The Inhumans are a race of human offshoots that were the result of genetic experiments long ago in Earth’s history. This offshoot is unique in that every member of their society has some special ability. In fact, each person’s ability is unique to that person. In the words of the comic, each person is their own subspecies. Oddly, the children aren’t born this way, it is during a coming-of-age ceremony that the children are exposed to a gas and their genetic potential is released.
The Inhuman society is an interesting one. Because everyone is different, they are all seen as equals, but there is still a strong caste system in place, even if a particular person’s place in that system isn’t determined until they are transformed. The caste system allows for the royal family to govern its people. At the head of that family is Black Bolt, a powerful king who must remain silent because any whisper from his mouth can cause the total destruction of everything around him.
This particular Inhumans story has a few different facets to it. For one, we see the transformation of a round of kids, and while some are wildly accepted, the transformation of some of the others aren’t all that glorious. One of these children seems to have been transformed into an Alpha Primitive. The Alphas are a genetically engineered race of servants that live under the Inhumans’ city in order to maintain the machinery. Put simply, the royal family and the rest of the Inhumans simply don’t know how to interpret this particular transformation.
What they don’t realize is that this is actually the result of a plot by King Black Bolt’s crazy brother, Maximus. It seems the imprisoned brother has somehow managed to change the boy’s physical appearance, so that he will be sent to live and work with the Alphas. The problem is, the kid’s true powers are still usable and Maximus quickly manipulates the boy into becoming a rather powerful pawn.
Meanwhile the city, Attilan, is under siege by a group of human mercenaries that can’t get through the race’s impenetrable defences. That is, until Maximus’ plans start to come to fruition and he finds ways to leak military secrets to the humans. As the fight against the humans grows, the entire royal family questions Black Bolt’s apparent lack of a plan.
Much like the original graphic novel, this animation is derived from Inhumans and does a lot to focus on what is generally considered a set of side-characters. This race has made many appearances in other comics and it has had a few short runs like this particular story, but it isn’t nearly as known as Marvel’s other characters. Inhumans does a great job of not only showing this unique society structure, but also getting into the head of many of the Inhumans, especially Black Bolt himself.
Marvel Knights Animation Presents: Inhumans also contains a half-hour long featurette about the creation of the original maxi-series and interviews both Jenkins and Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada. This featurette adds a good bit of value to what is already a great motion graphic novel production. If you’ve been picking up and enjoying the Marvel Knights Animation releases, then you won’t want to miss Inhumans.
