Avengers #34.1

Writer – Al Ewing
Artist – Dale Keown
Inker – Norman Lee
Colours – Jason Keith

The Avengers title takes a little break from Jonathan Hickman’s opus to tell a tale of Hyperion as he does a little soul-searching.  Hyperion is trying to determine his role on Earth and just where it is that he fits in.  He remembers his teachings and what he learned while growing up and he considers them right and true, but not all that there is to life and to how things should be.  By returning a boy to his parents, a missing child, he realizes that there are many small things that can equal up to a larger whole and that in the end; everything is connected in some way.  Al Ewing does a great job of showcasing Hyperion in this issue with a little character development to help him adjust more fully to our reality.  We have seen some of these concerns before from our hero and Ewing provides a little closure to some of them by giving the man a mission to help him see that.  There was very little action or suspense, simply a dramatic tale featuring a hero who does not get the spotlight too often.  Dale Keown, who does not do enough artwork these days, comes on board as this issue’s penciller and it is great to see him on a book again, even if it is only for a moment.  While it was a nice interlude to what normally goes on in the book, it will be good to get back in the thick of things with the next issue..

3.5 out of 5

Inhuman #5

Writer – Charles Soule
Artist – Ryan Stegman
Colours – Marte Gracia

The Unspoken has returned to Attilan, proposing that he, the deposed king, stricken from the records for all time, marry Medusa for the betterment of the people.  Medusa of course, is having none of it.  She knows that he is not here for something as simple as that, that he must have a master plan and one that most likely involves the Terrigen crystals.  So when she institutes a plan of her own, they find him in a hidden cache of crystals just like she thought.  But the one thing Medusa did was underestimate the fallen king, for his plan was better than hers.  Charles Soule and Ryan Stegman keep knocking it out of the park with this title, making the combination of the Inhumans we all know and love and the Nuhumans, newly transformed, quite interesting.  The Unspoken is a fascinating new villain and it would be great to see an origin issue or at least some backstory to see how it was that the Inhumans were able to depose him in the first place.  We also get to see some of Jason’s backstory which is intriguing in the fact that he came from a town full of Inhumans and that they were somewhat ready for the Terrigen cloud when it hit the Earth.  It is a bit of a mystery that begs for more exploration and hopefully, Soule does that later on.  With Medusa and the rest of the Inhumans now under supposed lock and key, there are not too many left to try and free them.  Could it herald the return of Black Bolt?  Now that this title is coming out regularly, it has picked up some steam and is turning into a book that you do not want to miss.

4 out of 5