Comic review: Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5- ‘There is no freedom in this world.’

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: John Timms
Publisher: Marvel
Released: 23rd September 2015



I’ve had a pretty intense comic book reading week. Dealing with the liberally skewed distortions of reality that come from progressive statists can be hard-work, so to end my week on a soft landing I’ve decided to conclude with a quick look at one of Marvel’s ‘Battleworld’ event books.

That book is ‘Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5’ by Charles Soule, a writer who writes a lot, some of it good, some of it very good, and some of it painfully mediocre. Inhumans #5 fits securely into the ‘good’ category.

The story isn’t particularly complex or revelatory, but I did get a glimmer of truth from it, something to use for my own deviously anti-statist purposes. What am I talking about?

I’ll explain.

The narrative is about subjugation, about a people being enslaved, and not really understanding that they are enslaved.

‘The world is not as we have been told. We are DOOM’S playthings. He caused DEVICES to be built into New Attilan that broadcast a signal. It keeps the populace from realising one essential truth…There is no freedom in this world.’ (Medusa)

Replace ‘Doom’ with ‘Government’ and ‘Devices’ with ‘Mainstream media’ and you pretty much have a perfect encapsulation of what is happening in the western ‘democratic’ world today. A tax net population enslaved under the illusion of authority, propagandised through their televisions, newspapers and I-devices, and told that their enslavement isn’t actually enslavement at all. That’s our world, and that’s how we live today, but how many of us see it for what it actually is?

Do you see it, or are you getting angry with me for pointing it out? My message is simple. You are owned, and your owner is government. I don’t even think that this is a particularly extreme thing for me to say. It’s a bit like me pointing out that water is wet, so why do people get so angry with me for pointing it out? Oh well, that’s the matrix that we all live in. It annoys me, but I’m used to it now.

Did Charles Soule deliberately include an anti authority meaning within his comic book narrative, or is it just me (as a nasty, anti-authoritarian anarchist) that is putting meaning into something that is not there?

To me, it doesn’t really matter. The meaning is there, whether it was deliberate or not. I read comics to find meaning, not for purely hedonistic purposes. That’s what I do, that’s the main reason why I’m writing these ‘reviews’ on my blog and not working for a comic book website that values hedonism and entertainment over reality.

That doesn’t mean that I’m a complete masochist though. I read comic books for fun as well, and as a comic book existing purely as a vehicle for narrative excitement and thrills, Inhumans-Atillan Rising #5 is pretty decent. The story is fast paced, the characters are interesting, and the art, by John Timms, is very pleasing to the eye. The final panel in particular is superb, featuring a young lady looking absolutely stunning.

So, that’s it for my blog this week. The Tithe #5 is the one book that you need to track down. 2000AD PROG 1949 features a very revealing contrast between two authoritarian Judges. Negative Space #2 is creatively weird and fun, and Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5 is a lot better than I thought that it would be.


Rating: 7/10 (Sweet art, involving story, interesting characters, worth checking out)