Marvel’s Inhumanity to man is set to increase, but not as soon planned. The new Inhumans #1 from writer Matt Fraction and artist Joe Madureira will be delayed from January 2014 to April, with no reason yet given for the seasonal shift.
The newly-numbered series speaks of an increase in the Inhumans’ role in the Marvel universe as an effect of the recent Infinity event, where the Terrigen Mists that give them their Inhuman powers are released across the world.
The Inhumans have historically been low profile. They’ll turn up from time to time in crossover events, but they often seem an afterthought, with their strained relationships, randomized powers, and a world which hates and fears them feeling like someone photocopied the X-Men and didn’t quite know what to do with the results. Even one of their most famous collected volumes tells the powerful story of how they convinced the entire world they’d died, and then hid. Hardly the highest-profile heroes.
But Matt Fraction is a master of re-engineering old characters. He’s recently raised the profile of Hawkeye with spectacular success, and engineered on of the most interestingly Invincinble Iron Man eras in recent history. With a Fraction #1, expect upgrades to the Inhumans’ internal mechanics.
Marvel clearly see the sense in raising the Inhuman’s profile in a market where Marvel properties are worth more than ever before. Every team is a possible movie and toy line, and the eternal internal strife of the Inhumans could easily add soap operas and superpowered-studies of class warfare while they’re at it.