The Frustrations of a Marvel Reader: Inhumans vs. X-Men Edition

At the time of this writing, there's one element of Marvel's comics that's just out of reach of becoming part of their cinematic universe: X-Men, and by extension mutants, due to their film rights being owned by 20th Century Fox. However, Marvel has one property that can fill that void: the Inhumans. For those who don't know, Inhumans are super powered beings who are descended from primitive humans that were experimented on by the Kree alien race, who have for the most part secluded themselves from the rest of the world in the hidden city of Attilan ruled by the Royal Family. Inhumans are born normal until they are exposed to Terrigen mists, which triggers a process known as Terrigenesis that activates their Inhuman abilities. However, it is a very selective process and not everyone is allowed to have powers. As you can tell, there's quite a few differences between Inhumans and mutants. While an Inhumans movie is in the works, they have already been introduced in the MCU on the "Agents of SHIELD" TV show. I really enjoy what they're doing with this concept, even though in some instances you could easily swap out "Inhuman" for "mutant".

But in the comics, Marvel still has mutants, but they have been pushing the Inhumans into the mainstream in recent years. During the "Infinity" event in 2013, the Inhuman King Black Bolt set off a Terrigen Bomb which dispersed Terrigen Mists into Earth's atmosphere, causing any human with Inhuman DNA to go through Terrigenesis and gain powers, leading to a slew of new characters and books focusing on these new Inhumans dealing with the big change they've gone through and what they do with their new gifts.
Now, I don't mind the Inhumans getting the spotlight shown on them, because Marvel is known for doing this when it comes to characters becoming part of the MCU (see Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Black Panther). My problem is that the X-Men appear to be getting the shaft in the process.

There has been much bad blood between Marvel and Fox over the years over the rights to certain characters. Over the years, Fox has owned the rights and produced films based on not only X-Men, but Fantastic Four and Daredevil as well. When Fox was about to lose the rights to Daredevil for not producing a film before the deadline, they asked Marvel for an extension only to be refused; Daredevil's rights returned to Marvel, which later lead to the critically acclaimed Netflix series. While this is not the root cause of their feud, it's one example. Others have included Fox using Quicksilver in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (in a scene that had originally been written for Juggernaut) before he appeared in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (the character is in a gray area that allows both Marvel and Fox to use him). In addition, Marvel also cancelled (or at least put on hiatus) the long running Fantastic Four series some time before Fox's "Fant4stic" was released (honestly though, would you want to be associated with that movie?). But just before that, in an issue of The Punisher, the cast of said film was apparently blown up.

Immature? Probably. Funny? Well I know I laughed when I saw that.

Because of this bad blood though, this has lead to a number of conspiracy theories that Marvel has been slowly killing off the X-Men franchise. For example, some people actually believe that Marvel ordered that no new characters be created in the X-Men books because that would mean Fox would gain their film rights; that is pure crap though as new characters are still being introduced. For example, there is a new young mutant Sapna being mentored by Magik. In addition, the fact that Marvel doesn't immediately announce any X-Men books in the aftermath of an event like "Secret Wars" and "Civil War II" leads to the belief that Marvel is cancelling the books like they did Fantastic Four.
Despite a part of me that worries, I never believe rumors like this. The X-Men and mutants have been around for over 50 years and are such a pivotal part of the Marvel universe for them to be just gotten rid of. And besides that, the idea that they would cancel to the comics to try and hurt the movies is ridiculous as what happens in the comics has little bearing on whether or not people will see the movies.

But even if they are still part of the comics, what's happening in them does seem to show Inhumans overshadowing the X-Men. As the Terrigen Mists becomes integrated in Earth's atmosphere, this has resulted in a side effect in mutants, killing them, striking them with a disease deemed "M-Pox", and making them sterile. In summation, mutants are (once again) facing extinction as the Inhumans thrive.
As I said, I enjoy that Marvel is doing with the Inhumans on TV as part of the MCU. In the comics though, I just don't care. I'm sure they're finding an audience and that's good for Marvel and fans, but it's just hard for me to be interested. Part of it is that I find Inhumans, particularly the Royal Family, to be too uppity and don't seem to work well with other heroes, easily taking offense. They're "super people with attitude" as Hulk once described them on an episode of "Avengers Assemble." But I think the fact they have a hierarchy is what makes them less relatable than mutants. The only aspect they share are that they have powers due to their genes. Mutants however have always been a metaphor for puberty, with the changes teens go through and having to deal with them, and bigotry, that people hate others for something that have no control over, in this case having powers in place of race or sexual orientation. Even though mutant villains like Magneto have global aspirations, they're still, in a way, normal people.
The main part of my trouble with Inhumans though is the fact that WE STILL HAVE MUTANTS IN THE COMICS. I and many others have grown up with the X-Men and they are well known in pop culture. Not everyone would want to read the apparent 'knock-off' while the original is still around. The only X-book I have on my pulllist at the moment is "Extraordinary X-Men", which is the current flagship book of the X-line, and I enjoy it for the most part because of the character line-up, even if they are dealing with the threat of extinction due to the Terrigen. The best way to describe it is that the Inhumans are the stepdad of the Marvel universe; no matter how hard they try, the Inhumans will never have the same impact as the X-Men, even if you do take the X-Men's trademark "Uncanny" adjective for the main Inhumans book. (Note: I don't mean that to be an insult to stepdads; I'm just using that whole "you're not my real dad" line some kids say for a comparison.)

In a few months time, Marvel will begin the "Inhumans vs. X-Men" miniseries, where the tensions between the two finally explode as the Terrigen is about to saturate the Earth to a point where it will be uninhabitable for mutants. I was planning on reading this, but the solicits for January were released and left a bad taste in my mouth:

• New Attilan is conquered. Medusa and her generals are being held prisoner as the X-Men prepare to cleanse the world of the Terrigen Cloud. • Could this be the end of Inhuman progeny? • Now, the only hope for the Inhuman legacy rests in the hands of an unlikely crew of young Inhumans.

It was at this point I realized two things. The first is my already indifference to the Inhumans, that I hardly know any of the characters of their side, let alone these young ones. I mean, in the image at the beginning of this post, I probably know only half the characters on the Inhuman side. But the most damning thing is that they're portraying the X-Men as the villains, when they're the ones fighting for their lives. While I'm just going by the solicit info, even if the X-Men do cleanse the Terrigen in the atmosphere, I don't think that would do anything to the already existing Inhumans who have powers. The only problem I could see is if they no longer have any Terrigen Crystals, which probably would end the Inhuman lineage (if anyone knows what the deal is with that, feel free to let me know). My point remains the same though that Marvel seems to be playing favorites again with Inhumans defending themselves against the X-Men, even though they have every reason to fight. And this isn't the whole "their existence could lead to our extinction so we have to strike first" argument humans in any X-Men story use; the threat to the mutant race is clear and present. At least back in 2012's "Avengers vs. X-Men" event, the real antagonist was the Phoenix Force with the two teams arguing over how to stop or use it. The conclusion I reached was to skip "Inhumans vs. X-Men" all together, even the "Extraordinary X-Men" tie-in.

But there is a light in the distance. Last week, Marvel announced "ResurrXion", the post-IVX revitalized line of X-Men titles:

""Extinction is no longer staring them in the face, so the X-Men can exhale and turn their attention back to doing what’s defined them since the beginning: Protecting a world that hates and fears them," said the editor. "These new titles won’t cast the X-Men as members of a species fighting for their survival but rather as big, bright, colorful super heroes who want to demonstrate to the world that they want to walk with them hand-in-hand into the future. They’ll have costumes with capes, a school, and softball games. Oh, there will be softball games. The goal is to tell exciting new X-Men stories while keeping an eye on the tropes and touchstones that longtime X-Men fans cherish.""

Well things are obviously going to work out for the X-Men at the end of IVX, and I couldn't be happier. Not only have they admitted the X-Men haven't gotten the best treatment, but they're about to flourish again, and I haven't been this excited for the X-line since "Regenesis" back in 2011. I have a feeling this will accomplish what "Rebirth" is doing for DC. While very little is known about these titles at this moment, the ones I'm looking forward to most are the Blue and Gold books.
I hope that this news will finally put to rest the conspiracies of Marvel killing off the X-Men. In fact, this actually fuels reports of Marvel and Fox patching things up. Not only are they working together on the "Legion" TV series coming to FX in February as well as another series coming to Fox, but there's rumors that Fox will be seeking Marvel's consultation on future films. Will this lead to a deal similar to the one with Sony over Spider-Man? We can only hope; just keep Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.

So if you like the Inhumans, good on you. As for me, I'll be waiting for "ResurrXion."

Rebirth Reviews Part 3: Batman Beyond

A bit late on this since I've been watching and writing up my review on Luke Cage, but we're back with my Rebirth Review series. Since my last post in the series, I've made a few decisions: I WILL be buying the first volumes of each Rebirth title, but I've decided not to do full reviews for each story arc. I worry that there may be some cases where I may not have enough to say for a write-up and I'd prefer to do an all or nothing approach. So now I'll just be reviewing the Rebirth one-shots, such as today's issue...

Written by Dan Jurgens

Art by Ryan Sook

Batman Beyond's history in the New 52 universe has been...interesting. The "Futures End" 2014-15 weekly featured Terry McGinnis traveling back in time to prevent an apocalyptic future with the world controlled by the artificial intelligence Brother Eye. Unfortunately, Terry would end up dying on his mission, passing on his suit and mission to that timeline's Tim Drake. Tim was able to alter the future and ended up being transported back to the year Terry came from, only to find Brother Eye still in control, but to a lesser extent. It's a distinction without a difference, which in my opinion makes the whole of "Futures End" pointless. This would lead into the new "Batman Beyond" series with Tim in the lead. The first arc wrapped up the Brother Eye storyline, which in my opinion hurts "Futures End" even more because it didn't actually wrap up in its own series. The second arc of "Batman Beyond" dealt with the aftermath and some reconstruction, even reestablishing the Justice League Beyond as seen in the animated series, and the third arc actually felt like a traditional Batman Beyond series. For me the series was a mixed bag with interesting the elements but the art was hit and miss.

A lot of people didn't like Tim Drake taking Terry's place, but I didn't mind. The way I see it, it was because they didn't realize that this Beyond series was not the same as the one from the animated series, or even the comic book continuation series that ran from 2010-14. While the New 52 series retained elements from Beyond that people were familiar with like villains and supporting characters, there were references to the present day DC universe as well, like Tim using Gordon's mech suit from his time as Batman during the first arc against Brother Eye, and that the Superman introduced in the second arc was actually Jon, the pre-Flashpoint Superman's son carrying on his father's legacy. Since it's beginning, DC touted this as the "definitive future of the DC universe". I scoff at that since futures and timelines always change when it comes to comics, but I digress. If anything, this makes Batman Beyond the most unique of the Rebirth titles because it doesn't take place in the present day DCU.

Now here's where things start to get confusing. The "Futures End" timeline that Tim came from had been erased, and we learn that the Tim from the new timeline had gone missing without a trace, never to be found and Bruce putting up his Red Robin suit as tribute (don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but it might be connected to what happened to Tim in the most recent arc in Detective Comics). We also learn that the Terry of this timeline didn't actually die but had gone missing during Brother Eye's attack on humanity, lost his memory and had been brainwashed Spellbinder into believing he was the villain Rewire from the comic continuation series...comics are weird, huh? In the final issue of the previous volume, Terry had regained his memory and Tim returned the mantle of Batman to him, allowing Terry to reclaim his life and Tim to make his own path (only to be mysteriously teleported somewhere, but I guess that'll be picked up on later). So with all this backstory out of the way, let's finally delve into the Rebirth issue.

The issue is pretty much about Terry getting back into the swing of things, not only as Batman, but as Terry McGinnis. His brother Matt and best friend Max help him get settles in, but he's most worried about trying to get back in touch with Dana, his old girlfriend. Since Terry and his friends are young adults now, something to note is that Dana has become a social worker. Back in the animated series, all I really remember about Dana is that she was just Terry's girlfriend who would get upset with Terry for being late or not showing for their dates because of his Batman duties, so it's nice that they've added another layer to her.

As I mentioned before, the timeline retains many elements seen from the Batman Beyond animated series (with this issue even going through Terry's Batman origin exactly the same way which is nice for brand new readers and I would hope get them interested in checking out the animated series as well) with some differences, but while the previous volume tried to tie it in with the present DCU, based on this issue, it appears that with Terry back, they're trying to distance themselves and make it feel like the old Batman Beyond. Tim Drake and Brother Eye aren't mentioned at all, and the only references to previous events are Terry's previously perceived death, that he misses having Bruce in his ear, and that his mother died "in the war", i.e. Brother Eye's attack. Maybe it's just as well since DC may be trying to win people back over after killing Terry and replacing him with Tim. But still, even if new readers or old Batman Beyond fans (who may have skipped Tim's tenure) picking this up may be confused by the differences between the series. I know I keep saying that they're different, but my guess is that unlike other alternate version of Bruce's Batman, Batman Beyond has its own unique mythos, which makes it hard for some to think of different versions of the concept.

The art is similar to that of the previous volume drawn by Bernard Chang, which for me again means it's kind of hit and miss, at least based on this issue. But this brings me to one of my overall complaints. Terry's suit has some slight modifications. First off, unlike the cover, Terry's eyes have gone from white to red, and they're no longer just triangles but have weird lines coming from it. It reminds me of the way Scarlet Spider's eyes were drawn sometimes in the 90's. In addition, while not as prominent throughout the issue but more through cover art for future issues, the heels of his boots are also now red. That aspect doesn't bother me as much, but combine that with the now almost demonic looking eyes, it really hurts what was originally such a simple design.

But my overall problem with this issue? It's not a one-shot, or even just a set-up issue. The villains featured are the Jokerz street gang who Terry notices are starting to up their game, going after money and even committing suicide by Joker toxin to avoid talking to the police, and he wants to know what's going on. Terry doesn't really get any answers here, and the last we see of him is Venom powered Jokerz member bringing a wall down on him. I do hand it to this issue for ending on a pretty shocking splash page and it'll definitely make you wonder where it goes. Even so, this really should have been an #1 and not a Rebirth one-shot. What they could have done was something similar to Avenging Spider-Man #15.1, which acted as a bridge between Amazing Spider-Man #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1, which showcased Otto Octavius preparing his new life in Peter Parker's body. What they could've done here was showing Terry upgrading his suit, explaining the differences shown between volumes.

So overall, Batman Beyond does for the most part act as a good jumping on point but does have its problems. But it's nice to have Terry back and I'm interested in seeing where things go.

And with that, that concludes the Rebirth reviews for the titles I read on my regular pull list. Now I wait for the DC Rebirth Omnibus, and this series will return in February with REBIRTH REVIEW MONTH, where I'll review the remaining Rebirth one-shots.

TV Review: Luke Cage - Sweet Christmas!

While being around for decades, Luke Cage hadn't really gotten mainstream attention until he became part of the Avengers in 2004 and boasting a more contemporary look, later making appearances in video games (Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2) and animated series (Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes). At the time of their announcement, Luke Cage was probably my third most anticipated Netflix series after Daredevil and Iron Fist. We saw Cage's MCU debut in Jessica Jones' series, giving us just a taste of the character in anticipation of his own series, and it's within this series that we truly get to know this character as well as see aspects we haven't before in the MCU.

As I said in my Jessica Jones review, Mike Colter was probably the perfect choice to play Cage. He embodies pretty much every thing I know about the character and how you'd expect him to be. While mainly a supporting character in Jessica Jones, we finally get to see the character for who he truly is, and he's much different from the other Netflix heroes we've seen so far. For the most part, Cage is very open with who he is and works to help others when he can, offering a sense of hope. He doesn't hide his identity like Daredevil and while his past haunts him, he doesn't let it consume him like Jessica. He's essentially a man of the people, even being described in the show as "Harlem's Captain America". In one episode where we learn his origins, I constantly got a "Shawshank Redemption" vibe. Besides that, Cage is sometimes quippy, which I believe adds a little more humor compared to the other Netflix shows (I cracked a smile every time he said "Sweet Christmas"), and is very smooth with the ladies. He's just an all around fun character to watch.

In terms of tone, I'd have to say this is the most authentic environment I've seen in a Marvel production. What I mean is that the character interactions just feel natural and I believe this is best shown during the scenes at Pop's Barber Shop, just people shooting the shit with each other; I think that goes hand in hand with Cage's more open nature compared to Daredevil's or Jessica's. You get a real sense of community and solidarity (particularly during a segment in episode 12 with multiple people wearing hoodies with holes in them similar to Cage when he gets shot at as a way to support him) and when something happens to any character, you feel something for them. In addition, the tone matches those of the other Netflix series in terms of intense violence and more. In some ways, it takes it even further than it has before. Pretty much anything can happen outside of saying "fuck" or showing a woman's nipple. Plus, if you never thought you'd hear the 'n' word uttered in something Marvel related, prepare to be wrong.

The action is pretty much what you'd expect when it comes to a bullet proof, super strong hero. There's a lot of shoot outs with Cage just walking through them, often crushing guns beyond repair, and knocking thugs out with just one hit, which does make for some funny moments. It's kind of what I was expecting back in Jessica Jones, that someone super strong should just take care of an enemy with just one hit.

Much like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Suicide Squad", the show offers a very unique array of music that really helps build some atmosphere to tie into what was happening in that moment. It's not my kind of music preference, but I really enjoyed which and in what way the songs were used. Episode 12 even includes an original song called "Bulletproof Love" by rapper Method Man, who Cage saved prior. Lots of superheroes get their own theme song; now Luke Cage does.

We have two supporting female leads in the series with Detective Misty Knight (played by Simmone Missick) and Claire Temple (reprised by Rosario Dawson and returning from Daredevil and Jessica Jones). They're both very independent and can handle themselves well, taking Luke's help when they absolutely need it. It was interesting to watch Misty's character development, believing in the system and questioning if Luke's actions are helping or hurting Harlem, only to continue to have her faith shaken throughout the series. As for Claire, this is the mos prominent she's been in all her appearances so far in my opinion. While she was important in Daredevil, the chemistry between her and Luke just made her feel even more so.

Now for the villains. While Daredevil and Jessica Jones have had one main villain, Luke Cage has a myriad of villains that are very entertaining in their own ways.
* Diamondback: In a way, this character reminded me of the Reverse Flash, in that he hates the hero mostly because he can't be him. I won't go into any spoilers, but there's a lot of bad blood between him and Cage that makes for some entertaining interactions. If anything though, his emotions and hatred of Cage constantly gets the better of him, which leads to forming what should be a really stupid plan in episode 11, even if it does work. In his final battle with Cage, he wears a battle suit that I thought looked really ridiculous.
* Cottonmouth and Mariah Dillard: Cousins raised in the same home, these two have a very unique relationship, having the same goals but working on different sides of the line (even if the latter has one foot across it). Cottonmouth was a pretty scary guy, acting calm and cool one moment and then going berserk the next (much like Kingpin), although he does have a sense of honor. As for Dillard, one thing I liked about her is that in the first episode, she remarks that they shouldn't be overconfident or they could end up like Fisk; it shows that with everything going on in New York, the bad guys know they need to play it smart. And due to her performance by Alfre Woodard, she reminded me of Amanda Waller, although much more emotionally vulnerable in comparison. It initially makes her a sympathetic character, but as the show reaches its conclusion, you will quickly grow to hate her, but in the way that you love to hate her as a villain. It was with these two, as well as Diamondback, that I've started to notice that the main villains of these Netflix series like Kingpin and Kilgrave all seem to have horrible childhoods. I don't if I should go so far as to say that it's starting to get played out, but there could be room for variety.
* Shades: Out of all the villains, this guy was just fun to watch. He has a very smooth and charismatic side as well as conniving and manipulative, which makes me feel like he's probably the smartest of all the villains of the show.
* Tone: Okay, honestly, this guy only last for two episodes, but what he does is so damn evil that he deserves a mention.
Another thing I've come to realize after this show is the perception of how Marvel uses their villains between the movies and TV shows. While the movie villains seem to be hits or misses or somewhere in between, the Netflix villains usually receive the most praise. The way I see it, it's because since the Netflix series are basically 13 hour movies, it gives the writers much more time to write fleshed out characters. Honestly, if the villains are written well, I don't care how much time is focused on them.

Much like season two of Daredevil, Luke Cage ends on a bit of a dark note, even more so than Daredevil in my opinion, but there is still a sense of hope. Between these two, it makes me wonder just how the plot threads laid out will factor into "Defenders", because that will be the next appearance for both heroes given the projected release schedule of the Netflix series.

Overall, Luke Cage is another successful series for Marvel and Netflix, once again giving us a variety of new things, despite a few things spark some familiarity. The way I see it, Jessica Jones is still the best series, Daredevil is still my favorite, but Luke Cage is right behind them, although it was better than season two of Daredevil.

RATING: 9.5/10