It’s on like Donkey Kong folks! The Inhumans and the X-Men are going to duke it out once and for all. “Inhumans vs. X-Men” is the second big heroes versus heroes event Marvel has launched this year and like “Civil War II,” we (Jess and Ken) are here to break it all down for you. In each installment of this column, we’re looking at the main book but along the way we’re sure that we’ll mention the tie-ins as well. When this is all said and done, two new columns will launch with all the new titles. Ken will be looking at the Inhuman side of things and Jess will look at the Mutant side of things. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the first issue of “Inhumans vs. X-Men.” Are you #TeamInhumans or #TeamMutants?
Written by Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan and David Curiel
The Terrigen Mists roll across the planet, birthing new Inhumans and poisoning the planet’s Mutants. Tensions are about to reach their boiling point as time is running out! Terrigen is on the verge of reaching a saturation point in the Earth’s atmosphere. The ultimatum is clear – the X-Men must destroy the mists, or risk Earth becoming forever poisonous to their kind. With their backs to the wall, it’s win now…or go extinct. Only one problem – the Inhumans won’t go down without a fight! And they’re calling in everyone!
Jess: Before we even start talking about the issue, let me just state that there is a giant spoiler warning here. We’re going to talk about what happens in detail, so if you’d rather not know, then skip this column and come back later. Got it?
Good.
So, Ken, here we are, at the start of another Marvel event. It’s kind of funny that I somehow end up doing these things when I don’t read a ton of Marvel books. However, I am fascinated by the Inhumans/Mutants relationship, framing, and fan reception. I am not as caught up as I’d like to be on either of these properties but I have the broader gist of things. I’ve definitely read more X-Men books in the last 5 years than Inhumans books though.
Ken: And I’m kind of the opposite of that. I have been keeping a bit of a wide berth in regards to the X-Men line for many reasons, but I’ve been really digging the ideas behind the Inhumans books that have come out Post-“Infinity.” But I am with you on the being fascinated by the Inhumans/Mutants relationship. It’s a weird weird relationship because they do have similarities. Both are groups of people with power budding inside them, whether it awakens sometime in their life, or in a cultural right of passage.
So, I suppose starting this, we should at least talk about what has led up to this event, specifically “Death of X”?
Jess: Yeah, probably a good idea to fill folks in. So basically there are Terrigen Mist clouds on Earth awakening latent Inhumans. As it turns out the mists are poisonous to the mutants and can kill them. “Death of X” basically tells us what happened to Cyclops right after “Secret Wars” and gets us to the point we are at with “IvX” #1. Cyclops has been killed by the mists but in a bit of a twist, he died at the beginning of that series and Emma Frost has basically been projecting him as the face of the mutant revolution against the Inhumans, making everyone believe he was alive until the very end when she was able to stage a big, dramatic death for him. That about cover it?
Ken: More or less. After “Death of X,” time continued forward as books dealt with the Terrigen Cloud to varying degrees (mostly in the X-Men books “Extraordinary X-Men” and “Uncanny X-Men” and the Inhumans books “Uncanny Inhumans” and “All-New Inhumans”) which finally brought us to “IvX” #0. Up to this point, Hank McCoy — Beast — has been utilizing the resources of New Attilan to try and synthesize a cure to the “M-Pox,” as it has been called. But as each attempt has failed, there is a new revelation: the bonds keeping the Terrigen cloud together are beginning to weaken and, within two weeks time, the Mists will saturate in the atmosphere and there will be nowhere left for mutants on this Earth.
Continued belowMeanwhile, Emma Frost, who really seems to have convinced herself that Black Bolt had killed Cyclops even though she knows that’s not true, has been gathering allies to prepare for this worst case scenario, including those such as Magneto, the All-New X-Men (the time displaced version of the original five X-Men and if that sounds confusing it’s because it is) and some unknowns, which finally leads us into the beginning of issue #1.
Jess: “IvX” #1 basically sets up what’s to come. The X-Men are divided within each other as to whether or not they should destroy the other Terrigen Mist cloud and Emma Frost is still hiding what she did. Ultimately, the X-Men decide to seek and destroy. They have multiple mutants at different places set up to disarm and corner the biggest players in the Inhumans hierarchy and they pretty much succeed…FOR NOW
I have to admit, I’m really over the idea of heroes fighting heroes but I actually want to like this one. I want to like this one because I like how both these groups are existing in a morally grey area in their stance. On one side, you have the Inhumans who are here and want to wake up their own people without much care for what that means. Suddenly getting super power isn’t exactly a miracle depending on who you are and they don’t seem too upset about the mutants. Then you have the mutants who are divided already and some of them want to just swing into violence and deception right away. It could become something interesting.
Ken: Yeah, I think a good portion of what interests me is the common belief among some people that the Inhumans (or in this case, the governing body of New Attilan) are not superheroes…and that’s kind of true. They’re not superheroes, at least in the traditional way. I mean, take Medusa for example. She has shown multiple times willing to put effort into finding a solution to the M-Pox problem; outside of McCoy, the diplomatic mission she gave Crystal in “All-New Inhumans” partially being protecting mutants from the cloud. But she’s a lot closer to a character like Black Panther in that they are a Nation. She will put the best interests of her nation at the head when push comes to shove.
And I know I’ll get shit for this, but not unsimilar to what Cyclops was doing in “Avengers vs X-Men.” That whole “Cyclops was Right” stuff was only because he was right in hindsight. He put a lot of faith in the Phoenix which -let’s face it- could be unreliable.
Regardless, this issue does provide potential for a good story, even if it is a lot of setup. I do enjoy how the creative teams does play with time. For a great deal of it, we believe that these two stories – the X-Men making the decision and events in New Attilan/R.I.V./Quiet Room- are happening simultaneously, but then we reveal they are not…
Jess: Right, I agree with all that. “IvX” #1 does two things right. It does what you’ve mentioned, playing with time and it also lays out how complicated this problem is. It puts all the cards on the table but it can be a bit wordy in how it does it. But I will say this, I don’t think you need to read much more than this to follow what is happening. I think that’s important in an “event” like this. Grab people now and make them stay when all the relaunches happen. I think it also helps that Soule is just very good at pacing and from what I’ve read of his Inhumans work, he has a firm grasp on these characters. It all makes sense but what I worry about is the big picture. This should be a complex moral debate but I worry that there will decidedly be a “good guy” and “bad guy” and that would be a let down.
Ken: Yeah, and I don’t necessarily want to cast judgment about the future, but considering some of her actions in “Death of X” and that cover for issue #6, I have a feeling that Emma Frost will be sacrificed on the Altar of “We Need a Common Enemy for Them to Fight” and, while I don’t mind villainous Emma, that would feel immensely cheap.
Continued belowSo, what was your favorite moment in this issue?
Jess: I have a soft spot for Jean Grey and I want to see her be more than a plot device again. I really enjoyed that sequence between her and Karnak. The entire idea of the original five still being around is so silly but it might give someone a chance to write a good version of her again.
What about you?
Ken: I have to admit, that scene between Jean and Karnak was my favorite too. It’s definitely the most interesting pair up, even if I’ve made it no secret that I can’t stand the ANXM still being here. It’s the dichotomy of someone with so much power but not as much experience vs. someone with little raw power (Karnak was never exposed to the Mists) but with a lot of experience. I do feel like this is going to be shifted over to tie-in land, which is a shame.
Another scene that was really well handled was the one between Black Bolt, Emma and Dazzler. It was just a well-done use of moves and counter-moves that show the creators at least have a skill to not go with the expected.
So, I have to say: One scene I really do hope happens is a scene between Magneto and Luna, the daughter of Crystal and Quicksilver. One of the disappointing things with the scene of Magneto’s attack on the R.I.V. is, yeah that was essentially Magneto attacking his ex-daughter-in-law and he has in the past shown great affection for Luna, in spite of the animosity between him and Pietro. It would be an interesting layer to add for this young girl seeing her grandfather attack her home.
Jess: I really enjoyed the bit with Black Bolt, Dazzler and Emma Frost as well but a lot of that had to do with the art.
We’re definitely going to get fill in artists cause they’ll have to keep this on time (I hope). What did you think of the art?
Ken: Well, yeah that’s already been confirmed. Javier Garron is coming with issue #3. That said, I’ve always had a kind of up-and-down relationship with Lenil Yu. While I do appreciate his skill, his faces never seem to convey emotion to me, even when they… you know… are conveying emotion. Going to that BB/Emma/Dazzler scene, was probably the best artistic-wise and that had major help from colorist David Curiel being able to sell the lights and sound powers of Dazzler and Black Bolt respectively.
What did you think?
Jess: I’m the same with Yu. He’s great with detail but that doesn’t always make for something you can connect with as a reader. I think he does a fine job here on the whole. He definitely knows how to create a world for his characters to exist in. I liked the color work a lot because I think it struck the right chord between the dark and the light. It strengthened Yu’s work.
Any final thoughts?
Ken: Okay, this may be me looking too far into the future, but as someone who has generally been liking the Inhumans side of things, those books always flourish when they were doing their own thing. Like, there are several plot points that Soule has been quietly working on – the Skyspears, the stuff with Ahura and Ennilux – that I’m interested and I really foresee this event derailing all of that and it all going into obscurity and I hope that’s not the case. So, kind of like with the announcement of “All-New Wolverine” continuing, hoping the same is true for “Uncanny Inhumans.”
Jess: As far as this issue goes, it worked for me without being mind blowing. I’m not dreading reading more by any means. I do hope that when this is all said and done that each side has a nice carved out spot in the MU.
Ken’s Final Verdict: 6.5
Jess’ Final Verdict: 6.7
What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments below!
