168-718: The Inhumans are a superhuman race of super beings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family , and many people associate the name "Inhumans" with this particular team of superpowered characters. The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four No. 45 (December 1965), though members Medusa and Gorgon appeared in earlier issues of that series (#36 and No. 44, respectively). Their home,
336-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
504-493: A Skrull impostor, in a time frame after Silent War , but before World War Hulk . The impostor revealed himself to the Illuminati and was killed after a failed attempt to assassinate the heroes. The series, along with Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, and subsequent mini-series Secret Invasion outright ignore the events of Silent War and its status quo Written by Heroes writer Joe Pokaski , this story digs into how
672-438: A book ". Collections of comic books that do not form a continuous story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces, and even non-fiction are stocked by libraries and bookstores as graphic novels (similar to the manner in which dramatic stories are included in "comic" books). The term is also sometimes used to distinguish between works created as standalone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of
840-468: A child . Medusa bore the child in defiance of the Genetic Council, who felt that Black Bolt's bloodline was too dangerous to pass on. The Council nonetheless took the child to examine and forbade parental contact. Medusa escaped to Earth with members of the royal family only to be harassed by Maximus. Black Bolt was torn between his love of family and his duty to respect the Genetic Council, and it
1008-435: A garbage man a 'sanitation engineer' - and second because a 'graphic novel' is in fact the very thing it is ashamed to admit: a comic book, rather than a comic pamphlet or comic magazine". Writer Neil Gaiman , responding to a claim that he does not write comic books but graphic novels, said the commenter "meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who'd been informed that she wasn't actually
1176-488: A script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have the final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors ,
1344-530: A story arc from a comic book series published in book form. In continental Europe, both original book-length stories such as The Ballad of the Salty Sea (1967) by Hugo Pratt or La rivolta dei racchi (1967) by Guido Buzzelli , and collections of comics have been commonly published in hardcover volumes, often called albums , since the end of the 19th century (including such later Franco-Belgian comics series as The Adventures of Tintin in
1512-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
1680-404: A "comic novel" on its credits page. "Graphic album" was also the term used the following year by Gene Day for his hardcover short-story collection Future Day ( Flying Buttress Press ). Another early graphic novel, though it carried no self-description, was The Silver Surfer ( Simon & Schuster/Fireside Books , August 1978), by Marvel Comics' Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . Significantly, this
1848-745: A 360-page wordless book (which was never published). In the United States, there is a long tradition of reissuing previously published comic strips in book form. In 1897, the Hearst Syndicate published such a collection of The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault and it quickly became a best seller. The 1920s saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition, with Belgian Frans Masereel cited as "the undisputed king" of this revival. His works include Passionate Journey (1919). American Lynd Ward also worked in this tradition, publishing Gods' Man , in 1929 and going on to publish more during
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#17327809683982016-522: A 50-page spoof of the noir - detective genre, written and drawn by the single-name French artist Loro. Nantier followed this with Enki Bilal 's The Call of the Stars . The company marketed these works as "graphic albums". The first six issues of writer-artist Jack Katz 's 1974 Comics and Comix Co. series The First Kingdom were collected as a trade paperback ( Pocket Books , March 1978), which described itself as "the first graphic novel". Issues of
2184-455: A 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in the red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch
2352-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
2520-447: A UK best-seller list. Outside North America, Eisner's A Contract with God and Spiegelman's Maus led to the popularization of the expression "graphic novel" as well. Until then, most European countries used neutral, descriptive terminology that referred to the form of the medium, not the contents or the publishing form. In Francophone Europe for example, the expression bandes dessinées — which literally translates as "drawn strips" –
2688-506: A banner hanging about their corpses and eventually realized that they fell in to a trap as one of the dead Inhumans was wired with an explosive. While most of Black Bolt's group made it out alive, thanks to Lockjaw, Triton was not so lucky and was killed in the explosion. Black Bolt then sent Lockjaw to New Arctilan to retrieve his brother Maximus. Unbeknownst to them, Vox and his men had already arrived on New Arctilan and began murdering every Inhuman they come across, old or new. Armed with all of
2856-624: A belief in their own destiny. They no longer believed that Black Bolt or the Royal Family was fit to lead them in the new life they wanted, and they exiled the Royal Family from Attilan. The Royal Family returned to Earth to find their destiny. After suffering bigotry while living in the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four and turning down political asylum from Latveria by Dr. Doom, the royal family returned to Attilan, which
3024-554: A cliffhanger, with the destruction of Atilian (foreshadowed in Son of M) and Maximus having taken control over the Inhumans using his psychic power, leaving only Luna and Black Bolt (imprisoned in a cell while Luna feigns support for Maximus for her own safety) free from his control and Maximus vowing that the Inhumans will enslave Earth in retaliation for their destruction of Atilian. It has been revealed that Black Bolt has been replaced by
3192-560: A collection of Frank Miller's four-part comic-book series featuring an older Batman faced with the problems of a dystopian future; and Watchmen (1986-1987), a collection of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ' 12-issue limited series in which Moore notes he "set out to explore, amongst other things, the dynamics of power in a post-Hiroshima world". These works and others were reviewed in newspapers and magazines, leading to increased coverage. Sales of graphic novels increased, with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , for example, lasting 40 weeks on
3360-472: A devolved, sometimes mindless, evolutionarily inferior throw-back. The term Alpha Primitives was coined for these unfortunate outcasts of Inhuman society, who would for centuries become the breeding stock of a slave race. Resentment at this caste system sometimes bubbles up, and the Alpha Primitives have tried to overthrow their rulers in multiple storylines, often as a result of manipulation by
3528-568: A firearm and finds Ronan the Accuser alive. However, he is a prisoner of Vox and having been experimented on alongside the Kree soldiers that are loyal to Ronan. Black Bolt learns of this when he sees that Ronan has been converted to a cyborg. At Ronan's request, Black Bolt enables him a mercy killing by whispering "You are forgiven." Elsewhere, Medusa and the surviving Inhuman Royal Family members try to recruit Beta Ray Bill in their fight against Vox and
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#17327809683983696-573: A hangup so his hangup is he doesn't speak." In a 1969 interview Kirby discussed the costumes of the Inhumans "[with] Black Bolt I began to dress up the lightning insignias. Karnak with the judo-type uniform, it's almost Japanese Oriental and half-Egyptian and Medusa with her hair" The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four No. 45 (December 1965). The Inhumans appeared as a back-up feature in Thor No. 146 (Nov. 1967) to No. 152 (May 1968) which contained their first extensive origin story. They fight
3864-409: A hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening". Responding to writer Douglas Wolk 's quip that the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book is "the binding", Bone creator Jeff Smith said: "I kind of like that answer. Because 'graphic novel' ... I don't like that name. It's trying too hard. It is a comic book. But there is a difference. And the difference is, a graphic novel
4032-503: A laser, Black Bolt clears the Vox-controlled Crystal and Lockjaw just because they were in his way. Entering one door, Black Bolt signs "I love you. I'm sorry" before whispering for them to run. As Medusa and Karnak fight the Vox-controlled Crystal and Lockjaw, Black Bolt confronts other Vox-controlled Inhumans like Triton. With what little remained of his power, Black Bolt destroyed the engines responsible for transmitting
4200-690: A long-term selective breeding program in an attempt to mitigate the effects of these mutations. The Terrigen Mist is a natural mutagen, arising as a vapor from the Terrigen Crystals, which are able to alter Inhuman biology. The Mists were discovered by the Inhuman geneticist Randac approximately 25,000 years ago. He immersed himself in the Mists and gained mental powers comparable to the Eternals . After centuries of eugenics and birth control ,
4368-668: A member of the Royal Family, Crystal , married outside the Inhuman race to the mutant Quicksilver . The Inhumans are led by their king, Black Bolt , and his Royal Family, consisting of Medusa , Karnak the Shatterer , Gorgon , Triton , Crystal , Maximus the Mad , and the canine Lockjaw . Both Crystal and Medusa have been members of the Fantastic Four ; Crystal has been a member of the Avengers as well. Black Bolt has guided
4536-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
4704-459: A new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
4872-556: A number of seemingly-normal humans who possess dormant Inhuman genes. In response to Thanos' threat, Black Bolt and Maximus evacuate Attilan before destroying it as a show of defiance. The destruction of the city activates the Terrigenisis Bomb, a creation of Maximus, which spreads the Terrigen Mist across the globe and activates special abilities within numerous unsuspecting humans who were Inhuman descendants. During
5040-424: A perfect time to retire terms like "graphic novel" and "sequential art", which piggyback on the language of other, wholly separate mediums. What's more, both terms have their roots in the need to dissemble and justify, thus both exude a sense of desperation, a gnawing hunger to be accepted. Author Daniel Raeburn wrote: "I snicker at the neologism first for its insecure pretension - the literary equivalent of calling
5208-515: A periodical titled Graphic Story Magazine in the fall of 1967. The Sinister House of Secret Love #2 (Jan. 1972), one of DC Comics ' line of extra-length, 48-page comics, specifically used the phrase "a graphic novel of Gothic terror" on its cover. The term "graphic novel" began to grow in popularity months after it appeared on the cover of the trade paperback edition (though not the hardcover edition) of Will Eisner 's A Contract with God (October 1978). This collection of short stories
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5376-682: A pocket atmosphere that surrounds the Leibnitz crater which was dubbed the Gray Area of the Moon. Inside the crater, Flint used both Moon rock and his own body crystal to build New Arctilan the Inhumans' new base. The Kree have initiated a murdering campaign to force Black Bolt to join the Kree Empire. This ultimatum causes the deaths of thousands of Inhumans with the word "Join or Die" carved into their bodies which forced Black Bolt to call together
5544-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
5712-661: A rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the superheroes, this causes the younger Inhumans present to cry. The Beast works with Iso to find a way to counter the Terrigen Cloud as Medusa tells the Inhuman Royal Family to be prepared just in case the X-Men take action against them as the Terrigen Cloud becomes saturated. When the shrinking of the Terrigen Cloud threatens to render Earth inhospitable for mutants, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Storm make plans to destroy
5880-519: A red-skinned beast with wings and a tail, Ulysses emerged unchanged but with the ability of precognition. Iron Man later infiltrated New Attilan to claim Ulysses after fighting off Medusa, Crystal, and Karnak. This leads the Inhumans to head to Stark Tower to reclaim Ulysses which leads to the Avengers, the Ultimates , and S.H.I.E.L.D. to get involved. When Ulysses projects his latest vision that shows
6048-419: A separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books, the art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with
6216-571: A skinhead Inhuman with skin-changing powers and a healer named Panacea. Her team visits the hermit kingdom of Sin-Cong to explore why there have been no NuHumans in that country. Her team then investigates mysterious "skypears" that landed around the globe. They investigate a skyspear in China, but are met with suspicion by the Collective Man and the People's Defense Force . The skyspear attacks
6384-441: A success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
6552-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
6720-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
6888-504: A third party. Attilan's society and culture are predicated on a conformist belief system that permits individuality as it applies to genetic development and physical and mental ability, but demands rigid conformity in that each member of society is assigned a place within that society according to those abilities following exposure to the Terrigen Mist. Once assigned, no Inhuman, no matter how great or powerful, can change his or her place within this rigid caste system. However, as an exception,
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7056-588: A traditional book format. European creators were also experimenting with the longer narrative in comics form. In the United Kingdom, Raymond Briggs was producing works such as Father Christmas (1972) and The Snowman (1978), which he himself described as being from the "bottomless abyss of strip cartooning", although they, along with such other Briggs works as the more mature When the Wind Blows (1982), have been re-marketed as graphic novels in
7224-403: A whole group of people like him. And well, what else could you call them except the Inhumans. Then Jack had to create a whole bunch of Inhumans and I think he did a great job. When it came to doing the leader, we decided, well, there was no need for them all to be villainous. I think we did have in mind that Black Bolt would eventually be a heroic type. And again, we always try to give a character
7392-774: A year after A Contract with God though written and drawn in the early 1970s—was labeled a "graphic novel" on the cover of Marvel Comics' black-and-white comics magazine Marvel Preview #17 (Winter 1979), where Blackmark: The Mind Demons premiered: its 117-page contents remained intact, but its panel-layout reconfigured to fit 62 pages. Following this, Marvel from 1982 to 1988 published the Marvel Graphic Novel line of 10" × 7" trade paperbacks—although numbering them like comic books, from #1 ( Jim Starlin 's The Death of Captain Marvel ) to #35 ( Dennis O'Neil , Mike Kaluta , and Russ Heath 's Hitler's Astrologer , starring
7560-599: Is "the first American graphic novel". Similarly, critic Jason Sacks referred to the 13-issue "Panther's Rage"—comics' first-known titled, self-contained, multi-issue story arc—that ran from 1973 to 1975 in the Black Panther series in Marvel's Jungle Action as "Marvel's first graphic novel". Meanwhile, in continental Europe, the tradition of collecting serials of popular strips such as The Adventures of Tintin or Asterix led to long-form narratives published initially as serials. In January 1968, Vida del Che
7728-436: Is a long-form work of sequential art . The term graphic novel is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and industry professionals. It is, at least in the United States, typically distinct from the term comic book , which is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks . Fan historian Richard Kyle coined
7896-473: Is a novel in the sense that there is a beginning, a middle and an end". The Times writer Giles Coren said: "To call them graphic novels is to presume that the novel is in some way 'higher' than the karmicbwurk (comic book), and that only by being thought of as a sort of novel can it be understood as an art form". Some alternative cartoonists have coined their own terms for extended comics narratives. The cover of Daniel Clowes ' Ice Haven (2001) refers to
8064-485: Is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized,
8232-498: Is not a person. Instead, it is a program and it is also revealed that the voice power that everyone assumes is vaporizing his targets was actually just teleporting them instead as it was seen after Crystal's apparent death, she has been transported to an unknown place where Kree scientists are experimenting on the Inhuman victims who were supposedly killed. While Lockjaw is not seen, Triton appears to be in some kind of stasis tank alongside Naja, Sterilon, and other unnamed Inhumans. Crystal
8400-426: Is now doomed to be the next Vox. Meeting up with the Inhuman Royal Family and Beta Ray Bill, Black Bolt is told by Karnak of Vox being a program that transported his "victims" to the Kree. With the Kree planning to turn any captive Inhumans into Vox, Karnak states that not all of them will be rescued. As Black Bolt has one more scream left, Karnak tells him to make it count. Using his sign language, Black Bolt addresses
8568-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
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#17327809683988736-412: Is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book' and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel Comics—because 'graphic novels' were getting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel ..." Glen Weldon, author and cultural critic, writes: It's
8904-500: Is used, while the terms stripverhaal ("strip story") and tegneserie ("drawn series") are used by the Dutch/Flemish and Scandinavians respectively. European comics studies scholars have observed that Americans originally used graphic novel for everything that deviated from their standard, 32-page comic book format, meaning that all larger-sized, longer Franco-Belgian comic albums , regardless of their contents, fell under
9072-479: The Inhumanity storyline, Karnak was left mentally scarred by said events and begun destroying the upper west side of Manhattan, babbling and sobbing uncontrollably. He was taken into custody by the Avengers . In Stark Tower , Karnak explained to the Avengers what happened during their fight with Thanos and what it meant for the Inhumans. When he was questioning himself for the reason for Black Bolt to spread
9240-650: The Dire Wraiths , the Kymellians , and the Badoon . These new Inhumans reveal that the Kree experimented on other interstellar races, aside from humans, and used methods other than the Terrigen Mists. The resulting Universal Inhumans have banded together and traveled to Earth in search of Black Bolt, who they believe will lead their collective people in an eventual takeover of Earth. When Black Bolt returned,
9408-488: The Fantastic Four , the Avengers , and the X-Men —whom they have aided against threats such as Doctor Doom , Ultron 7 , Magneto , and Apocalypse . However, no one came to the Inhumans' aid when an army of Portuguese mercenaries attacked Attilan, which was now located on risen Atlantean ruins. This was actually a coup-d'etat orchestrated by Black Bolt's brother Maximus the Mad. Inhuman society changed radically when Ronan
9576-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
9744-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
9912-619: The Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of
10080-729: The McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved
10248-757: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
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#173278096839810416-761: The Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer No. 18 (September 1970). The Inhumans' first ongoing feature, the first six issues of which were written and pencilled by their co-creator Jack Kirby , appeared in Amazing Adventures No. 1 (Aug. 1970) to No. 10 (Jan. 1972). The characters received their own self-titled series in October 1975, which ran for 12 issues and ended in August 1977. All but issue No. 9 were written by Doug Moench , who has said he
10584-456: The Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as a way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from
10752-460: The digest-sized , adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust , a film noir -influenced slice of steeltown life starring a scheming, manipulative redhead named Rust. Touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover, the 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" ( Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller ), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin proved successful enough to lead to an unrelated second picture novel, The Case of
10920-551: The 1930s). As the exact definition of the graphic novel is debated, the origins of the form are open to interpretation. The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck is the oldest recognized American example of comics used to this end. It originated as the 1828 publication Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Swiss caricaturist Rodolphe Töpffer , and was first published in English translation in 1841 by London's Tilt & Bogue, which used an 1833 Paris pirate edition. The first American edition
11088-426: The 1930s. Other prototypical examples from this period include American Milt Gross 's He Done Her Wrong (1930), a wordless comic published as a hardcover book, and Une semaine de bonté (1934), a novel in sequential images composed of collage by the surrealist painter Max Ernst . Similarly, Charlotte Salomon 's Life? or Theater? (composed 1941–43) combines images, narrative, and captions. The 1940s saw
11256-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
11424-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
11592-419: The 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect the comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of
11760-629: The Accuser sought to use the Inhumans as an army to disrupt the Shi'ar control of the Kree after their defeat in the Kree-Shi'ar War . Appearing over the city of Attilan, Ronan seized control in a surprise attack and forced the Inhumans and their king, Black Bolt, to obey, or he would destroy their only home and everyone in it. He also exiled Maximus and the Alpha Primitives to the Negative Zone. During their time in forced servitude, Ronan revealed that
11928-478: The Bristol Literary Society, on " the death of the novel ". Updike offered examples of new areas of exploration for novelists, declaring he saw "no intrinsic reason why a doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic strip novel masterpiece". Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin's Blackmark (1971), a science fiction / sword-and-sorcery paperback published by Bantam Books , did not use
12096-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
12264-538: The Inhuman Royal Family deals with the news that the Black Bolt had been replaced by a Skrull impostor. The Skrulls attack Attilan while Black Bolt is revealed to be a prisoner of the Skrulls, who intend to use his voice as a weapon of mass destruction. The Inhuman Royal Family defeated several Skrull soldiers and took a Skrull ship with the point of taking the war to the Skrulls and save Black Bolt. With some help from
12432-496: The Inhuman royal family, Royals written by Al Ewing drawn by Kevin Libranda that was cancelled after 10 issues, and a five issue miniseries titled Inhumans: Once & Future Kings written by Christopher Priest and drawn by Phil Noto that explored the royal family's origins. In July 2018, Marvel launched a new five-issue miniseries titled Death of the Inhumans written by Donny Cates and drawn by Ariel Olivetti . At
12600-905: The Inhumans and the People's Defense Force, temporarily de-powering the Collective Man. Flint, unaware he is de-powered, nearly kills him with a rock attack, which traumatizes Flint. Crystal decides to leave China and travel to Africa with Ana Kravinoff as their guide to find Flint's family in the Chimanimani Mountains of Mozambique , Africa in the hidden Inhuman city of Utolan. Upon their return to Attilan, Panacea empathizes with Gorgon's suffering and heals his paralysis as practice before she tries her abilities on his comatose son. The Terrigen Cloud sweeps over Ohio where it transforms two Ohio State University students named Ulysses Cain and Michelle into Inhumans. While Michelle emerged as
12768-400: The Inhumans as a social allegory for the U.S., won an Eisner Award for Best New Series and established the Inhumans as viable comics-selling characters. A four-issue limited series by writers Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín and artist José Ladrönn was published in 2000. The fourth volume (2003–2004, 12 issues) concentrated largely on new characters within the Inhumans' society. In 2007,
12936-623: The Inhumans featured in the Silent War limited series by writer David Hine , and artist Frazer Irving . Following events in the Secret Invasion , the Inhumans appeared on one side of the War of Kings storyline, with Black Bolt being made king of the Kree , facing off against Vulcan , who is leading the Shi'ar . The 2013 event, Infinity , led to major changes in status quo for
13104-425: The Inhumans had always been intended as weapons in service to the Kree. To this end, much of the genetic attributes that were encoded in them during the original experiments were meant to give them the abilities and appearances of various alien races, the idea being that these Inhuman slaves could be used to infiltrate alien worlds and races to conduct espionage or assassinations to weaken potential conquests. Ronan used
13272-440: The Inhumans managed to mitigate the genetic damage and cultivated a more responsible use of the Terrigen Mists. The practice they developed was to let only genetically perfect specimens undergo the random mutations provoked by the Mists. Their theory was that genetic screening could avoid the risk of hideous and animal mutations in an individual. However, there are examples throughout the Inhumans' canon where an exposed Inhuman became
13440-492: The Inhumans take drastic action to ensure their survival as a race. To that end, they activate a series of long dormant machines beneath the city of Attilan, transforming it into a gigantic starship, powered by Black Bolt's voice. Breaking free from its resting place on the Moon, Attilan enters hyperspace and tracks down the remnants of the Skrull Armada, completely eradicating it. As Attilan enters Shi'ar space, it attracts
13608-467: The Inhumans through some of the most turbulent times in their history, including several attempts by Maximus to usurp the throne, revolts by the worker class (with their eventual emancipation), attacks by human renegades, the kidnapping of Medusa, the destruction and rebuilding of Attilan, and the revelation of the Inhumans' existence to humanity. His role as king of the Inhumans has been tumultuous. The first major crisis occurred when he and Medusa conceived
13776-474: The Inhumans to launch attacks on ships and bases, disrupt a treaty between the Shi'ar and Spartax, and manipulate Black Bolt to assassinate Empress Lilandra . Eventually, Black Bolt sought to free his people by challenging Ronan to a personal battle. If Ronan won, the Inhumans would continue to serve him. If the king won, the Inhumans would go free. After a terrible battle, Black Bolt won and Ronan, demonstrating that
13944-400: The Inhumans' abilities and no humanity, Vox easily cuts his prey down with his powers or his energy scythe. Even Maximus cannot defeat Vox, as he quickly loses an arm for even making the attempt. Lockjaw then arrives and teams up with Maximus in an attempt to stop Vox on their own. However, they are unable to defeat Vox as he fires a massive energy blast, destroying them. When Karnak is sent to
14112-456: The Inhumans, and the U.S. Office of National Emergency . The conflict ended with the O.N.E. confiscating the Terrigen Crystals, an act that incited Black Bolt to verbally declare war on the United States. In January 2007, the miniseries Silent War began, with Gorgon launching a first strike on New York. Although the Inhumans do manage to recover the crystals, the episode ends with Maximus again taking control of Attilan. The mini series ends on
14280-414: The Kree base speaking every name of the fallen Inhumans, making it a song about death. Eventually, it comes down to just Black Bolt vs. Vox who is holding Karnak as a shield. Black Bolt signs to Karnak to have Vox take him instead. Vox apparently accepts the change as he teleports himself behind Black Bolt. Before Karnak's very eyes, Vox slits Black Bolt's throat. The Kree take Black Bolt prisoner and repair
14448-403: The Kree still had honor, kept his word and left the Inhumans. All was not over, as the Inhumans were not willing to just follow Black Bolt back to Earth. Pressure had been building in the closed society of Attilan since open contact with the outside world had been made. During their enslavement by Ronan, the Inhumans had wished for their freedom, but had developed a sense of pride in their power and
14616-529: The Kree to relay a message from Black Bolt to them, the Kree Commander explains how they dispatched Ronan the Accuser as leader of the Kree after Hala was placed in ruin by Mister Knife and have begun to forge a new life. When asked to kneel, Karnak does not. Instead, he does his best to fend off Vox only for the Super-Inhuman to subdue Karnak. As Black Bolt arrives, he walks through the halls of
14784-536: The Kree, they rescue Black Bolt and return to Attilan. The story itself ignores the ending of Silent War, with Medusa being under Maximus's mental thrall, Atilan's destruction, and Maximus having seized control over the Inhuman population via his mental powers save for Black Bolt and Luna (who are immune to his telepathy). The Inhuman Royal Family confronts the Unspoken , a cousin of Black Bolt. Finally deciding that they will no longer be used and abused by other races,
14952-403: The Kree. The Inhuman Royal Family are finally taking the battle to the Kree and arrive just in time to save Black Bolt from Vox. Thanks to the interference of Beta Ray Bill, the Inhuman Royal Family are able to overpower and kill Vox, but not before he is apparently able to kill Crystal. They soon realize to their surprise that Vox was actually Maximus in disguise concluding that the Super-Inhuman
15120-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
15288-726: The Primagen which was used by the Progenitors to create the Kree and what the Terrigen derives from. When the Inhumans obtain the Primagen from the Progenitors' World Farm and Gorgon buys his fellow Inhumans time to get away, Maximus takes a sample of the Primagen and has a vision where the Progenitors attack Earth in retaliation for the theft of the Primagen. While on the Astral Plane with Black Bolt, Medusa and Black Bolt agreed to continue as partners and not lovers. When Medusa takes
15456-614: The Primagen, it restores her hair and health while also causing a backlash in the attacking Progenitor to destroy the approaching Progenitors causing the Ordinator-Class Progenitors that saw the attack from the World Farm to spare Earth from their invasion. Following their return from the Progenitors' World Farm, members of the former Inhuman Royal Family and their allies settled on the Moon, where Marvel Boy created by using Kree technology from his native universe,
15624-490: The Royals were the last of the Inhumans, though there are still a few Inhumans active on Earth. Even without using the Terrigen Mist, the Kree modifications, combined with centuries of selective breeding, have given all Inhumans certain advantages. Their average lifespan is 150 years. An Inhuman in good physical condition possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, reaction time, speed, and endurance greater than
15792-518: The Terrigen Cloud. The Beast heads back to Attilan to speak to the Royal Family, only for Emma Frost to go ahead with the attack. The X-Men take out most of the Inhuman Royal Family and trap them in Limbo. After hearing from Iso about why the X-Men want to destroy the Terrigen Cloud, Medusa is the one who destroys the Terrigen Cloud. Medusa abdicates the throne and gives all leadership duties to Iso, knowing that her people will not understand why she destroyed
15960-428: The Terrigen Mists and what would happen next, Karnak had an epiphany in which he finally saw "the fault in all things". He told Medusa who was present during his interrogation that she needed to forget everything she thought she knew, ignore the instincts, and forget the past. Otherwise, all would be lost. Following this revelation in which he stated it was too late for him to unlearn a lifetime of error, Karnak shattered
16128-651: The Universal Inhumans arrive on Earth's moon where a prophecy revolving around a Midnight King rising from the Inhuman Program and bringing an end to the Kree is revealed. It is this prophecy which was foresaw by the organic super-computer the Supreme Intelligence during the initial stages of the program that lead to its cancellation. The Intelligence ordered Accuser Huran to murder science officer Von-Warr and weaponized biologist Ry-Noor,
16296-628: The Vox program, killing all the Inhumans there and robbing the Kree of their plans. Gorgon and Beta Ray Bill arrive stating that the Kree have fled and see Crystal and Lockjaw still alive, having been freed from the Vox-control when the engines were destroyed. Black Bolt emerges from the room as Medusa orders Lockjaw to take them away from the Kree base. When Crystal asks where they should go, Black Bolt uses his sign language to say "Home." Lockjaw then teleports them away. Beta Ray Bill would later confirm that
16464-490: The Winking Buddha by pulp novelist Manning Lee Stokes and illustrator Charles Raab. In the same year, Gold Medal Books released Mansion of Evil by Joseph Millard. Presaging Will Eisner's multiple-story graphic novel A Contract with God (1978), cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman wrote and drew the four-story mass-market paperback Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book ( Ballantine Books #338K), published in 1959. By
16632-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
16800-449: The attention of three Shi'ar warships, who order them to depart or they will open fire. They too are destroyed without mercy. Attilan reaches the planet Hala, destroying the protective shield that guards their weakened empire and enter the planet itself. The Royal Family confronts Ronan the Accuser , who is serving as king. He admitted he felt that he was just holding the spot of ruler for their true king, Black Bolt, but Black Bolt declined
16968-473: The back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted a year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by
17136-407: The backlog catalogs of Casterman and Les Humanoïdes Associés . Some in the comics community have objected to the term graphic novel on the grounds that it is unnecessary, or that its usage has been corrupted by commercial interests. Watchmen writer Alan Moore believes: It's a marketing term... that I never had any sympathy with. The term 'comic' does just as well for me ... The problem
17304-415: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
17472-567: The beginning of the Kree-Skrull War , millions of years ago in Earth time, the alien Kree established a station on the planet Uranus , a strategic position between the Kree and Skrull empires. Through their work at this station, they discovered that sentient life on nearby Earth had genetic potential invested in it by the alien Celestials . Intrigued, the Kree began to experiment on Earth's then-primitive race Homo sapiens to produce
17640-524: The city in exchange for a tribute: the deaths of all Inhumans between the ages of 16 and 22. Black Bolt surmises that the offering is a ruse to hide the fact that Thanos actually desires the death of Thane , a half-Inhuman youth Thanos had fathered years earlier. Maximus had Eldrac transport the remaining Inhumans to different locations to keep them from being killed by Thanos. The search for Thane eventually reveals that secret Inhuman tribes have existed on Earth for years and mated with its population, producing
17808-598: The city of Attilan , was first mentioned years earlier, in a Tuk the Caveboy story written and drawn by Jack Kirby that appeared in Captain America Comics No. 1 (March 1941). The city was described as the home of a race that was evolutionarily advanced when human beings were still in the Stone Age . The Inhuman Royal Family has been adapted to numerous Marvel animated series and video games over
17976-400: The collected editions of Frank Miller 's The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ' Watchmen in 1987. The Book Industry Study Group began using graphic novel as a category in book stores in 2001. The term is not strictly defined, though Merriam-Webster 's dictionary definition is "a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as
18144-414: The comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into
18312-413: The comic had described themselves as "graphic prose", or simply as a novel. Similarly, Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by writer Don McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy ( Eclipse Books , August 1978) — the first graphic novel sold in the newly created " direct market " of United States comic-book shops — was called a "graphic album" by the author in interviews, though the publisher dubbed it
18480-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
18648-480: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
18816-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
18984-467: The damage done to his throat without using any sedatives or anesthesia to dull the pain which prompted them to think that Black Bolt's great power is gone when he does not scream and therefore the prophecy about the Midnight King is no longer a threat to the Kree. However while being transported, it turns out that he still has his voice, but it is faint. After killing several Kree, Black Bolt secures
19152-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
19320-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
19488-465: The existence of the Inhumans to the world. Attilan is rebuilt from its remains on the Hudson River, in a city called New Attilan, serving as an independent nation welcoming all Inhumans and open to any who wish to visit. Crystal takes a team of Inhumans on the transport vessel called the R.I.V., or Royal Inhumans Vehicle, to follow the Terrigen Cloud and protect any NuHumans. In Australia she finds
19656-584: The experiments would eventually lead to an anomaly who would destroy the Kree Supreme Intelligence . Born approximately 50,000 BC, Tuk the Caveboy was the first offspring of the Inhumans. The Inhumans went on to form a society of their own, which thrived in seclusion from the rest of humanity and developed advanced technology. Experiments with the mutagenic Terrigen Mist (a process known as Terrigenesis) gave them various powers, but caused lasting genetic damage and deformities, which led to
19824-541: The finest of human athletes. Karnak and other normal Inhumans who are in excellent physical shape can lift one ton and are physically slightly superior to the peak of normal human physical achievement. Exposure to the Terrigen Mist can both enhance and in some cases reduce these physical capabilities. Most Inhumans are used to living in a pollution-free, germ-free environment and have difficulty tolerating Earth's current level of air and water pollution for any length of time. American comic book An American comic book
19992-695: The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring the Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on
20160-517: The first to use it. These included the Time magazine website in 2003, which said in its correction: "Eisner acknowledges that the term 'graphic novel' had been coined prior to his book. But, he says, 'I had not known at the time that someone had used that term before'. Nor does he take credit for creating the first graphic book". One of the earliest contemporaneous applications of the term post-Eisner came in 1979, when Blackmark 's sequel—published
20328-512: The four Queens of the Universal Inhuman tribes to respond to this threat. However, the meeting goes far from as planned, as an Inhuman executioner named Vox, a Super-Inhuman created by the Kree, begins his bloody rampage across the place. When Black Bolt and his Royal Family reached the meeting place, they discover the bodies of Oola Udonta, Aladi Ko Eke, Onomi Whitemane and Goddess Ovoe, with the same three words written in their blood on
20496-518: The four Reeds from the Interdimensional Council. Meanwhile, the resurrected Supreme Intelligence orders the Kree to launch an attack to destroy the Earth and the Inhumans in a bid to prevent the genetic prophecy from occurring unawhere that by doing that he actually put the prophecy in motion. They are repelled, with the Inhumans in pursuit. During the events of Infinity , Thanos and his forces attack Attilan and offer to spare
20664-529: The franchise expanded to two ongoing titles, Uncanny Inhumans , which ran for 20 issues from 2015 to 2017, and All-New Inhumans , which ran for 11 issues. There have been two spin-off titles with Karnak running in 2015 for six issues penned by Warren Ellis and drawn by Gerardo Zaffino and Roland Boschi and Black Bolt running for 12 issues from 2017 to 2018 penned by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Christian Ward. In 2017, Marvel announced two series involving
20832-481: The future of her people. Because Medusa had pressed the button, that act had the consequence of gradually draining the life energies from her. Akin to dying of a broken heart, Medusa had acted to end a cultural heritage that had lasted millennia and her body has essentially chosen to end with it. Her only hope now is to find the secrets of the Terrigen and bring a new source of it back to their people, so she too can be revitalized. The Inhumans and Noh-Var discover info on
21000-419: The genetically advanced Inhuman race. Their goal was apparently twofold—to investigate possible ways of circumventing their own evolutionary stagnation, and to create a powerful mutant race of soldiers for use against the Skrulls. Although their experiments were successful in creating a strain of humanity with extraordinary abilities, the Kree abandoned their experiment because a genetic prophecy had predicted that
21168-578: The group, with many new Inhumans, or "NuHumans", appearing as a result of the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb. Writer Charles Soule became the lead writer of the Inhuman franchise, starting with the Inhuman series, which ran for 14 issues from April 2014–June 2015. The NuHuman Kamala Khan also becomes the lead of her own title, Ms. Marvel vol. 3. Following the Secret Wars event,
21336-502: The heading. Writer-artist Bryan Talbot claims that the first collection of his The Adventures of Luther Arkwright , published by Proutt in 1982, was the first British graphic novel. American comic critics have occasionally referred to European graphic novels as "Euro-comics", and attempts were made in the late 1980s to cross-fertilize the American market with these works. American publishers Catalan Communications and NBM Publishing released translated titles, predominantly from
21504-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
21672-486: The largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of the process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in
21840-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
22008-601: The late 1960s, American comic book creators were becoming more adventurous with the form. Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin self-published a 40-page, magazine -format comics novel, His Name Is... Savage (Adventure House Press) in 1968—the same year Marvel Comics published two issues of The Spectacular Spider-Man in a similar format. Columnist and comic-book writer Steven Grant also argues that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko 's Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #130–146, although published serially from 1965 to 1966,
22176-461: The launching of Classics Illustrated , a comic-book series that primarily adapted notable, public domain novels into standalone comic books for young readers. Citizen 13660 , an illustrated, novel length retelling of Japanese internment during World War II , was published in 1946. In 1947, Fawcett Comics published Comics Novel #1: "Anarcho, Dictator of Death", a 52-page comic dedicated to one story. In 1950, St. John Publications produced
22344-451: The limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in the 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than
22512-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
22680-451: The mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in the tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from
22848-574: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934),
23016-514: The others on how he has made mistakes in the past and apologizes to them. After holding a moment of silence, Black Bolt orders Gorgon to turn around. The Inhuman ship strikes the Kree's base. Vox then pushes a button to unleash the Vox-controlled Inhumans. As Gorgon and Beta Ray Bill engage the Kree soldiers, Black Bolt, Medusa and Karnak arrive at the laboratory where they find Vox-controlled Inhumans like Crystal and Lockjaw. Using
23184-542: The page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of the American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be
23352-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
23520-662: The radio and pulp fiction character the Shadow , and released in hardcover). Marvel commissioned original graphic novels from such creators as John Byrne , J. M. DeMatteis , Steve Gerber , graphic-novel pioneer McGregor, Frank Miller , Bill Sienkiewicz , Walt Simonson , Charles Vess , and Bernie Wrightson . While most of these starred Marvel superheroes , others, such as Rick Veitch 's Heartburst featured original SF/fantasy characters; others still, such as John J. Muth 's Dracula , featured adaptations of literary stories or characters; and one, Sam Glanzman 's A Sailor's Story ,
23688-516: The remaining Terrigen Cloud. Now free of the burdens of being a queen, Medusa happily reunites with Black Bolt in the Quiet Room. Medusa banishes Maximus into an inter-dimensional prison, then with Crystal, Black Bolt, Flint, Gorgon, and Captain Swain are guided by Noh-Varr to the former Kree throne-world of Hala to discover the origins of Terrigen and offer a future to their doomed people. During
23856-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
24024-716: The scientists responsible for the program, and summon the Accuser Corps to cleanse the experiments on every world that they had seeded. In its haste, however, the Supreme Intelligence failed to download the full data packet from the scientists, and five races of future "Inhumans" escaped the slaughter: the Badoon, the Centaurians, the Dire Wraiths, the Kymellians and early humans. Together they go to Earth to defeat
24192-408: The seat of king. The T-Bomb has killed Black Bolt, leaving leadership to Queen Medusa. The Inhuman Royal Family struggles to maintain their grip on the Kree Empire. The Alpha Primitives revolt, Maximus tries to take the throne, and the Kree aristocracy revolts, which erodes the Inhumans' rule. Back on Earth, the Fantastic Four encounter an interstellar group of Inhumans formed from the Centaurians,
24360-464: The small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck , a collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published
24528-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
24696-487: The term graphic novel in an essay in the November 1964 issue of the comics fanzine Capa-Alpha . The term gained popularity in the comics community after the publication of Will Eisner 's A Contract with God (1978) and the start of the Marvel Graphic Novel line (1982) and became familiar to the public in the late 1980s after the commercial successes of the first volume of Art Spiegelman 's Maus in 1986,
24864-647: The term "graphic novel" in Capa-Alpha #2 (November 1964), a newsletter published by the Comic Amateur Press Alliance, and again in an article in Bill Spicer 's magazine Fantasy Illustrated #5 (Spring 1966). Kyle, inspired by European and East Asian graphic albums (especially Japanese manga ), used the label to designate comics of an artistically "serious" sort. Following this, Spicer, with Kyle's acknowledgment, edited and published
25032-425: The term originally; the back-cover blurb of the 30th-anniversary edition ( ISBN 978-1-56097-456-7 ) calls it, retroactively, the first American graphic novel. The Academy of Comic Book Arts presented Kane with a special 1971 Shazam Award for what it called "his paperback comics novel". Whatever the nomenclature, Blackmark is a 119-page story of comic-book art, with captions and word balloons , published in
25200-586: The three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically, the size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that
25368-445: The trip they learn Maximus and Black Bolt had switched bodies, so Black Bolt was actually banished. To further complicate matters, Medusa runs her hand through her powerful hair only to pull a large clump out with it, forcing her to announce to her crew that she is dying. It is soon apparent that Medusa's decision to destroy the Terrigen Cloud is afflicting her. She did what she had to to save the mutant race, but in doing so she had doomed
25536-460: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Graphic novel A graphic novel
25704-506: The wake of the term's popularity. Briggs noted, however, that he did not like that term too much. In 1976, the term "graphic novel" appeared in print to describe three separate works: The following year, Terry Nantier , who had spent his teenage years living in Paris, returned to the United States and formed Flying Buttress Publications , later to incorporate as NBM Publishing ( Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine ), and published Racket Rumba ,
25872-467: The window from his containment cell and jumped out of Stark Tower, killing himself. It was later revealed that there is another Inhuman city called Orollan which is located somewhere in Greenland. The Inhuman Lash is from Orollan as he plans to recruit the Inhuman descendants to work for him. As the months pass, Medusa also begins gathering the Inhuman descendants (called NuHumans by many), and reveals
26040-506: The years. Inhuman characters were introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in live action in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , while the Inhuman Royal Family is featured in the television series Inhumans , which premiered in 2017; the latter show was critically panned and lasted only one season. Earlier, a proposed film adaptation of the Inhumans was announced in 2014 by Marvel Studios but
26208-425: Was Gorgon ... And he was a fella who looked a little like a centaur or something. He could kick his foot very hard and he had great power. He could shatter a mountain by kicking his foot. He started out as a villain. We liked him so much, I should say Jack liked him so much, that he kept using him. We figured he has to come from somewhere. We decided, let him come from some strange land over in Europe, where there are
26376-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
26544-469: Was a mature, complex work focusing on the lives of ordinary people in the real world based on Eisner's own experiences. One scholar used graphic novels to introduce the concept of graphiation, the theory that the entire personality of an artist is visible through his or her visual representation of a certain character, setting, event, or object in a novel, and can work as a means to examine and analyze drawing style. Even though Eisner's A Contract with God
26712-403: Was a true-life, World War II naval tale. Cartoonist Art Spiegelman 's Pulitzer Prize -winning Maus (1986), helped establish both the term and the concept of graphic novels in the minds of the mainstream public. Two DC Comics book reprints of self-contained miniseries did likewise, though they were not originally published as graphic novels: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986),
26880-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
27048-836: Was fascinated with the shaggy God story aspect of the Inhumans. A follow-up to the series's ending appeared in Captain Marvel No. 53 (November 1977). The Inhumans were largely absent from publications for much of the 1980s, but appeared in their own graphic novel in 1988, written by Ann Nocenti and illustrated by Bret Blevins . Nocenti followed up by making the Inhumans Karnak and Gorgon supporting cast members in Daredevil from issue No. 272 (November 1989) through No. 283 (August 1990). An Inhumans limited series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee ran for 12 issues from November 1998 – October 1999. The series, which used
27216-531: Was later removed from its slate and never came to fruition. The Inhuman race was represented by the appearance of Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), portrayed by Anson Mount who reprised his role from the television series. In a 1967 interview, Stan Lee discussed the creation of the Inhumans: "The first Inhuman that we brought in
27384-595: Was located on the Blue Area of the Moon. The Inhumans attempted to foster better relations with Earth by sending students to the University of Wisconsin . In the events of Son of M , Quicksilver stole the Terrigen Crystals in an attempt to regain his powers and cure the de-powered mutants from M-Day . The theft led to a conflict on Genosha between the re-powered mutants (whose powers came back as too powerful for their own good causing their eventual surrender),
27552-419: Was only when the council was revealed to be using his son in a plot against him that he finally turned against the council. With that, he gave up the crown as king of the Inhumans. For a while, they lived away from Attilan, but returned in times of need. The once-secret existence of the race has come to light among the general public as the Inhumans interact more often with many of Earth's superheroes —including
27720-531: Was published by a traditional book publisher and distributed through bookstores, as was cartoonist Jules Feiffer 's Tantrum ( Alfred A. Knopf , 1979) described on its dust jacket as a "novel-in-pictures". Hyperbolic descriptions of longer comic books as "novels" appear on covers as early as the 1940s. Early issues of DC Comics ' All-Flash , for example, described their contents as "novel-length stories" and "full-length four chapter novels". In its earliest known citation, comic-book reviewer Richard Kyle used
27888-552: Was published in 1842 by Wilson & Company in New York City using the original printing plates from the 1841 edition. Another early predecessor is Journey to the Gold Diggins by Jeremiah Saddlebags by brothers J. A. D. and D. F. Read, inspired by The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck . In 1894, Caran d'Ache broached the idea of a "drawn novel" in a letter to the newspaper Le Figaro and started work on
28056-432: Was published in 1978 by a smaller company, Baronet Press, it took Eisner over a year to find a publishing house that would allow his work to reach the mass market. In its introduction, Eisner cited Lynd Ward's 1930s woodcuts as an inspiration. The critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage, and many sources have incorrectly credited Eisner with being
28224-459: Was published in Argentina, a graphic novel written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and drawn by Alberto Breccia . The book told the story of Che Guevara in comics form, but the military dictatorship confiscated the books and destroyed them. It was later re-released in corrected versions. By 1969, the author John Updike , who had entertained ideas of becoming a cartoonist in his youth, addressed
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