Karnak #1
KARNAK #1
Capsule Review
I hope writer Warren Ellis isn’t being paid by the word, because there aren’t a lot of them here! But taciturn storytelling is appropriate for the grim and mysterious Karnak, a third-tier member of a third-tier team, who makes a play for A-List status in this moody and superior story. Normally it is Black Bolt who is the silent Inhuman, but here the absence of words well-reflects Karnak’s contemplative world — both his interior meditative realm, as well as Karnak’s reclusive Tower of Wisdom, a kind of monastery that Karnak is building by doing hired work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Gerardo Zaffino’s art, with colors by Dan Brown, is equivalently spare. Ellis writes Karnak as uncompromising and more than a little bit of an asshole, but he’s a riveting character here, and I’m curious to see if Karnak will thaw as the story progresses, or instead become even more full of himself.
Approachability For New Readers
There’s all sorts of Inhumans and S.H.I.E.L.D. gobbledygook here … but you know what? Karnak is such a blank slate — and this interpretation of him is so singular — that this is as good a place to jump on as any.
Read #2?
Absolutely. Anti-heroes are my flaw!
Sales Rank
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Posted on November 23, 2015, in Reviews and tagged All-New All-Different Marvel, Dan Brown, Gerardo Zaffino, Inhumans, Karnak, Marvel Comics, Warren Ellis. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
dangvozden
Paul O'Connor
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
Longbox Graveyard 
“… a third-tier member of a third-tier team, who makes a play for A-List status…”
That should be Marvel’s mantra going forward. No character is a bad character, and Marvel has a LOT of unexplored territory to mine. They could easily launch a line of 52 mutants-only books, or mystical characters or… [insert ANYTHING here].
I have little faith Karnak will last beyond 15 issues, but Warren Ellis is great, so he’s got as much a chance as any other third stringer.
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Yes, there really is an amazing depth to that Marvel bench, isn’t there? That’s what you get when Jack Kirby hangs his shingle at your company for a couple decades.
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I’m really enjoying vicariously reading these comic through you. I always liked Karnak as a character, but I am realistic: He’s a C-lister at best. As an member of the Unmans ensemble I never really learned much if anything about him personally; maybe this book will provide that in an entertaining and consistent way?
I really like that cover image. Inside the issue, does he have a large cranium a Kirby?
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The jury is out on the big-head thing, at least is issue #1. He never removes his hoody!
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I like the cover design and… that’s all.
It should be all about Inhuman Kung Fu not some second rate grim and gritty smart wisecracker.
No thanks.
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Karnak is so grim in this book he should be named Grimmy McGrimm.
My fifteen-year-old self would have worshipped this book.
As is, even four decades on, I find stuff to like.
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