There was a time when I thought Medusa was something of a goofy character. I mean, her super power was hair which could wiggle around and clutch onto things. It seemed a little lame, but I've amended that opinion over the years.
There's a fundamental weirdness to Medusa, a strangeness which sets her apart even among the Inhumans who are themselves given to oddity.
Medusa went from a small-time player to a longtime replacement member of the Fantastic Four during some of my peak reading years and my affection for her has only grown with time.
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There were a lot of Kirby characters who, at first glance, seemed wacky or bizarre. I think that a lot of times, it's because he's ahead of us in seeing new possibilities, especially visually, and goes beyond the point where a more prosaic creator would back away. Medusa under Kirby could be pretty powerful and threatening and that had as much to do with her sheer presence as anything else. She seemed to recede once she took the role of consort, but I can't recall any other artist capturing that towering femme fatale nature the way Kirby did; she really had the gravitas of a creature of myth as her name implies.
ReplyDeleteI agree her wonder did wane when she was just one more Inhuman. Apart from them, here magic is able to shine.
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Last time I bought a comic, about a year ago, Medusa was heading up the Inhumans in a fortress off the coast of Manhattan. Black Bolt was "gone" and Karnak had committed suicide. How times have changed. You think Paste Pot Pete got mocked for that name, once he was locked up? IT's not exactly scary is it?
ReplyDeleteThat's one of those names that you have wonder what he was thinking in the first place.
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One of the cool things about Medusa is the drawing opportunities you have with the hair. The way Jack treated is not unlike some of the backgrounds trees he would use to break up the monotony of a building.
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