This coming week will see the return of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, the little TV show
that nobody believed in, every one thought would fail, and then did exactly
that. Seriously, despite some
moderately decent word of mouth over season 2 Agents of SHIELD has done little more than jog in place for 2.5
season while occupying the least interesting space in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. Maybe that’ll turn
around this coming half season but I seriously doubt.
Regardless, we’re not here to talk about Agents of SHIELD but rather the major
chunk of Marvel IP they’ve elected to squat on top of: the Inhumans. I’ve already pretty thoroughly explored
the Inhumans in previous articles so today isn’t going to cover much of their history
of character make-up but simply the history of great art that has informed the
group since its inception at the hands of all-time comic great Jack Kirby. So, let’s dive into the shallow end and
get the cover story on the Inhumans.
12.
We open with a cover drawn from the Inhumans debut story
arcs. The team actually didn’t get
a solo comic till the mid-‘70s so a good chunk of these appearances are going
to be relegated to Fantastic Four appearances. In this case, this was the issue where Inhuman King Black
Bolt’s true power was fully unleashed/revealed. That’s what’s meant to be happening here but, in that
classic Marvel manner, that’s not exactly what we’re seeing here.
This kind of blend of metaphor and literalism was actually a
big part of what made Marvel such a force to be reckon with when they burst on
the scene in the early ‘60s. While
this exact scene doesn’t happen in the comics (Black Bolt blowing up the FF
with weird yellow smoke) he does use his super sonic voice to shatter the shell
of his city, it’s just that this reworked imagine is infinitely more cinematic
than trying to compress the visual of him blowing the dome. That willingness to focus on the
characters and keeping the scope large rather than scaling out is key to how
Marvel reinvented the way covers are designed.
11.
Jumping way forward now to the modern Inhuman comic that Marvel released as part of their failed attempts
to supplant the X-Men and Mutant concepts with the Inhumans. I admit, I’m a sucker for chess piece
covers and this is a pretty great one given how statuesque Black Bolt and
Medusa already are. There are
certainly flaws to be found in the cover, like the legs on Black Bolt and
Medusa are both weirdly rubbery and stretched out, especially so in the
feet.
Additionally, I’m not sure who the freaky demon looking guy
looming over this is, though his inclusion makes me hopeful this is actually a
literal cover and he’s just playing with his action figures. Still, this is a pretty good example of
the more modern conception of representative covers that slowly evolved to
replace the more literal interpretations of a comic’s story. Also, I really like the Inhuman logo design here, blending weird
alien circuitry with creepy, fleshy organs.
10.
And now, a tie for #10 between a pair of really good but
really busy covers. These are both
from the mid-70s Inhuman comic when Marvel was testing out a bunch of possible
new superhero teams. The X-Men
ended up as the big hit of the era but the Inhumans
was still a cool book and I really like that little Black Bolt in the Marvel
insignia. Both of these are great
for pretty much the same reason and equal levels. The cover on the right features that amazing lobster looking
guy showing off his amazing powers of turning the ground into hands and
tentacles, which is one of the cool concepts to come out of comics.
Meanwhile, the right hand cover features a bad guy blowing
up a building, which would be pretty lame if he wasn’t tooling around in a
jetpack with the color wheel inexplicably plastered on his chest. This kind of weird and wonderful
costume design, bolstered by these bold bright colors, is key to what made ‘70s
comics, especially the Inhumans so great.
Remember, this is the era when most of the iconic X-Men costumes were
created and it comes out of this kind of approach to costume design and action
beats.
9.
Another ‘70s cover and easily the most cluttered one I’ve
yet to showcase. Despite being so
full there are no fully visible characters, there’s something oddly compelling
about this cover. I think it boils
down to that same character emphasis that made cover #12 so groundbreaking when
it hit. The idea of selling your
book on a character alone rather than the whacky high jinks within is still a
pretty bold concept today so whenever it pops up I’m very receptive. I also think this kind of approach can
help when depicting a character like the Hulk.
Hulk is supposed to be one of the most powerful and
destructive characters in the entire Marvel canon so having him take on the
entire Inhuman royal family in one rumble is a pretty great way to show how
unstoppable he is. I especially
like how everyone involved is trying to deploy their various super-moves at the
same time, like Karnak doing his magic karate and Black Bolt charging up his
electric forehead. The only one
who isn’t really helping is Trigon and that’s because he’s like diet Aquaman so
it’s to be expected.
8.
This Fantastic Four
cover actually marks the first ever appearance of the Inhumans. It’s a weird cover conceptually but I
actually really like the layout and that “Among Us Hide…The Inhumans!” is a
great use of intertitles. The very
content itself damnably evocative and very well written, but that’s true of a
lot of Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four
stuff. Actually, this cover makes
a lot more sense as a representation of the kind of stories Fantastic Four was peddling at the
time.
See, what made Fantastic Four so groundbreaking was
that it was diving head first into a unique blend of modern trends of the time,
in particular ‘60s sitcom aesthetics and schlocky B-movie sci-fi. So throwing around big, eerie headlines
like this one fit the bill for the B-movie origin s of the team perfectly and
the cover as a whole is designed to reflect that. The Four skulking through the ruins of some unnamed city
under a dark, moonlit night while he awesome visage of the Inhumans looms in
the background is a perfect example of junky B-movie sci-fi horror.
7.
So this will take a little explaining. This cover comes from a mid-2000s Inhumans comic mini-series. It was, overall, a pretty fun Inhumans
comic, focusing on the Inhumans’ place in the world after some recent
upheaval. It was yet another
attempt by Marvel to figure out something to do with the Inhumans, notably for
being the last one before Civil War
swept in and launched the group into space for bigger and better
adventures. However, one really
cool idea from the comic was that the Inhumans increased public visibility led
to ordinary people worshipping them as gods.
That’s what’s going on with this cover, a collection of
loons in the US dressing up as the Inhumans as a sort of Jim Jones cargo-cult
recreation of the team. It’s one
of the coolest takes on the idea of there being super humans and didn’t become
bogged down in that aspect of the story (it was a single issue exploration of
the issue.) It also makes for a
truly surreal cover that’s honestly kind of unnerving all things considered,
except for the dog, that dog is adorable.
6.
Another modern cover, this one from The Uncanny Inhumans comic, the most blatant attempt to turn the
Inhumans into the X-Men. While the
comic may have been bland this is an absolutely stellar cover. It’s another example of
quasi-metaphorical cover but one of the most beautifully rendered examples of
that. The titular “quiet room”
referred to by the little intertitles on the bottom right hand side is a room
that Black Bolt had created rather than a room inside his brain.
However, the whole pitch of the room is that it’s the one
place in the entire universe where Black Bolt can actually speak due to the
sound canceling properties of the location. Twisting that relief into the visual of a doorway into Black
Bolt’s mind is a great way to literalize the concept of the quiet room and
create a striking and memorable image in the process. I also really love the eerie, uncanny valley affect on Black
Bolt, he looks like a bizarre CG rendering of a human even though it’s achieved
through conventional illustration, great stuff.
5.
Silent War was a
mini-series where in the Inhumans declared war on the US government. It was a dynamite series, coming out
hot on the heals of Civil War and in
the midst of Bush’s second term right when the whole idea of American foreign
policy was starting to look like a big mistake. What’s more, a lot of comic fans were still pissed off that
Iron Man had been such a complete monster in the Civil War event but never got punished for it. Bringing in Black Bolt, the most
powerful being in the solar system, to put the beat down on Iron Man and his
whole team of colluding Avengers was a brilliant twist.
Granted, the series didn’t end up that great in the end (World War Hulk was where Iron Man got
his real payback) but this cover is a perfect visualization of what the series
meant when it happened. Black Bolt
and his fellow Inhumans, triumphant, silent, alien, and above the heroes of
Earth and our other defenders. I
really love that tattered American flag Black Bolt’s displaying as a trophy of
war, such a striking image.
4.
Another Silent War
cover, this one coming from the comics finale. I’m not normally a fan of back-shots, I think they get way
to over used, especially now that every damn movie poster feels the need to
have the hero turn his back on the audience for no discernable reason, but this
is pretty cool. The image is one
of the few to really draw on the iconography of the Inhumans, specifically
Inhuman leader Black Bolt. His super
sonic voice is the most destructive force in our solar system so whenever he
flexes his vocal chords to wreck some devastation it’s portrayed like a serious
event.
What’s more, his super scream is usually accompanied by a
big, dramatic pose and that’s what we’re seeing here, only we’re seeing it from
behind rather than the front. That
essentially makes this a twist on the standard “lone figure faces camera” style
of cover set-up. Plus, we get a
nice shot of all these SHIELD spaceships in the bargain which is a pretty
imposing site, especially with Black Bolt dominating the frame to stand against
them.
3.
Jumping back to the Inhuman
comic from the #11 spot, this is actually the series that laid a lot of the
ground work for Agents of SHIELD’s
Inhuman plotlines. I don’t really
know what my readership thinks of Agents
of SHIELD so I’m not sure if that’s a selling point or a reason to stay
away but this cover is dope. I’m a
big fan of minimalist covers and this is an absolutely stellar use of sparse
coloring and the unique design of Black Bolt.
The negative space of formed by the chains and Black Bolt’s
body is a great contrast to the hot pink of the cover, a reference to Black
Bolt’s wife Medusa who had slowly morphed into a quasi-villain at this
point. What’s more, I love how
they use the white of Black Bolt’s unique pattern to outline his body, that’s a
great touch. Again, like #11 the
design is marred by some questionable proportions, especially in Black Bolt’s
feet, but I’m willing to forgive that in such a striking and memorable image.
2.
Another great cover that takes a little explaining; this is
actually a recreated internal image for a reprint of a classic Inhumans
story. See, the Inhumans comic in
the mid ‘70s was great but it wasn’t very successful so the team eventually
ended up crowded into a split comic.
In a split comic, half the book is devoted to one character and half to
the other, same thing with the cover.
In the case of The Inhumans, they were sharing their comic with Black
Widow when they put together an amazing story where Black Bolt fights
Thor. However, in the slow tee-up
by Marvel to make the Inhumans a relevant and major part of their universe,
they re-released that story in a prestigious one-shot entitled Something Inhuman This Way Comes.
That’s the origin of this cover and what a cover. This is the pose I was talking about
back in slot #4, the arms back, feet planted, face screaming pose of pure power
that compliments Black Bolts curious silence so well. I’m not a huge fan of the digital recolorization, especially
the orange filter that’s been thrown over the entire background, but the
content easily overcomes that. I
especially like the way Black Bolt’s sonic scream is turning back Thor’s
hammer, that’s a true image of power if ever there was one.
1.
One day I’ll probably talk about what War of Kings IS but this is not that day. Suffice it to say it’s in space, it was cool, and this image
is amazing. Part of Black Bolt and
the Inhuman’s whole nature and appeal is that they’re more than just a royal
family; they’re a pantheon. That’s
sort of the unspoken truth of the Inhumans and why all of Marvel’s attempts to
ape Game of Thrones or the X-Men with them fall through, they
aren’t sci-fi royals or sci-fi teens they’re sci-fi Gods. So, turning Black Bolt into as literal
a God as possible, destroying false idols and descending from on high in the
position of Christ is a perfect embodiment of that concept.
I really love the shine and sheen that’s been created on
Black Bolt’s costume, though the entire visual aesthetic of the cover is
otherworldly in all the best ways.
Even with the great pose and iconography of the image, what really makes
this one for me is the creepy glow in Black Bolts eyes and the neutral
expression on his face. It’s the
face of a being thoroughly beyond us in all conceivable ways, like a true God
might be.
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