Bronze Age Babies: Who's the Best... Inhuman?

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Who's the Best... Inhuman?

34 comments:

Rip Jagger said...: That's like picking among your children for sure.

I'll stick to the Royal Family for this one. Here's my ranking:

7.Maximus
6.Karnak
5.Crystal
4.Medusa
3.Black Bolt
2.Gorgon
1.Triton

Triton is my pick because of the sheer alien nature of him. Of the Royal's the only one who cannot pass as a human (tough for Goron but he can do it in a pinch) and when we first met Triton he was even isolated from his cousins.

When I stumbled on Marvel, Triton was getting a big push. He had a three-part story in the back of Thor, and was a regular guest-star in Sub-Mariner. I always thought he'd make a great Avenger and an even better Champion.

Rip Off; April 7, 2013 at 7:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Lockjaw; April 7, 2013 at 7:13 AM
William said...: Black Bolt. He's the coolest and coolest looking.; April 7, 2013 at 8:13 AM
Humanbelly said...: Triton. It's definitely Triton. I said this out loud (and I'm at home by myself. . . mildly disturbing) before I opened the comments section, and was very gratified to see that Rip was already right there with me. Even echoing a thought I've harbored for a long time that he would make an ideal Avenger-- that's great! He's the only Inhuman that doesn't seem to be beset with deep-seated (and to me, rather tiresome) personality problems, such as arrogance, aloofness, inflated ego, self-doubt, infidelity, bigotry and outright insanity. I mean, he's the one I actually LIKE-!

Remember his unheralded but vital role in Namor's scheme to get Reed and Sue back together 'way, 'way back when? What a good guy, y'know?

Hmm. In fact, he would have been a MUCH better match for Marrina than Namor was, I'm thinking.

(Lockjaw would be my #2, also).

HB; April 7, 2013 at 8:17 AM
david_b said...: I'd go with Triton.. He seems to have had the most developed personality, and integral in saving Reed Richards in the Negative Zone after the Galactus Trilogy. With bouts with Subby and others, he was used far more solo than the rest.

I would agree with William on Black Bolt, for another important reason in comics..

He never talks.; April 7, 2013 at 8:24 AM
Edo Bosnar said...: Black Bolt. For the same reasons William cites.
Also like Medusa and Lockjaw.; April 7, 2013 at 8:34 AM
Disneymarvel said...: As a 45 year fan of the Fantastic Four, my favorite Inhuman will always be Crystal. The romance of Johnny and Crystal was always lots of fun and I wish Marvel would've kept them together.

Next would be: Triton, Medusa, Karnak, Black Bolt, Gorgon and Maximus.; April 7, 2013 at 8:54 AM
Doc Savage said...: Lockjaw!; April 7, 2013 at 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: I'd say Crystal as well; I thought she made a pretty good Avenger too.

Mike W.; April 7, 2013 at 9:26 AM
J.A. Morris said...: Medusa, then Lockjaw. The rest of them have never been terribly interesting to me. Which why I never got into the Inhumans' stories in Amazing Adventures or their own series. They work best as guest stars.

Speaking of the Inhumans, I've never been crazy about the Terrigen Mist bath business. I think their origins were good enough without it, plus it's always creeped me out a bit.; April 7, 2013 at 9:51 AM
Inkstained Wretch said...: Triton is the most visually interesting Inhuman, but he doesn't have much in the way of interesting powers.

Black Bolt, on the other hand also has a sharp Jack Kirby-visual design as well as cool powers -- and a cool name.

So, Black Bolt by a nose.; April 7, 2013 at 10:05 AM
Comics Bronze Age said...: Hmm. Not sure who my favorite Inhuman is but my least favorite is Black Bolt. For years we’ve been told in captions how incredibly powerful he is – but he never really does anything but stand around keeping him mouth shut. Except when he doesn't, and then everything ends poorly for his subjects. And he keeps falling for his brother’s crazy plot to seize the throne. Seriously, Blackagar Boltagon, step up your game!; April 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM
mr. oyola said...: I want to saw Lockjaw (loved when they had people convinced that he wasn't a dog, but a severely mutated Inhuman), but I'm gonna have to go with Medusa.; April 7, 2013 at 11:11 AM
William said...: Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Black Bolt also has the coolest name. Thanks Ink.; April 7, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Hoosier X said...: It's kinda tough picking one, isn't it? They've all had their moments in the sun. (Has anybody read the Medusa story in Marvel Super-Heroes in the 1960s? With the great Gene Colan art?)

I would probably go with Yriton, but he's getting lots of love today, so I'll go with my other favorite, Karnak.

I've always loved his costume. It may not be great, but it's unique. And his power, the ability to find the weak spot, combines superior analytical ability and just the right burst of strength.

If he was written properly, he could probably beat anybody.; April 7, 2013 at 11:26 AM
ZIRGAR said...: Black Bolt. Not only is he my favorite Inhuman, he's my favorite Marvel character, period. I think of any superhero, he possesses the most restraint, due to inadvertantly unleashing the awesome power of his voice, and I always found that really fascinating. The Inhumans are also my favorite team. I just wish Marvel had been able to create a successful, ongoing comic for them.; April 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Karen said...: Triton was my favorite as a kid -he seemed pretty cool personality-wise, although extremely limited in the powers department, like most aquatic dudes. But I also liked his look. However his powers do seem to limit his usefulness as a character, and what you can do with him in a story.

I really like Blackbolt and wish we'd seen him used in a greater variety of situations. A lot of the time he seemed to be moping around.

J.A. brings up an interesting point about the Terrigen Mists and their use.The Inhumans whole history has become rather convoluted.And I was always rather disturbed by the fact that the Inhumans kept a slave race, the Alpha Primitives, to do their dirty work, and yet the FF still hung out with them.Their society as a whole seems pretty rigid and controlled. I'm really not sure what made them 'good guys' to be honest. Most of the time though, it seemed like they were being victimized -by Maximus, the Kree, Ultron, you name it.; April 7, 2013 at 1:54 PM
Doug said...: No love for Karnak, huh? He probably has one of the most useful powersets in all the Marvel Universe -- to sense the weakest point in just about anything, and shatter it.

Visually, Gorgon's hooves can be done very well. Maybe the worst innovation was to "Inhumanize" their names, as Black Bolt's is shown above.

Doug; April 7, 2013 at 2:08 PM
Doc Savage said...: Never found the Inhumans compelling or interesting...they work best for me in small doses as guest stars in Fantastic Four. Never really bought the Quicksilver-Crystal relationship, either.

I like Lockjaw because he doesn't speak at all, even less than Black Bolt.; April 7, 2013 at 2:33 PM
Kid said...: I agree with Matt, above. They were all second-raters, with the possible exception of Medusa. And that was probably because she was a baddie when she first appeared.; April 7, 2013 at 3:00 PM
William Preston said...: Black Bolt, largely due to the mysteriousness. (What does that tuning fork on his head even DO?)

True, he's largely known for his restraint, but my favorite use of BB is in the Planet Hulk sequence. The Hulk arrives on the moon and confronts BB. BB takes him out with one word, knocking him a huge distance away, then turns to head back home. Suddenly, Hulk is flying down at him, saying some cool line about, "I heard you speak. Now I'm going to hear you SCREAM!" Next time we see BB, the Hulk is dragging him around on Earth like a rag doll.; April 7, 2013 at 3:52 PM
Comicsfan said...: Given what I've previously said about Black Bolt, I'd put him in my top 5 but not at the top. Triton, on the other hand, is a character just begging to be catapulted to that top spot. He's got a cool name, he looks amazing, he's a clear thinker--and he was Black Bolt's go-to choice to save Reed from death in the Negative Zone, when even the story's writer (through Crystal) made it seem like he'd be the last person you'd expect to be considered for the mission. If, for some reason, Black Bolt or Medusa were required to name an interim ruler of the Inhumans, I'd love to see Triton get a crack at it--simply because, again, he'd be the last person you'd think would be named and readers wouldn't have a clue as to how he would rule. My guess is, boldly and wisely.; April 7, 2013 at 4:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Well, for me it boils down to these three - Black Bolt, Medusa and Karnak.

William Preston, I believe that'tuning fork' on BB's head acts as a conduit, enabling him to manipulate electrons, e.g. unleashing an electron blast towards a hapless foe. He's on my list because of his cool costume, regal bearing, and he's got a sonic scream that makes Banshee of the X-men look like he's mute!

Medusa had that cool living hair. I have a recent Inhumans comic where all her hair is cut off but it was all a ruse - all the hair reattached itself to her head afterwards! It shows you how much control she has over it, as well as how much it is a part of her. I also have an old Spider-man reprint comicbook where she literally tosses him around like a bug! Good stuff.

As for Karnak the Shatterer, what can I say? I've always loved him for his unique power - many superheroes have the usual powers, e.g. superstrength, flight, force beam projection, but how many can say they can detect the weakest spot in any structure? I've always loved those heroes like Karnak and Iron Fist who combine intense physical training with their powers. Just remember folks, Karnak said the Hulk's weakest spot is on his left, just below his heart! (Of course, you probably wouldn't survive long enough in an encounter with Jade Jaws to try it!)

Gorgon, he of the earthquake-making hooves, was the obligatory hothead of the Inhumans. Triton seems to be a favourite for many people here, but I can't say he was my favourite.

- Mike 'does belching loud make me an Inhuman?' from Trinidad & Tobago.; April 7, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Ace Frehley Jr said...: Black Bolt for sure! Then Triton.; April 7, 2013 at 5:55 PM
Doc Savage said...: I thought Black Bolt's tuning fork sunmoned Kirby Krackle.; April 7, 2013 at 6:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Black Bolt must be one of the best simply because in 45 odd years of Inhumanity, no-one's ever tried changing his costume.

cheers
B Smith; April 8, 2013 at 4:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Avengers #95. Page 1. That's him!
...although BB comes close.; April 8, 2013 at 5:15 AM
humanbelly said...: I have a picky question about Black Bolt (great point, B Smith, about his enduring costume, BTW-!). For years and years and years there was always this convention that only Medusa could "interpret" his wishes and pronouncements and other speeches into words for the general public (or even the royal family in general). Uhm. . . was Black Bolt therefore somehow illiterate and incapable of writing anything down? Or did the Inhuman race somehow manage to evolve and thrive w/out any kind of written or symbol-based language? (Which seems EXTREMELY hard to swallow-- harder than believing in Terrigen Mists, in fact-!)

HB the Fussy; April 8, 2013 at 5:21 AM
dbutler16 said...: Karnak and Gorgon were my favorites, with Triton a very strong third, because he's so cool looking. Karnak and Gorgon have the huge egos and bull-in-a-china-shop approaches so typical of Marvel heroes, which just makes them fun.
Regarding Karnak, I know that besides being a martial arts expert, he has the "power" to find the weka spot in anything, which is the exact same "power" that Karate Kid had. Does anyone know who had this "power" first? I'm guessing Karnak, but couldn't say for sure.; April 8, 2013 at 5:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Here's an interesting point I forgot to bring up regarding Black Bolt: Gene Simmons of Kiss has said he was one of the main inspirations for his "demon" outfit.; April 8, 2013 at 6:23 AM
Inkstained Wretch said...: Err... That last post was me.; April 8, 2013 at 6:27 AM
dbutler16 said...: Cool factoid, inkstained wretch.; April 8, 2013 at 7:10 AM
Mike said...: Black Bolt in a route because...

B Smith: "in 45 odd years of Inhumanity, no-one's ever tried changing his costume"

Inkstained Wretch: "Gene Simmons of Kiss has said he was one of the main inspirations for his "demon" outfit."

Kaboom!; April 8, 2013 at 2:09 PM
Greg said...: Black bolt or Triton, its a toss up for me. Always liked BB's costume and regal demeanor, but I've always been a fan of Marvel's aquatic heroes and just liked Triton for some reason. Reading through these comments, it occurs to me there are a lot of older Triton stories I haven't read, including in Subby's old mag. Hmm...

Also liked Karnak, as others have noted his detect weakness ability was kinda cool. I liked crystal as well, thought she had a lot of potential w/ her elemental powers.

As for the Alpha Primitives, I guess I always just assumed the Inhumans were such a strange race, with strange customs, that heroes just sort of let that go and didn't make an issue of it, right or wrong. It certainly made them somewhat morally ambiguous, which I kinda liked.; December 10, 2013 at 7:04 PM

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Who's the Best... Inhuman?

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