>One of Jack Kirby’s most under appreciated, and misunderstood masterpieces was his ode to science and mythology, “the Eternals”. Of course, the king was always a much better artist than author which is evident with his sporadic, hyper-active plot which attempts to explain the epic magnitude of a story that involves gods, demons, and aliens. To explain the main points of the story would involve writing an essay, but I’ll give it a shot; Eons ago, a race of gigantic alien beings called Celestials came to Earth conducting experiments on the early ancestors of what would become human beings. Out of these experiments came three kinds of beings; Plain old human beings, malformed and malicious Deviants, and immortal beings endowed with abilities beyond that of ordinary humans. Every few million or so years, The Celestials would return to Earth to determine whether the balance of humanity sways closer to good, or evil under the influence of the Deviants, who enslave mankind. The Eternals and Deviants would over time be seen as gods and demons by humans making them subjects of cultural mythology. The main character Ikaris becomes Icarus, Makkari would become the god Mercury, known as Hermes in Greek myth and Osiris in Egyptian myth, Zuras would become Zeus, Ajak was seen as the plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl of Incan myth.

Jack Kirby’s original series would only last 19 issues as sales wouldn’t allow it to survive very long. The Eternals would show up occasionally in Marvel stories over the years, even Sersi would become a member of the Avengers. The Celestials would reappear later in the series Earth X featuring rather prominently in the story, but in a alternate future scenario. It wasn’t until 2006 when Neil Gaiman would revive the Eternals and make them relevant again. The Eternals had been living for years under the illusion of mortality when Ikaris awakens to his true nature and begins reviving his fellow Eternals as the Deviants are back to their devious ways trying to revive and control a sleeping Celestial.

The current series picks up where Neil Gaiman left off. Makkari establishes an ongoing dialogue with the sleeping Celestial in an attempt to understand, well, the meaning of life as the Eternals are broken into two factions. One being led by Zuras, the other led by Druig who has established a dictatorship in the nation of Vorozheika and is in the process of making a grab to become the prime Eternal. The current series has been very enjoyable, but I’m afraid that since it doesn’t carry the weight of of other, more popular Marvel characters, it may be as short lived as the original series in the 70’s.

The saga of the Eternals is a bit heavy when trying to comprehend it. But lovers of mythology will find it’s mix of myth with super-hero sensibilities very satisfying.

-Jim

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