejoin it.

[Fort Nerd]

Hey guys! I know we're all starving for content here, so I have a surprise for you.

A while ago I wrote a fan script for a hypothetical Inhumans comic, and posted it to several places. Not many people responded, but this thread was the only place where I found any actual feedback.

Since then, I've made it a long term goal to turn the entire script, all 100 pages, into an actual comic. I figured that maybe comic fans would respond better to that?

So far I only have the first 6 pages ready, and since certain people in this thread were kind enough to read my script and comment on it, you're getting a small preview.

tada!
https://imgur.com/a/jgVXt0V

[J. D. Guy]

Hey guys! I know we're all starving for content here, so I have a surprise for you.

A while ago I wrote a fan script for a hypothetical Inhumans comic, and posted it to several places. Not many people responded, but this thread was the only place where I found any actual feedback.

Since then, I've made it a long term goal to turn the entire script, all 100 pages, into an actual comic. I figured that maybe comic fans would respond better to that?

So far I only have the first 6 pages ready, and since certain people in this thread were kind enough to read my script and comment on it, you're getting a small preview.

tada!
https://imgur.com/a/jgVXt0V

Had planned on responding in this thread back then, but never got around to doing so. I did look through the first 3 parts.

I guess one point of difference I had that ended up taking me out of it was using Inferno as the nay-sayer of the group. I dunno, really. His character had a lot emotional rollercoaster-ing early on, as one would expect from having their seemingly drum life turned on its head, but he did come to embrace his new life and new family. So seeing him here saying he'd want to go back to his old (implicitly lackluster) life and having him be "that guy"? Out of the blue? It didn't sit as accurate to me. It felt like you needed a NuHuman anti-thesis to Kamala, your designated NuHuman Black Bolt supporter, who'd hold resentment of the changes they experienced, and used Dante without accounting for his character progression.

[Fort Nerd]

Had planned on responding in this thread back then, but never got around to doing so. I did look through the first 3 parts.

I guess one point of difference I had that ended up taking me out of it was using Inferno as the nay-sayer of the group. I dunno, really. His character had a lot emotional rollercoaster-ing early on, as one would expect from having their seemingly drum life turned on its head, but he did come to embrace his new life and new family. So seeing him here saying he'd want to go back to his old (implicitly lackluster) life and having him be "that guy"? Out of the blue? It didn't sit as accurate to me. It felt like you needed a NuHuman anti-thesis to Kamala, your designated NuHuman Black Bolt supporter, who'd hold resentment of the changes they experienced, and used Dante without accounting for his character progression.

Hmm, can you think of someone else who could fit that role better? Someone who experienced a genuine loss like Dante? I could swap them out easily, but I honestly can't think of anyone.

[J. D. Guy]

Hmm, can you think of someone else who could fit that role better? Someone who experienced a genuine loss like Dante? I could swap them out easily, but I honestly can't think of anyone.

Like, a number of NuHumans had suffered something, but they generally were all able to move passed that and find meaning with their new lives, in different ways and to different extents and with many outright embracing their new positions. Even Nur/Frank McGee. Dante Petruz/Inferno is no canonical exception to this.

The only NuHuman who I can think of that would come kinda close to fitting the bill is Jack, a NuHuman from All-New Inhumans. He was in the opening issues, and popped up again a little later. The events saw Jack transported to an Inhumans weapons cache, but the book ended before we could pick up on his subplot again. But using him would be problematic because he's kinda an antagonist/villain, who, as he was last left, wouldn't be welcome in such a forum as your script entails. And there really isn't a non-villainous NuHuman who'd fit the bill and not come off as an antagonist anyway.

I also guess there is Synapse, who wasn't for jumping to Medusa's invitation when she gave it to her in the early part of Uncanny Avengers. Maybe that'd be the closest, but even Synapse made due with the circumstances in a way similar to Kamala. While she wouldn't go hopping to defend a Royal's corner, so to speak, she wouldn't go out of her way to antagonize them, either. Meaning, it'd be unlikely for her to be here unless someone she cared about asked her to and she decided to take them up on their offer. But again, she'd be the absolute closest without fudging canon too much. Though, you'd need to be careful to acknowledge that she's more than made a positive turn with her own situation as a hero, while also being careful not to turn her strict villain, too.

Beyond that, you'd really need to create a new NuHuman. (Or use Kamala's brother, who feels like he's in denial as it is. I dunno.)

[Noek]

Like, a number of NuHumans had suffered something, but they generally were all able to move passed that and find meaning with their new lives, in different ways and to different extents and with many outright embracing their new positions. Even Nur/Frank McGee. Dante Petruz/Inferno is no canonical exception to this.

The only NuHuman who I can think of that would come kinda close to fitting the bill is Jack, a NuHuman from All-New Inhumans. He was in the opening issues, and popped up again a little later. The events saw Jack transported to an Inhumans weapons cache, but the book ended before we could pick up on his subplot again. But using him would be problematic because he's kinda an antagonist/villain, who, as he was last left, wouldn't be welcome in such a forum as your script entails. And there really isn't a non-villainous NuHuman who'd fit the bill and not come off as an antagonist anyway.

I also guess there is Synapse, who wasn't for jumping to Medusa's invitation when she gave it to her in the early part of Uncanny Avengers. Maybe that'd be the closest, but even Synapse made due with the circumstances in a way similar to Kamala. While she wouldn't go hopping to defend a Royal's corner, so to speak, she wouldn't go out of her way to antagonize them, either. Meaning, it'd be unlikely for her to be here unless someone she cared about asked her to and she decided to take them up on their offer. But again, she'd be the absolute closest without fudging canon too much. Though, you'd need to be careful to acknowledge that she's more than made a positive turn with her own situation as a hero, while also being careful not to turn her strict villain, too.

Beyond that, you'd really need to create a new NuHuman. (Or use Kamala's brother, who feels like he's in denial as it is. I dunno.)

I wonder if Synapse will unientionally say something in front of Luna not knowing.

[rhaenylis]

Marvel just announced new interactions between Kamala and Cyclops (with the rest of the current Champions and a few members of Kate Pryde's Marauders apparently)
I can't wait (I love their friendship so much)