Posted in: Comics | Tagged: A.I., awakening, Comics, entertainment, inhumanity, marvel, mighty avengers, uncanny x-men

Oh, The Inhumanity: Awakening, Uncanny X-Men, Mighty Avengers And A.I.

Published Wed, 11 Dec 2013 06:00:55 -0600

Last updated Wed, 11 Dec 2013 06:15:17 -0600

Marvel has, of late, told us that unlike the days of old, you don't have to buy every crossover issue of an event to understand what's going on. Indeed, in the likes of Civil War, it was better only to read the comic itself and none of the crossovers. But Infinity changed that, with readers given a diagram that seemed to show they only needed the main six issue, but in reality, they needed to read all the Avengers and New Avengers during the crossover, before the crossover, and probably for the next three years to have a hope in hell of knowing what was going on.

Now we have Inhumanity. More of a broader, overreaching theme than an event crossover. But with Inhumanity: Medusa now renamed Inhumanity #2, something is going on. And this week, Marvel are publishing five titles with Inhumanity banners. So… which are essential? Which are nice, but not exactly necessary? And which are just chancing their arm in the hope of higher sales? Let's find out…

Inhumanity: The Awakening #1

It's got the crossover in the headline and everything, so…

As a bunch of young X-Men from the Jean Grey school doing Infinity cleanup, find a new Inhuman on social media.

And your reference to current technology that's down with the kids doesn't stop there, this comic is full of multiple tweets, threads, discussions giving the comic multiple peanuts galleries and voices, throughout as the Inhuman in question selfies her transformation my Terrigen mists.

This is going to annoy some but I felt it really lifted the book through a variety of competing narratives, allowing the reader to make their own way through and come out the other end. It reflects new social media pressure sin life and the way we portray ourselves and how others interpret that, making text what some might see an allegory in the whole Inhumanity and Terragenesis deal itself.

Good one.

Mighty Avengers #4

Yeah, if they were really wanting to hide who the Spider-Hero fellow is, this is not the way to do it. Those who have read the spoiler will however, get a little thrill from reading these bon mots… and there are a few. Okay, so there is Inhumanity stuff going on, there are threats caused by what happened in Infinity, but this comic is mostly about setting up a more urban Avengers, less of the tower, more of a converted old theatre. If anything it's more of a Superior Spider-Man crossover than an Inhumanity book, with that plot point taking front and centre.

Funny book, though. Al Ewing seems a natural successor as Greg Land's writer-of-choice to Kieron Gillen.

Uncanny X-Men #15.INH

Although that line from Bendis is rather Gillenesque too. Uncanny X-Men #15.INH has, apparently, been shorted at a number of stores, so good luck in getting a copy. The X-Men "Girls Night Out" really does take on the Claremont and Silvestri classic, down to much of the minutae, the Outback and the Weapon X facility being devoid of girlie stuff, Regent Street, London taking the place of an Australian mall, and stuff going down over a new powered individual – in this case a Latverian tourist rather than Jubilee. Whose logo was designed to look like the London tube… the Jubilee line running very close to where this comic is set. See, it all ties in. Somehow. And you'll come out of it smiling.

Avengers: AI #7

Okay, so this is probably the most Inhumanity of them all, what with it actually having a proper Inhuman in it. Two, even. But then it also feels incredibly perfunctory, not really progressing the plot of the book, or of guest star Daredevil, or of Inhumanity, and only the final two pages seemingly doing anything in a cliffhanger tease fashion.

Still, it does have a nice Waid-Daredevilly cover, and artist André Lima Araújo does a rather enjoyable Art Adams riff. And sometimes that's enough.