I realised the other day that I never shared my experience of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 with you. Briefly, while I was disappointed that Mantis bears little resemblance to the Celestial Madonna of Seventies Marvel, I was entertained throughout. The soundtrack isn't quite as eclectic and delightful as Vol.1 ( although I have become slightly obsessed with "Brandy"). And while Stallone is in no way like Stakar Ogord, Kurt Russell completely steals the movie as Ego, Kirby's Living Planet.
It still amazes me that so many of Jack's unique visions have been realised in the cinema and, to a lesser extent, on television. The Inhumans are another of the King's Sixties innovations scheduled to make their debut in the autumn.
With the rights to the X-Universe in the hands of 20th Century Fox, Marvel has repositioned Inhumans as analogues for mutants in products like the Moon Girl or Ms. Marvel comics and the Agents of SHIELD tv show. As I observed with Aquaman last time, it's interesting to note that this is an American story of a monarchy -and an isolationist one, with its roots in Lost Horizon and the legends of Asian enclaves like Shamballa. The Inhumans is an awkward fit, therefore, for the civil rights or LGBT metaphors explored by Marvel's mutants.
In fact, the earliest appearance of the Inhumans depicts them as a super-powered Munsters or Addams Family. But the Chariots of the Gods imagery was layered on very shortly afterward, and developed in the late-Sixties Origins of the Inhumans back-up feature in Thor .
These stories, along with the short-lived Inhumans strip from Amazing Adventures are collected in a Marvel Graphic novel. I was able to pick it up from a shop called Fast Forward, opposite Ayr rail station, during the Easter holidays. Apparently, it's been trading for thirty years and I never noticed it before!
The Origins series begins with the interference of the Kree in Inhuman evolution. Kirby would return to this theme in the mid-70s with The Eternals but here, he casually throws in the inspiration for Noah's Ark and Atlantis ( while contradicting the already-established history of Namor's realm).
The feature continues the tragic history of the silent princeling, Black Bolt and his deranged brother Maximus- the Inhuman version of Caligula.
My first exposure to the feature was with episode two and three of an arc for Triton, which parodies the Creature from the Black Lagoon movies. The aquatic Inhuman bemoans the behaviour of the human race, in Silver Surfer mode: " The humans believe in destroying what they do not understand!" As a result of his cousin's experience in New York, Black Bolt seeks out a new refuge which sorts out the Atlantis inconsistency. However, it's unclear how long ago this happened, relative to FF history. The late Fifties, maybe?
I've read opinions that these stories are reworked from an abortive Inhumans solo comic originally planned as part of the expansion of titles in 1967. The first four issues of the split-book Amazing Adventures are solo Kirby productions and some of his last Marvel work in the early 70s. The small panels are so different from the grandeur of the Thor back-ups but the voice is pure Fourth World: " You refugee from an over-active thyroid!" Goody Rickles lives! The narration is also idiosyncratic: "Once more into the breach, dear friends! For this time, destiny plays its game with a cunning oriental hand..."
The stories themselves are bland fare, however. The FF and the Inhumans are pitted against each other in a largely humorous family feud, awkwardly counterpointed with the looming threat of nuclear war ("The creep...blasted my favourite bathrobe!"). Next, dated Yellow Peril caricature the Mandarin undertakes a quest for ultimate power through the cosmic energy of "the ancients of Yin" - which is where I came in, as a kid. (I always bought comics featuring the Inhumans and daydreamed about a clash with the original X-Men.)
And yet, despite the lacklustre plots. Pure Kirby Inhumans is still my preference. Stan's bombast and declamation becomes very samey and, of course, leads to contradiction. In an Origins episode, an unidentified Inhuman opines "All others who dwell on Earth think us demons. They would not dare to come here!" Yet Triton observes " The wreckage of ancient sailing vessels...my first evidence that we share this world with other races". Maybe he means "I didn't believe in humans until I saw the evidence myself" - but I don't think that was Stan's intention.
The AA series suddenly undergoes a dramatic change of direction with the arrival of Roy Thomas and Neal Adams. Maximus finally develops a super-power- or his ability to influence his fellow Inhumans is finally rationalised as a super-power. Black Bolt is given amnesia and the other exiled royals become embroiled in one of Thomas's fashionable civil rights plots. The Avengers make a glorious cameo appearance but a Black Bolt impostor dies in muddled and confusing circumstances.
The series limps to an ignoble climax, however, in a conflict with Magneto and another of his hordes of artificially created mutates. Having escaped his capture by the FF and Namor, the mutant maniac is also on a quest for nebulous, cosmic power. He appears to die, again, but returns in the pages of the Avengers, where the Inhumans' exile is ended also. Scripts are by neophyte Gerry Conway, whose melodramatic voice is shrill and laboured at this stage in his career. The artwork by Mike Sekowsky and Bill Everett is grotesque and old-fashioned after the cinematic stylings of Adams.
Although the Beast became the lead feature in AA ( followed by Killraven) the Inhumans had three further launches as a team book. The first, in the mid-70s, was the work of Doug Moench, George Perez and Gil Kane; I followed it quite faithfully as a schoolboy. The next was the late 90s Marvel Knights title, which I gave up after the first issue. Three years ago, we had Inhuman, singular and the most recent is Royals by Al Ewing. Since I'm migrating to trade-waiting this year, I'm not following it on a monthly basis.
Why, then, do Inhumans title fail to catch on? Firstly, I think it's hard to sympathise with BB; without dialogue or interior monologue, there's no way into the character. Also, Kirby's Inhumans can do anything the story requires of them. Unlike the Legion of Super-Heroes, with its One Power rule, the scripts don't have to be inventive and there's little drama or opportunity for investment in the Royal family's fate.
Finally, the Inhumans only ever have one plot- Maximus stages a take-over, the Royals overthrow him and he's sent into exile. The reason they don't work as analogues of Homo Superior is because of choice. They're not "born this way". In fact, they do resemble a cult, as incomer Quicksilver once derided them. The royalty gimmick only further alienates them from us, as a society that's more dystopian than utopian.
Next time, another King crafted by the King.
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