The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and appeared for the first time in 1965, on number 45 of Fantastic Four. Being aware of their own dissimilarity with respect to the human race and the risks this difference involves, they live hidden on the Hymalayan peaks, governed by the sovereign Black Bolt and his royal family. During the years, the relationships between this anomalous group of superheroes with the rest of the Marvel world became more frequent: Crystal (the sister of the queen, Medusa) became the girl friend of the Human Torch and, later, got married with the mutant Quicksilver, while the same Medusa was a member of the Fantastic Four and the stories of the group also intertwined with the Avengers and the X-Men. Surprisingly, however, the availability of collectibles devoted to these charming characters has always been poor: to my best knowledge, in fact, the market does not offer any statue of the members of the Inhumans, except for a fine pair of statues released by Bowen Design and devoted to the couple of sovereigns. Also for this reason, I was very happy when XM Studios announced the release of a statue devoted to Black Bolt, a character I always loved a lot and represented a serious lack in my Marvel statues collection! The piece is really awesome: it was released in 2016, with an edition size of 999 samples, designed by Arlen Caraang and masterfully sculpted by David Pereira Ezcurra. The statue is very high and heavy (size 33 x 39 cm, height 75 cm and a weight of approximately 13 Kg), but it can be displayed in two alternative ways by exploiting an ingenious base, constituted by the ruins of an ancient statue, which can be used as an amazing background or, alternatively, can be halved and to act as a support for the character. Black Bolt shows a regal frontal pose, which points out his elegant and powerful body, with well defined muscles on chest, abdomen, arms and legs. The sovereign rests on the tip of the left foot, with the corresponding leg fully elongated and the right one bent forward, in a very elegant aerial pose; the arms are open and the hands are in tension, as if the hero was throwing one of his screams of devastating power! The suit is wonderful and very faithful to the tables of Comics: in the central part on chest, abdominals and back (as well as in the inner part of legs and on elbows) it exhibits a very attractive, rhomboidal texture and the costume is characterized by a complex pattern, painted with a metallic silver tone, which notably stands out on the dark and dominant background blue color. Two spectacular, scaled silver winglets embellish the body at both sides of the trunk and enhance the majesty of the whole figure. The statue is equipped with two interchangeable arms and heads. One of the arms has a hand holding a long and silvery scepter which shows a thick and finely chiseled top and ends with a sort of emblem. The two heads are nothing short of stunning and are characterized by the typical small antennas centered on Black Bolt's forehead. One head is slightly tilted backwards and portraits the hero screaming with his letal voice, with two attractive white eyes and a wide open mouth; note the perfect inner details of the palate, the shape of the ears under the mask and the tension of muscles at neck level. The other head, on the contrary, shows a more relaxed (although absorbed) expression and can count on a pair of blue eyes colored in a masterful way. As aforementioned, the base is a true piece of art and depicts the ruins of a statue made of stone (presumably an ancient Greek or Roman soldier), embellished, on the left, by a broken, large and circular shield, finely decorated and, at bottom, by a head with an helmet and fragments of the shield itself. The statue, in essence, can be divided into two parts, so that Black Bolt can be located in front of it or replace the upper part of the stone soldier, thus reaching a notable height. The beauty and elegance of this XM Studios piece are astonishing: in my opinion, one of the best Marvel statues ever realized!