The Belfry WebComics Index

A review for the comic, InHuman, written, drawn, ink, and PAINTED by Icarus, is much belated for a few reasons. It's a vast comic with a story that dips in and out of time, yet follows a linear path, and has a wide range of characters. But mainly it's because I first read through the comic more than two years ago, and only now have I gotten around to re-reading it again.

And trust me when I say that a thorough re-reading is just what this comic requires to fully understand it. In fact, a lot of the "Facts" about the comic here are really only what I'VE gathered. I may be more wrong about what's happening than the idea of clubbing baby seals.

Unless, you know. You get off on that stuff. In which case, feel free to fap to this review.

Anyhow, certain things can be review without a re-read, simply because of it's nature of writing. Chuck Palanuicks writing is often hard for me to re-read, because it's minimalistic and there's really nothing more to catch. It's meant to be up front and direct the first time you read it, and it shows.

Light humored and comedy comics, on the other hand, offer a different kind of re-reading. You skip strips or pages because you remember the punch line or the joke is no longer there. You can simply look at a few examples of the work and it's all there. There's really nothing to re-read, yet again.

InHuman defies this.

The story starts with an alien named Soshika, who is Hekshanian. A fuzzy yellow alien of sorts. And by golly don't you dare call her a pokemorph. She's alien. Get... it... right. This is more or less a long running frustration of Icarus, who much to his chargrin has his comic constantly labeled "furry" or "anthro" due to the lack of human characters.

Ha. Get it? InHuman. Little to no human characters? And even the human characters are... unsettling. Animal-like more so than the animals.

But I'm getting off topic. The story starts with her being sent on a mission to pick up a bio-weapon left behind by the Rulerists, a somewhat facsict and relegious group who's taken over pretty much everything. Think of Star Wars. Sith-dudes have really gotten everything taken over, and the rebels are, in fact, that. Rebels.

This isn't a war in progress. This is a revolution FOLLOWING a revolution of sorts. But the revolution Soshika is part of is fueled by revenge and hatred. This is apparant by the fact that Shoshika is really quite racist against humans, who make up most of the rulerist party. Her fight isn't political. In fact, MOST of the crew she takes off with in the Jester X, a space ship, seem to not have any political or idealistic grudge against the Rulerists. It's all revenge, personal grudge, or hate.

Which... you know. Kinda makes sense and is really refreshing. Instead of "Ohhh it's about freedom and what's right." It's more of a "Yeah, you're good to everyone else. But you kinda screwed me over, so now I'm going to do the same to you."

At least for the most of the crew on the Jester X, and others who later join up.

So they go after the bio-weapon, who lo-and-behold is HUMAN named Grey. Or, at least he looks human. He acts more like a half-tame animal. (SPOILER) Don't invade his space, he'll bite. Don't make any sudden movements, he growls.

This doesn't exactly help Soshika's hesitation towards humans. Though, she does start to have some moral issues with the double-standard of hate she holds towards the obviously disturbed Grey. <insert racisct issues and moral dillemas here> Yeah, it's a little well used, but it goes a step farther into the idea of what "human" is, as a term, rather than a race.

But before she can really get too far into this, they start to get a little heat for the capture of Grey, and she decides to drop Grey off with her brother as a last resort.

And truuuuust me. This is a LAST resort. Listen to the following statement carefully...

She drops a bio-weapon and obviously disturbed being off at the home of her brother, a permant and hopeless drunk.

Oh, and Grey has tons of scars, some self inflicted. At one point I think he tries to knaw off his own hand. Oh, he sees and hears things that aren't real. Oh, and he's a highly trained killer.

Did I get it all?

Anyhow, Soshika and the crew of the Jester X, in all fairness, aren't really aware of this. So, oblvious, they drop Grey off with Kyo, a drunk bisexual alien who took the opposite route of his sister. Rather than getting angry, he got depressed and started drinking. A lot. He's physically sick from it.

And so from there, the story shifts from Soshika to Kyo and Grey. We watch as an odd proces of healing goes on between the two unlikely allies. It... Damn people. It really is an interesting run of events on how the two interact. Kyo's obliviousness and blunt logic sort of confound what Grey thinks of people in general. Whether this is really is Kyo, or he's just this way because he's drunk, is unclear. In fact, he seems to get more profound and simple the LESS drunk he is. More intelligent.

BUt he never gets sober up to this point, so you don't really know.

No, I don't want to say anymore. I've set the scene for you pretty well I think, and now here's my general feelings about it.

Story wise, wonderfully put, with the occasional spiff. The story is pretty dramatic, yet is interspersed with a good amount of comedy. It can be a bit silly at times, tongue in cheek at others, and even crude. This may seem like an odd range for being such a dramatic and violent comic (which, oh by the way, it is), but I think it works. Instead of being this giant, dramatic and depressing space trip, there's a good amount of good humor that keeps a wishy-washy sense of optimism throughout the tale.

Koji, a six-legged Nikitak alien, plays the role of comedic relief often. He's the oldest (I think), so he's able to just take a step back and honestly relax. He has his depth, and really is a valiant guy. But he's also really funny and by far my favorite, as he is to many.

Only Koji could passify space-port security by pointing to Soshika, and with the straightest face, and say, "Oh, the yellow one's havin' moi baby."

Another thing about the story is that Icarus does a damn good job playing out different scenes happening at the same time. He brings you in and out of the story line with little to know trouble if you're paying attention. This works well because his story spans far and wide. My only complaint is that it's taken a few years to get through a day or so. Yes, I know. What with the flashbacks and all, it's more than that. But... You know. Once a week schedual. It really gets apparant later on.

Art wise, unique. Very unique. Inks and watercolors. It's no secret, I'm a sucker for traditional artwork, and Icarus let's me indulge to my fullest. The art starts a bit haphazard, but turns out wonderful, amazing, and fantastic as it goes on.

Also, with the character design, he's gone farther with his skills. Aliens now look like aliens. No if, and, or, and buts about it. He's moves from a more stylized to psuedo-realistic, so character species are much more clear.

Character wise, oh my freaking gawd he's got a lot of them. All unique. Lots of aliens and different personalities. The scope of it all is hard to get all at once, to be honest, because it's not just "Hey, here's a buncha aliens". It's more of a "Hey, here's a bunch races with different cultures, ideals, ways of thinking and adapting, and ways with intereacting with each other."

And seeing as this is a sci-fi comic, it should be a given. And Icarus goes above and beyond that...

Even is he's still a bit bitter that his comic is reffered to as "Anthro".

So, my final ratings.

Art: 4.5/5 Near perfect, and with a good style.
Story: 4/5 Great thing going on, with a few transition spiffs (but really it's forgivable since he transitions A LOT).
Characters: 5/5 Brilliant cast, each with motivations and backgrouns.

So, here's my final thought.

If you like sci-fi, InHuman should be on your to-read list. No more no less.

Now, I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Thanks for reading.