MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Jack Kirby
PENCILS: Jack Kirby
INKS: John Verpoorten
COLORS: Glynis Wein
LETTERS: Gaspar
32pp, Color, .25¢ U.S. (July 1976)
The Eternals created by Jack Kirby
“The Day of the Gods”
The Eternals are a race of humanoids in the Marvel Comics universe. They were created by the legendary comic book creator, writer-artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The Eternals #1 (cover dated: July 1976). The Eternals are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. They were created by the immensely powerful alien race, the Celestials, along with a destructive counterpart, the Deviants.
The Eternals' first comic book series ran for 19 issues from 1976 to 1977, with issue #19 having a January 1978 cover date. Marvel Comics canceled the series before all its subplots were resolved, but The Eternals remained popular with fans, and Marvel published a 12-issue miniseries, The Eternals, in 1985 and 1986. I never took much interest in these characters, but they are the stars of an upcoming movie from Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. So I bought a copy of the first issue of the original series on eBay.
The Eternals #1 (“The Day of the Gods”) opens in a newly discovered, massive, underground Incan temple hidden beneath the high plains of the Andes in South America. The discoverers are Doctor Damian; his daughter, Margo, and the doctor's mysterious young assistant, Ike Harris. The site turns out to be the legendary “Chamber of the Gods,” and it holds the “Galaxy Plague,” an Incan stone carving that depicts the Incas' “Space God” and his space craft.
This discovery leads Ike Harris to tell the doctor and his daughter the story of the “Space Gods” that visited Earth far in the planet's prehistory and later, visited the Incas. During their first visit, the Space Gods used their “cosmic chemistry” on “the apes” they found on Earth to create three races. Those races were the “Eternals,” the “Deviants,” and humans. Ike Harris is really an Eternal named “Ikaris.”
Ikaris is searching for the chamber's greatest treasure, a great “Reflector” that will summon the Space Gods back to Earth. What Ikaris, Doctor Damian, and Margo do not know is that Kro, a Deviant, is leading a force of lackeys to the chamber to destroy the Reflector and to stop the return of their Space God creators.
THE LOWDOWN: This story starts off with one of those typically bombastic titles, “The Day of the Gods,” that often started off many of its stories during the first two decades of Marvel Comics' existence. From page one, Jack Kirby offers one of his typically epic and cosmic stories that extend to the far reaches of time and space and space-time.
It seems to me that here, Kirby was influenced by author Erich von Daniken's 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past, or the 1970 documentary film based on the book. Von Daniken is one of the primary 20th proponents of the “ancient astronauts” hypotheses and ideas. Influences aside, The Eternals #1 is all Jack “King” Kirby.
Kirby's awesome architectural and structural illustrations depicting the Chamber of the Gods take in Aztec and Incan art, designs, and stone wall murals. Kirby fills the pages with massive, brawny edifices and interiors that seem too big for the page. The characters are also big, drawn in Kirby's melodramatic, awkward poses. Kirby may not be among the best figure drawers in the history of American comic books, but the way he drew characters created much of the visual and graphical language of superhero comic books. His work over a two-decade period in the 1960s and 1970s still defines the storytelling in mainstream comic books.
The lettering by noted comic book letterer, Gaspar, is perfect for this kind of Kirby story. It pounds out the meaty, fast-paced story and captures its constant crescendo. Glynis Wein's colors are muted, which I think is good. She keeps from hiding the power of Kirby's pencil art, which inker John Verpoorten smartly accentuates.
By the time I reached the end of The Eternals #1, I really wanted to read The Eternals #2. I don't want to pay premium collector's prices for the second issue, so I better find a book collection. Oh, reading this also made me want more Jack Kirby.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Jack Kirby will want to read The Eternals... or some of you, dear readers, will want to read it to prepare for the film.
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.
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