Inhuman Nature: Silent War

Bred by an alien race to be a warrior caste and possessing alien DNA, the Inhumans exist as humans possessed of incredible and otherworldly powers when exposed to the substance known as Terrigen. Living secretly, for the most part, among their fellow man, the Inhumans forge their own destiny as a separate society. Dig into the history of the Inhumans with these Marvel Unlimited comics in preparation for “Marvel’s Inhumans” heading to IMAX and ABC this fall!

For a guy who can think at super-fast speed, Quicksilver can sure make some horrible decisions. After falling from the absolute heights in HOUSE OF M where he ruled alongside his father and sister, Pietro Maximoff found himself one of the many de-powered when Scarlet Witch uttered the words “No more mutants.”

Obsessed with getting his swiftness back, he paid a visit to his estranged wife Crystal and their daughter Luna on Attilan – then located on the moon – and stole some Terrigen Crystals as seen in 2006’s SON OF M by David Hine and Roy Allan Martinez. Having given himself time-jumping powers Pietro exposed other former mutants to the power-granting objects, including his own daughter. While the process seemed to work at first, it soon proved dangerous and potentially fatal. Even worse? The Office Of National Emergency got their dirty hands on some of the crystals.

As you can imagine, Black Bolt and the other Inhumans didn’t take kindly to Quicksilver’s actions, especially when he killed one of their own, and made their dissatisfaction known on Earth. At the end of SON OF M #6, Black Bolt uttered a single word that destroyed much of O*N*E’s forces and part of the already ruined Genosha: war. 

That lead directly into the more Inhumans-centric SILENT WAR by Hine and Frazer Irving which found the entire race at war with humanity, including their longtime friends and allies the Fantastic Four. The conflict became far more contentious when an Inhuman squad killed a number of wealthy civilians and Gorgon wound up in O*N*E’s clutches where they turned him even more monstrous thanks to secondary mist exposure. 

Making matters far worse, Black Bolt and Medusa’s relationship came under a great deal of strain, thanks in large part to Maximus manipulating them with his mind powers.

The war itself lead to encounters with the Mighty Avengers, X-Factor and a group of soldiers exposed to the Terrigen Mists who had been sent to attack Attilan on the moon!

Unfortunately for everyone involved, this whole drama played right into Maximus’ machinations leading to a mostly destroyed Attilan. Afterwards a scared Inhuman population forsook Black Bolt and turned their loyalty towards The Mad One himself.

Left open ended, SILENT WAR became all the more intriguing after the events of World War Hulk and Secret Invasion, but we’ll get to those next time!

THE INHUMAN CONDITION

As noted in SON OF M and SILENT WAR, the marriage between Crystal and Quicksilver marked the first time an Inhuman had married outside of their race. Before that, she spent an extended period of time with the Fantastic Four, first filling in for Sue when pregnant with Franklin and then after she returned to active duty. Eventually, Crystal moved back to Attilan where she came to meet Quicksilver, an injured Avenger allowed to convalesce in Attilan, then located in the Himalayan mountains. Eventually the two married in a story starting in AVENGERS #127 and ending in FANTASTIC FOUR #150. The marriage didn’t last, but did result in Luna, their daughter, first mentioned in FANTASTIC FOUR #240 and developed ever since wherever Inhumans stories are told!

The Inhumans face threats from the stars in World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, War of Kings and Realm of Kings!