The hunt for Maximus moves into high gear.
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Pepe Larraz
What They Say:
We know Black Bolt and Maximus have been involved with the New Avengers’ activities, but that’s not close to the whole story. The Boltagon brothers are in trouble and we at the House of Ideas know it ends very badly for one of them!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Inhuman hit an interesting turn the last time around as we got a look at what happened to Black Bolt after the fall of Attilan. Revealing that he was in Manhattan for at least part of the time and that Maximus had him under his control and was using him to good effect certainly raised the status of Maximus himself. He’s had a long and storied history of trying to take down Black Bolt, so seeing him gain the upperhand for a bit was fun. We also got exposed to a few other Inhumans, with Auran and Frank searching for him and coming across him quicker than they had any right to. For me, Frank definitely has proven to be an interesting addition to the mix in that first appearance and it left me wanting more after those events.
Which is good, because has has a solid role in this book. While he survived, he ended up back at New Attilan in order to fill in the Queen about what happened, though Medusa’s reactions leave you curious as to what she’s really thinking as it’s not normal behavior. Frank’s history as a cop has him trying to read it in a very human way, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the right way to read it. There’s a good bit of interplay between Frank and Gorgon about what happened and their reactions, but Frank also steps up even more as we get a few very good panels given over to him doing the human thing in talking to Auran’s children about what happened. The way Attilan works is touched upon lightly, but I really liked seeing Frank stick to his guns with what he wanted to do in order to not only honor Auran’s memory but to do what he thinks is right for the kids.
With the pacing of this book, it’s no surprise that we get quick movement and action with a small team going to get Black Bolt, taking us through an interesting portal to get there. With Gorgon leading it and Frank on board, we get Dante back, though he’s not quite up to snuff after all of his recent encounters and issues. The second half of the book moves quickly with all of this and the action is decent, though made up of hard, sharp moments. What worked the best for me here was seeing the dialogue from Maximus as he continues to try and manipulate Black Bolt to his own ends. Maximus the Mad certainly has a ring about it and the dialogue makes it come across well while Larraz really nailed some of the visual design for expressions and movement to give the feeling that he’s not altogether there. and it had a beautifully brutal small moment that changes the course of things going forward a bit.
In Summary:
I’ll admit that I still find the quick paced nature of this book jarring since there’s so much opportunity to dig into things, but part of me just is secretly hoping that Soule will put all that expansion and in-depth look at the workings of the series into novel form so we can really sink our teeth into it. That said, a two issue “arc” dealing with what happened to Black Bolt after the Terrigen bomb incident is intriguing in its own right and it looks like we’ve unlocked a few new things along the way. Frank is definitely a great addition, one I hope gets used well going forward, and it was nice to see Gabby again briefly as well as Dante. For me, the seller is watching Maximus and his way of doing things while being very curious about what Black Bolt will be up to next.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 19th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
