Inhumans #3

History

The four-issue limited series was written by Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín—both Spanish creators who had already made an impression on the mainstream Marvel Universe through their concurrent run on Fantastic Four Vol. 3—with art by José Ladrönn, whose densely structured, European bande dessinée–influenced pages gave the series a visual texture unlike anything else on Marvel's 2000 schedule. The series followed almost immediately in the wake of the acclaimed Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee twelve-issue Marvel Knights Inhumans (1998–1999), which had won the Eisner Award for Best New Series, meaning Pacheco and Marín inherited significant expectations. Editor Mark Powers oversaw the series under Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, and the run was later collected in the 2007 trade paperback Fantastic Four/Inhumans, acknowledging its thematic continuity with Pacheco and Marín's FF work.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Delphos, a Shi'ar precognitive warrior and Imperial Guard aspirant; she would return in Secret X-Men #1 (2022) and Marauders Vol. 2 (2022).
• Written by Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín, penciled and inked by José Ladrönn; series edited by Mark Powers under Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada.
• Pacheco and Marín were among the first Spanish creators to script a major ongoing Marvel Universe property, bringing a European science-fiction aesthetic to the title.
• The issue is the penultimate chapter of a four-issue limited series (Inhumans Vol. 3, June–October 2000)—the third distinct comic series to bear the Inhumans title and the first structured as a limited series from the outset.
• Ronan the Accuser's covert manipulation of the Inhuman Royal Family as instruments for a potential assassination of Empress Lilandra is developed here, forming the core thriller plot of the series.
• The Kree-controlled Inhuman mission takes Karnak and Triton undercover inside a Shi'ar military operation on a moon the Shi'ar wish to colonize for Spartoi settlers—marking the first appearance of the location Kritnah.
• The entire four-issue run was later collected in the trade paperback Fantastic Four/Inhumans (Marvel, 2007, ISBN 978-0785127031), which also collected the Pacheco/Marín Fantastic Four issues that thematically continued this storyline.
• Delphos's design in this debut issue depicted her with human-like features; later appearances in Marauders Vol. 2 (2022) retroactively gave her green skin, a visual discrepancy noted in the Marvel Database.

Cast · 18 characters

Full credits