Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis

Inhuman (Collected Editions)

by Charles Soule, Joe Madureira (Illustrator), Ryan Stegman (Illustrator)

Marvel's Newest Heroes Are Born!
When Terrigen Mist spread across the world, it triggered the latent genes of regular people and transformed them into Inhumans with amazing powers. But not everyone thinks this is a good thing. As the mysterious Lash takes an unwanted interest in the new Inhumans and the newly transformed Flint sees his world fall apart, Queen Medusa finds herself fighting side-by-side with Captain America. When the deposed Inhuman king called only the Unspoken returns, determined to regain his throne, he quickly takes the royal family captive and conquers Medusa's new island nation--now it's up to Flint and his fellow NuHumans to step up and embrace their destiny! Plus: The history of an ancient branch of Inhumans is uncovered! Witness the evolution of the Marvel Universe!

Collecting: Inhuman 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 9, 2014

About the author

Charles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a buddy read with the Queen of Comics

The Inhumans have been players on the outskirts of the Marvel universe, since back in the Paleolithic Age, when Stan Lee was still writing comics. Now days, the Inhumans are substitute mutants in Marvel’s film and TV universe and consequently, they’re getting a higher profile in the comics.

The story so far (and it took two mega-crossover events to get here – Infinity and Inhumanity): Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans, is pressured by Thanos to give up some important kid. Black Bolt gives Thanos the middle finger because he can’t talk – his voice shatters stuff. Thanos, says to Black Bolt, “Your ass is mine.” Black Bolt to Thanos – another really obscene gesture and it’s on. Attillan, the floating city, comes crashing down, Black Bolt releases the Terrigen Mist (the source of the Inhuman’s change and power), and latent Inhumans (they’ve been around since before Stan Lee wrote comics) get their powers and abilities triggered. Black Bolt disappears and Queen Medusa, who used to be bad, but now she’s good in a very, very, bad way (If you know what I mean) now rules the Inhumans.

Stay with me because this is where it gets complicated.

As people go cocoon and change into Inhumans, there are other players out there who want to tap into and/or protect the Inhumans and their powerz. There’s also a blind Inhuman named Reader, who may or may not be the same blind guy on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And a former Inhuman king, whose name you can’t say (it’s literally blocked out in the comic), returns to recruit an Inhuman softball team.

We get up close and personal with three new Inhumans: Kharma Chameleon Girl, Rocky Granite Kid, and Dante (code named Inferno) who has flame abilities - just what Marvel needs, yet another character that can flame on.

If you’re interested in the Inhumans, check out Inhumanity, which weighs just under ten pounds, from your local library.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddy read with The Jeff!

So Black Bolt released the Terrigen Mist on Earth (for some unknown reason), and now NuHumans (<--catchy name for New Inhumans) are popping up all over the place.
Attilan (I have no idea what happened) fell out of the sky, and is now sitting in New York's harbor.
And there's an Inhuman named Lash, who's part of some tribe of zealots running around killing off unworthy NuHumans.
He seemed really important at first, but then his story just kinda petered out.

So. It's up to Queen Medusa to fix this mess as best she can.
You know who Medusa is, right? The chick with the crazy kick-ass hair.



There are three brand spankin' new Inhumans introduced throughout this volume, and I'm assuming they're sort of there to help us navigate the Inhuman landscape.

Inferno, whose real name is Dante...get it, get it?!
*sigh*



He's the first to be rescued from Lash by Medusa, so he's sort of the main...new guy, I guess. His mother (who was sick) was killed when the Terrigen Mist tried to 'change' her, and he and his sister (who is pregnant) went to Attilan to live for a while.
{insert stuff happening}

The next (new) Inhuman is some kid with rock powers, Flint, who was all angry that he was a black kid being raised by white parents.
{insert secret origin story here}



And last...the reptile chick. She's cool, but there's no backstory to insert, at least not yet.



There's plenty of semi-interesting things going on in this volume, but the main point is that something bad is coming, and they need all the Inhumans fighting together to survive.
Or something like that.
Mostly, I thought it was a pretty decent introduction to this cast of characters. I wish it had been mind-blowing, but it wasn't.
It was sufficient, and I'll check out the next volume, but I'm not really chomping at the bit for more. However, since (it seems) the Inhumans are going to be playing a larger role in the Marvel Universe, I think it would be a good idea for fans to check this out.

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Bolt while battling Thanos set off a terrigen bomb. When the bomb went off a terrigen mist cloud spread across the world effecting any person with the Inhuman gene it comes in contact with. Attilan has fallen, Black Bolt is assumed dead, and Medusa is picking up the pieces while ruling the Inhumans.

So I'm on an Inhuman mission to see where Marvel takes them now that they've been chosen as the MCU's alternative to mutants (since they sold off the rights to use mutants in TV and movies and aren't likely to get them back). Inhuman Genesis was a pretty good volume and it's easy to see why they make a viable replacement for mutants.

Inhuman Genesis seems to realize one of the biggest issues with Inhumans is that there characters aren't that great overall. So thanks to the terrigen mist cloud they can create as many different Inhumans as they want. Some look basically the same as ever...
 
...and some look terrifyingly brutal...
 

Inhuman Genesis shows the possibilities for Inhumans are endless and I for one am excited to see what they do next.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

In last year’s Infinity, Black Bolt detonated the Terrigen Bomb at the heart of the floating Inhuman capital city of Attilan, a last ditch move by the desperate king against Thanos. The fallout of the bomb was a massive cloud – the Terrigen Mist – floating across the world, transforming anyone with dormant genes from human to Inhuman. And that number turned out to be surprisingly high.

But the Inhumans are divided: Attilan, now fallen, is now without a king as Black Bolt has disappeared. In his stead, Queen Medusa rules over a peaceful city, welcoming and educating the new and confused Inhumans (or NuHumans as they’re called) about their changed forms. And then there is Orollan, the other, hidden Inhuman city – a more militaristic place ruled by Lash, a powerful Inhuman hunting down newly transformed Inhumans. If they prove useful to him, they live; if they don’t, they die.

Oh dear. The usually dependable Charles Soule has written his first turkey with Inhuman, Volume 1. In a way, it’s not entirely his fault. Matt Fraction worked on developing the series initially but left just months away from the first issue’s release – the reason being mutual disagreement with Marvel over the title’s direction – so Soule was brought in at the last minute to make it all work. And it’s not terribly written, or a bad idea to bring focus on the Inhumans. But there are several big problems with the book.

The setup feels very much like what’s currently happening with the X-Men. There was M-Day when mutants suddenly became an endangered species, then there was AVX which reversed that situation, and now we’ve got tons of mutants popping up everywhere. Chasing down and recruiting the new mutants are Cyclops’ renegade group and Wolverine’s people.

That’s basically the same situation with the Inhumans – suddenly there are tons of new Inhumans popping up and two opposing forces are intent on recruiting them, which is repetitive but also terribly boring. It’s actually ok for a bit but it’s also been done and Soule doesn’t really bring any new surprises to the setup.

And while we’re on the subject of the X-Men, what is the difference between a mutant and an Inhuman? That’s the basic question that this book really needed to answer and it didn’t. Mutant or Inhuman - they’re interchangeable.

Then there’s the lack of any memorable, unique or likeable characters. Medusa’s your typical strong female character – she’s smart, she kicks ass, she’s wise – but she’s also pretty cold and her pompous attitude is at odds with her message of inclusion. Lash is your typical one-dimensional villain – from his appearance to his speech, there’s never any doubt about who he is and what his intentions are. That leaves the new, main character: Dante.

Why is he called Dante? Because his Inhuman power is fire, so he’s named Inferno. Dante’s Inferno. That’s so uncreative, it’s jaw-dropping. Who is Dante? Well, he’s the hero, I guess. I can’t really tell you any characteristics he has. He’s the good looking lead, he’s … got fire powers. I give up. He’s some guy we’re supposed to root for and I didn’t give a damn about him at all.

About halfway through the book, the hunt for NuHumans more or less ends and then the book struggles to find traction again. It treads water, focusing on a group of uninteresting NuHumans as they complain about how their lives are over now that they look different, blah blah blah. Then there’s the most half-assed attempt at making it seem like Attilan is in trouble which is resolved laughably quickly. And then it’s done!

Except for that sucker punch of a last page - THAT was what I wanted to read about in Inhuman! I wanted to see THAT storyline instead of the crap that preceded it (all of which should’ve been a sidestory instead of the main event). The only real positive I can take away from this book is that with that tantalising final page, the series might pick up a lot in the second volume.

Joe Madureira’s art is really excellent and the first three issues look lush – the figures are fully realised, the whole book having this sense of epic scope, and Lash’s character design in particular looks outstanding. Then halfway through there’s a change as Spider-Man artist Ryan Stegman is brought in and, wow, is there a massive difference in their styles! It doesn’t help that a lot of Stegman’s work looks extremely rushed, with several panels looking like thumbnails rather than the finished article.

I can understand why Marvel want to make the Inhumans into a big deal – besides the fact that they’re a curious bunch of oddballs, they don’t own the rights to the X-Men so they’re building up the Inhumans to be their X-Men surrogate on screen. Unfortunately, based on this first volume full of false starts and dead ends, they’ve got a long, long way to go before they can prove these characters are of the same rich quality as the X-Men.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad it took me so long to get to this series, the first volume was surely the best Inhumans story I've yet encountered with both strong writing and art and I'm already looking forward to the next two volumes.


They Are Among US.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'd peg this at 3.5 Stars to be accurate, but giving it 3 on here felt a bit like cheating Charles Soule out of the credit he deserves.

Having JUST read Inhumanity, this picks up right afterwards, in the midst of Medusa trying to pick up the shattered pieces of Attilan and the Inhuman community on Earth. This is done well, as it introduces us to the various players in the Inhuman, New Inhuman (Nuhuman) and who wants power and who trusts and hates who.

We meet Lash, who represents another line of ancient Inhumans, those who left Attilan millenia ago and settled on Earth but separate from Humans. He's the leader, and he's trying to pluck up newly hatched Inhumans before Medusa or others can get to them. But, he's not taking everyone. He's sort of the Aryan Inhuman, and we see him only wanting the purest Inhumans, and wiping out those he sees as lesser.

We're introduced to Dante and his sister Gabriella, Dante transforms, Gabriella doesn't and their mother cocoons and dies...(she's not fully able to convert). Lash wants Dante, but Dante doesn't want Lash, he's just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on...luckily, Medusa arrives and chases off Lash. Dante and Gabby go to New Attilan (the remnants of Attilan now in the Hudson River, an Island State) where he learns more about who he now is and what it means.

The real star of this book, in my opinion, though, is Medusa. You want your strong female characters? BOOM. She's the woman for you. She holds together a broken kingdom, welcomes refugees, opens her doors to humans to facilitate relations, engages in diplomacy with Cap (who also gives her a hand as a friend, not as a SHIELD man) and compares notes with Thor, who's Asgard also fell to Earth and integrated with Human society. Oh and she's doing all this while mourning her husband Black Bolt, and son. Black Bolt who's either the greatest Inhuman hero ever, or one of it's greatest villains, depending on how things unfold...But she's not just sobbing into a hankie, she's building a new nation, fighting for it's rights, and reaching out to defend new Inhumans and save them from Lash and others (like AIM) who would seek to exploit them.

I really enjoy Charles Soule's writing, and I know others have raved about it, Sam and Mike especially, but I've not come across one of his yet, though I mean to read more of his stuff now for sure! The artwork is also above average, and straddles a good line between teen-friendly and more grown-up. There's some really funny parts, such as when Gorgon is training Dante, and they bond over a shared enjoyment of Heavy Metal (Slayer specifically) and when Dante is talking to Jason about Rush, but realizes he's 17, and Jason replies that he thinks his dad might have liked them...

There's also another party, in China, a mysterious Inhuman type who saves a young Chinese girl and offers to take her with him and that he can give her answers about why she is how she is...he seems extremely powerful, and not as Aryan as Lash, but also not waiting around for Medusa's permission or anything...I'm intrigued to know more.

We also see the return of The Unspoken, the deposed former Inhuman King who Black Bolt took over from, and his attempts to align himself with Medusa...

There's lots of players here, and it's shaping up to be a fun series with more than just Good vs. Bad Inhumans. I think the bit more complexity will help things for sure.

In addition to Dante, who's power is like Human Torch, and who takes the name Inferno (ya, subtle eh?) there's also Jason, a teen from Minnesota, who may have already been living with those who knew he was special, and who was taken by Lash but ends up with Dante. And we also have Naya? (I think) who's another Nuhuman, the three of them seem to be the current representation of the New guard, aligned with Medusa and New Attilan for now, and who aren't just punk kids.

I really thought this was a great launch for a new series with new characters, and I've been made to care about them a lot faster than many other attempts in the past to create new kid X-Men or Avenger Babies, who I didn't connect with at all. Jason is a little bitchy whiny for my tastes, and I don't know Naya much, but Dante, I'm definitely down with, and I look forward to more on the Chinese Girl (Xiaoyi).

But again, I'm really drawn to Medusa, another sexy Redhead...how long until Tony Stark tries to get with her? She's smart, strong, powerful, diplomatic, firm, nurturing, welcoming, but protective at the same time. Fantastic characteristics in a leader/ruler, and she keeps juggling all the balls at once, but there's a revelation at the end between 2 of the more shady characters that will definitely change things to come!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

So here is what Infinity has brought about, at least as far as the Inhumans are concerned. And it's weirdly derivative. Atillan is now an island adjacent to NYC, kind of like how Asgard was floating over Oklahoma. So there's tensions between NYC and Atillan, and by extension the city and the Avengers. Again, like Asgard in Oklahoma. And then there's the search for new Inhumans, which is an awful lot like the X-Men's periodic "find new mutants" thing. Which, considering that Inhumans and mutants are functionally identical... And to add to the pile up, one character is named Dante, has fire powers (yes, pretty much exactly like Johnny Storm) and starts calling himself Inferno. Yikes. The only thing that saves it from being entirely rehashed is that the characters themselves realize that this has happened before. Thor stops by, because Asgard's experience could help Atillan adjust. The reaction to Dante's powerset and new name can be summed up as, "Really? Ok." It made me feel a bit better about the lack of originality that Soule himself obviously doesn't think that those aspects of the book are going to be winning him new fans.

But despite that, it's actually a pretty decent comic. Medusa is a really cool character, and the aspects of the book that deal with Atillan's political reality were quite interesting to me. And it seemed to be getting a bit better with every issue. The ending of the last issue has me very interested to see where this is going. I wouldn't say that I'm confident that this book will continue to improve, or that it will become a new favorite. But it did end up being worth reading, after a couple less than fantastic issues at the beginning.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good.

It picks with new Inhumans being born all over the world and we follow them and its epicly done plus as Medusa is trying to help these nuhumans she is met by a new enemy named Lash whose kind of like an extremist selecting only one he hopes is worthy and then new recruits in Inferno and Flint and Naja and its really well written then we have Lineage and his comp. Ennilux posing a threat and its possibly setting some stuff for the future and something with the unspoken who can manipulate terrigen and so its a quest as to whether our young heroes can defeat him and save their queen and people!

I really liked this volume, its fun and filled with Cameos from Cap to Thor and is really good and sets the stage for some new things to come in the future for these people and the art was decent for the most part. New characters, new villains, new status quo!

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

So...Infinity spoilers galore in this volume. As well as this review, I suppose. So that's my warning.

Be warned.

In, Infinity, Black Bolt blows the hell outta the Inhumans city (Attilan), and in doing so he released all of their Terrigen Mist and it ends up spreading across the whole world.

this new series basically picks up right after that. There's a little two issue HC you can get - Inhumanity which will close the gap a bit more cleverly...but whatev.

All in all, I liked this book. It's not an Avengers book, it's not a mutant book, it's not a cosmic book. It's its own thing. It's an Inhumans book. The cool thing is, that with the Terrigen mist spreading everywhere we are getting all these cool new Inhumans for the writers to play with (alongside our already established cast of Inhumans).

The history and lore of the Inhumans are rich and deep - these new (and old)characters could make for some very interesting reading and I am looking forward to seeing where everything takes us. I'm not super well versed with the Inhumans to begin with - I just have the basics - but in 1 single volume I have become a fan and want to dig a little deeper. I want to learn a little more.

I'd probably give it three and a half stars if Goodreads wasn't super lame-o that way.

[Oliver Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

As depicted in “Inhuman, Vol 1: Genesis”, the race of highly evolved humans known as the Inhumans are not quite mutants, but not quite straight-up superheroes either. They're more like a fusion between the two types of super-beings. Genetically they have a gene that makes them special, like mutants. Yet the process of transformation is triggered through an external agent, in this case by a substance called Terrigen Crystals, as opposed to say, a radioactive spider. As such, Inhumans are conceptually both original and ersatz. This is kind of the point, I think.

That is, it's probably not a coincidence that the book draws obvious parallels between the plot of “Genesis” and familiar X-Men tropes or between the remains of the Inhumans' city New Attilan floating in the Hudson Bay and how Asgard once floated over Oklahoma, as other reviewers of this book have pointed out. Not to mention that the primary artist at work here is the now legendary X-Men penciler Joe Madureira, whose once unique Manga-inspired pencils from the late 90’s helped inspire the current generation of comic book artists. But to what extent does Marvel want to pursue these parallels? Are the Inhumans supposed to completely supersede the X-Men simply because Marvel wants to push a new movie franchise through its comic book line? Or does Marvel genuinely hope to create a new type of superhero, i.e., an organic variation on what has come before?

Many of the rumors out there now are troubling and favor the former possibility. Not only is there a completed Inhumans screenplay out there that Marvel is shopping but Vin Diesel seems interested in playing Black Bolt. Not to mention that there's also “The Uncanny Inhumans", a comic book slated for release in the near future. Personally, I hope Marvel does both. That is, I hope Marvel succeeds in having its cake and eating it too because I think that there's more than enough conceptual freshness in “Inhuman” to justify a new breed of superhero in the Marvel U while still giving audiences something conceptually similar to the X-Men. The setup:

Following King Black Bolt’s detonation of the Terrigen Bomb, which caused the wide-spread appearance of new, highly-evolved humans across the world, Queen Medusa and a group of these new Inhumans—or Nuhumans--struggle to both defend and establish their burgeoning society against friend and foe alike.

Initially, the structure of “Genesis’s” storyline threw me off; it begins as an X-Men-style tale about two philosophically opposed groups of Inhumans gathering the newest members of their kind into the fold. Queen Medusa's approach is benign in the sense that she encourages all new Inhumans to join her ranks voluntarily. All they have to do is show up at her doorstep at what remains of New Attilan and ask for refuge. (She even invites regular ‘ol humans to show up and get a feel for the place and its people.) Her counterpart, the cruel and powerful Lash, has a more aggressive and selective approach. Indeed, tracking down new Inhumans across the world himself, Lash makes it his calling to cull the strong Nuhumans from the weak, killing those he doesn’t deem fit enough to join his own cult-like society in Orollon. The storyline seems to be building to a climactic showdown between Queen Medusa’s society and Lash’s. Nonetheless, at the midpoint of the book, the plot takes a turn for the unexpected, taking the book’s intentions in a more intriguing direction with it as well.

It’s this unexpected turn of events that shakes things up and differentiates the overall concept and story of “Genesis” from those of the X-Men books. *** SPOILER*** Indeed, the anticipated showdown between Medusa and Lash happens a bit sooner than expected. Similarly to how Charles Xavier solicits Magneto's aid (and vice versa) after bashing each other’s heads in, Medusa extends her hand in friendship to Lash, offering to take him in and begin the process of establishing New Attilan in earnest. Lash pretty much disappears from the book after this point, which seems a bit odd in that he appears to be the book's main antagonist. But he’s really not. ***END SPOILER*** It turns out that Lash is simply one of various antagonistic forces that will challenge Queen Medusa’s judgement and reign in New Attilan in some shape or form. Some of these antagonistic forces are clearly hostile, some aren’t, but they all provide conflict for Queen Medusa’s true project in “Genesis”, namely to create a society of Inhumans, rather than to build a super-team. This distinction of purpose not only differentiates Queen Medusa from Charles Xavier but “Inhuman” from the X-Men books as well, in that it turns the Inhumans into true underdogs--a characteristic that some believe that the X-Men never really embodied.

To be sure, where Charles Xavier was trying to form a super-team of mutants for the benign purpose of not only protecting other mutants but humans as well, Queen Medusa is simply trying to keep her people together, good, bad, ugly, strong or weak. In this sense “Inhuman” tells a more poignant tale than that of the X-Men: whether or not you align yourself with the benign Xavier or with the villainous Magneto, mutants are homo superior in the sense that they are more genetically evolved than regular humans. This isn’t quite the case with Inhumans. Not all of them. Indeed, whether or not an Inhuman turns out to be a stronger member of the human race depends on how the individual undergoes the Terrigen-induced transformation process, which is incredibly unpredictable. Some Inhumans can end up on the wrong side of the evolutionary scale, changing for the worse, becoming weaker and often horribly transformed beyond recognition. Hence, Medusa's imperative to protect ALL Inhumans, rather than to gather and train a group of people that will form a super-team of highly-evolved humans by default. Of course, a society needs soldiers and this is where some of the book’s young protagonists come in to play.

Those readers who enjoy seeing young mutants train and learn to use their powers under the guidance of a gruff, hardened mentor will get something similar in “Inhuman.” Only that here you don’t have the rugged Wolverine lighting the way for the young but the rugged Gorgon instead. To be honest, though I enjoyed it, Gorgon’s training of characters like Dante, aka “Inferno”, is the least interesting aspect of the book for me. I mean, been there, done that. As the series develops, I'd like the book to focus more on the more vulnerable, non-superhero members of Inhuman society. Granted, you can't have a teen-friendly, mainstream superhero book without superheroes. That would be a bit, uh, disingenuous to say the least. Nonetheless, I’d still like to see the writers of “Inhuman” embrace the darker, more vulnerable side of the Inhuman race because it provides an opportunity to mine new dramatic material from situations and scenarios that we’ve seen before in both X-Men and superhero books alike. Fortunately, there’s cause for hope.

Indeed, chapter/issue # 5 of “Genesis” alone elevates Charles Soule to the level of author-to-watch-status for me. In said chapter, Soule tells a Twilightzonish tale that could stand alone as a very effective short story. Having said that, this story initially had me rolling my eyes, in that the protagonist’s predicament is very similar to that of your typical young mutant’s, where their genetic gifts create an identity crisis that also functions as a metaphor for racism and other forms of prejudice. Nonetheless, without getting into spoilers, there's a twist at the end of this story that makes me think that the creators of “Inhuman” are very much aware of what makes the Inhumans not only conceptually different from both X-men and run-of-the-mill superheroes alike but also different in practice. Suffice to say that to be inhuman is to be Other among Others.

Not having been familiar at all with the Inhumans’ history in the Marvel U I wondered why no one had thought of splicing mutant and superhero together before. Well, after doing some research, I now realize that they obviously did. Sort of. Though the concept and the lore of the Inhumans goes way back to the 60's, the original idea behind them was a bit out there, not quite the updated version of mutants that “Inhuman” seems to be. To be sure, as Jack Kirby initially conceived of them, the artificially enhanced Inhumans were meant to provide a sci-fi spin on mythological characters and legends under the aegis of the superhero genre. Hence the Atlantis-like city of Attilan and original Inhumans characters like Triton and Gorgon. This would also explain one of the newest Inhumans, Dante, aka “Inferno”, who is named after one of the most renown examples of classical mythology (Dante’s. Inferno. Get it?). Though, as it has already been pointed out, none of this quite explains why Thunderbolt wears a mask, other than that it looks cool and because wearing masks is a superhero-thing. (http://youtu.be/JLdBgEgyWGQ)

Alas, I don't see anything wrong with a mythological version of the X-Men. I also LIKE the idea of a mythological version of The Human Torch or of Pyro, as I also like the idea of Gorgon being a mythological version of Wolverine. It's the same but different. So far it’s the subtle but organic variations on familiar comic book characters and scenarios which make the idea behind “Inhuman” a genuine, noteworthy event for me. As long as Marvel keeps earnestly developing aspects of the book that expand on what has come before I’ll keep reading. I sincerely hope they do. I’ve been looking for an excuse to follow an X-Men book not solely written by Jason Aaron after having sworn never to do so again.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

(my thoughts before I started reading) Soule, you better not let me down. This is on you to do lore of Letter 44, and less of She-Hulk in a courtroom reading legal briefs and quoting procedural minutia.

(While reading) This feels...formulaic. Call To Adventure for new Inhumans, telling it through the eyes of outsiders and children, and making the plot hinge on whether the children can save the adults (plot to every Disney movie ever made).

[This review is for both vol 1 & vol 2, since they're so tightly bound, I read them at the same time and the series ended right there...]

Now, the twists and double-crosses are fun, and the art is clear and clean, so it's fun enough to read.

It gets a little predictable near the end of the first book, and I didn't walk away *excited* to keep reading, but that may have more to do with the turgid Inhumans than the writing itself.

2nd book opens with some interesting desperation moves by Inhumans, and the efforts to corral the fake Terrigen crystals that bring them out of cover.

Then the book spends a great deal of time between brothers, Maximus and Black Bolt. And I gotta say, at least under Soule's writing, the former's growing on me. He's devious, impetuous, has a blast screwing with the world and his family...a Loki knock-off, but still so much fun to read that I don't care if the comparison is apt or not.

When it comes to the struggles to figure out how to bring The Dude back, and why he stayed away, there's the requisite amount of mystery - not everything is explained up front - but it doesn't feel like the ending is going to be any great surprise. Like an episode of any great ongoing TV show (eg. The Amazing "Supernatural"), when one of the boys dies you know they're coming back somehow, and no matter how many slapfights they get into, they'll always brohug by the end of the season (if one of them hasn't been sent to another plane of existence).

What felt a little more...well, not *original* but at least satisfying...was Medusa going all badass. I didn't read the Axis event yet but apparently they invented some reason there for her to dress head-to-toe in latex, wrap her prehensile hair into a whip-like weapon, and turn into a total badass. No sitting around hand-wringing about her lost husband, trying to placate nervous humans. Fuck that dude. Let's just preserve our race by force, punt the runty humans back across the river.

I find myself reflecting on the MCU Inhumans, now that they're showing up in force in AoU and SHIELD (thank god the Shallow Comics Readers outlawed the damned periods in acronyms). The Inhuman called Reader seems pretty damned cool and ready-made for TV - I mean, they already had a blind teleporter, but this dude is even better - and more rogue-ish (without being a slimy douche *cough* certain Cajun mutant). And the way the different factions of Inhumans start banging into each other is cause for celebration - finally, a reason to give a shit about these otherwise impotent stand-around-and-moan-about-courtly-affairs-like-the-boring-acts-of-Shakespearean-plays people.

As this story wraps up, it feels a lot like the tons of X-books I read throughout last decade...tons of characters, short-lived takeovers by some new and uber villain who we'll never hear from again. This time it's a handful of villains that'll be defeated in due time, so buckle up and get ready to give a shit for ten minutes and then be done.

Can I praise Ryan Stegman's art here for a sec? Fun. Loose. Active. Like Sterling Archer preaches in gunmanship. And expressive without being entirely cartoony.

[Alex Sarll]

For legal reasons, Marvel have been making a determined effort to sideline mutants (because the X-Men's film rights are elsewhere) in favour of Inhumans (because until Marvel Studios made stars of Groot and Ant-Man, who the Hell would have bought the film rights to such also-rans as the Inhumans?). And not for the first time, a project which has clearly seen much managerial meddling ends up written by Charles Soule. He's no mere hack - his passion projects like She-Hulk and Letter 44 are well worth reading - but not can he salvage a corporate football like this. Especially when it's clearly also meant to be a bit Game of Thrones (the dynastic angle is played up to the extent of having a new character named Lineage), especially not when it's lumbered with the horribly gloopy art of Joe Mad. The 'nuhumans' discovering their heritage are all fairly generic, sometimes outright cringeworthy (there's a kid called Dante. Guess what power he gets. Guess what codename he adopts). The villains all feel like retreads of played-out X-Men stories (Lash is Apocalypse except somehow even more nineties). And it doesn't even feature the best Inhuman, Lockjaw the teleporting dog.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have much to say in terms of the plot since the story has only just began. However, I found it interesting and relatively easy to follow considering it's a graphic novel. There's a lot going on and so many characters.

That being said, we need to talk about how fucking badass Medusa is.

Words cannot describe how excited I am about her. She's a redhead, she's got badass hair, she's Queen and doesn't take shit from no one, she's got morals but is willing to do what she has to, and she doesn't sit like a lady.

I know the last one is a stupid reason but I love that Joe Madureira doesn't draw her in these super sexualized female positions. I mean look at her! She sits like a freakin' badass who's not about to take your shit:



*fan self* I've got a lady boner. It's official.

[Mr. Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ya know, I'm such a huge X-Men fanboy that I forgot how much I really liked the Inhumans. I got all militant when mutants became disowned by Marvel. This is true. So much so that I scorned this whole wave of Inhuman mania. Truth be told, I'm waaaay into the new direction Marvel is taking them. I know I'm late to the party, but I look forward to digging into future installments. This collection makes me smile.

[Brian Poole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inhuman is one of Marvel’s highest priorities at the moment.

Marvel is grooming The Inhumans for a “moment.” The characters have been around since the ‘60s and have appeared fairly consistently throughout the years. The focus has usually been on the members of the Inhuman royal family, who often operated like an odd super team. Sisters Medusa and Crystal both have served as members of Marvel hero teams, primarily the Fantastic Four and Avengers.

With Marvel keeping the multi-media angles of its properties in the forefront of its thinking, the focus on the Inhumans makes sense. The film rights to the X-Men and the entire concept of “mutants” are held by Fox. Relations between Marvel and Fox could charitably be labeled as “strained.” They might want to insist otherwise, but the fact is that Marvel needs a replacement for mutants in its insanely lucrative film franchise. Thus, the ascendance of the Inhumans. The Inhumans are slated for their own movie in a few years and currently are factoring into a high profile arc on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Inhuman is another key component of Marvel’s Inhumans strategy. The series not only brings the concept into the beating heart of the Marvel Universe, it explores how a wide swath of people who were unaware of their Inhuman ancestry cope with the sudden activation of their powers.

Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis works to establish the new Inhuman status quo. Inhuman follows the events of Infinity, which led to the Inhumans’ city of Attilan returning to Earth from space and an environmental event that activated the latent Inhuman gene in potentially millions of people across the globe. With Attilan established as a new sovereign state, located right in the Hudson River, the political and family drama follows fairly easily.

Ubiquitous writer Charles Soule establishes the parameters early on. The roving cloud of “Terrigen,” the substance that transforms Inhumans and awakens their powers, is creating all sorts of new super-powered beings. Some undergo monstrous transformations. Others retain their looks, but gain powers that can be hard to control. Many are unable to withstand contact with Terrigen and die during the “cocoon” process that exposure creates. Regular humans are not affected by the cloud.

Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis posits a sort of “arms race” among the familiar royal family, led by Queen Medusa, and the inhabitants of a couple of other previously hidden Inhuman settlements to locate and retrieve newly activated Inhumans (or “Nuhumans”). The factions clash and a future war looms.

In the newly relocated Attilan, Medusa deals with the politics of establishing a new sovereign entity within the boundaries of the U.S. Medusa creates a sanctuary for Nuhumans. She also simultaneously tries to show strength to the rest of the world while engaging them diplomatically. Soule does a nice job of showing the fragile realpolitik situation Medusa is forced to navigate to protect her people.

Long-time fans might be surprised at how little focus Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis gives to familiar characters. Medusa is front and center throughout and her cousin Gorgon plays an important supporting role as the mentor to various Nuhumans. Triton, who’s undergone a metamorphosis that has rendered him less human-looking, also pops up in a small role. But other familiar characters are M.I.A. Karnak [spoiler alert] died before the start of Inhuman. King Black Bolt and his treacherous brother Maximus are missing and appear only on the arc’s final page. Crystal (and her human daughter), the canine Lockjaw, and Medusa and Black Bolt’s son don’t appear at all. Crystal, arguably the highest profile Inhuman over the past several decades, isn’t mentioned even once. The Unspoken, a deposed Inhuman king introduced in an Avengers story a few years ago, appears later in the arc.

Instead, Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis puts a lot of emphasis on the Nuhumans. That’s not a bad thing, as the first arc shows the transformation experiences of various new characters. Some, like Inferno, Lineage and Reader, are especially interesting ideas that Soule makes good use of. We also meet Lash, an Inhuman from one of the hidden settlements, who’s attempting to recruit strong Nuhumans (and dispose of weak ones) in an attempt to create a counter force to Medusa and Attilan.

Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis does an effective job of setting up the new status quo and of grounding the Inhumans firmly in the center of the Marvel Universe. Familiar faces like Captain America and Thor show up and the Inhumans themselves have turned up in issues of the popular new Ms. Marvel series. The latter is a canny way for Marvel to spread the Inhuman concept beyond the core series.

On the art side, fan favorite ‘90s veteran Joe Madureira handles the first three issues. His distinctive, visually exaggerated style works well for this concept. His character designs and imaginative take on Attilan create a strong visual identity for Inhuman that helps sell the concept. Ryan Stegman was a simpatico choice to succeed Madureira. He has a similar style, but manages to incorporate his own touches so that there’s both consistency and variety in the visual presentation of Inhuman, Vol. 1: Genesis.

Marvel is pursuing an ambitious path with Inhuman. While trying to tell a unique superhuman saga set in the Marvel Universe, InhumanInhuman, Vol. 1: GenesisInhuman is an intriguing read that does some interesting things with an old concept. It’s worth checking out.

A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com

[mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic was so so so good and I really really like the new inhuman kids!! Also, I can't review this without saying that Medusa is awesome, as always.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Might be the best new Marvel series of 2014.

After the very disappointing INHUMANITY HC, this new series more than makes up for the previous book.

Seems that Marvel wants to make the Inhumans into a set of characters to rival the X-men. It is because the X-Cinematic Universe is out of Marvel's hand? I've heard that idea expressed. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Events of INHUMANITY do seem to suggest that.

A potential pitfall is making the Inhumas too X-men like.

[Tesutamento · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ülkemizdeki basım Inhumanity hikayesinin 1 ve 2 numaralı bölümlerini de içeriyor. Infinity sırasında Black Bolt terrigen bombasını patlatmış ve yeryüzündeki uyuyan inhuman hücrelerini uyandırmıştı. Birçok kişi habersizce bu geni taşıyormuş meğer. Uyuyan hücreler uyanınca sahip kişiler kozaya girip uyuyor ve bir kısmı bu uykudan bambaşka bir canlı olarak çıkıyor. Kral Black Bolt ortadan kaybolunca Inhuman krallığı Attilan'da kaos başlıyor. Taht sahibi Medusa oluyor. Inhumanity kısmı buraya kadar.

Inhuman kitabına gelecek olursak çoğunlukla Medusa'nın tahtta çektiği sıkıntıları ele alıyor. Başka Inhuman kabilelerle yaşanan çekişmeler, terrigen bombası yüzünden doğan inhuman kişiler ve onların adaptasyon süreci ve olmazsa olmaz taht kavgaları bu kitabın özeti. Hem eski kemikleşmiş inhuman kadrosundan kişiler hem de yeni katılan genç karakterleri okuyoruz. Hatta bu gençler epey bir rol çalmış eskilerden. Marvel Now döneminde çıkmış bir kitap için normal tabii bunlar.

Hikaye ne fazlasıyla sürükleyici ne de sıkıcı. Bazı karakterlere daha çok odaklanılacak gibi yapıp kolay harcıyor. En çok takıldığım nokta bu oldu. Onun dışında bir başka husus da gereğinden fazla olayı sığdırma çabası olmuş gibi. Bu çok sayıdaki olayların bir kısmı fazla üstünkörü yaşanıyor. Kişilere ve bulundukları durumlara biraz daha derinlik katılabilirmiş.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm on the fence on this one. the set up was interesting and the art was solid, but nothing here felt new, or improved or particularly exciting. and that's what i go to comics for - excitement and fun. draggy would be the word to describe this. a lot of yap, and some mediocre fight scenes. and the thing is, there's SO much stuff out right now that is really good it makes it hard to return to things like Inhumans that just seem to lack any real verve. this series is a 'we'll see.'

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing about this is the artwork in the first half.

Considered that not a single main character here is under 16, or maybe 18 (hard to tell), you really have to wonder why it is written as if for preteens.
It started badly enough with the typical Marvel incompetence in terms of spelling (it is spelled "Björn" and not "Bjorn") as well as the usual signs of a forced plot, like when at the start those Norwegians have no idea what that big cloud will do and yet no one tried to barricade themselves in or so. I mean they literally say it is right upon them. And it is not as if no one is afraid as we do see people running away from it when it is right up to them. And what was also odd here and later on was that there were no chevrons around the words of anyone there. Not the Inhumans, nor the Norwegians. Are we supposed to believe they use the same language? And later on they do use chevrons for the "Mongolians." That is the problem with many other cases here as well, which show how the writers cannot really think outside of their English-speaking readers. Like with the totally not threatening speech there by Medusa. Good luck with those "Nuhumans" who don't speak English and have no way to get to NYC... not that it will matter as most relevant ones will come from English speaking countries or will conveniently speak English anyway, unless they are evil of course. That is how Marvel works. And btw if the Inhumans were split from our ancestors millions of years ago, why on earth do they look identical to us? And why do most Inhumans have English or anglicized names?

And then we get to our first new character, his name is Dante. Him and the other women have light brown skin, I think, his skin tone is barely darker than that of Medusa (later on it is barely distinguishable from hers), he and his sister have black hair and his name is Italian. So, is he Italian? You know an ethnicity that does not make many new appearances in Marvel, especially not as good guys apparently. Nope, I know American stereotyping, and so being a slightly brown white guy clearly means that this is a Latino. They could at least have used something more specific or a Hispanic nationality that was less well known. But the way it is now, the only thing pointing towards Dante being Hispanic is his last name. His "inhuman" name is even "Inferno" which the comic acknowledges is from "Dante's Inferno", so why not make him Italian? And in terms of character we do not get much from him either. We know he is a musician and cares for his family. But that was it. Later on he is basically there to address intolerance. Which is still better than what we get for Jason and Naja. Of course Jason is also from the USA, the later reveal does not change that; I guess “Minnesota” is somehow edgy or so. Or they just chose that to pull off the "lonely black kid" stereotype. And I mean it, almost the first thing we get for his backstory is how he never met another black kid until he was eight and in the zoo. Aka, really lazy writing. Why bother with building character right? And I joked about how the next thing we would get was "white guilt" and the very next page Jason does accuse his father of only adopting him because of white guilt. His dad comes in, tells him they have to go quickly and all Jason does is bitch how he isn't some accessory to relief their white guilt. And apparently this bitching happened before. But at least Jason has some character flaws, Dante is pretty damn bland and Naja is basically just an extra.
We don't even get her first name (not even google could provide me with that). For some reason she is already referred to as Naja even though she did not even join the Inhumans yet. Isn't this name picking thing supposedly some rite of passage/new identity thing among Inhumans as they stated with Dante earlier in the volume? Also I looked the term up and Naja is a genus of Cobra snakes and while she looks only vaguely cobralike, she can fly, shift color and has apparently sensitive hearing. Why not based on "Chrysopelea" (gliding snakes)? Or some mythical being. Was "Naja" really the best choice?
In the end the best thing about these three are their designs.

If this wasn't enough, the plot convenience is really dumb, I call bullshit on how Lash was just in Norway seconds before Dante and his mother were cocooned, so how can he be there in Illinois already? And how did he know how to find them? Yes, he can teleport but that explains only one question.
This was getting ridiculous really fast. Not only does Dante seem to be somehow instinctively be able to shot fire, but Lash thought Dante did not transform because he still looked the same, although lacking a shirt but still with flame resistant pants apparently, and then thought he might have been mistaken? Lash himself looks only barely non-human and most major Inhumans look human as well. And earlier he killed a new Inhuman that was not looking human anymore, was that one too inhuman looking or what? Who writes like that? And of course Dante handles his new status better than anyone Gorgo ever saw... because Dante already could shot fire just like that. Why waste time right? Honestly, Dante seems pretty damn pointless for the story.
Of course New Attilan is in the USA, I mean where else is it supposed to be right? They even talk about the remains of Attilan being strewn all over New York City. The tower is in the Hudson River next to the statue of liberty. Are the writers incapable of picking a city other than New York? In fact, if pieces of Attilan fell on NYC, how come the city isn't full of craters yet?
That Medusa includes Gabriella among the Inhumans is either a hiccup or the writing is better than I thought as in this way there would be an actual ideological difference between her and Lash in that regard. Not that it means much, you see how does Lineage know that Black Bolt released the Mist because he needed more Inhumans because something "is coming?" He has the memories/personalities of his ancestors and Black Bolt is not an ancestor. So how does he know and why does everyone belief him? And how the fuck does he know where Jason's "real family" is? What sort of ancestry did the guy have? Oh and making him purple with sharp features and horns, really subtle design their artists.
If it weren't for the artwork in the first half of the volume, this would be a pretty generic story. Especially the whole thing with Dante and Jason happens way too fast to have any proper development. This whole thing stinks of editorial mandate and rushed production.
But once the artists change even that little bit of saving grace is gone. And interestingly, it is at this stage that the volume is using chevrons for the "Chinese" and later Mongolian. Not that this is much of an improvement mind you. The artwork is worse in my mind and those Chinese look like Western Europeans and in terms of story: if these two Chinese people wanted to protect the troops, why didn't they just say so?
And how does Medusa know her attackers are Inhumans? They may as well be mutants. After all, plenty of them are hostile to Inhumans as the terrigen mist suddenly kills them or renders them sterile, but no, she is right and the writing is so bad she is even fine with letting them run around. It was clear by this point that this is written as if the characters know how the story has to progress.
The parts in China are no better, in it the daughter says her parents always wanted a son that she always pushed for knowledge and books that they could not give her and I was pretty damn sure of two things:
a) If they had not wanted her, they would have gotten rid of her years ago
b) As this seems to be rural China, I am pretty sure they would have been allowed a second "try"
Helps to actually do research you know.
Or to think about how people actually act or should act if they run a country like Medusa does. She claimed Thor is fickle because he told her before she cannot execute those men from before and now that she cannot free them. How is that fickle? Both make perfect sense. Especially since these three tried to murder her!!!
And then they had this marriage proposal by the former king... who writes like this?
To further the nonsense, we get told that Jason, without knowing, lived in a community of Inhumans that avoided the terrigen mist for ten thousand years. And they adopted Jason from another group of Inhumans in Africa. And they didn't tell him this why? Really, there is no good reason for this except that he isn't supposed to know. In fact having one that does know and did not want to have superpowers would be something different. But alas this has to be some X-Men stand in apparently. We get further evidence for that when Naja enters the scene and tells them that she heard Dante in new Attilan talking how he spoke to Thor how he was helped and she decided to follow him instead of talking to another inhuman? Like the registration place that was shown? I know she is just there to make a statement about tolerance via Dante, but come on; couldn't they come with a more believable story? They already try to have Inhumans as an X-Men stand-in so why not have the classic mob chasing scene? It would be no dumber than this here.
And speaking of the kids, up to that point, the plotline with Medusa was way better than the one with Dante, Naja and Jason. Her betting on the "Unspoken" (even when he rules his name is not spoken?) trying to trick her into accepting him and then betting on him leading her to some terrigen crystals is smart. But the fact that she did not suspect his three cloaked Mongolians (complete with foreign language) to be a trick speaks volumes about the bad writing.
And when those cops just told Dante that he should try the Avengers I had to ask: Where are the avengers? Where are any of NYC's superheroes while New Attilan is taken over?
The idiocy does not stop there, as we get from Dante that he was on New Attilan the longest and had never heard of the Unspoken.... geee.... could it be that a guy referred to as such would not be talked about casually? And why does he act as if he had been there for a considerable amount of time? At best weeks had passed and we did not see him interact with any of the "old" Inhumans past Medusa and Gorgo. So how could he have known about the Unspoken then?
Speaking of idiocy among teens: I know Jason is a teenager but he says he can only do things with rocks and there everything around them is metal, so maybe he should have taken some rocks with him then or use the rocks that are part of his body? Wasn't he supposed to be smart? And later on he can control the terrigen crystals? They stated earlier he can only control rocks. If he can control crystals he should have been able to do the same with dust and earth.
In the end Medusa does not have her telepath check the Unspoken and is not having an eye on Lineage which makes her appear even dumber than everything she did before. This "new X-Men" routine was bad enough but holy shit is she stupid. I was glad this was over.

In the end I would say the main problem here is that the makers want the Inhumans to be the new X-Men but on the other hand they want to keep the power struggle nature among the high-ranking Inhumans. Which also doesn't work because based on the X-Men comics in the Marvel Universe humans try to kill mutants at apparently every step but Inhumans are ok.

PS. The balloon head girl was worthy in Lash's eyes but purple and gargoyle-like Kristian was not? Was the guy one of those slave Inhumans? If yes, he probably would have been useful either way.

[Des Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've really enjoyed Charles Soule's work, but Inhuman could have been cobbled together by any d-lister. There's nothing impressive or interesting going on here, as Marvel slaps together a cinema-friendly X-Men alternative. Teens with zero personality get new powers, and are squabbled over by Inhuman factions of differing philosophies. Plots are abandoned just as fast as they begin, and its neigh impossible to cultivate any interest in the nuhumans. We are introduced to far too many new characters in far too little time to really come to appreciate or relate to any of them. Legacy characters like Medusa get too little of the spotlight to save the book's lack of character.

The bright spot here is Joe Mad's art, which is great, and Ryan Stegman does a fine job filling his big shoes after his abrupt departure.

I wasn't expecting much here, but with Soule's and Mad's talent at the helm, I hoped for something at least more readable than this.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I respect the core ideals of this comic. Soule is creating a political drama that's quite unlike most of what you find in comics. It's great to have something a bit different, and he does it well. I also like the attention to Inhuman continuity.

I'm less thrilled with the creation of a new generation of Inhumans. Besides the obvious economic reasons for this ("No More Mutants", because that just gives Fox characters to use), it takes a while for the characters to grow on you. I found the comic slow as a result through the first four issues or so. Fortunately, it really picked up at that point, with our three new Inhumans now center stage.

I'm also not thrilled by the blocky art.

Still: Overall, a good book with some rough spots early on that gives me a lot of hope for the future.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great start to a new series at Marvel. I am not surprise Marvel is reintroducing us the Inhumans. They are a lesser known hero team but they have a rich origin which oddly enough can be the intersection between the cosmic Marvel universe and the earth bound Marvel universe. Writer Charles Soule does a great job given the short and clear understanding of how the Inhumans though similar to the mutants of the X-men world are actually sort of the aliens living amongst us. The new characters are interesting and I am waiting for the triumphant return of Black Bolt to the Inhumans series. Good book for new comic readers and for those curious about this team of superheroes.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is dragged down by too much needless backstory and boring exposition. There are way too many plot threads running at one time. We are asked to care about a young, new Inhuman called Dante (Super-power name is Inferno, which characters describe as "hitting it on the nose"). It's hard to care for this new character as he doesn't do anything except whine and complain until the last couple chapters in the book.

The book ends just as it was starting to get interesting, in the middle of a conflict. I guess it's a good cliffhanger to get me to pick up the next issue.

[Anchorpete · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Inhumans, the class of characters that Marvel wants you to start liking as much as Mutants.

Will you? Probably not.

Two stars means "It was ok" on here, and that is pretty much what I can say for every aspect of this book- the characters, the plot, the dialogue. The only thing I would put above ok would be the artwork. I am a huge fan of Joe madureira, and if there isn't going to be a revival of Battle Chasers, I will follow his work on Inhumans, as Marvel puts as much effort into this title as they can to make the Inhumans Marvel studios equivalent of the X-men movie franchise.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5 stars

I thought this was pretty great since it was one of my first comics I have read, but i was really slow. Not a lot had happened so far and even though I will definitely continue, I really want it to start having some action and not just some beautiful artwork. Because OMG this artwork is brilliant, it looks so real and the abilities of these Inhumans translate so well with this style of art.
I have heard it gets better with every issue, so I will definitely finish this comic series. And I can certainly see myself getting obsessed with comics and graphic novels.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having heard so much about inhumans as a race through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I was super excited to read this comic, especially as it included Lash, an inhuman beast of a villain. Genesis was such a great comic because it is centred around the whole race of inhumans and not just one hero. It is one of the only origin MARVEL comics which has the becoming the hero in addition to another major plot. It was able to give a larger story and leave a big cliff-hanger at the end which makes me really want to read the next volume.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found a great deal online for this whole run. Just read 1-6. Have previously read some of Soules other work and like his style. In this series he continues to impress. Really great story so far. Charles Soule seems to have a nack for pushing a story forward with that nice slow build up and good character development. Interesting plot, some nice twists and turns, throw in a few cameos and we have ourselves a nice 1st chunk of the story laid out. Can’t wait to read the next set of books. 7-11 I believe.

[Lionel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is that x-men 2.0 ?? For some reasons, they seem more tolerated than the mutants... Why ? no idea.

Anyway, this book is just there to introduce new characters and we just know something bad is coming. A little bit too light for me

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this first volume. Not bad. Interesting characters. Marvel is clearly trying to build Inhumans into their new big property, and it isn't a bad start...