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<\/a><\/p>\nThis trend of having a significant Inhuman presence persists, uninterruptedly, from Fantastic Four #54 until issue #159, and then again, briefly, from #301-#317 and Annual #21.\u00a0 The Inhumans were such a hot commodity that, for a while in late 1967 and early 1968, stories concerning them were running concurrently in both the FF and Thor monthly titles.\u00a0 The stories appearing in Thor were standalone stories that filled-in the backstory of key characters and of the race as a whole.\u00a0 There was also a brief appearance of Medusa and Black Bolt on their own in July 1968 in Marvel Superheroes #15.\u00a0 The following diagram shows a publication timeline from October 1965 until July of 1968.<\/p>\n
Obviously, during this time frame, the Inhuman canon was growing in leaps and bounds, and it is impractical to summarize every jot and twiddle.\u00a0 I\u2019ll content myself with summarizing three major or core ideas: the star-crossed love between Johnny and Crystal; the ultimate explanation of their origins in the influence of the Kree; and the propensity of the Inhuman city to move from place to place. These last two themes are particularly relevant to Skye and her involvement in Agents of Shield and to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.<\/p>\n I include this component of the Inhuman canon mostly because Lee and Kirby and many subsequent writer\/artist teams have latched onto this theme and it forms one of the main ribs in the Marvel Universe.<\/p>\n This summary begins just after the resolution of the first Wakanda arc within the Fantastic Four.\u00a0 That storyline, which spanned FF #52-54, introduced the Black Panther (the first black superhero in mainstream comics in the USA)<\/a>.\u00a0 In gratitude for their assistance, the Black Panther gives Johnny Storm and his college roommate, Wyatt Wingfoot, a vehicle called the \u2018Gyro-Cruiser\u2019 that will transport its occupants effortless over any terrain.\u00a0 Eager to return to the Inhumans\u2019 Great Refuge in the Himalayas, Johnny takes the helm of the Gyro-Cruiser (which, incidentally, looks like a large hamster ball with a futuristic driver\u2019s compartment inside) and off they go.<\/p>\n About two days out from Wakanda, the pair suddenly finds the ground giving way beneath them and they are quickly plunged below the sands of some undisclosed desert and into a time-forgotten ruin.\u00a0 Here we get to see another installment of Jack Kirby\u2019s fascination with ancient cultures, golden ages, and lost cities \u2013 a theme that he pursued many times, including his exploration of King Solomons mines in the 1976 Black Panther series.<\/p>\n Upon waking, the lone figure tells Wyatt and Johnny a strange tale.\u00a0 He claims to be Prester John of the Arthurian legend, and the red wand that he guards is the Evil Eye, a device of unimaginable power.\u00a0 Johnny, thinking he\u2019s found the ideal method to shatter the barrier surrounding the Great Refuge and get reunited with his love, takes the Evil Eye and speeds off.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the artifact was building to an overload and, in the last possible second, Wyatt shoots the Eye out of the Torch\u2019s hand before it detonates.<\/p>\n This is a famous comics scene, and the final outcome of these events echo through many later stories, most notably the Defenders\/Avengers \u2018war\u2019<\/a>, one of the first major crossover events in comics, and in Matt Fraction\u2019s very trippy, very weird stint on the Defenders (2012), where Prester John is retconned into being a lynch pin of the multiverse.<\/p>\n The drama plays out over issues #55-59, during which we learn that:<\/p>\n Finally, desperate to deliver his people, Black Bolt screams and shatters the dome, destroying the Great Refuge in the process.\u00a0 The Inhuman Council of Elders confers and conveniently send the 6 core Inhumans (Blak Bolt, Gorgon, Medusa, Triton, Crystal and Karnak) back into the world.<\/p>\n Crystal, now free to reunite with Johnny, eventually becomes a permanent hanger-on to the team in issues #66-#80 and an actual member, replacing Sue during her maternity leave, in issues #81-#105.<\/p>\n During this run, some plot devices are introduced that become reoccurring and tiresome in the years that follow.\u00a0 The most prominent offender is the \u2018Maximus reclaims the crown\u2019 storyline.\u00a0 It was first introduced in FF #82 and ended in the next issue with Maximus and his \u2018evil Inhumans\u2019 fleeing in a rocket.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t bad the first time, but this storyline never goes away (I count at least 5 other occurrences), and much like a cold sore, lying dormant until another virulent outbreak, spoils the fun every time it appears.<\/p>\n Another example is the \u2018Separate the happy lovers\u2019 theme.\u00a0 The first time this occurs is in FF #95, when Medusa forcibly carries Crystal off to the Great Refuge, much to the despair and overreaction of the Torch.\u00a0 Johnny follows and engages in a fracas with the other Inhumans until peace asserts itself (#99), and it is explained that Crystal was needed temporarily to help Black Bolt recover.\u00a0 The next separation occurs (#105) when, seemingly out of nowhere, Crystal is afflicted with a debilitating weakness.\u00a0 Reed is able to trace the problem to the pollutions of the modern world (#105).<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nThe Star-Crossed Love of Johnny and Crystal<\/h3>\n
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