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lberestecki's review
3.0
I liked the Fantastic Four half a lot more than the Inhumans half, which surprised me a little bit. Some of that was probably just that I enjoyed the brighter art, but I also don't find the older Inhumans quite as compelling as the younger ones from some of the newer runs.
kamaria's review
4.0
This Inhumans mini-series is one of my favourite arcs in Marvel so far and it's largely because of José Ladrönn's art. He's an amazingly good penciller, incorporating lots of details and texture to the characters and backgrounds and has a great eye for panel composition. And he's mind-blowingly good with the use of colour; I really enjoyed the washed-out watercolour effect that aesthetically tied this world together. His style is specially well suited for this kind of space opera or epic sci-fi story. It reminded me a lot of Mœbius, whose art was the first one I remember falling in love with. No wonder both have worked with Jodorowsky.
The story itself plays with the consequences of the obscure origins of the Inhumans as one of the weapon races created by the Kree, as Ronan the Accuser goes back to Earth to enslave the Inhumans. Ronan, now a Kree exile, needs their help in a plot to assassinate Empress Lilandra Neramani of the Shi'ar. Lilandra is about to seal an agreement with the Spartoi to bring peace to a good sector of the galaxy, in detriment of the Kree and the Commercial Guilds, so Ronan wants to stop her at all costs. The plot could have been part of Star Wars, and I really enjoyed it, but it went beyond just a sci-fi adventure and tried to explore what makes a good king and how far we go to save the people we love. Admittedly, it was a bit limited in that exploration because it only had four issues to do so, but it was a more adult approach to what one normally finds in Marvel.
The Inhumans mini-series ends with the Royal Family in exile and with an uncertain future, so Carlos Pacheco finishes the story in four crossover issues of the Fantastic Four. The Inhumans go to the United Nations as refugees to ask for a place to settle in peace, but not everyone on Earth agrees with their plight. Their petition starts a series of demonstrations against them, with people saying "Inhumans go home" and "Earth for Earthlings". This arc read more like a normal Marvel comic, but it was an interesting take on racism and xenophobia that is even more relevant this year than when it was published. I could not help but think of Trump shouting at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley to go back to their corrupt countries and people chanting "send them home". There is also talk about how building a defensive shield that separates us from the aliens is not a productive response to aliens coming to Earth illegally. That rigid planetary ideology sparks the creation of a fundamentalist group of people, the Hidden, half-Inhuman, half-human, who feel attacked and betrayed by both sides of the conflict. Of all unexpected things, Doctor Doom is the voice of reason in all this. This second mini-series is not as good as the Inhumans one, but still, highly recommended.
The story itself plays with the consequences of the obscure origins of the Inhumans as one of the weapon races created by the Kree, as Ronan the Accuser goes back to Earth to enslave the Inhumans. Ronan, now a Kree exile, needs their help in a plot to assassinate Empress Lilandra Neramani of the Shi'ar. Lilandra is about to seal an agreement with the Spartoi to bring peace to a good sector of the galaxy, in detriment of the Kree and the Commercial Guilds, so Ronan wants to stop her at all costs. The plot could have been part of Star Wars, and I really enjoyed it, but it went beyond just a sci-fi adventure and tried to explore what makes a good king and how far we go to save the people we love. Admittedly, it was a bit limited in that exploration because it only had four issues to do so, but it was a more adult approach to what one normally finds in Marvel.
The Inhumans mini-series ends with the Royal Family in exile and with an uncertain future, so Carlos Pacheco finishes the story in four crossover issues of the Fantastic Four. The Inhumans go to the United Nations as refugees to ask for a place to settle in peace, but not everyone on Earth agrees with their plight. Their petition starts a series of demonstrations against them, with people saying "Inhumans go home" and "Earth for Earthlings". This arc read more like a normal Marvel comic, but it was an interesting take on racism and xenophobia that is even more relevant this year than when it was published. I could not help but think of Trump shouting at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley to go back to their corrupt countries and people chanting "send them home". There is also talk about how building a defensive shield that separates us from the aliens is not a productive response to aliens coming to Earth illegally. That rigid planetary ideology sparks the creation of a fundamentalist group of people, the Hidden, half-Inhuman, half-human, who feel attacked and betrayed by both sides of the conflict. Of all unexpected things, Doctor Doom is the voice of reason in all this. This second mini-series is not as good as the Inhumans one, but still, highly recommended.
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