Marvel: you’ve done it again. You have managed to not only find an interesting idea using characters of either original concept (Runaways) or B-list characters from the Marvel universe, but you’ve also managed to cancel it just before you put out the trade. As a company, you utterly amaze me.

The title in this case is Inhumans, originally brought back into the modern comic reader consciousness by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee under the Marvel Knights publishing division. It seems that Marvel, in focusing on the same teenage characters from the initial story arc (plus two), have deemed Inhumans to be Marvel Age appropriate and have thrown together a slim, yet still composed of six issues, collection of the "Culture Shock" arc.

The story initially focuses on San, an Inhuman about to go through the Terrigenesis, wherein each Inhuman’s genetic potential is revealed and unlocked, making each one a truly unique individual. This individuality can manifest in splendorous powers or horrific mutations, and the type of genetic change one undergoes determines one’s position within the Inhuman society.

San believes he is destined to be a warrior and join the royal guard; suffice it to say, San is disappointed. But San is not alone and soon King Blackbolt calls him to a special task: to join, along with fellow Inhumans, a diplomatic exchange program with the United States. San and his friend Alaris are joined by Tonaja, Nahrees, and Jolen (from the Jenkins arc) and begin their cultural exchange with a small college in America’s Heartland.

Writer Sean (The Waiting Place, Mary Jane) McKeever had some interesting shoes to fill after Jenkins, but he brings a subdued grace to his script that accurately reflects the lifestyle of the Inhuman society. Inhumans are just that: inhuman, or perhaps more precisely, more than human. Their society is one in which your entire life is determined by your mutation; if you’ve sprouted wings, you become part of the aerial guard and if you manifest the ability to shape matter into glowing sculptures of light, you are an artist.

While the obvious downside to this is that your society is truly one in which you are unable to choose any path in life, the Inhumans see this as a blessing. Each genetic abnormality is cherished for its uniqueness and each profession, whether it be guard or groundskeeper, is valued by their society.

McKeever truly puts these characters through a culture shock when they encounter human society, especially that of the United States. They are so far out of their element that they question every aspect of the society, allowing McKeever to explore some rather poignant questions. Should education be free to all who want it? Does work only matter because of its monetary gains? Just how accepting is American culture, especially youth culture? McKeever explores these and other questions through the Inhumans while they try to attend college.

At the same time, he lets a little of the funny into the story, usually in reference to the loveable and naïve Alaris: a short mass of muscle who frequently finds that his enthusiasm for cultural immersion causes all manner of problems for the group. While this “Watch the foreigner make all kinds of cultural faux pas while trying to fit in” story has been done to death, the fact that Alaris is at least from the moon (not to mention a society of genetically modified humans) makes this comedy far less tiring than when, for instance, a bad writer will make the same jokes with an East European, leaving no stereotype or gross overgeneralization unused.

The characters themselves are interesting as individuals, and even without the background provided by Jenkins’ story arc, the previous relationships with between the characters are easily identifiable through McKeever’s story: Tonaja’s fear and sense of duty, Nahrees’ near-monumental snobbery, and Jolen’s sociopathic tendencies all come through easily. McKeever also peppers the script with mysteries regarding just why this exchange is even happening. Using the characters to voice these enigma’s, rather than giving the reader out-of-narrative clues.

The artwork, by Matthew Clark and inker Nelson, is quite good. Though not as gritty as Jae Lee’s early renditions, but possessed of both clarity and texture, Clark has a style with more attention paid to facial expressions and character design. His character designs are excellent, though I would have asked for a little more rendering on Alaris (he’s just big and yellow, and a little top-heavy when it comes to muscle). The texture Clark employs is great; Tonaja’s skin, hair and wings look detailed enough to touch and Jolen’s vegetative appendages could grow off the page. The coloring is also of high quality, though the obvious computer graphic techniques still slightly annoy me: computer coloring seems to me a way to eliminate the colorist from the comic book medium. Also of note are the covers that separate chapters, done by J.H. Williams III and Jose Villarrubia, both of Promethea fame.

All in all, you cannot beat this six-issue collection, featuring the original story pitch from McKeever and a small sketch gallery from Clark, for the meager $7.99 Marvel’s asking. Whether or not we see another collection from this title is up to the boys that cancelled it, but I figure if enough people buy it, we might see more volumes.

Inhumans Vol. 1: Culture Shock

***Note: I’d like to apologize to the readers of Fanboy Planet for my absence as of late. I’m in the final days of my undergraduate studies and fresh off finishing my Honors Thesis, a seventy-page dissection of Alan Moore’s Promethea, and I have had little to no time in which to write a review or even read a graphic novel. I hope to be back on schedule with this review, but I apologize anyway.

Robert Sparling