The Eternals, Vol. 1 by Jack Kirby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first volume of Jack Kirby's run on the Eternals collects issues 1-11.

This book thrives on a couple of things. First, is its big concepts. It introduces big cosmological ideas to the Marvel Universe about three species of man: the Humans, the Eternals, and the Deviants, as well as space gods who tampered with men and were responsible for this and have returned.

The other strength is the art. While this isn't Kirby of the Silver Age. Kirby in the Bronze Age was still a very good artist and this gave him opportunities to draw monsters, big cosmic beings, giant spaceships, and they're just glorious to look at.

The weakness are the characters. Most of them were one to two dimensional and really not that interesting. The most interesting character in the book is Sersi, who gets minimal time. The plot also does drag on a bit. In many ways, it seems to be a throwback to the old Sci Fi comics that Kirby used to write/draw in the late 1950s, only expanded with a much bigger story.

Still,, I think it's a solid read on the strength of the art and it's overall influence on the Marvel Universe.





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