Broken Frontier

The Inhumans want the Terrigen Mists back and their actions prove it. The cold war is over. Things are about to get hot.

In Son of M, Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans, spoke one word, "War," thusly ending any chance of some sort of amicable agreement between his kingdom and the United States. The drama spilled over into New Avengers as Sentry tried to "choose sides," and now we see it all come to a head. Gorgon leads a small troop of Inhuman warriors into a New York theatre crowded with high society watching Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The irony is not missed, especially when Gorgon sends a clear message to the public and officially becomes a "terrorist."

David Hine is taking a scalpel to the Marvel mythos and not being kind with it. Bishop, the 198, Quicksilver, and even the original X-Men have felt his sadistic touch. With this comic, he proves no one else in the universe is safe. He brings the Inhumans, the Fantastic Four, and the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E) to the forefront of the situation, throwing them at each other like precision guided missiles. Not only does he come with the action and drama though, but he also adds his own bit of political commentary. At one point in a marvelously disturbing conversation, a O*N*E operative replies to Gorgon’s threats of war with the following ominous statement:

"Later today our president will make a speech of his own. He will tell the people that the Terrigen Mists are a weapon of mass destruction . . . . He will describe Black Bolt as a religious fundamentalist, a fanatic who will stop at nothing to destroy our way of life."

Familiar, anyone? If it is, then you know what is coming down the pike in Silent War, and it isn’t pretty.

But the machine, Frazer Irving, makes it look pretty. With expressions and definitions that mix a sprinkling of Joe Kubert with a dash of Jae Lee, Irving’s art is unmistakable and brilliant. From the intimate interactions between Medusa and Black Bolt to the eerie conversation between Gorgon and the O*N*E operative, the dark images speak for themselves, giving the book a foreboding feel and the reader a dread for the future of Earth-616.

The Inhumans and the Americans have finally succumbed to their fears and anger. The Silent War has begun. No one is safe. But the fans should be happy.