With years spent reading single issues here and there, juggling storylines of dozens of titles, I decided it was time to find a better way to read comics. So, it was off to the back issue bins armed with the longest want list you’ve ever seen! Putting together series after series and reading them in their complete goodness, I was reborn as the Retro-Reader!
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Number of Issues: 19
First Issue: July 1976 (25¢)
Last Issue: January 1978 (35¢)
Writer: Jack Kirby
Artist: Jack Kirby
In this series, Jack Kirby offered up a fictional account of how humanity was created on Earth. He posits that the Celestials, a race of space gods, journeyed to Earth millennia ago. Conducting on the primates, they created three new species: humans, Eternals and Deviants. After their experiments, this First Host of Celestials departed for the stars.
The Eternals were thus named because they could not die. These wondrous beings could fly and developed other interesting powers. They formed their civilizations high in the mountains and some of them served as the basis for early mythology. The Eternal Prime, Zuras, made his home in Olympia – a clear inspiration for the Zeus of Mount Olympus. Other Eternals include Ikaris of the Polar Eternals, Sersi (inspiration for Circe), Makkari (or Mercury), Sprite (well-known for his part in a Shakespearean work), and Thena (daughter of Zuras).
The Deviants were a misshapen species – ugly by human standards. These misformed beasts took control of the Earth and made slaves of mankind. When the space gods came back to Earth to check on their creations, they were displeased with the Deviants’ wrathful rule. Their reign of cruelty was ended by the Second Host of Celestials and their cities were driven under the sea.
As the Deviants were forced underground, mankind then emerged as the dominant species. They began to develop great civilizations and when the Third Host of Celestials returned to Earth, the space gods inspected and cultivated these growing cultures. Primarily, they had a profound impact upon the Incas. During this time, an Eternal named Ajak (known to the Incas as Tecumotzin) served as a go-between for the Celestials and mankind. When the space gods departed for a third time, he imprisoned himself within the Incan Chamber of the Gods to await their return.
The series begins with the return of the Celestials’ Fourth Host. At the same time, a disguised Ikaris and two humans (Doctor Daniel Damian and his daughter, Margo) discover an awakened Ajak as they explore the Incan Chamber of the Gods. They bear witness to the space god, Arishem, as he descends from the Celestial space craft onto his pylon with his hand oustretched. Arishem is a planet-killer and he and his fellow Celestials will observe the Earth for the next 50 years. When that time is up, he will pass judgment on the sentient species of Earth and if they fail it will lead to the utter destruction of their world.
After establishing the main premise, the series then follows a number of different plotlines as each species reacts to the presence of the Celestials. Mankind has no idea what they are – some nations delicately probe while others prepare to attack them. The Deviants also prepare to attack the Celestials and the Eternals are hoping to improve relations between the space gods and their creations. Although, as is expected, some members of each species deviate from the actions of the majority.
In an effort to impress the Celestials, the Eternals join themselves together, creating the Uni-Mind – an embodiment of their entire species. However, upon its disassembly, the Uni-Mind unleashed strong cosmic power throughout the Earth. Some of this power infects a robotic Hulk replica that quickly goes on a rampage that is quashed by Ikaris. After defeating the Hulk replica, the Eternals find themselves battling Dromedan (a powerful Deviant bred to destroy the Eternals) and rogue Eternal, Druig. Druig’s plan to destroy the space gods is quashed and the Celestials continue to observe the Earth.
The Bad: The series was cancelled before we could even get close to the 50th year – the final judgment of the Celestials. Also, while Kirby’s art works great for fantastic concepts, I find his humans to be downright ugly. The book is also very low on characterization as it focuses more on events and its own fictional history.
the Good: Kirby is at his best when creating out-of-this-world creatures, space craft, and architecture – the concepts he laid out in this series really played to his strengths.
The Verdict: The initial concept of this series was pretty neat. What if our creator came to Earth to unleash judgment? How would we react? The groundwork is laid for a truly great storyline accompanied by a huge cast of characters. Normally, a cast this large would be a hindrance but, when dealing with a concept like this, it’s ideal for displaying all the different types of reactions this scenario would generate. However, the series begins to stagnate around the time that the Uni-Mind imbues the robotic Hulk with cosmic-powered life. At this point, the book becomes just another super-hero slugfest and leaves behind the story and concepts that made it unique. After that, it never recovered and was soon cancelled – leaving us without a resolution. What would Earth’s judgment be?
I really wish Kirby had continued to focus on Earth’s reaction to the Celestials. I feel that’s where the true “meat” of this series lies. Now, I don’t know why Eternals was cancelled – if it was due to a decline in readers, I would say that the impetus for their departure was Kirby’s move from exploring these heavier concepts into the comfortable, “tried-and-true” slugests. But, if that’s what the readers of Eternals wanted, they would have just been reading the real Hulk’s series. In the end, the lack of any resolution – coupled with the un-met, great expectations I had for such a judgment coming down upon the Earth – are not enough for me to strongly recommend this series as a “read”. Now, if you’re interested in reading it for its importance to the Marvel Universe – then that’s another story. Over the years, Marvel has incorporated many of these characters into its mainstream universe – although, it does introduce a whole host of potential continuity errors. For example, if Zuras was the inspiration for Zeus – then, how do you explain the existence of Zeus as well as the entire Greek pantheon? Also, if these giant space gods are continuing to roam the Earth while they form their judgment – then you’d think that they’d play a much larger role in the status of the current Marvel Universe. But, now, I guess I’m just being nitpicky.
Note: This series shows that comic prices increased by 10 cents in just 2 years. Now, this may not seem like very much in today’s dollars but if we consider it on a percentage basis, comic prices jumped up a whopping 40%! In contrast, the rise from $2.99 to $3.99 was a 33% increase.
On Ebay: Eternals | Jack Kirby
On AtomicAvenue: Eternals
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