Here Be Crystal of the Inhumans

Today's review is a review of a comic book hero. Her name is Crystal Amaquelin. She is a member of the subspecies of humanity called the Inhumans. At some point when she was younger, she was exposed to the Terrigen Mists and developed superhuman abilities due to genetic modifications made by the Mists. She had the ability to psionically control all four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. She can also control other natural materials and phenomenon like electricity and metals. She is of the Royal Family of the Inhumans and is sister to their queen, Medusa. She also has a pet that loves her dearly, named Lockjaw.

She first appeared in FANTASTIC FOUR I#45, which was published in 1965. She became the first love of Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch. They were together for a while, but eventually her duty to the Inhumans separated them. She eventually came to save the life of Pietro Maximoff, the mutant known as Quicksilver. They were married and had a daughter named Luna. However, their marriage eventually broke down due to the psychic influence of Maximus the Mad, brother to the king, Black Bolt. He was vengeful after Crystal's role in his defeat during their previous encounter, so he influenced Crystal into having an affair with a human salesman named Norman. Quicksilver, at the time, had started neglecting Crystal and their daughter, mostly because he was training a militia for the Inhumans, but when he discovered her infidelity, Pietro became psychotic for a time, desiring vengeance against his wife, as well as against the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. Maximus' influence was eventually revealed in X-FACTOR ANNUAL #2, but it was too late for the damage to be fixed, and the couple divorced later on.

Crystal's love for Johnny was rekindled when she returned to the ranks of the Fantastic Four, having served with them once before. However, by this time, Johnny was married to Alicia Masters (actually a Skrull named Lyja in disguise), so she eventually left the team and returned home after deciding that she didn't want to interfere with his relationship (which was actually already happening in subtle ways).

Some time after that, Crystal joined the Avengers and developed a relationship with Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight. That pairing eventually came to an end, and she concentrated on developing her skills as a warrior and a diplomat. She became involved with Ronan the Accuser, a member of the Kree race who genetically modified the Inhumans to start with back in the day. Their marriage, however, was a maneuver arranged by Medusa to strengthen an alliance between the Inhumans and the Kree Empire against the Skrulls, sworn enemies of the Kree. After some time passed, the two developed feelings for one another. But even this relationship came to an end (by decree of the Black Bolt)., although technically Crystal and Ronan are still married, I believe.

Presently, Crystal is back with the Inhumans, acting as their ambassador. She leads a group of NuHumans around the world in search of more new Inhumans created by the Terrigen Mists, as well as taking the lead in the investigation surrounding mysterious Skyspears somehow related to them.

Crystal is a well-loved Marvel character. She has proven herself time and time again, especially as a member of the Fantastic Four, a role for which she is very well-suited. However, there was a period of time where a lot of readers deemed Crystal a slut for having cheated on Quicksilver with the salesman. Even the reveal that Maxmius had been controlling both her and Quicksilver during that period didn't seem to fix this view, and it got worse as the years continued when other writers got their hands on the character. The most notable thing to mention is that Crystal once slept with the Sentry. From
ragnell.blogspot.com/2010/05/forget-death-character-needs-to-be.html

"Did you know that Crystal slept with the Sentry? This, I suppose fits a bit. She likes temperamental, impulsive men with light coloring it seems. Of course, she doesn't remember the affair. He does. Why? Because the Sentry was there in the Silver Age, and he had to have gone to the moon. And what could he have done on the moon? Why, he can sleep with Crystal, because she's just some dumb slut, right? Not because she married too young and let two guys push her into choosing one or the other. Not because of her own insecurities or desires. Nope, doesn't matter why Crystal did it, because that romance (unlike the ones with Johnny, Pietro, Ronan, and the couple guys she slept with while she was married to Pietro) had nothing to do with Crystal's situation or storyline. It was because sleeping with a moon princess is just something a Silver Age hero does. Crystal's love life? All About Bob."

I'm not sure exactly what issue it was that revealed Crystal's tryst with the Sentry, but it happened. Does anyone out there know when it was?

In any case, time apparently heals all wounds. As I mentioned, Crystal is back in the spotlight, notably in ALL-NEW INHUMANS as its lead character. My only gripe: Where is her daughter Luna? She hasn't been seen or even mentioned at all in the title.