Beware The Inhumans!

The Inhumans always proved to be a hard sell for a self-titled ongoing series. It's unusual that in a Marvel Universe which found room for gaggle of monsters in the early 70's that this truly weird outfit didn't find some better purchase. Now I have to say it was not for lack of trying on Marvel's part. Many of the Inhuman adventures from their early days are included in Beware the Inhumans. 

Such as this one-shot solo effort for Medusa in Marvel Superheroes #15. This effort by Archie Goodwin and Gene Colan wasn't all that stellar an effort if I'm honest. Medusa gets snarled up with her old Frightful Four allies and is forced to help them steal some exotic metal or some such thing. As you'd expect these four got along just as well as ever and Medusa was able to turn the tables and win the day to some degree. 

Not included in this collection is a crossover from the same month when Medusa tackles Spider-Man in his title. There doesn't seem to be much coordination between this story by Stan Lee, John Romita and Don Heck and the one in MSH. But Medusa look quite fetching in this issue. 

Also not included in this second volume of Inhuman tales are any of Triton's guest-star outings with Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner. Triton became something of a quasi-regular in the series, showing up every so often to help Namor out in some way. John Buscema's verson of Triton is still my favorite just beating Kirby's. 

The Inhumans come center stage again in the first Hulk King-Size Special. Gary Friedrich's story is a whopper at over fifty pages and showcases some outstanding Marie Severin and Syd Shores artwork. Also we get to meet some new Inhumans from the Great Refuge (which is weirdly in the Alps for this story) in the from of new evil allies for Maximus the Mad. They are Falcona the Huntress (who can command birds by the thousands), Leonus the Lion Man, Aireo the Floating Man, Timberius the Tree-Dweller (who commands plants to some degree) , Stallior a centaur, and Nebulo (a creature who casts a shadow but who himself cannot be seen). Only Aireo had been before, glimpsed in an early issue of FF. This gang battles with and against the Hulk until Black Bolt arrives to put the smackdown on everyone. The other members of the Royal Family are not around for this one. 

The scene then shifts back to the Fantastic Four where Crystal replaces Sue Richards after she'd given birth. No sooner is she made a member and helped the team defeat the Wizard than Maximus rises up in the Great Refuge (now in the Himalays again) and tries to take control with some sort of hypnosis cannon. It takes the whole of both teams to defeat this wild scheme, but of course defeat it they do. 

As far as I can remember the only time Inhumans pop up (aside from Triton's Subby appearances) is in two issue of the Hulk beginning with issue #119. It's Maximus again using much the same ploy as the previous time but having switched up his location to a the Latin American country of Costa Salvador. The baddie gang of Inhumans from the annual are back to roust old Greenskin again. 

In a few pages from Fantastic Four #95 Medusa suddenly shows up and demands Crystal come back to the Great Refuge with her. As you'd imagine Johnny's pretty hot about it. 

So hot that in issue #99 of the Fab Four's run he goes amok and chases off after her demanding she come back. He's seriously out of control and fights with everyone until he discovers the reason she was needed, to help an ailing Black Bolt with her powers. All is forgiven and she returns to the FF. 

Then at long last it happens. In Jack Kirby's final days at Marvel and likely after he knew he was planning to jump over to DC after having been offered a new contract which was well below his expectations, the "King" got to write and draw some of his special creations. In the new Amazing Adventures we are treated to four ten-page tales of the Inhumans in which they battle Maximus yet again which draws them into combat with the Fantastic Four, and then for a switch Iron Man's perennial baddie The Mandarin, who as usual is seeking a hidden treasure that will make him master of the world. Chic Stone steps in to ink these stories and injects some real energy into Kirby's pencils which had long been somewhat tamed by Joe Sinnott's masterful brushes.  

Not included in this collection is Silver Surfer #18, the last of that run and the one in which Kirby not only gets to draw the famous herald of Galactus but gets to write him as well. To their credit Stan Lee and John Buscema had fashioned some elegant tales of a Surfer who is full of angst and woe over the weaknesses of mankind, but the series wasn't a big seller (by the standards of the day I guess) and as it ended Kirby was drummed aboard to bring a fresh energy. This is a brash and brutal energy as this issue is a big old battle with the Surfer taking on the Inhumans. Inked by Herb Trimpe, this one seems a natural part of the story Kirby was developing in Amazing Adventures. 

Instead of that Silver Surfer tale we get part of Fantastic Four #105 which with art by John Romita details how Crystal must again leave the Fab 4, this time because of long-term exposure to the harmful effects of society's pollution. It's okay, but in this volume we never see Crystal again and it doesn't really add much flavor. 

Back in Amazing Adventures, with Kirby over concocting the Fourth World for DC, it's left to Roy "Houseroy" Thomas to take on the misadventures of the Inhumans. He focuses on the mute Black Bolt who leaves the Great Refuge with a lame plan to better Inhuman and human relations. He almost immediately falls victim to thugs who take adventage of a sudden memory loss on his part. This memory lost is caused by Maximus who also drives away Gorgon, Karnak, Triton and Medusa. Later Black Bolt comes under the control of ultra militant Mister Dibbs. Even a battle with Thor, while fun is mostly fuss and bother. The artwork though by Neal Adams is magnificent for four solid issues. 

The just like that the Black Widow is booted out of Amazing Adventures and the Inhumans (minus Triton), still lost in mankind's world take over all twenty pages. The art by Mike Sekowsky is energetic but unfortunately a fall off after Kirby and Adams. In these two tales written by Gerry Conway, the Inhumans battle Magneto who himself was fresh off a battle with the Fantastic Four. More fuss and bother alas as this storyline seems to all but forgotten when the Inhumans appear again. That appearance will not be in Amazing Adventures as issue ten is their last, the book will feature a transformed "Beast" in its next number. 

Roy Thomas and Neal Adams haven't forgotten their Inhumans though and the Great Refuge, Maximus, Triton and Black Bolt are all brought into the sprawling Kree-Skrull War epic for one issue of The Avnegers. This story closes out the plot Thomas and Adams had concocted in Amazing Adventures and totally ignores the later Conway-Sekowsky effort. To add insult to injury, Medusa, Karnak, Crystal, and Gorgon are all absent from this epic installment. 

 

This tome closes out with two Not Brand Echh tales, one showing Medusa seeking romance and the other a superb spoof showing the Inhumans as various comic strips such as Prince Valiant, Dick Tracy, Peanuts, and more. This is a wonderful volume, full of some really good stories and some outstanding artwork. But it could've been better alas. 

Next week the Eternals meet the Mighty Thor. 

Rip Off