Uncanny Inhumans #13

[superboyprime]

Comments

[cynic79]

I don't necessarily mind re-using art, but the obvious cut and paste job on Maximus and Triton in those two panels is really distracting, particularly since Triton's pose in the second panel doesn't really match his dialogue.

[dcbanacek]

Curious about what Stark's plan is here... I mean sure the low-level Inhumans he can swat around like uppity pixies.... But the royal family is fairly powerful...

Although that makes me wonder if Marvel has been upping the power levels of the Inhumans to bring them more into line with the X-Men and the other mutants out there. Granted Black Bolt has always been powerful but seems that some of the others have been hitting way outside their weight class.

[cainofdreaming]

Which ones? Gorgon's been Ben Grimm's dance partner for most of the conflicts they've had with FF, Karnak's always been scary as heck, Crystal's shown herself to be a powerhouse... Triton I give you. Wouldn't have bet on him against Tiger Shark before, and then he takes Arliss down on his own. That was weird.

[ebailey140]

Even in the Silver Age, when Marvel heroines were portrayed as weak, Crystal was a powerhouse.

In fact, I'm hoping she curb stomps Cyclops in the upcoming storyline, preferably in the middle of one of his master race speeches, because, while I sympathize with the mutants, she's nice and Scott's a dick. :)

[long_silence]

What master race speeches? "Please stop killing mutants in the streets"?

[ebailey140]

Here you go...

https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/5440400.html

Just replace the word "mutant" with "Aryan" and "Man" with "Jew" or any non Aryan ethnic group.

But Scott's not normally an insane racist narcissistic megalomaniac, you say?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-weMQkN0lwRo/UIHxyrJXqBI/AAAAAAAAJLM/NgAH-gISqyc/s1600/avengersvsxmenconsequences2c+cyclops+was+right.jpg

[tugrul]

You give us aftermath drag from AvX and then a Phoenix possessed Cyclops in the same headspace. This is as weak as retorting to your own projected question.

[ebailey140]

Sorry if you're a Cyclops fan, but those are his words, thoughts, and actions, not the cosmic whatever it is this month. That's been Scott's consistent characterization for years, now.

Blame the writers. I preferred the flawed but good man he was pre-Morrison. But, the racist insane narcissistic megalomaniac has been the character since AvX. The trope would be Flanderization.

[long_silence]

That Secret Wars scene was written by Hickman who mischaracterized many characters throughout his "Epic run" on the Avengers, for instance Steve Rogers died punching Tony Stark in the face rather than try to stop the end of existence, Hickman had not been consistently writing Cyclops for years like other writers. He had Cyclops show up for a few pages of his crossover and die to make Dr. Doom look cool. That is not a fair example of his characterization. Most of Cyclops' public speeches have been "I will not stand idly by anymore while mutants are hunted down and mistreated" or "Humans are terrified of mutants because of what we might do when we work together"

And I don't see how that AVX Consequences scene is Scott being racist. Narcissistic maybe, but he has more clarity than Logan in that scene. He's in jail for his crimes and was willing to stay there to face justice, being murdered would make him a martyr for his cause. And he only escaped because Mr. Sinister was still out there.

Comparing mutants to Nazis when it's the Inhumans who've actually practiced eugenics, and it's the mutants who tend to end up in concentration camps is kinda funny.

[ebailey140]

Not comparing mutants to Nazis, just Scott. They're playing him as the next Magneto, and Magneto was explicitly the mutant Hitler.

[long_silence]

Just because writers call Cyclops "mutant Hitler" doesn't mean that he's actually been portrayed that way at all outside of poorly written dreck

[gnarll]

One of the problems with the Inhumans - Xmen matchup is that the Inhumans don't seem to bring much to the table.

Black Bolt was powerful enough to take on some cosmics, but he was explicitly depowered after the fight with Thanos. The Fallen King is absolutely top flight, if he is on their side. He is pretty negative to slave societies and attempted genocides. Crystal and Reader are decently powerful, even if Crystal has never matched Ororo or Amaras power levels. Luna is a decent telepath, and Maximus is quite a powerful one. Beyond that... Triton. Karnak has no powers and gets slapped around in hand-to-hand by the nine years old Luna. Gorgon can make a shockwave with his stomps and have some super.strength. Medusa has prehensile hair.

The X-men has Magneto, Phoenlx, Jean Grey, Colossus, Hope, Cable, Rogue, Storm, Warlock, Psylocke, Amara, Polaris, Magic, Emma Frost, Monet, maybe Danger and Tempus and Kid Gladiator.

Its not an even matchup. As demonstrated by the threat level Iron Man presents.

[mindsweeper]

Well, matchups go however the writers want. In AvX, I remember that Captain America took down Warpath, Black Widow was matched against Magik, and Thing beat Namor underwater.

Soule is co-writing with Lemire, so I expect handbook stats won't apply. For example, I've read that Karnak alone will be put against a team of Teen Jean and Old Man Logan in a tie-in.

[gnarll]

Not a fan of that, to put it mildly. It makes a mockery of relative power levels.

[ebailey140]

Way back in the Lee-Kirby days, the Hulk tore through the Fantastic Four and was holding his own against the Avengers, but the turning point was when he took on Captain America and was fought to a standstill. The Hulk was then staggered by Ant Man and the Wasp before being finished by Rick Jones. Fantastic Four #25 - 26 is considered one of the classic Silver Age stories, and the Hulk's shock and frustration over not being able to smash this puny human is a great Cap moment.



And one of the most popular Iron Age comics? The Dark Knight Returns. Power levels aren't everything.

[wizardru]

I'm not sure I'd downplay Iron Man as a threat: world's greatest engineer, with a vast fortune to power his genius weapon inventions and currently angry enough to use them. When Tony is focused AND angry, he makes things happen. Tony Stark filled with righteous rage is a pretty dang dangerous place to be...we're talking a guy who builds weapons to take down Thor, the Hulk and the Phoenix (albeit not so successful that last one). He's a Doctor Doom level threat and the X-Men would equally threatened if he came after them, IMHO.

That said, I agree the Inhumans have definitely gotten a power upgrade in the last few years. Personally I just find them less and less likable as time passes, but that's more in how Marvel has used and positioned them than the characters themselves.

[gnarll]

Well, the X-men have no less than four technopaths capble of taking over technology without bothering with petty issues like security. Plus telepathy, magic, Magneto, etc.

But yes. Tony Stark going all out is a Doom-level threat. So is Magneto. And Magic. And Phoenix. Amara has wrecked a world in a few minutes when going all out. Storm is a large-scale threat. Adults of Warlcks species can tear G-type sus in half with their bare hands, and Warlock going all out has made pre-retcon Beyonder step back.

Probably more that Im not remembering. Iron Man can be a high-level threat, but a lot of X-Men can match that.