The Eternals, Vol. 1

Eternals (1976) #1-11

by Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby reveals a secret history of heroes and horrors as humanity's cousins, the Eternals and the Deviants, vie to inherit the Earth It's a time of titans, terror, and time travel as only the King could conceive - collected across two softcover volumes Collecting Eternals #1-11.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2008

About the author

Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. He was also a comic book writer and editor. His most common nickname is "The King."

Reviews

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Jack Kirby. What else is there to say? The story is what it is. It brought us the Celestials so that's cool. The Eternals and the Deviants? Meh. Whatevs. Hit or miss for me.

But that Kirby art?

Now, that's the gold.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kirby’s ideas were always better than his writing, and this is no exception. Even for 1976 this is dated and clunky. There’s no question the art is full of energy, but it can’t overcome the script. Kirby was clearly taken by the ultra-goofy notion of Chariots of The Gods, using it first for the New Gods over at DC, then more directly here at Marvel. Which is a decent idea to borrow for comics, but it’s so awkwardly presented it kind of takes the fun out of it.

At one point the character of Margo is called Carol (oops), and her idea to present the secret superpowered Eternals to the world is to… bring them to an anthropology class. Um, what? We had satellite TV in 1975. So, you know, going on CBS News with Walter Cronkite (or the comics version of that) would be a good idea.

Kirby’s New Gods had the Highfather ruling them, while his evil opposite was Apokolips. The Eternals are ruled by the All-Father, while the evil Deviants oppose them. To me, the Eternals backstory is quite interesting: a million years ago the titanic Celestials (who stand upwards of 2,000 feet tall), visited Earth and experimented on proto-humans, resulting in three distinct races, humans, Deviants, and Eternals. The overarching tale is about humans caught between the Eternals and Deviants as the Celestials are returning to Earth. All of which sounds cool, but man, Kirby’s writing is just a slog.

[AℳY♔Queen of Fat cats♔Ain't no lie Baby Byebyebye · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The gender swaping for this movie is just ridiculous!!! LOL

Ajak is a girl?
Makkary is a girl?
Please!!!



Alita>Captain Mar vell-originally a man.

[Joni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re lectura.... qué buenos dibujos, qué malos diálogos , pero como Homero comiendo atún barato, lo sigo leyendo mientras me repito sufriendo Es que es King Kirby....


Jack Kirby tiene bien ganado su mote de rey del cómic, su talento para dibujar, su imaginación, sus ideas, pero escribiendo es malo. Esta obra escrita al filo de los ochentas continúa con los vicios de los sesentas en diálogos siempre terminados en exclamación, exceso de explicaciones y mucho pero mucho texto redundante que puede ser pasado por alto sin afectar la comprensión. Esto deriva en un cómic muy atractivo visualmente con una idea muy original, pero que por momentos aburre bastante. Se me hizo largo. Sólo por ser Kirby no lo dejo en dos merecidas estrellas.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most fans of comic books, I am familiar with the name Jack Kirby. Though until now I’m not sure I’ve actually read any of his work, so my main experience with him must have been cinematic. The man’s importance in the genre can’t be underestimated and yet this seems to be the note his has gone out on, the spectacular and spectacularly jumbled mess of The Eternals.
This was not a revered or even especially well received entry into a superhero realm. And yet it has received plenty of attention, revisits, etc. possibly owning in no small way to the power of the Kirby’s name.
I didn’t know any of that going in. I just wanted to read something fun and boombastic and this totally fit the bill. Mind you, some of the enjoyment was probably ironic (or who the f knows, I blame Alanis Morrisette for completely messing up the mental definition of irony for generations to come, thanks Alanis), because The Eternals is so very 70s and so very corny in so many ways, but it is undeniably fun.
It’s essentially a bastard spawn of Ancient Aliens theories and Greek mythology with a lot of traditional superhero superheroics thrown in. That and some terrible/hilarious coiffure. Kirby would have loved the modern day Ancient Aliens show, which has somehow gone on for I don’t even know how many seasons now, all beating the same drum and using some really wild/crazy/cooky looking drummers to do it. In the 70s the craze was in its infancy, though, with Von Daniken just getting started. Did he even know he midwifed The Eternals in? And whatever they subsequently gave rise to. For one thing try looking at those giant robots from an ancient civilization standing sentient in judgement and tell me it doesn’t scream Themis trilogy.
Then again, superheroes and aliens have always had that magic connection, the greatest one of them all, the most super one, is, after all, an alien. In Kirby’s creation, there are essentially three races of beings on earth and they must unite against the race that created them all. They do, more or less. There’s a lot of fighting and some of which is infighting. There are some really classical (silly) looking superheroes and some really awesome looking Deviants. The focus shifts from story to story, which can be disorienting, but also fun, variety being the spice of life and all that. It’s a large book, over 200 pages, and surprisingly text heavy, Kirby, it seems, loved to overdescribe, often where mere art would have been enough, so it reads very slowly. But it does entertain in its sheer technicolor exuberance and treasure trove of ideas, original and pillaged/appropriated. Is it for everyone? Probably not, but then again what is. But this reader is on to book two.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Tom Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the finest work of Jack Kirby's 70s return to Marvel, the main problem with Eternals vol 1 is the company's subsequent strip-mining of the concept. Assume - as the stories almost all strongly suggest - that this is a stand-alone science fiction freakout rather than another iteration of "cosmic Marvel", and everything gets a lot stronger. Eternals is an Erich Von Daniken riff wrapped in a grand fantasy saga, with an ever-expanding cast which quickly becomes more complex than the simple Eternals v Deviants set-up of the first issues.

Month by month its lack of a consistent hero bugged readers - read as a whole Eternals is revealed as Kirby's best-plotted series, an adventure romp which shifts cast and scene rapidly to keep momentum high. He's obviously also having a whale of a time with the monumental double-page spreads and the biblical scale of the Space Gods. Eternals falls down a little in its characters - cool designs but with none of the imagination (or crude metaphorical weight) of his Fourth World cast. This is another reason why it's a shame they were transferred to Marvel continuity to quickly - with the exception of bored immortal Sersi, none of them have the personality to survive outside Kirby's feverish, titan-sized world.

[Philips_comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I know little to nothing about the eternals. I wanted to read something to get to know the characters before the movie release. I've mixed feelings on this volume. Taking in just the first 11 issues, we don't get an overall conclusion. I thought the story started off very strong. I liked the use of myths, legends and lost history with the humans etc. It is heavy in narration but I get that it was written in 1976 so I let that pass. I think after the first half dozen issues or so it loses its way and became hard to get through. Although I liked the premise and where it intended to go. Just get there quicker. I gather id need to read volume 2 for my conclusion. The art? Well I'm not a fan. I fully appreciate jack Kirby and all that he achieved and benchmarks he set but as a new reader in 2021, it does not hold up to today's standards. Some people may have this saved when considering the nostalgia factor but sadly I'm not one of them. I gave it a 5.5 but I'd still recommend someone in similar position to me. To try this out so you're not going into the movie completely blind. Thanks

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eternals by Jack Kirby is an ambitious sci-fi tale, its premise brimming with celestial promise, but lacks the illuminating execution in storytelling and narrative.

The art, however, is where Kirby's genius truly shines, with the designs being out of this world; with the space gods evoking an otherworldly spectacle and a sense of wonder.

Overall, it was a decent read with enough intrigue to compel me onward to the next book in the series.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jack Kirby’s art is original and filled with energy. However, his writing is a bit of a mess. There are too many two-dimensional characters, simplistic plot lines laid on top of a half-baked concept about space alien gods, and dated gender roles. Really only worth reading for some historic context.

[Jordi Balcells]

Intento no puntuar cómics de superhéroes porque se me hace difícil. Cosas mías.
El guion es bastante flojo y las caras (Juan, las caras) son más bien carapanes y poco expresivas. Los eternos y los celestiales, de momento, me dan bastante igual, a falta de la segunda mitad. Sin embargo, los… ¿creo que en español son “desviantes”? sí que molan: no solo la variedad de diseños de personajes, sino también su sociedad con una pureza de sangre tan curiosa. En general, diría que no ha envejecido bien, pero ya me lo imaginaba.

[The Nerd Herd Comic Book Club! · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can see our full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5T6H...

The Nerd Herd Comic Book Club is a weekly book club, live stream and podcast.

You can join us and have your say LIVE every Wednesday at 9:30pm (UK) / 4:30pm (ET) / 1:30pm (PT) on YouTube , Twitch and Facebook! https://linktr.ee/thenerdherd

[Quinn Modrak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Kirby art: 5 stars all day every day. Story is pretty good but kinda falls flat at the end.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the world of the eternals, but I wish this collection was more of a complete story

[Alex Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My personal favorite of Kirby’s ‘70s work

[Sid · Rating 1 out of 5]

that was... the worst.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s hard to believe that as I write this (May 21, 2019), not a single person on Goodreads has given The Eternals a one star rating. Seriously? I guess I shall be the first.

I get this series is from the late 70’s and definitely isn’t up to snuff with the more modern Marvel catalogue, but that’s not an excuse for such a lousy comic. Even though Kirby was trying to do something different by combining ancient myths, UFOs, and superheroes, it fails and the story is stupid. I hated every character and every decision they made. The Eternals are a wannabe Justice League with even worse jokes while the Deviants play the told of a safe antagonist with a really moronic backstory. Even the art, which has its merits for reminiscing and retro flair, doesn’t do much.

There’s also rumors that Disney/Marvel has optioned this for a feature film and that’s a huge worry. Fan favorite or not, Marvel is really gonna have to modernize and fix things if they expect to get a halfway decent story out of their adaptation.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to go back to the original source material and read it before the movie came out. I'm about ready to commit fanboy blasphemy but this isn't good. Sure, Kirby is up to his normal great standards for art but, man, this story is all over the damn place. It's like he was throwing ideas against a wall in an attempt to see what stuck. That and everything that happens in here has absolutely zero effect on the Marvel Universe in general. You would have thought giant space gods showing up would have at warranted the Avengers or the X-Men showing up.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little bit of Lovecraft, some ancient mythology, and a dash of H.G Wells makes this one of the most philosophically fascinating high science fiction editions to the Marvel Universe.

In many ways, the reminded me of the sense of wonder I felt when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy.

The myths and legends are all true. Gods and demons have always populated the earth... only, they were Eternals and Deviants and they were created the the REAL gods... the mighty and mysterious celestials.

Kirby does a fantastic job of bringing them to terrible scale. The celestials looks so... for lack of a better word, amazing. These are behemoth monstrosities who seem to view lesser forms the way a human would view an insect. I’m reminded of other Kirby monstrosities such as Galactus and the DC New Gods.

I loved this whole first half of the original Eternals run. There are some very memorable characters. Sersi and Ikarus will be your favorites, but there is also the deeply conflicted Kro and Athena, the mighty Zuras, and the very Loki-like “Sprite.”

The film will be released in 2020. Hurry and catch up on this outstanding corner of the Marvel cosmic universe. It’s a hidden gem, and some of Kirby’s best work since The Silver Surfer first arrived in Fantastic Four #48.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of a watered-down New Gods - Eternals as the denizens of New Genesis, Deviants as Apokoliptans, and the Celestials as a more active, but still unknowable Source - and the book starts to lose some fun in the second volume when Ikaris fights the Hulk for almost three issues straight.
Still, there's some fun here (even in the Hulk issues, where they refer to Hulk as a Marvel character, suggesting that - SHIELD agents in the early issues aside - it does not take place in the Marvel Universe. I liked how Kirby juggled the ensemble cast, and the scale of the Celestials was well done. Good, but not great.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is kind of interesting, but it hasn't directly gone anywhere yet. Very lofty ideals that kind of break a lot of what has already been set up in the Marvel Universe, unless this takes place in a different dimension?

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stronger half of the series. I like the premise and set-up but it begins to fizzle out.

[Tacitus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another run that proves that Kirby really did need to work with a writer.

In this series, which I got for free through Amazon Prime Reading, Kirby has some interesting ideas about the “true” origins of Earth’s 3 species (humans, Eternals, and Deviants). The problem is that his world-building is the story, and it doesn’t work. It’s not a world revealed through its characters, and without consistent characters or a plot from issue to issue, it makes it hard for a reader to care about the fictional setting alone.

He continues exploring his cosmic themes from New Gods, but here a more or less blatant rip-off of Chariots of the Gods?, which was a lousy book of pseudo-archaeology that I read once but was very popular in Kirby’s day. I am not sure what this says about his originality or the marketing of this series to tie in to that book.

Kirby constantly uses a high-falutin, quasi-religious style of diction that is supposed to convey something important, and he also keeps telling us that it will change Earth forever, but it never really develops story wise. Sure, there are “space gods,”
but Kirby never really sees the redundancy of that term and the whole notion get silly after awhile. Kirby was even the editor, and it shows in the numerous misspellings that made it to print.

A few of these Celestial giants are already in Peru, and another is set to activate in 50 years, but it’s not clear where all of this was going. Why was 50 years important in the life span of a being that has lived for eons, and how did Kirby plan to get to year 50 in his lifetime? Any human characters he introduces could already be dead by then.

Kirby seems to be trying to explore how humanity would react in a world filled with super-beings. Some comics have explored these issues of the relationship between supers and society (X-men) or characters who reconcile humanity and superpowers within themselves (Clark Kent). The difference is that other creators understand how to explore these anxieties and tensions within a story. With Kirby, it feels like I’m sitting through a sermon.

Both of his cosmic gods series are reminders that even Jack Kirby got cancelled after short, back-to-back runs, at both DC and Marvel no less; quite an achievement. And yet, Marvel had no problem making his cancelled comic book into a movie years later and long after he was dead; comics is such a classy business that way.

[Joseph R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humanity discovers it is not alone on Earth. In pre-historic times, the Celestials came to the Earth and created three races of men. First are the Eternals, an undying people who have superhuman powers and have been mistaken through the ages by mere mortals as gods like in the Greek pantheon. Second are those mere mortals, humans who live and die and have rather normal lives. Third are the Deviants, a genetically unstable people who become more and more monstrous with each generation. They have been mistaken for devils and other horrors from folk lore. The Celestials are returning to check up on their work, forcing the Eternals out of hiding on the surface world and the Deviants out of hiding from the underwater cities (the main one seemingly being the lost city of Atlantis). Typically the Eternals and the Deviants fight each other, but will they have to unite against a common enemy, their creators?

The storytelling is a bit choppy, jumping from one plot line to another. The imaginative homes of the Eternals and the Deviants are fun to see. The characters are not that interesting and seem a bit overpowered. For example, Sersi (she claims Homer spelled her name wrong) can rearrange the atoms of any being, thus she can make men into pigs at will. Somehow she has a hard time fighting the Deviants. The story didn't get to the big confrontation between the earthlings and the Celestials but I am not interested enough to continue on. Maybe the movie will be better.

Not recommended--there's a lot of creative ideas here but they don't gel together as a convincing whole.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember when Jack Kirby bounced from Marvel to DC in the early 1970s and created the Fourth World, creating characters like the New Gods, Darkseid and the inhabitants of Apokolips, the Forever People, OMAC and a Jimmy Olsen revamped beyond recognition. His characters still play major roles in the DC universe.

When he came back to Marvel, Kirby was given a free hand to introduce a raft of new characters. The most notable series was The Eternals, who also survive as major players in the Marvel universe. I didn't buy these books when they first appeared, but have picked up the new series. The problem with the characters (the writing) has been largely remedied, and the Eternals, Deviants and Celestials integrated into the mainstream Marvel books.

Kirby's original conception remains. It was indeed strong and innovative, but his actual dialogue in the books collected here is flat-out terrible. This was also true of his DC series; fantastic concepts, magnificent art and awful dialogue. While it is perfectly conceivable that Jack Kirby created the Marvel breakout during the 1960s (along with Steve Ditko), The Eternals underline Stan Lee's contribution both as writer and editor.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough read. I love Jack Kirby's creations. He was a mastermind, and most of his work resonates so well no matter how long time passes. This being said, I think he seriously dropped the ball with THE ETERNALS. There are some nice concepts in here, there's no doubt of that, but most of it looks like an expansion of the NEW GODS: From the character designs, to the epic proportions of the events. But still, these characters weren't as rooted as the Orion, Lightray, Granny Goodness or Darkseid; they just don't have the same impact. It doesn't help that the story jumps from one end to the other, without a path that made sense. And then there is this thing about keeping things epic all the time. If the narrative doesn't have a low time, the entire thing feels like just one single note, and that one ends up being unimpressive...
Again, I do appreciate what Jack Kirby tried to do here, but I think the constant clashes at both Marvel and DC just left him disheartened. I know that's a different story, but life does have an impact in your creations after all.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects The Eternals issues #1-11

With the "Eternals" film coming out later this year, I decided to check out the original Jack Kirby run for the first time. There are interesting aspects of it, but when it comes to learning about the world of the Eternals, I got much more out of this one-shot issue: "Eternals: Secrets From The Marvel Universe" issue #1 - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Having now read through the first eleven issues, I don't feel like I know that much more about the Eternals than when I started. Two days ago, I saw the "Eternals" movie trailer for the first time, and I wasn't able to positively identify any of the characters that I saw in it (other than possibly one person, but I'm really not sure on that one either).

It took me a while to get through this collection, but I'm glad to have taken the journey, and I have already started Volume #2 so that I can keep working my way through Kirby's work.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very Jack Kirby. Epic and archetypal and over-the-top and detailed and verbose. This is clearly an itch he needed to scratch caused by not getting to write the ending to the Fourth World saga. The themes are similar, but there's no slow burn introduction to this world. The Celestial host shows up in the first issue and the adventure continues from there. This is one big ongoing story which seems independent of the rest of the Marvel Universe. It's an epic which spans the globe, and makes an attempt at being inclusive, though it's pretty dated by today's standards. The costumes are pretty impractical (I mean, what is that thing on Ajak's head?). The images are truly epic in scale.

I can see why this isn't generally regarded as Kirby's best, but I enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend it as the place to start for people who aren't familiar with Kirby's style.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following his work on Thor at Marvel and The New Gods at DC, The Eternals completes Jack Kirby's spiritual trilogy of Space Gods and their relationship with humanity. In terms of Kirby's blocky, Neo-Aztec cosmic aesthetic, this is up there with New Gods as some of the most inspired art of his career. The way Kirby captures the colossal scale of the Celestials is truly inspiring.

That being said, while the central mythology of The Eternals is fascinating, the story lacks any real compelling central characters. Some of the Eternals have great visual designs, but I think it's no surprise that none of these characters became iconic. True, the focus of the comic is deliberately more distanced and larger in scope than typical superhero fare, engaging with the idea of inhuman, amoral Space Gods, but even so I think such ideas are explored in a more compelling way in New Gods.

[Ralph Wark · Rating 4 out of 5]

King Kirby at his most imaginative

What, the guy who came up with Captain America?

Yup, because this time he comes up with a complete mythos of Gods, sub Gods, and three different subspecies of humans.

Yeah. All that. Thoroughly entertaining stuff and proof that Kirby was not slowing down. It would have gotten 5 stars 45 years ago, but some aspects are dated. For example, the overly dramatic verbal expositions, " You willmald grovel and die under the heel of the most powerful (insert name of villain here)" it's still the "Biff Pow" era of comics, but hey, 45 years ago, styles change.

I became curious when I heard the movie was coming out, not disappointed at all, as a matter of fact I bought the rest of the series as well.

So read it.