Medusa proves she means business.
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Joe Madureira
What They Say:
The first arc of Inhuman climaxes in the battle of Medusa vs. Lash! Uncover the secret history of an ancient branch of Inhumans! A new Inhuman named Flint sees his world fall apart before his eyes!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening issues of Inhuman have been an interesting read overall, though the first issue was more chaotic than I would have liked in getting things accomplished. The second issue helped to establish things more, especially for new readers, in setting what the characters basic motivations are and some of what’s going on with how the world is reacting to the events from what happened with the Terrigen bomb. Medusa’s role in cementing her intent on protecting those that have gone through the change and come through the other side was welcome and we even had a non-problematic guest appearance with Captain America that didn’t throw off the dynamic of the book but rather made it clearer just how far Medusa will go. If there’s anything I don’t like, it’s that they do make it New York City centric once again when they had a lot more options to it.
That said, there’s a good ability with this series to travel more and get out and about. We see that at the start as Lash has found someone else that survived the change and is worthy. He’s brought the young boy to Orollan, where he’s putting together his side of the war against Medusa. Those that he brings have certain responsibilities to be a part of what he’s doing and we get a good look at it through those that are there as they take him in and walk him through those expectations. Running this in parallel to what we see of Dante learning his abilities with Gorgon training him works really well. It’s not that either Gorgon or Lash are caring individuals, but there’s something more human and accessible with Gorgon and the other Inhumans there as they work him through it and show him the way. Dante also reaches a decent enough level that he can take on his new identity, something that people do after terrigenesis, which leads him to naming himself Inferno. Dante and Inferno, who could have seen that coming?
There’s also a nice bit of politcking going on here, stemming from the arrival of Lineage at the end of the second issue. He’s making his play to be useful to Medusa as he claims to know why Black Bolt did what he did and intends to show her. Lineage is an intriguing character as we see that his ability is to essentially have a connection with all those from his family line over the centuries. This has a brief nod to two aspects of it him from the third century, B.C. as well as five hundred years ago. That provides Lineage with a huge amount of knowledge and information, though utilizing is always the key. Medusa takes on an interesting approach as the ruler here, since there are obviously politics involved at times but she has the demeanor of a ruler. Not a tyrant, but someone who must be obeyed because she rules. Her and Lineage have some good material here as her careful words and his overabundance of them provides revelations about both of them.
If there’s an area they feels a little dicey, it’s the second half of the book. Medusa takes the fight with Lash to Orollan as she doesn’t intend to be distracted by what he’s doing when she has larger concerns that Lineage reveals to her. With his group of transformed people there to fight with him, and for him, against the more battle experienced Inhumans, it’s not an extensive battle but one that works well to show off the powers and abilities and to let Dante get some field experience. It’s also beautifully illustrated here as Madureira really gives this some great life, especially with the color design used with it. But bringing Lash’s resistance to a close so early, even while revealing a larger threat, just feels rushed. Lash is not one that you see giving in to Medusa so easily and that he does so here is disconcerting, though it can be used to add tension as the series goes on depending on what he does. All in all, it’s a really great battle but it feels like it’s cutting certain story arc pieces short.
In Summary:
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Inhuman going into it but each issue just sells me on it more and more, even with the minor problems I have with it. The book has a lot of good things to work with by expanding upon and making more integral the Inhumans in the Marvel Universe, a group that has been around for decades but has usually been little more than a sideshow for much of it. Giving Medusa a commanding role while introducing new characters to flesh out the cast of Inhumans we do know, it feels fresh and alive and without a ton of baggage from past projects or works. While it’s a little awkward getting into at first because of the terrigen bomb from the Inhumanity event, it’s working its own path and fate here and it has me pretty well hooked.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: August 13th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
