Favourite Inhuman

[Engage]

The Inhuman Royal Family has been a Marvel cornerstone for years and were pretty clearly a bullpen favourite from the 60's and 70's. The Royal Family (Black Bolt, Medusa, Triton, Karnak, Gorgon, Maximus and Crystal) along with everyone's favourite teleporting -dog Lockjaw are each great characters on their own.

So the question is: Which one is your favourite?

Mine is Karnak. He has no actual powers derived from the Terrigen Mists but has really practical and useful powers. Plus his dynamic with Gorgon is awesome, he's Marvel's ultimate little buddy. Whenever Gorgon and Karnak are dispatched to deal with whoever ran away or whatever artifact the Inhumans have lost they always make me laugh. So awesome.

[spiderwasp]

I've always enjoyed characters that grow and develop as the years go by, so I'll have to go with Crystal. She was downright boring in her early days in the FF. She had enormous power, but we never really saw it get used. Instead, she just stood around mooning over Johnny. Later, through her marriage and breakup with Quicksilver, her membership in both the Avengers and the FF (post Torch), and motherhood, she grew into a fascinating character. Her powers did turn out to be formidable, she exhibited flaws (Such as her affair), and loyalty, and her claws really came out when her child was endangered.
Also as sister to Medusa, sister in law to Black Bolt, cousin to the other Inhumans and Maximus, mother to Luna, ex-romantic interest to the Human Torch and Black Knight, rival to Sersi, wife to Quicksilver, sister in law to the Scarlet Witch and Vision, and daughter in law to Magneto, master of Lockjaw, and teammate to the Inhumans, Avengers, and Fantastic Four, she may be the single character most firmly planted within the Marvel Universe.

[ozbot]

Never really warmed to the Inhumans. Except Lockjaw. Gotta love Lockjaw.

[Doctor Bong]

Uuummm... even though Crystal's my favorite too, I never really stopped to think about how she's part of so many superhuman connections; interesting & shrew analysis, spiderwasp...
She's probably up there with Spidey, the Thing & Cap when it comes to connections in the Superhuman Community.

[dlw66]

Lockjaw, hands down. The scenes with him and the Thing are priceless!

[sharkar]

spiderwasp said:

Also as sister to Medusa, sister in law to Black Bolt, cousin to the other Inhumans and Maximus, mother to Luna, ex-romantic interest to the Human Torch and Black Knight, rival to Sersi, wife to Quicksilver, sister in law to the Scarlet Witch and Vision, and daughter in law to Magneto, master of Lockjaw, and teammate to the Inhumans, Avengers, and Fantastic Four, she may be the single character most firmly planted within the Marvel Universe.

Absolutely...This echoes a point that was made in the recent thread dlw started ("Know the Classics: Crystal and Quicksilver"). To summarize, joining two then-bland characters (Quickie and Crystal) resulted in many Marvel "family" connections and years' worth of storylines (even if Roy Thomas forgot whose idea their union was!)

I've probably already said this (in dlw's thread), but Crystal has always been one of my favorite characters, Inhuman or otherwise. She wasn't very sympathetic in the "Son of M' mini-series but she was riveting because she is so real: frustrated, selfish, maternal, flirtatious, etc. When written correctly, she comes across as a good but flawed person, and that's always interesting (to me).

Yes, Lockjaw and the Thing are a great pair. I love Lockjaw, he appeared in the recent Thing mini-series and was adorable as usual. And I'd love to see the relationship between Black Bolt and Medusa explored some more. I gather they had a baby (in the Ann Nocenti Inhumans graphic novel someone mentioned in the other thread) but I guess the baby is not around? In SOM, Crystal made a somewhat snide remark to Medusa and BB about them not having children.

All in all, the Inhumans were one of Kirby's most inspired, richest creations.

[Doctor Bong]

I'm glad you've mentioned Medusa & Black Bolt's son, sharkar, as that's something I've wondered about on & off myself...
Could anyone please illuminate sharkar & I on what happened with their issue...?

[Engage]

They had a boy named Ahura. Then there was a power struggle and some things I don't really remember. I think the entire thing got a little screwed up with Heroes Reborn and I'm not even sure if the boy is in continuity anymore.

[sharkar]

Thanks very much, Engage. I did a quick search on "Ahura." Not much turned up in terms of the Marvel character- -but I did read that when Medusa became pregnant with Ahura, the Inhumans' Genetics Council vetoed it, due to the "instability" in Black Bolt's family (Maximus). The Council ordered Medisa to terminate her pregnancy, so she fled to Earth and gave birth. Then at some point the Genetics Council assumed control of the baby.

The cover of Fantastic Four Unlimited #2 shows Medusa with a child in her arms. I have not read this story but it's probably Ahura...so I guess at some point she tried to retrieve him.

But Ahura must still be gone, or perhaps hidden from public view in Attilan, based on the comment Crystal made to Medusa and BB in "Son of M":"Maybe if you had children of your own, you'd have some idea of what I'm feeling now" (when Luna went off with Pietro).

[Doctor Bong]

Maybe the writer just forgot or was never aware of him...?

[sharkar]

ua2 said:

Maybe the writer just forgot or was never aware of him...?

ua2, that's certainly a possibility. But the panel in question shows B Bolt and Medusa's stony faces (and Crystal's dialogue balloon) and suggests an awareness of a child. I wish I had a scan of that panel to post here. It's in SOM #4.

[Shiryu]

I don't know much of the Inhumans, I think I have only read 3 or 4 issues where they are in there, including their first appearance. Hopefully the DVDs will fill the gaps, but in the meantime I think Black Bolt is an interesting character (wonder if the fact that he doesn't speak helps ^^).

[Yellowjacket]

Lockjaw, too.

It was a sly move from Dan Slott to pair him again with the Thing in the short lived Volume 2 series - fun to read. A pitty the series was cancelled.
Though I didn´t like the art, especially Dwyer´s, I really enjoyed the book.

[von Bek]

As a kid I liked Triton, he looked really inhuman and played a pivotal role in the Kree Srull war.

[Engage]

I thought I'd pop back into this thread and stir it up a bit. Lockjaw is, by all accounts I can see, simply a large teleporting dog and not an Inhuman. For those who picked Lockjaw, are there any new choices if he is disqualified?

[redstatecap]

Crystal, because if she was real I would probably stand a decent chance of getting laid.

RSC

[spiderwasp]

engage said:

I thought I'd pop back into this thread and stir it up a bit. Lockjaw is, by all accounts I can see, simply a large teleporting dog and not an Inhuman. For those who picked Lockjaw, are there any new choices if he is disqualified?

There was actually a story that I seem to recall from the Thing's old book (The one that followed Secret Wars) in which there was debate about whether or not to submit Luna to the Terragon mists. It turned out that they don't always have the effects one might imagine and that Lockjaw was actually the result of a person who was submitted. This has never been referenced again but I swear I'm not making it up. (I could be remembering incorrectly as I haven't looked it up, but I'm not making it up.)

[Doctor Bong]

Yes, I remember it too; it sounded pretty silly but yes, according to this, Lockjaw is not "just a dog", but another inhuman gone...doggone...wrong! If I'm remebering correctly, it is even posited that he could conceivably talk, but chooses not to...

[Engage]

I thought that was retconned to be a prank on the Thing. I found an article at FFPlaza about that.

ffplaza.com/commcenter/articles/Lockjaw.shtml

[dlw66]

I never read the Thing's solo book, but I distinctly recall that Lockjaw was an Inhuman and not a dog. But, I don't believe that's the way things are now.

If I had to throw out Lockjaw, I'd go with Gorgon.

Anyone remember the Hulk Annual where he fought the Inhumans, but it was "evil" Inhumans like Timberius, Leonius (pardon if I have the names wrong -- I'm close...)?

[spiderwasp]

engage said:

I thought that was retconned to be a prank on the Thing. I found an article at FFPlaza about that.

ffplaza.com/commcenter/articles/Lockjaw.shtml

Thanks for sharing this article. I had not read that issue of X-Factor and had never seen this explanation. I usually hate it when a writer retconns something that another writer has set up, but in this case, I agree that the idea of the Inhumans treating Lockjaw like a dog if he was really a deformed Inhuman was disturbing. It was even more disturbing in recent issues of the excellent Slott "Thing" series that Ben took Lockjaw and also treated him like a dog. Apparantly someone eventually filled him in on the prank.
As explanations go, it isn't a brilliant one though. Since that was such a serious moment and such a serious debate, it seems unlikely that Gorgon and Karnak would have chosed that moment to pull a prank. It seems more likely that they could see that no argument was getting through to Pietro so they did what they had to do to get his attention. Also, since Pietro was so determined to subject Luna, his reaction seems out of character. He's not the type to think that sort of joke is funny, even in hindsight. Oh well, desperate times call for desperate measures and I suppose I'm satisfied that the Inhumans are completely - well, inhuman, after all.

[sharkar]

In Peter David's defense, he was asked by Marvel to address the situation (i.e., make Byrne's Lockjaw revelation go away). David says in his recent book that the editors at Marvel hated what Byrne did --making Lockjaw a terriby-mutated person-- because it "ran counter to thirty years' worth of Inhumans continuity in which the Inhumans clearly treated Lockjaw like a dog." Many editors at Marvel at that time were angered by Byrne's revelation (while acknowledging its shock value).
So when David took over X-Factor book he was asked by TPTB to clean the mess up. According to David, he wrote it so that Pietro's later assertion that it was just a joke can be taken either way--that Pietro is lying to save face (and it was not a joke)..... or that he is telling the truth (it was a joke). But as you say, Spiderwasp, it seems totally out of character for Pietro and certainly was not a brilliant explanation!
For you Lockjaw fans out there, here is a link to a website about Lockjaw,
www.zaksite.co.uk/lockjaw/index.html

[Bored Yesterday]

Lockjaw should not be disqualified. I've always seen him as an inhuman that happened to be in a quadruped form, not necesarrily a dog. Some writers do him like that, some treat him more like a dog. I like to think of him as completely cognizant like a human would be..

So, in my own version of reality, Lockjaw will always be my favorite inhuman, and really the only one I like at all, come to think of it.

[Bored Yesterday]

And you know -- come to think of it -- why do super-empowering mutations have to always retain the bipedal form? I liked the idea of the Terragen mists making Lockjaw into what he is. Shouldn't there be more mutants in the MU with 30 legs or something?

[Shiryu]

Nice article, I had never read it.
Btw the fact that it was Byrne who started the mess by having LJ speak as an Inhuman goes along nicely with what has been said in his thread here

[sharkar]

BTW, the Inhumans will be the featured attraction in the upcoming mini-series "Silent War," a sequel of sorts to "Son of M" (and boasting the same creative team, David Hine and Roy Allan Martinez). Mr. Son of M himself - - Pietro - - will also appear in this.

[Nutcase65]

I have to go with Lockjaw also. I love it when he gets the Things arm and won't let go.

Plus you just want to go up to him and hug his neck