X-men vs. Inhumans Discussion

[amoretpax199]

I think Marvel's biggest issue with the Inhumans, is that as people have mentioned, they are trying to bleed out the X-men's popularity on to them. And it's not going to work because the Inhumans lack recognizable and popular characters.

Black Bolt/Crystal/Medusa are really the most recognizable ones and known in popular media. I have no idea why they didn't just retcon Daisy as an inhuman and had her be part of one of the books, given her current popularity. Instead they are trying for people to give a crap about the Inhumans by using the X-men's storyline. And I trully just don't see the inhumans happenning for as long as they use the X-men to try and get them some popularity. X-men fans are a loud bunch, and instead of pitting them against each other they should be trying to make the inhumans seem as simply another corner of the Marvel Universe.

The lack of originality on the inhuman storylines is also something that perplexes me, as you would think they would be trying to give them something unique and new to hold onto for years to come. But nope. And I'm not talking about the ANAD storyline, but even before that.

At the end of the day tho, it's all in the consumers hands. If you are against what they are doing, you could simply not buy Inhuman books and send a message to Marvel.

When the Inhumans movie come out I think that will change though. I believe the Inhumans will start to become popular just like the Guardians of the Galaxy. They will then get toys, animated cartoon series and even video games.

[MarvelMaster616]

I will concede to something else, the fact that the rise of the Inhumans comes at the cost of the X-men is not a good thing. You are right that the fact that it is harming, sterilizing, and possibily killing mutants to create more Inhumans is a flaw of the writing in of itself. However, its not as if the issue itself isn't being addressed as Beast of the X-men currently in Uncanny Inhumans is trying to find a cure for the disease, not to mention people aren't exactly happy with the Inhumans for releasing the T-mist so they aren't getting away scott free(not a cyclops pun).

As for contributing to the world, as you previously stated due to the events of Infinity the Inhumans can't operate in secret. It is now literally impossible for them to hide after blowing up a city over new york while releasing a gas storm across the entire planet that is transforming people with inhuman DNA. But they have managed to keep some of the society of the inhumans refrencing secret hidden inhuman cities, still having a ruling queen plus diplomats such as Crystal, as well as exploring inhuman history. So while it's not something they would do it is what they have to do now that they are out in the open and having a global impact.

As for being off-panel, I'd say its just part of the mystery that they are trying to build up as to what happened over the past 8 months. I can see how people want to know what happened since we still don't have many details as to what happened except that something bad involving the death of cyclops took place, but keeping us in suspense is part of storytelling and we will eventually learn what exactly happened, and hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Thank you for your comments and your insight. I get the sense you have a more reasonable assessment of the situation than I do.

I think it's more than a flaw that the story being told is essentially killing mutants to make room for Inhumans. I think it's downright petty on Marvel's part, giving a pass for one team while denigrating another. It's not like they haven't been able to prop up their other teams before. When Wolverine and Spider-Man joined the Avengers, it didn't harm the X-men at all or take away from either character. When Guardians of the Galaxy hit big, it didn't require obstructing any other titles. Marvel just put its top talent, Brian Michael Bendis, on the title and it prospered. So there is precedent for enhancing an obscure title like Inhumans. There's no reason at all that the rise of the Inhumans has to come at the cost of the X-men. That's why I feel the story being told between the two teams is petty and disingenuous, although I think we might disagree with this. And that's fine.

As for the plague being addressed, I don't have a problem with that. What bothers me is how much of this problem unfolded off-panel. It's beyond just being a mystery. The extent of these changes make it come off as downright contrived. Sure, Beast is studying it. Then again, this is the same Beast who failed miserably to find a cure for M-Day. So how much stock can you put into his efforts? What makes this more troubling, in my opinion, is that this is the same Beast who kicked himself out of the X-men after Uncanny X-men #600. Again, the off-panel activities give the impression that the X-men basically just shrugged it off as though it were forgotten. It's like certain events are being selectively ignored or nullified. That's why I feel it's so petty.

Right now, the Inhumans don't face anywhere near the scrutiny that mutants face. Sure, there will be some racist protesters, but that's nothing compared to what the X-men have faced. Nobody has sent killer robots to murder the Inhumans. Nobody has proposed an "Inhuman Registration Act." So for them to carry themselves like mutants is just downright disingenuous. In Extraordinary X-men, we saw mutants being used for target practice in some parts of the world. Nobody is doing that to the Inhumans. They still have their secret cities. They still have their royal society. At the very most, the results of Infinity did nothing but inconvenience the Inhumans. Without Thanos, they would've continued their secretive, stratified ways. That still could've made for some good Game of Thrones style stories. But instead, they have to rip off the X-men's narrative to function in the Marvel Universe. And I think that's making them extremely unlikable as characters and it undermines what was appealing about them in the first place.

[MarvelMaster616]

When the Inhumans movie come out I think that will change though. I believe the Inhumans will start to become popular just like the Guardians of the Galaxy. They will then get toys, animated cartoon series and even video games.

That assumes the movie is actually going to be good though. We've seen with Fantastic Four that it is possible for a movie to completely sink a franchise. Now I think Marvel Studios is better equipped than Fox to do a comic book movie. However, based on Agents of SHIELD, I'm a bit more skeptical. Pretty much every Inhumans sub-plot on that show is a rip-off of X-men. If that same approach is used in a movie, then I've no desire to see it. And given all the bad X-men movies Fox has made, I'm not sure it'll find an audience either.

[The Negative Zone]

Plot Twist, Marvel makes the X-Men just like classic Inhumans.

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

To me, the annoying part is the multiple versions of the same characters. It's also kinda hilarious; instead of building on already established young characters, we get the young versions of characters already here.

That's the epitome of the "no one ages/there'll never be a new generation" comic book trope lol.

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

I'd have to say that I agree with you marvelmaster if it wasn't that both franchises have great writers and stories connected to them. Are the inhumans taking concepts and ideas and even characters straight from the X-men? Yes they are, but I feel as though Soule has been using the Inhumans and their secretive past and the effect they have on global politics by their introduction as shown in the recent Uncanny Inhumans and All-new Inhumans series. I feel that Marvel is just trying where the Inhumans fit within the marvel universe and building them up.

As for the X-men I would more describe them as an unmoveable pillar of the Marvel Universe who aren't going anywhere, but Marvel is just stuck beyond going past them being feared and hated while dealing with the extinction of their species. However the writers they have now aren't slouches, Jeff Lemire has been telling an interesting story as builds the new world the x-men live and survive in now that ties into how they are effected by changes thanks to the inhumans but series like All-new Wolverine and All-new X-men have just been about mutants being heroes and having fun in this world, although we have to wait for Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-men which may be similar to X-force.

I honestly think we have nothing to worry about when it comes to Inhumans vs X-men, and that you can enjoy both franchises. We just have to wait and see where their interconnected story will lead us, which will probably be some sort of big crossover event. If anything I think other series should be more afraid of just how big Spiderman has gotten and the multitude of Spider-men related titles that are out.

Finally, someone else notices what I've noticed with the Spidey franchise. I remember when the ANAD line up was revealed and was like "Wow...are we really getting 7-8 different Spider-Man related books...?!".

That money could've been spent on a Doom title, or more X-Men titles. Why do we need a book about Peter's high school years lol?

[Fokken]

Racism is so effing weird.

"You're really different and I'm fine with it and I even put your face on my t-shirt but this other dude is different and I hate him because obviously."

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

Racism is so effing weird.

"You're really different and I'm fine with it and I even put your face on my t-shirt but this other dude is different and I hate him because obviously."

Hey, we don't see irrational racism towards the Inhumans...so they're being different is...different?

Marvel humans are cray.

[Fokken]

Hey, we don't see irrational racism towards the Inhumans...so they're being different is...different?

Marvel humans are cray.

Well yeah but same goes for any super powered folks.
Like... yeah, Hercules and Thor and Captain America and whomever are super mega rad but like Colossus and Nightcrawler and Iceman are freaks and scary weird! I mean, maybe its the transformative aspect? Like, you're scary weird because you don't look ordinary anymore Ahhh!!

Or like, Carol Danvers and Sue Storm-- you're the Bee's Knees! But lets throw bottles at Rogue and beat the ever loving sh!t out of Pixie because OF COURSE!

Racism. Weird.

[Complexed]

To me, as a reader of both books and a life-long fan of both franchises, I see no real connection between the Inhumans push and the X-Men "anti-push"; aside from the unfortunate fact that both are happening simultaneously. They're both still unique and can stand independently IMO, regardless of any similarities, most of which have existed since the inception of the Inhumans. Just my two cents though.

I honestly don't think the Inhumans can. if they were such an independent franchise they wouldn't need to Have Johnny Storm, Beast, Former X-Man Frenzy and Spider-Man in their books. They wouldn't need to have a HUGE part of their new direction be about an attack on the mutant race. They wouldn't need their characters to conveniently have similarities to X-Men characters. They would NEED to have Crystal out recruiting, rescuing and training mutants...er...I mean Inhumans. They can't stand on their own, and that's clear as day to me. Even in the MCU the actors are referencing the X-Men and then say, "That's the Inhumans struggle". I understand that there is a portion of Uncanny Inhuman about the politics and drama of the Inhumans as a species, but SURPRISE! The X-Men just had a schism over a difference of philosophy regarding their own race. The only difference is that Medua and Blackbolt are "royalty" and have chips on their shoulders.

For the duration, I will NOT be giving a damn dime to a book with Inhuman in the title as I'd prefer these characters to not be killing off, concept stealing and flat out insulting mutants left and right.

[cranger]

Hey, we don't see irrational racism towards the Inhumans...so they're being different is...different?

Marvel humans are cray.

We rarely see any consistent hatred towards mutants these days... a lot of what we take as true is carried over from the earlier days, especially the Claremont years. While I am not reading Inhumans, the X-Men started off with the world aware of mutants and seemingly understanding they were the 'next step in evolution', while the nuHumans are probably still seen by most as the victims of an alien cloud of mist.

Oh, and they are friends with the Avengers or something.

[Bl00dwerK]

Racism is so effing weird. "You're really different and I'm fine with it and I even put your face on my t-shirt but this other dude is different and I hate him because obviously."

The hatred thing worked out a whole lot better when the X-Men were kinda their own deal, apart from the rest of the Marvel Universe. There were appearances, sure, but it was much more believable when it was just the mutants...

[sifighter]

Finally, someone else notices what I've noticed with the Spidey franchise. I remember when the ANAD line up was revealed and was like "Wow...are we really getting 7-8 different Spider-Man related books...?!".

That money could've been spent on a Doom title, or more X-Men titles. Why do we need a book about Peter's high school years lol?

Exactly my thoughts, because right now there are only four Inhuman titles:Uncanny Inhumans, All-new Inhumans, Karnak, and Ms. Marvel

While Spider-Man has the following:Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-man, Spider-Man 2099, Spidey, Spider-woman, Spider-Gwen, Web Warriors, Silk, Carnage, Venom: Space Knight(still a Spider-Man character), and Spider-Man/Deadpool. I like Spider-Man, and I will be reading the Miles Morales series, but that is 11 series in the Spider-Man family out of the 60 or so new series Marvel is making.

[cranger]

Exactly my thoughts, because right now there are only four Inhuman titles:Uncanny Inhumans, All-new Inhumans, Karnak, and Ms. Marvel

While Spider-Man has the following:Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-man, Spider-Man 2099, Spidey, Spider-woman, Spider-Gwen, Web Warriors, Silk, Carnage, Venom: Space Knight(still a Spider-Man character), and Spider-Man/Deadpool. I like Spider-Man, and I will be reading the Miles Morales series, but that is 11 series in the Spider-Man family out of the 60 or so new series Marvel is making.

It is all about demand, or at least it should be and used to be. While not specific to X-Men vs Inhuman, when I see arguments that X-Men have been a focus for X years and now it is time for something else, that kind of misses the point. If a character or team is selling multiple titles it is usually because there was demand. The initial title was selling high, people wanted more, they made more, it sold, people wanted more, they made more, etc... None of that has to do with the lack of any other book. The number of titles Marvel puts out is always fluctuating, but it is certainly much higher now than decades ago, when there were still multiple Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers books.

That is a little but of a tangent, and to bring this back to XvsI, one difference to keep in mind when comparing the two, is that whatever the number of titles X-Men have now, those all came because there was huge demand. The Inhumans line is being expanded despite the fact that sales have been horrible. I'm not saying whether Marvel should or should not put out more Inhumans comics, just that it is a huge difference in how these teams got to the number of titles they are at. Even GotG did not expand until long after the book was shown to have some possible longevity.

[Arya]

It is all about demand, or at least it should be and used to be. While not specific to X-Men vs Inhuman, when I see arguments that X-Men have been a focus for X years and now it is time for something else, that kind of misses the point. If a character or team is selling multiple titles it is usually because there was demand. The initial title was selling high, people wanted more, they made more, it sold, people wanted more, they made more, etc... None of that has to do with the lack of any other book. The number of titles Marvel puts out is always fluctuating, but it is certainly much higher now than decades ago, when there were still multiple Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers books.

That is a little but of a tangent, and to bring this back to XvsI, one difference to keep in mind when comparing the two, is that whatever the number of titles X-Men have now, those all came because there was huge demand. The Inhumans line is being expanded despite the fact that sales have been horrible. I'm not saying whether Marvel should or should not put out more Inhumans comics, just that it is a huge difference in how these teams got to the number of titles they are at. Even GotG did not expand until long after the book was shown to have some possible longevity.

That tells you all you need to know. The inhumans were never going to be the next big thing when it came to publishing. Deep down marvel knows that and that's why it makes their motives so clear.