Inhumans, Vol. 1: Culture Shock

Inhumans (2003) #1-6

by Sean McKeever (Writer), Matthew Clark (Artist)

They're just ordinary exchange students from a far-off land, here to learn about our culture - except their home is a mysterious city on the moon and they each possess fabulous, exotic abilities and appearances. The product of experiments on humanity by an alien culture a millennia ago, the Inhumans are a race governed by the laws of genetics. Here as nowhere else, diversity and individuality are prized beyond compare. The Inhumans have flourished in isolation from humanity within their island kingdom of Attilan on the surface of the moon, but what happens when their king decides to send some of his subjects to Earth to learn about humans? Will they be able to integrate into human culture? More important, will they even try? The next generation of Inhumans star in this atmospheric new ensemble drama.

Collecting: Inhumans 1-6

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Marvel

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

After writing indie comics (such as the ensemble teen-drama The Waiting Place) for six years, Sean got his big break writing an issue of The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Comics in 2001. Since then, Sean has written hundreds of comics for Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers, including notable runs on Sentinel, Inhumans, Mystique, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Gravity, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Birds of Prey and Teen Titans.

Best known for delivering introspective, character-driven work, Sean also wrote several weeks of the Funky Winkerbean syndicated comic strip, much of which has been reprinted in the celebrated collection, Lisa's story: the other shoe.

In 2005, Sean won the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.

Sean continues to write comic books; he also writes for the videogame and animation industries.

Reviews

[Bookwraiths · Rating 1 out of 5]

Inhumans as exchange students at the University of Wisconsin? Yeah, it was as stupid as it sounds. The art was really good though! And, no, I won't be reading the next volume. I've had enough fraternity row fun with teen Inhumans for one lifetime.

[Սամուէլ]

-Interesting setup - I wish I had read this in high school, because the clothing and general American college culture are a bit dated now.

-We'll see if I go on. Comparable to Runnaways, but I don't feel quite at drawn in/committed.

-Amazing how quickly the reader comes to sympathize beings who are so pointedly inhuman. I think that's a sign of good writing.

[Ben Howard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I recently picked up a couple of graphic novels from the library to pad my yearly reading challenge read. I can only hope the others are better than this one.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure that I'm very interested in the story, or the characters - they're pretty stock Marvel (anti-)heroes, and the plot doesn't really seem to be going far. Some of the inhumans may think they've been sent to destroy humans, others have come on a diplomatic mission (the purported reason for their visit), and I'm sure that a catastrophic fight/battle/falling-out will occur. The art is interesting, but nothing stunning.

But: the inhumans have been sent from their home on the Moon to live among the humans in ... Madison, WI! They attend the UW, live on "Fraternity Row", and shop on State Street. They even visit the Memorial Union Terrace (which looks much more like a beach in Malibu than the lakeshore in Madtown...).

I'll read the next in the series just to see how close to right I am, and to see how they decide to portray Madison in this next volume.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book doesn't give me a proper look at the main Inhumans who do important stuff in the Marvel Universe, it was fun to read.