MBTI: Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four Part One: 1961-1965

Here I'll be typing characters from the Fantastic Four who haven't been typed (to my knowledge) but should have been. I'll be doing it in order of their appearance. Some characters have been typed by Taylor, so I won't be repeating his work here.

My methodology for typing superheroes uses visual cues of a character, among other things, to determine a character's introversion or extraversion, and a character's powers and abilities to determine if he is a Sensor or Intuitive. See here.

It's interesting to note that, when surveying all the character types of the Jack Kirby and Stan Lee period (1961-1970), most of them come from what Socionics calls the Gamma Quadra (that is, ENTJs, INTJs, ESFPs, ISFPs). Members of a Quadra share the same valued functions - that is, functions that a type likes and prefers to use. In MBTI, these functions are known as Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Inferior functions. In the case of the Gamma Quadra, the valued functions are identified as: Te (extraverted Thinking), Ni (introverted Intuition), Se (extraverted Sensing) and Fi (introverted Feeling). Gamma Quadra characters who favour these functions - especially Te and Ni, which are the primary and secondary functions of the xNTJs (INTJs and ENTJs) - appear the most in Kirby and Lee. Taylor makes a similar point regarding xNTJs in popular culture in general: 'NTJs Are Always Villains'.

All of the characters below reappeared in future Marvel stories - even the four Skrulls in Fantastic Four #2, who showed up again in the Avengers' famous Kree-Skrull War arc.

1961

Mole Man - INTJ

The first villain the FF encounters, the misanthropic Mole Man dwells in the darkness (literally) and plots revenge against humanity. No argument here: a typical INTJ. Introverted Intuition Ni, the Mole Man's dominant function, gives him the gift of forecasting and planning, whereas his secondary function Te allows him to command his vast underground empire of Subterraneans and others monsters. A sort of comic book version of Walter White (Breaking Bad) or Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars) but even more misanthropic than either of those two, if that's possible.

1962

Skrulls - ISFJ

Here I am not referring to the entire Skrull race but to the four Skrulls who appeared in the legendary Fantastic Four #2. I found these a hard bunch to type. At first sight, one would think that they are Intuitives - shape-shifting as a superpower belongs on the Intuitive side of the ledger. But here we are presented with an example of a superpower not relating to a supervillain's personality type. We only get to know and understand the Skrulls in the last page of the story. The goblin-like Skrulls look cringing and obsequious when Mr Fantastic implies that he'll get rid of the Skrulls by killing them. They promise to mend their ways and live amongst humans in peace for the rest of their days; one of them declares, 'We hate being Skrulls! We'd rather be anything else!'. Mr Fantastic offers to hypnotise them to make them forget their identities. One Skrull asks, 'Will we have a peaceful existence?', another, 'Promise we'll be contented!'. In the last panel, we see that the Skrulls have been hypnotised into thinking that they are cows: Stan Lee narrates, 'And so it comes to pass that the three captive Skrulls become the most contented creatures on Earth - as they grazed peacefully out in the pasture...'. Fictional ISFJs often cringe and prostrate themselves before authority, and ISFJs in real life can (and I know this from experience) display a streak of self-hatred. In addition, being introverted Sensing (Si) dominant, they prize harmony, comfort and contentment above all and see these as essential to true fulfilment.

Miracle Man - ENTP

A showman (Extravert), an illusionist and hypnotist (Intuitive), a cunning, calculating, rational type (Thinker): this gives us the letters ENTx. Is Miracle Man an ENTP or ENTJ? Obviously an ENTP: the ENTJ villain more often than not wants to rule the world, whereas the ENTP wants to shock it. Miracle Man sees defeating the Fantastic Four as a game of one-upmanship, and the transgressiveness of it - besting a well-loved bunch of heroes - appeals to him as it does to all ENTP villains.

Namor the Sub-Mariner - ENTJ

Another Extravert, and this time a ruler of men - definitely a Thinker, and an extraverted Thinker (Te) at that. The Sub-Mariner, who in his first appearance in the FF appears to be a skinny and gangly fellow, doesn't seem to be a Sensor at first sight (although he does possess super-strength). His abilities seem to lie in the Intuitive area: charisma and leadership, and also long-range planning and forecasting (introverted Intuition Ni). This combined with his impulsiveness and temperamental character makes him an ENTJ: this type, in my experience, tends to leap into action and throw themselves into it without holding anything back and without debating the rights or wrongs of it. That describes Namor...

Doctor Doom - INTJ

See here.

Kurrgo, Master of Planet X - ENTJ

Another scrawny character, Kurrgo displays strong planning and forecasting from the outset (Ni Intuitive) and rules an entire world (Extraverted Thinker Te), Kurrgo kidnaps the Fantastic Four so as to force them to save his planet from being destroyed by a collision with a runaway asteroid. The Fantastic Four save the planet, but Kurrgo's lust for power proves to be his undoing. (He does survive and appear in future stories, however).

Puppet Master - INTJ

Not a strongman or brawler, the Puppet Master can control others through the puppets he makes (which are sculpted out of radioactive clay from Wundagore Mountain). The creepy and withdrawn Puppet Master loves to manipulate others, and supervillain INTJs are distinguished by their quasi-sadistic desire to control - see Taylor here. I regard the Puppet Master as the INTJ's INTJ (the evil INTJ's INTJ, that is).

Alicia Masters - ISFJ

The gentle, idealistic blind sculptress Alicia Masters seems a tactile character - she can 'read' a person by running her hands over their faces. This makes her a Sensor... She definitely marks herself out as a Feeler and a Feeler who is concerned with the welfare of others around her - particularly her uncle, the Puppet Master. She believes, at first, that the Puppet Master is a good guy. ISFJ characters tend to believe the best of people close to them, and put them on a pedestal until (as in the case with Alicia) events cruelly disabuse them of their idealistic notions.

1963

Impossible Man - ENFP

Another scrawny character (Intuitive) who can shapeshift into anything he can imagine (and he has a wild imagination - extraverted Intuition Ne), a manic attention-seeker and narcissist (Extravert), a petulant, somewhat childish character (introverted Feeling Fi) - I type the Impossible Man as an ENFP. I think of ENFPs as chameleons: they tend to take on the colours of their environment and become whoever they are talking to at the time - hence their ability to get along with seemingly everybody they meet. In creating the Impossible Man, Kirby Lee use that chameleonic quality of the ENFP  and turn it into a superpower. They also make him extremely high-energy - manic, in fact - and somewhat annoying; ENFPs can be like this. The Impossible Man reminds me of a superpowered Jerry Lewis.

Hate-Monger - ENFJ

Another instance of a supervillian created for the purposes of political propaganda, Stan Lee deployed the Hate-Monger so as to sound off against bigotry, intolerance, etc., in true sixties-liberal style. (Given the current climate in America - and the fact that the comic book industry is at present highly politicised - we may see a revival of the Hate-Monger in the future). Evidently an Intuitive - no super-strong brawler is he - the Hate-Monger has the ability to whip up crowds into frenzies and turn them into destructive mobs; he does this through persuasive rhetoric and his 'hate ray' super-weapon which changes peoples' emotional state. The Hate-Monger sounds like a manipulative INTJ, but INTJs are Introverts (and Thinkers), shie away from crowds and don't get carried away by their feelings much. Hate-Monger presents himself as both an Extravert and a Feeler, and I would argue that he is an Fe (extraverted Feeling) dominant. Fe dominant characters, especially supervillain ones, live in a super-charged emotional atmosphere which can lead to the disappearance of all restraint: in other words, they are Dionysian. Just like his real-life historical counterpart, Hate-Monger should be typed as an ENFJ.

Red Ghost - ESTJ

A balding, long-haired villain who can make himself intangible - the Red Ghost resembles the DC villain The Mist. At first, he seems like an Intuitive, not a Sensor. But in order to work out the Red Ghost's type, we need to look at the characteristics he displayed before he got his powers (which, like the Fantastic Four's, came from cosmic radiation). He seems like a hard-nosed, calculating extraverted Thinking (Te) type who doesn't have any of the traits of an Intuitive - Sensors tend to live in the here and now, not in the past or future. What's more, he bullies his superpowered apes and seems like a drill sergeant. I type him as an ESTJ.

The Watcher - INFJ

The cosmic-powered alien Uatu the Watcher lives in the blue area of the moon and is sworn never to interfere in the lives of other races. He observes, but does not act. For a time, he narrated the Marvel imaginary-story series What If?, which depicted alternate realities in the Marvel universe and paths not taken. Despite his detachment - and obvious introversion - the Watcher does interfere, and quite often, in human affairs, and helps save the planet from cosmically-powered supervillains Galactus, the Molecule Man and others. Introverted Intuition Ni gives the INFJ the ability to perceive alternate possibilities in the future which flow, naturally from happenings in the past; extraverted Feeling Fe makes the INFJ pay attention to the collective well-being and the harmony of the group.

The Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android - INTJ and ISTJ

The Mad Thinker (or the Thinker, as he prefers to be known) designs killer super-androids but is more renowned for his ability to predict the future. Like all INTJ supervillains, he plots, plans, forecasts before acting and always uses dark, enclosed spaces for hideouts which always seem to be located somewhere underground in New York city. In addition, like a true INTJ bad guy, he wants to rule the world (extraverted Thinking Te showing here). The Mad Thinker's creation the Awesome Android - a mute, obedient servitor - seems to be a loyal, subservient and utterly relentless ISTJ, like most of Mad Thinker's robots.

Super-Skrull - ESTJ

The Super-Skrull first appears as a sort of Skrull version of Captain America. The Skrull Empire's ruler, through genetic engineering, gives the Super-Skrull the powers of the Fantastic Four. Like the Red Ghost, he aspires to be a loyal servant of his nation-state, and, in one of his first acts on Earth, he claims the planet for the Skrulls and plants the Skrull flag in the Manhattan sidewalk. After delivering a speech to the astonished onlookers, he orders them to 'return to your everyday tasks'. Pure Te (extraverted Thinking) here. The enormous physically powerful Super-Skrull comes across more as a Sensor than an Intuitive (although he wields at least one power used by Intuitives - super-hypnotism). That and his lack of Ni (introverted Intuition) makes him more of an ESTJ than an ENTJ.

Rama Tut - ENTJ

An time-travelling adventurer bored with life in the prosperous, stable and dull year 3000 travels back in time to ancient Egypt and uses his super-technology to dominate the natives and crown himself Pharaoh. Clearly a Te (extraverted Thinking) dominant, his reliance on his wits, his charisma and his super-technology shows him to be an Intuitive, not a Sensor.

Molecule Man - ENTJ

A frustrated and misanthropic non-entity who works in a nuclear plant, a freak accident gives the Molecule Man the power to control all matter. While this character became a nebbish, shy and retiring type in the 1980s (during the Secret Wars years), in his first appearance he is portrayed as extraverted and dominating. At one point he levitates the Baxter Building and threatens to drop it on the crowd below unless they obey his orders, and he also holds Manhattan hostage by creating a giant, impenetrable force-field around it. Another Te (extraverted Feeling) dominant type and an Intuitive.

1964

Infant Terrible - INFP

One of the stranger characters in the series, the childlike Infant Terrible comes from another planet and wields vast, cosmic-level power (at the end of the story, he nearly uses his mental powers to move the Sun and thus destroy all the planets in the solar system). But all he wants to do is to be left alone so he can eat candy and play with toys. An Introvert, his face resembles a mask or a helmet, and I argue that he is an introverted Feeler. Fi (introverted Feeling) types experience strong emotional reactions which are not shared feelings and value-judgements, i.e., the feelings and value-judgements of others. At their worst, they can come across as petulant and childlike. Most INFP characters have parents who are missing from their lives and who play a big role in the INFP's backstory: think of Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Scarlet Witch (Avengers), Nightcrawler (X-Men), Scott Free (Mr Miracle)... At the end of the Infant Terrible's first appearance, his parents show up in time to take him back to his home planet before he causes any further destruction.

Diablo - ENTP

The moustachioed and nattily-dressed conman Diablo seems Mephistophelean, and I argue that the figure of Lucifer, the rebellious fallen angel, is an ENTP. Diablo uses potions and chemical formulas which have amazing effects. After being revived from suspended animation by the Thing, Diablo rewards him by plying him with a potion that turns the Thing human - or at least semi-human. The grateful Thing, in exchange, leaves the Fantastic Four to work for Diablo as a manservant and bodyguard. But, as it turns out, the quack Diablo peddles formulas and cures which are only temporary - or destructive. Like ESTPs, ENTPs use introverted Thinking Ti, and like ESTP conmen, ENTP conmen  use it to divine peoples' weakness and manipulate them. And like the Miracle Man, another ENTP, Diablo doesn't want to rule the world so much as impress it.

Attuma - ESTJ

A sword-wielding, super-strong barbarian who believes that, in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy, he will be the ruler of Atlantis, Attuma assembles a vast army and goes to war against the Sub-Mariner, putting the underwater city of Atlantis to a medieval siege. Attuma sounds like a Robert E. Howard character (Conan, perhaps), but unlike Conan, he is an extraverted Thinker, a brute and a bully. Extraverted Thinking Te dominates in both Namor and Attuma, but the former is an Intuitive, the latter a Sensor. We see in the eternal conflict of the two characters the difference between the ENTJ and the ESTJ.

1965

Gregory Gideon - ENTJ

Gregory Gideon should be considered to be the Platonic Ideal of the ENTJ villain - in the same way that the Puppet Master is the Platonic Ideal of the INTJ. A ruthless capitalist baron who is the wealthiest man in the world, Gideon undertakes the challenge of defeating the Fantastic Four after coming to a realisation that his attainment of great wealth and power has left him with no worlds left to conquer. A remarkably bullying and obnoxious Te-dominant - we don't know why his wife and son haven't left him - he avails himself of the forward planning of Ni to construct brilliant plan to destroy the Fantastic Four. He has a change of heart and becomes redeemed after nearly sending his son (and the Thing) thousands of years into the past, by accident, using a replica of Doctor Doom's time machine. He and his family's story doesn't end happily there, unfortunately; they end up flying a plane into a mushroom cloud during an atomic bomb test. But that's another tale for another time...

Dragon Man - ESFP

Can a character who is mute and an animal be typed? I argue yes. An android created by a scientist at Empire State University, he is brought to life by one of Diablo's potions and wreaks havoc. I type him as a Sensor, not as an Intuitive, an extraverted Sensor. Characters who are Se (extraverted Sensing) dominant display great physical strength, aggression, territoriality - just as Dragon Man does. At the same time, Dragon Man possesses a simple, childlike demeanour and is attracted, and feels protective of, women with bright and shiny beautiful hair (women such as Invisible Girl and Medusa). While he can't speak, he does make vocal noises - in one story he is said to 'whimper like a child'. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, he hardly comes across as a rational and calculating type - in other words, he is a Feeler, not a Thinker - and is easily manipulated and controlled by supervillain characters. In his character and temperament, he bears a strong resemblance to the Hulk, another ESFP.

Wizard - INTP

A former Human Torch foe (in the Torch's solo series in Strange Tales), the Wizard (or 'Wingless Wizard') founds the Frightful Four as a supervillain counterpart to the Fantastic Four and recruits other Human Torch villains Paste-Pot Pete (later known as the Trapster) and the Sandman (the Spiderman foe who put in a guest appearance in the Torch's title). A brilliant inventor who obviously serves as an evil analogue of Mr Fantastic, the Wizard specialises in anti-gravity technology. Mad scientist characters are more often than not inclined to be extraverted Intuitives - Ne gives the character a kind of zany creativity and artistic bent. As a Ti dominant, the Wizard excels in systems analysis - which enables him to design such incredible invention and his extraordinary ultra-modernist mansion (where we see him in his first appearance in Strange Tales) - but also comes across as aloof, solitary and emotionally distant (despite his surrounding himself with people). The combination of Ti and Ne lends him a nerdy, geeky and somehow unmasculine and prepossessing appearance; the INTP is the archetypal geek or nerd.

Madame Medusa - ESTJ

See here.

Sandman - ESFJ

The Sandman, as a member of the Frightful Four, appears as nearly as much in Fantastic Four as he does in Amazing Spiderman - in fact, probably more often. I regard the Sandman as a Feeler, to be sure, and a Sensor - and an Extravert - but why do I type Sandman as an ESFJ? Firstly, because he speaks, and looks a lot like, the Thing, who is an ESFJ. Gruff and outspoken, both the Thing and the Sandman bring a boisterous emotional atmosphere along with them wherever they go (extraverted Feeling Fe) and live in the here and the now, in the world of the senses (introverted Sensing Si). Where he an ESFP, he would be more showy and theatrical. What's more, introverted Feeling Fi - the secondary function of ESFPs - tends to withdraw itself from the world; extraverted Feeling Fe embraces it. The Sandman represents a dark and evil version of the ESFJ. The Thing has shown this dark side of the ESFJ - including a tendency to brutality and bullying - on occasion, usually when he is enraged or has been turned evil by one of the Wizard's brainwashing machines. He doesn't always come across as the most pleasant character. The Sandman presents us with an alternate-reality version of Ben Grimm and illuminates the path the Thing would have taken had his early life circumstances been different...

Trapster - ISTP

Another inventor, like the Wizard, and like the Wizard, the Trapster specialises - in super-adhesives which he fires from a glue-gun. The Trapster's main weapon resembles Spiderman's web-shooters, and like the Wizard, Spiderman and Mr Fantastic, the Trapster is skilled at invention. But, being terse, down to earth, and somewhat argumentative and aggressive, he seems much more of a Sensor than an Intuitive. In fact, he reminds us of Keirsey's portrait of the ISTP - the Mechanic, or Crafter - and in his downtime he is always shown fixing one of his weapons (usually his glue-gun). He lacks the zany creativity of the INTP type, and functions more as a mechanic or engineer than an inventor and a creator - he doesn't have the artistic sense of the Intuitive.

Inhumans - various

See here.

Mark Hootsen signing off.

MBTI: Lee and Kirby's The Inhumans

I have recently re-read the first four volumes of Marvel Essentials: Fantastic Four by Lee and Kirby, and this has inspired me to type the Inhumans. I'll type the rest of the Fantastic Four supporting cast at a future date (for those who are interested, Taylor has typed the Fantastic Four here). In the meantime, I urge every fan to go out and read those volumes or the Marvel Epic collections of Lee and Kirby's work on the Fantastic Four. Just because Marvel hasn't made a decent film adaptation of the FF (and has repudiated the the FF by not using them in any of their merchandise) doesn't mean that we in fandom should ignore them. The Fantastic Four issues - especially when inked by Joe Sinnott - should be regarded as the best work that Lee and Kirby ever did.

The Inhumans - as we can see from the Wiki entry - first appeared as a group in an issue of Fantastic Four in 1966. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, stumbles across the beautiful, shy and elusive Inhuman Crystal in an abandoned neighbourhood in New York city at nighttime.

She assumes that he, being a super-powered being like herself, belongs to the Inhuman race and invites him home to a secret underground lair to meet her family.

This proves to be a big mistake, as all hell breaks loose and Storm and the rest of the Inhumans begin fighting one another (as superheroes always do when meeting one another for the first time).

Storm summons reinforcements - the rest of the FF -

but we learn that the Inhumans are the good guys, who are being pursued by a bad guy called the Seeker, a fellow Inhuman who wants to return the New York Inhumans to their homeland, the 'Great Refuge' - the city of Attilan (which is somewhere in the Himalayas).

It turns out that, just like Kirby's later creation the Eternals, the Inhumans are mutates who were once humans before being genetically experimented on by an alien race who visited Earth thousands of years ago (in the case of the Inhumans, it's the Kree who are the genetic engineers, not the Celestials).

The Inhumans go on to appear in many Fantastic Four adventures, and in a few backup stories - also by Lee and Kirby - in Thor and Amazing Adventures. (The amazing Neal Adam drew a few stories in the latter). After Lee and Kirby ended their partnership, the Inhumans appeared in their own short-lived titles and even in the TV show Agents of SHIELD, but in my estimate they have never really caught on. Simply put, fans don't like them as much as the other Lee-Kirby creations.

Having said that, the Inhumans - being ubiquitous in the Marvel universe - do deserve their own MBTI profile. So here we go.

BLACK BOLT

Black Bolt - who has one of Kirby's best, and sleekest, costume designs - at first seems to be an Introvert. After all, the character never talks, he wears a mask (which covers nearly all of his face and head) and dark colours - all the common characteristics of an introverted super-character. But Black Bolt, who is described as regal and noble, takes a very public role - he rules the Inhumans as their king - and his very appearance before the assembled multitude in Attilan inspires great confidence.

He often addresses large crowds (not through speaking, of course, but through sign language). This marks him as an Extravert, and like most characters who are natural rulers of men, an extraverted Thinker. His energy manipulation powers - similar to those of Kirby and Lee's Zeus in Thor and The Avengers, and Kirby's Zuras in The Eternals - show him to be an Intuitive.

The secondary function in an MBTI type I call the 'marketing function': it's used to market one's type to the external world, to sell something of use to others. The characters who have introverted Intuition as a secondary function (ENTJs and ENFJs) are usually seen by others as visionaries, and visionary leaders (if they are bad guy characters, they are evil visionaries). Definitely Black Bolt is regarded by other characters as such a leader. My verdict: ENTJ.

MEDUSA

Black Bolt's wife Medusa first appears as a supervillain, 'Madame Medusa', who belongs to the evil counter-part of the FF - the Frightful Four (along with the Wizard, the Sandman and the Trapster); like Sue Storm, she is the one female in the group. From the beginning, she lays down the law and nearly even usurps control of the group from its leader, the feckless Wizard; bullying and domineering, she strikes me as an extraverted Thinker type - just like that other buxom and beautiful Kirby creation, Big Barda. And, like Barda, she leaves the bad guys and joins the good guys in the end.

Clearly, her powers - super-powered hair which works like a set of super-strong tendrils and is capable of grappling, squeezing, constricting and throwing - should be considered as Sensor's, not an Intuitive's. But I would go further and mark her out as an introverted Sensing type. Those with introverted Sensing in the secondary function slot - the 'marketing function' - appear to others as homey and practical, people who live in the present and who are comfortable with it. As a character, Medusa seems far more down to earth, and stable, than her flighty, romantic and unpredictable sister Crystal. My verdict: ESTJ.

GORGON

The taciturn Gorgon, who wears drab and muted colours, shows himself to be an Introvert from the start. His awesome foot-stomping power and physical strength mark him out to be a Sensor:

Is Gorgon a Thinker or a Feeler?

Characters who are Thinkers are calculating types who try and order the world around them - and often the people in it - in a rational way and according to a specified end; characters who are Feelers, in contrast, go with the flow and react - emotionally - to events. Gorgon, being more brawn than brain, belongs in the latter group, like the Thing, the Invisible Girl and the Human Torch. These characters don't want to rule the world (like Doctor Doom) nor are they obsessed by laboratory experiments and scientific discovery (like Mr Fantastic). The rather impersonal preoccupations - which are not people friendly - of the Thinkers do not interest the Feelers in the slightest. All that seems to them to be cold and unfeeling.

I type Gorgon as an ISFJ. When he first appears, he wants to steal back Medusa to her family, where she, in Gorgon's view, rightfully belongs.

He plays the stock ISFJ role of the caring and protective (perhaps overprotective) older brother who will sacrifice himself for the sake of his family. Colossus of the X Men gives us one example of that ISFJ type, the deceased Storm Logan (brother of Brooke, Katy and Donna in Bold and the Beautiful) another.

CRYSTAL

Crystal, another Feeling - and not a Thinking - type has powers over earth, wind, fire and water (other characters call her an 'elemental'). These remind me of the spell-casting powers of the Scarlet Witch.

Most of the time, a character's first appearance will tell us whether he or she is an Extravert or Introvert. When we first see Crystal, she seems a strange, elusive, even ethereal figure - like a ghost - and is certainly not an exhibitionist. An extraverted Intuitive (Ne) dominant type would be all over Johnny from the outset and demand his (and the world's attention): 'Look at me! Look at me!'.

She also acts on impulse and follows her heart by befriending Johnny, even though this goes against the wishes of her family and could endanger them. Unlike Gorgon, she feels in an introverted, and not extraverted, way. Out of all the MBTI types, introverted Feeling types behave in the most individualist manner; they don't pay any attention to the wishes of the collective - what matters to the Fi-dominant is what they feel, they want.

They also possess a strong degree of empathy which gives them the ability to create a rapport and put themselves in the shoes of others. Crystal just 'knows' that Johnny is a good sort, and this gives her permission to break her family's rules.

Like the Scarlet Witch, Crystal is an INFP. Extraverted intuition in INFPs gives them a pronounced 'artistic' character: they appear to others as playful, inventive, creative, and not a little bit zany, whimsical and unpredictable. That sums up Crystal.

KARNAK

Karnak the Shatterer, a superhuman karate expert, can detect the weakness in any physical object and destroy it with one blow.

Intuitive or Sensor? Sensor, to be sure. His enlarged cranium and analytical abilities make him a Thinker, and his rather reserved and dour demeanour, an Introvert. Dominant introverted Thinking (Ti) type characters excel in systems analysis and understanding how things work; they also show a lack of interest in conveying that understanding to others and communicating with them at all (which explains why Daredevil and Wolverine seem to be such surly and aloof characters). My verdict: ISTP.

TRITON

Again, another Introvert. Triton, like Aquaman, can't stay out of water for long and when we first see him, he's a mysterious, hooded figure whose robes conceal a water-bag suit which he must wear to stay alive. His powers and abilities make him more of a Sensor than an Intuitive. Like Aquaman, he's super-strong, swims fast and can live underwater, and that's about it; unlike Aquaman, he doesn't wield the superpowers of an Intuitive (Aquaman can mentally control marine life).

It takes a few issues before we get to know Triton. When we do, we come to see him as a noble, high-minded and ethical man - an introverted Feeler. My verdict: ISFP.

MAXIMUS THE MAD

Black Bolt's evil brother and the only supervillian in the Inhumans. Definitely a Thinking, and not a Feeling, type. In the Kirby-Lee stories, he doesn't seem to possess any superpowers. His sole ability lies in making all sorts of doomsday devices - death rays and the like - and mind control devices. His desire to control, in combination with his megalomania, makes him an extraverted Thinking bad guy.

Maximus strikes me as being more of an Intuitive than a Sensor, and an Extravert more than an Introvert. I make him out to be an ENTJ - a bad ENTJ.

THE SEEKER

An officious, nattily-dressed functionary who carries out the orders - obediently and unquestioningly - of whoever is the ruler of the Inhumans at the time (Black Bolt or Maximus), the Seeker lingers in the background and rarely comes to the forefront. Definitely an Introvert and a Thinker. Like all quiet, obedient and efficient underling characters, the Seeker should be typed as an ISTJ.

ALPHA PRIMITIVES

The clone race bred by the Inhumans to be servitors and slaves. They are definitely Introverts - who live underground for most of the time and who hardly speak - Sensors and Feelers. I argue that they are a race of ISFJs. Characters of this MBTI type often play the role of being the put-down upon doormat. ISFJ characters can appear to be exceedingly nice and self-effacing people, whose kind, gentle and trusting manner lends itself to exploitation by other more unscrupulous types. Eventually, however, the ISFJ doormats hit a wall and turn on their oppressors. The Alpha Primitives have revolted against their Inhuman masters several times.

LOCKJAW

? I can't type this dog.

IN CONCLUSION

You could think that - given the great artwork and characterisation in the Lee and Kirby issues - the Inhumans would have been another hugely successful super-team like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. But that was not to be. While they were well-received as supporting characters in the Fantastic Four, they failed when they were given their own title.

Why was this? One reason is that the Inhumans lacked the expansive and interesting rogue's gallery of the FF. In fact, we find only one supervillain: Maximus.

The second reason lies in the MBTI types of the characters which, when put together in the same team, didn't seem all that compelling. The Inhumans are led by two Extraverts, Black Bolt and Medusa, and aside from those two, the remainder of the team are all Introverts and shy and retiring Introverts at that. In other teams, you find more of a balance and a mixture. In the 1970s-era X-Men we see the Introverts (Professor X, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus) balanced by the Extraverts (Angel, Beast, Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde, Iceman). As for the 1960s and 1970s Fantastic Four, Extraverts (Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing) dominate the team; the sole Introvert (Mr Fantastic) leads. But, over time, Lee and Kirby added some supporting characters who were Introverts (Wyatt Wingfoot, Agatha Harkness, Crystal of the Inhumans (who substituted for Invisible Girl for a time)).

A balance of Extraverted and Introverted types, by itself, doesn't make a great superhero team, but it helps.

Mark Hootsen signing off.