Inhumans 3 NM Marvel Knights Paul Jenkins Jae Lee 1st print

$29.99

SKU: 15263 Category:

Description

Inhumans (1998 2nd Series) #3
Published Jan 1999 by Marvel.

“Ghost in the Machine”
Written by Paul Jenkins.
Art by Jae Lee.

The Inhumans home of Attilan is under assault, both from without and within. On the outside, armed forces are determined to pierce the protective barrier, and with help from a traitor, they just might accomplish it. On the inside, Maximus the Mad—villainous brother to the King of the Inhumans, Black Bolt—is imprisoned…but is he helpless? Is there a Civil War brewing between Attilan’s Inhumans and its second-class citizens, the Alpha Primitives? Even worse, there are tensions brewing within the Royal Family itself, as powerful Gorgon, among others, wonders why they don’t strike out against the humans seeking to destroy them. Black Bolt, as always, is silent. It’s unclear whether his silence hides inaction, or possible salvation.

Karnak is approached by Black Bolt and Medusa about this shocking revelation. Karnak confides in Black Bolt and Medusa about this tragic event. Karnak likens Inhuman society to a house of cards. About a hundred years ago Ultarnt was commissioned by the Genetic Council to study the ritual of Terrigenesis. While Inhumans do fulfill their genetic destiny though the process of Terrigenesis, they also become a part of a much larger picture. Inhuman studies have shown that when there is a need in society for a certain roll to be filled; if an integral member of society dies a replacement comes about within a matter of three years.. Climate changes will facilitate suitable mutations. Times of war or strife will facilitate other appropriate mutations. While it is believed that Inhumans adapt based on their own destiny, they actually mutate to adapt to future needs. Terrigenesis based mutations are not random. This research has far-reaching implications and as such was kept secret from Inhuman society as a whole. An Alpha Primitive is an inherently useless mutation. Useless mutations occurring within Inhuman society are likened to the removal of a card from the base of the house of cards. An Alpha Primitive is more than an embarrassment to family or society, it could identify the collapse of Inhuman society as a whole.

When Black Bolt and Medusa bring this unsettling thought to the rest of the Inhuman royal family, Crystal adds that she believes that Mother Nature is angry with the Inhumans. Inhumans have made token attempts to free the Alpha Primitives and even integrate them into Inhuman society. Inhumans may instead be moving into Alpha Primitive society like mules. Nature may ridding herself of the unnatural by phasing out the Inhumans entirely. Medusa and Black Bolt inform Carthus that Woz is to become an Alpha Primitive ambassador to the Inhumans.

Dinu, Tonaja, and Nahrees begin their training as a part of the Inhuman Royal Guard under the supervision of Gorgon himself. Gorgon ridicules their abilities, and forces them to clean the floors until he can see his reflection.

Meanwhile now seemingly Alpha Primitive Woz is given over to the Alpha Primitive society. This act seals his fate as a lower life form in Inhuman society, doomed to live in the tunnels under Attilan. Woz understands that he doesn’t belong as an Inhuman, but is able to communicate little more than his name. He can hear Maximus’ voice in his head planting ideas while his body begins to change. He is becoming larger and is developing ridges on his forearms. Looking into the mirror in his cell he gets a glimpse of his true powers. Woz travels through a mirror in the Alpha Primitive underground and ends up teleporting though the mirror in Maximus’ cell.

The Inhumans are one of Marvel’s most enduring oddities. A race of genetic anomalies secluded on their island kingdom of Attilan, their mutations are self-inflicted; as a coming-of-age ritual, each Inhuman exposes themselves to the Terrigen Mists that impart unearthly powers – some extraordinary, some monstrous. But now, Attilan is under attack from without and within. Can the Royal Family, led by the mute Black Bolt, repel the foreign invaders who assail their outer defenses, as well as the internal threat of Black Bolt’s insane brother, Maximus the Mad? Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee infuse one of Marvel’s oldest families with a modern sensibility – including international politics, class dissension and the age-old struggle of growing up. Dark and grimly compelling, it remains one of Marvel Knights’ most beloved stories.

Near mint, 1st print.