Inhumans (1998) #1-6

Inhumans #1-6

Originally released in 1998

Written by Paul Jenkins

Art by Jae Lee

The Inhumans were one of the many concepts created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, debuting in the pages of the Fantastic Four around the same time as Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and the Black Panther.  With a few exceptions (mainly Black Bolt and Lockjaw), the Inhumans didn't quite catch on like those three characters did, despite Marvel's best efforts in the mid-2010s. (it's become a running gag on social media sites like Reddit that, if you don't know who a character in a piece of Marvel merchandise is, it's usually Karnak)

When Marvel Studios put out an Inhumans TV series, it was criticized for the Royal Family being written as unlikeable - anyone who didn't get powers that could be immediately determined to be useful or good-looking was banished to a lifetime of slavery, while the character that we're supposed to be rooting against (Maximus) is trying to remove that system of slavery. (Maximus being the king's brother is the only reason why he isn't a slave in the Marvel Studios show, since he didn't get powers from Terrigenesis)  The Royal Family isn't as bad here, but one Inhuman is still forced into slavery because his powers made him look like one of the slave caste, the Alpha Primitives.

Not helping matters is that the Inhuman in charge of the Terrigenesis process, Carthus, is lying to everyone by claiming that the Inhuman who resembled an Alpha Primitive volunteered to be an ambassador with the Alpha Primitives.  It's unclear if this is part of Maximus's plan (it's implied that the Inhuman looking like an Alpha Primitive was due to Maximus's meddling), but it doesn't reflect well on Black Bolt and Medusa that they're willing to let an Inhuman become a slave because of his appearance.

Attilan is sealed off from the rest of the world - as this is a Marvel Knights book, I think it's meant to be in a separate continuity from the main Marvel comics, so the Inhumans keep up the barrier because they believe that the air is toxic to them.  As a result, fears and suspicions run high between the Inhumans and the humans, with various intelligence agencies trying to infiltrate Attilan on the off chance that it's all an elaborate smokescreen for missile silos and other weapons.

The series moves at a fairly slow pace, at least in this first half.  Maximus is scheming with Russian military and corrupt U.S. intelligence agents to bring down the barrier separating Attilan from the rest of the world, presumably so that the Inhumans will make Maximus their king.  To this end, he uses the Inhuman who resembles an Alpha Primitive, who later develops the ability to travel through reflective surfaces like mirrors.

The second issue focuses on another Inhuman about to go through Terrigenesis.  I had been expecting that she'd wind up with some kind of awful ability, though she winds up being one of the first flying Inhumans in generations.  Meanwhile, her best friend gets slightly longer fingers, and her crush gains an ability that causes anyone who looks at his face to die, forcing him to wear a mask.  Not all Inhumans are built equal, and the flying Inhuman stops associating with the long-fingered Inhuman because of the long-fingered Inhuman's unimpressive transformation. (so not as bad as mandatory slavery, but there's still a clear divide between the haves and have-nots when it comes to powers)

The main conflict is Black Bolt's struggle to use his powers - when an army of mercenaries is trying to break down the barrier, he could end the conflict with a word. (literally - just saying "Stop" would kill all of the mercenaries within earshot)  However, in doing so, it would impact how the rest of the world would see the Inhumans and encourage further harm to be brought to Attilan.  The rest of the Royal Family are fairly two-dimensional - Crystal barely even speaks, and I'm not even sure if Triton got a single line of dialogue.

The Inhumans aren't the most interesting product of the Lee-Kirby collaboration by any stretch of the imagination, in my eyes.  By virtue of being unwilling to talk (or unable to talk without killing people), Black Bolt doesn't have much of a dynamic with the others barring Medusa, being a stoic silent king, and the other members of the Royal Family don't have much of a dynamic with each other. (if I just went by this series, I wouldn't even know that Crystal and Medusa are sisters)  This series was okay, but it didn't feel like it gave me a reason to root for the Inhumans, which seems like it should be easy enough to do for any story. (well, I was rooting for Lockjaw, but that's a given)