Inhumans: Beware the Inhumans

Amazing Adventures (1970) #1-10

by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin

From Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas and Neal Adams - the titans of the Marvel Age - come the Inhumans! For the first time, the stories that defined these regal outcasts are brought together in one collection. From rare solo adventures and appearances in Fantastic Four to the their first solo series in Amazing Adventures, the adventures of Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Crystal and loveable Lockjaw are here. Their quest for peace is threatened not just by a world that fears them, but by Black Bolt's own brother, Maximus the Mad, and his evil Inhuman cohorts. It's a family epic full of intrigue told in the Marvel fashion, as only comics' greatest creative talents could craft it.

Includes:
Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) #15
Incredible Hulk Annual (1968) #1
Fantastic Four #81-83, 99 with material from #95 & #105
Amazing Adventures (1970) #1-10 (Inhumans stories only)
Avengers #95
And material from Not Brand Echh (1967) #12

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Marvel, Superheroes

345 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2018

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zipping back in time to hit some material I missed on my read through the 60s. The Inhumans haven't traditionally done a lot for me as anchors to their own stories and are hit-and-miss for me as guest stars and supporting characters in others. This collection, featuring their first solo series, did not fill me with confidence in their ability to headline. Their relationship to the rest of the Marvel Universe is unclear- are they known to the general public? Do they WANT to be? Why do the Avengers seem unfamiliar with them? (Granted this is during the days of inconsistent and messy continuity and the Illuminati, which would not be more than a glint in Brian Michael Bendis' eye for more than 40-odd years, despite its retroactive existence and inclusion of Black Bolt, cannot be a factor in these stories). Medusa, Gorgon and Karnak are fairly indistinct and repetitive as main supporting characters, Triton is continually sidelined, and while there's a lot of pathos to be mined in Black Bolt as the tragically silent king - and some potential for disability allegory - it's never really fleshed out or imbued with stakes.

Because Roy Thomas is involved, there's some well-meaning but heavy-handed racial prejudice allegory here, with subtext made text when a Black man by the name of Dibbs ("you can call me...Mr. Dibbs," he *actually says*) makes use of Black Bolt's powers to do something handwavey with the plight of the African-American populace of San Francisco. None of it lands even as well as it does via the X-Men in this period, though it's a bit better than the Avengers' tussles with the Serpent Society, and while it leans on the tired trope of "the angry Black man was behind all the troubles," it *does* depict Mr. Dibbs sympathetically throughout, with guest god Thor taking pains to express his understanding and general agreement (though whether that's a realistic position for someone as privileged as a literal deity to take is up for debate).

The brief flash of Neal Adams art is, as always, truly beautiful, and one wishes he had had a longer and more productive career in the funny pages. Alas, we take what we get, even if it's just three or so mediocre issues of Stan trying to make the Inhumans happen (after Jack tried first in the premier few issues).

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a bit better than the previous as the narrative structure hangs together better than all the snippets collected in the previous volume. Still, there are several sequences that just don’t make sense and the inconsistency of the artists is frustrating to say the least, still it is great to see these various issues collected to finally offer some long overdue perspective on these charters.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not like the Inhumans and this did nothing to change that.

[Greg L Goldstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to have this material collected in one place. It doesn't necessarily all fit together well, and it is occasionally jarring to see these edited Kirby Fantastic Four sequences sprinkled in, but overall a good collection of latter silver age material.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top shelf stuff by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, and more.