KNOW YOUR ETERNALS I: THE ETERNALS

[MattBrady]

June is only two months away, and that means that Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. will be launching their six part Eternals miniseries.

Eternals?

The group of super-powered beings with the most convoluted family tree in the Marvel Universe?

Yeah, them.

Relax – you’ve got a few weeks to catch up, and we’re here to help

Created by Jack Kirby in 1976, the Eternals have always had an…uncomfortable fit in the Marvel Universe. Created in the prehistory of earth by the space-faring busybodies known as the Celestials, the Eternals are a race of super-powered humanoids with a family tree that would make most Mormons sigh with envy.

And now, in the first of a multi-part look at who the Eternals are (and reproduced with permission from Marvel), the new Marvel Universe A-Z entry on The Eternals.

KNOWN MEMBERS:

Earth: Aginar, Ajak, Amaa, Arex, Argos, Astarte, Atlo, Aurelle, Ceyote, Chi Demon, Cybele, Daina, Dark Angel (Donald & Deborah Ritter), Delphan Brothers, Domo, Druig, Electryon, Elo, Forgotten One, Helios, Ikaris, Interloper, Khoryphos, Kronos, Makkari, Mara, Oceanus, Perse, Phastos, Pixie, Psykos, Rakar, Sersi, Sigmar, Sprite, Kingo Sunen, Thena, Titanis, Tulayn, Utnapishtim, Valkin, el Vampiro, Veron, Virako, Zarin, Zuras

Titan: Demeityr, Emlot, Kazantra, Mentor (Alars), Shastra, Starfox (Eros), Sui-San, Thanos, Thyrio, Tycho, Uranos

Uranus: Arlok, Astron, Denga, Lilli

BASE OF OPERATIONS: Olympia, Greece; Titan, moon of Saturn; formerly an outpost on the planet Uranus

FIRST APPEARANCE: Red Raven Comics #1 (1940); (modern) Eternals #1 (1976)

TRAITS: The Eternals’ bodily cells contain cosmic energy, and they maintain constant mental control over every molecule of their bodies. Eternals are virtually immortal, and can be restored to life even if the molecules of their bodies are scattered. All Eternals possess the capacity for superhuman strength, telepathy, flight, teleportation, illusion-casting, transmutation of organic and inorganic matter, and the generation of various forms of energy from their bodies, including force, heat, light, and other electromagnetic radiation. Some Eternals have devoted themselves to specializing in a particular facet of their powers, and can increase their proficiency in one area by decreasing their power in another. The Eternal who serves as Prime Eternal can generate blue flame which will merge anyone who passes through it into a Uni-Mind, a powerful psychic entity which embodies the collective power of every individual who created it. A Uni-Mind requires the participation of at least seven Eternals in order to succeed.

HISTORY: The Eternals are an evolutionary offshoot of humanity produced by the genetic experiments of the enigmatic Celestials around one million years ago during the Celestials’ First Host. The Eternals are distantly related to the genetically unstable Deviants (also descended from Celestial experiments) and normal humans, but possess cosmic energy within their bodies which immediately sets them apart from the other races. The Eternals established their own society, separate from the Deviants and humans, and had little to do with either race for many centuries.

Under the direction of Kronos and Uranos, the Eternals constructed the city of Titanos to serve as their stronghold, but Uranos believed that they should use their superior powers to conquer the rest of the Earth. Kronos disagreed, and the Eternals fell into a devastating civil war, with Kronos and Oceanus leading their armies against Uranos. Kronos defeated Uranos, exiling him and his remaining followers into space. Kronos then shattered his sword, declaring that he would no longer be a warrior. Kronos devoted himself to his family, raising his sons Alars and Zuras, and immersed himself in science, seeking to benefit his people. One day, Kronos’ experiments isolated the cosmic energy which made his people unique, but his containment vessel ruptured and exploded. The energies unleashed destroyed Titanos, and Kronos was disintegrated, but ascended into a new form, transforming into a cosmic entity. Kronos could no longer exist in a mortal form, and left leadership of his people to his sons. The surviving Eternals discovered that Kronos’ experiment had increased their powers, and Zuras and Alars led them in forming the first Uni-Mind, merging into a single form. Within the Uni-Mind, the majority of the people chose Zuras as their new Prime Eternal. Not wishing to divide their people again as Uranos had done, Alars decided to exile himself from Earth.

Uranos and his followers colonized the planet which became known as Uranus and found a Kree outpost there, guarded by one of their Intergalactic Sentries. They destroyed the Sentry and fashioned a vessel to return to Earth, leaving four of their number behind on Uranus to establish an outpost. However, Uranos’ craft was attacked en route by the Kree, who were investigating their Sentry’s destruction. The Kree killed one of Uranos’ men, Astron. From dissecting his body, they discovered that life on Earth was adaptable to experimentation. The Kree began to experiment upon humans, eventually creating the Inhumans. Uranos and his few remaining followers survived their ship’s destruction and settled on Titan, a moon of Saturn, but Uranos’ war-like nature led them to clash against one another. Alars wandered to Titan in his exile and found that only Sui-San remained on the war-ravaged moon. He took Sui-San as his consort and they developed Titan into a wonder of science, building the super-computer ISAAC to run the environment, and exploring genetic engineering and cloning to assist in repopulating the moon. Kronos became the patron of Titan and continued to guide Alars as his son assumed the mantle of Mentor.

Back on Earth, Zuras led his Eternals to create the new cities of Oceana in the Pacific, Polaria in what is now known as Siberia, and the capital city Olympia in the mountains of Greece. The Eternals witnessed the arrival of the Second Host of the Celestials circa 18,000 B.C., during which a Celestial assault upon the Deviants’ nation Lemuria caused the entire continent to sink, resulting in the massive catastrophe called “the Great Cataclysm.” Ikaris helped guide some human survivors in a wooden ark to safety, and was mistaken by them for a bird. The Second Host also judged against a golden member of their ranks, and removed its essence from its body. They entrusted the essence and their weapon to Valkin, who placed both within the Pyramid of the Four Winds for safekeeping. The Deviants struggled to regain the grandeur they had lost due to the Celestials, and the Eternals became increasingly intertwined in their schemes, often coming to the aid of humanity. The most famous Eternal hero was the mysterious Forgotten One, who was known to humans by names such as Gilgamesh. Many of the Eternals were mistaken by humans for actual gods, and the Olympian gods took particular exception to this misattribution. Zeus, ruler of the gods, forged a non-interference pact between the Eternals and Olympians, and Zuras’ daughter Azura changed her name to Thena, after Zeus’ daughter Athena, as a symbol of their friendship.

Over the centuries, a reclusive Eternal warrior called Interloper repeatedly battled a malevolent cosmic entity known as the Dragon of the Moon, both on Titan and on Earth; when the kingdom of Camelot fell in the sixth century, Interloper sided with King Arthur, and the Dragon allied itself with Mordred’s rebel forces in a battle which seemingly destroyed the Dragon. Around 1,000 A.D. the Asgardian god Thor aided the Eternals against the Deviant Dromedan, a conflict which cost the life of Ikaris’ father Virako. Following the battle, the Celestials’ Third Host arrived on a mission of cultivation. Ajak formed a special bond to the Celestials, serving as their emissary to others. Zuras and Ajak helped arrange the Celestials’ departure, and Ajak placed himself into suspended animation within the City of the Space Gods which the Incas had built for the Celestials to await their return as the Fourth Host, to judge the Earth. As the Eternals prepared for the Fourth Host, Zuras assigned Ikaris to attune his senses so that he would be able to sense their coming and revive Ajak to greet them.

As the 20th century progressed, the Deviants renewed their activities, fearing the judgment of the Celestials. When Deviant warlord Kro became involved in World War II and other criminal endeavors, Zuras sent Makkari to deal with him. To disguise himself amongst humans, Makkari used the aliases Mercury and Hurricane, and eventually formed the Monster Hunters in the 1950s to oppose the giant monsters Kro had been unleashing on humanity. When humanity split the atom, some Eternals and Deviants became concerned for their survival, and broke away from their own people to join with human scientists as the Damocles Foundation, a scientific body concerned with determining what Earth’s next dominant species would be, and controlling that species for their own survival. The Damocles Foundation gradually came to the conclusion that the increase in genetic mutation pointed to mutantkind.

Human scientist Horace Grayson and his son Robert visited the Uranusbased Eternals, who welcomed them into their society. The Uranian Eternals had devoted themselves to solving scientific and philosophical quandaries, and had finally solved the grand unifying theory of everything. Having accomplished this, they struggled to find a reason to exist. They hoped that the Graysons might help inspire them to new concepts, and they bequeathed the Quantum Bands to Robert, who returned to Earth and used them as the super-hero Marvel Boy. However, the Uranians were visited by Deathurge, who sensed their desire to end their immortal existences, and he shattered the protective dome around their colony, killing them all. Later driven mad upon discovering the deaths of the Uranian Eternals and his father, Robert went on a destructive rampage as the Crusader and ultimately destroyed himself.

As the years went on, the adventure-seeking Eternal Pixie became a super-hero, serving in the First Line from the 1960s until that team’s dissolution, and also convinced Makkari to join for a time under the alias Major Mercury. When the First Line’s leader the Yankee Clipper was hurled through time and lost decades of his life, Pixie introduced him to the Eternals to help him find a new place in the world. The Eternals finally met the Inhumans, whose city of Attilan had dwelt in the Atlantic Ocean for centuries, but was now in danger of discovery. The Eternals helped the Inhumans move their Great Refuge into the Himalayas to serve as their new home. By this time, many Eternals had ingratiated themselves into human society: Kingo Sunen became a famous film star in Japan; Valkin, Druig, Aginar and Zarin served in the KGB; and Sersi became a famous entertainer, believed to be a mere stage magician by the public.

On Titan, Mentor and Sui-San’s mutant son Thanos had grown into a despot, and worshipped Death itself. Thanos led an army to conquer Titan, and killed his own mother by dissecting her. Mentor turned to Kronos for aid against Thanos, and Kronos transformed the spirit of Arthur Douglas, a human Thanos had killed, into Drax the Destroyer to be Thanos’ constant nemesis. Mentor also took custody of Douglas’ daughter Heather, who was raised at the Shao-Lom monastery on Titan, becoming the psychic heroine Moondragon. Thanos’ mad quest for Death’s affections led him to seek the Cosmic Cube, which placed him in conflict with the heroes of Earth. He was finally defeated by Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell, and Titan was set free. Thanos has continued to menace the universe, but his own subconscious desire to fail has prevented him from obtaining complete victory.

When the Fourth Host finally came, Ikaris and Ajak greeted them alongside the human archaeologist Dr. Daniel Damian and his daughter Margo, but the Deviants hoped to turn humanity against the Celestials by tricking them into an attack. The Eternals revealed their existence to humanity for the first time in order to quell the humans’ fear of the Celestials and Deviants, and they made a close friend of anthropologist Dr. Samuel Holden. Warlord Kro introduced Thena to the Deviants Karkas and Ransak while she visited Lemuria, and Thena brought both Deviants back to Olympia with her to escape the prejudices of their own people. The Eternals formed a Uni-Mind to analyze the Fourth Host, and determined that all people — Eternal, Deviant and human — must become one. Meanwhile, the Deviants assaulted the Celestials’ mothership, but the Forgotten One, exiled by Zuras for ages, came to the rescue, saving the Celestials’ One Above All. The energies the Uni-Mind unleashed empowered a Hulk robot to go on a rampage, and while the Eternals deactivated the robot, with its last action it freed Dromedan, held prisoner beneath New York for centuries. Zuras himself bested Dromedan.

Druig, scheming son of Valkin, sought the weapon the Celestials had given his father, and pried its location from Ikaris, but when he attempted to activate it, Ikaris destroyed him and the weapon. As some of the Eternals investigated the Deviant outpost of New Lemuria beneath New York, they were aided by Thor, and he returned with them to Olympia after their success. The One Above All sent the Forgotten One back to Olympia to warn the Eternals against interference with the Fourth Host, and granted the Forgotten One his new identity of Hero. Although Hero bested most of the Eternals, he was finally beaten by Thor, and returned to live amongst his fellow Eternals as an equal, guided by his friend Sprite. Thor’s father Odin feared the Celestials, and led the Olympians in an attack on Olympia, but finally called it off when he was nearly forced to kill his own son. The Eternals ultimately chose to aid Odin against the Fourth Host, forming a Uni-Mind to fight the Celestials alongside the Destroyer, but the Celestials destroyed the Uni-Mind, and the psychic backlash slew Zuras. The Celestials finally judged in Earth’s favor and departed, removing knowledge of the existence of themselves and the Deviants and Eternals from the minds of most humans.

The Deviants led an attack on Olympia soon after the tragedy, and took the Eternals prisoner so that their leader, Brother Tode, could attempt to obtain immortality by breaking down their molecules and then ingesting them. Iron Man (James Rhodes) came to rescue the Eternals, and in order to revive Thena, he placed her near Zuras, whose remaining energies set her free destroying his remains. The Eternals defeated the Deviants and transformed most of them into a giant block of matter. Later, the Eternals met Eros, son of Alars, who had joined the Avengers as Starfox. They were fascinated to learn of the colony on Titan, and let him join a Uni-Mind with them. Most of Earth’s Eternals subsequently chose to leave Earth in Uni-Mind form to explore space, as it was said to be their true destiny. Thena assumed her father’s role as Prime Eternal for those Eternals who remained.

However, Thena was under the influence of a Deviant brain-mine which made her susceptible to Kro, now ruler of the Deviants, and he manipulated her feelings for him, causing her to betray her own people. Ikaris challenged her authority, and won the title of Prime Eternal away from her. Around the same time, the Dragon of the Moon resurfaced, and Interloper battled it anew alongside the Defenders and Dragon Circle. Later, the Forgotten One joined the Avengers as Gilgamesh, but fell in battle with the Lava Men and was brought back to Olympia to recuperate. At this point, Sprite’s well-intentioned tinkering with the city’s malfunctioning concealment technology had cast Olympia into the otherdimensional Negative Zone, where the warrior Blastaar blew the Eternals to atoms, but they soon regained their physical forms and defeated him with the aid of the Avengers and Asgard’s Warriors Three, and Thena restored Olympia to Earth. Thena felt that an Eternal should still serve with the Avengers as an ambassador, and Sersi ultimately took Gilgamesh’s place. At that time, it was revealed that a tryst between Kro and Thena years earlier had led to children, raised as the humans Donald & Deborah Ritter. Dr. Daniel Damian, now a bitter enemy of the Eternals, attempted to trick the Eternals and Deviants into killing the twins, but his deception was revealed and he was slain by his one-time friend Ajak, who took his own life in the act. Thena and Kro revealed to the twins that they were their birth parents, and Thena took charge of raising them.

Sersi’s Avengers stint turned tragic when she was secretly afflicted with insanity by Proctor, a madman who had married her alternate-reality counterpart in Earth-374 and sought to kill every reality’s Sersi after she abandoned him. Her fellow Eternals feared that Sersi had succumbed to the Mahd Wy’ry, and had her form a psychic bond with her teammate the Black Knight to protect her. In the end, Proctor was exposed and slain and Sersi was eventually cured of her madness, though not before she left the Avengers. Later, Gilgamesh was seemingly slain by Neut, a servant of Immortus, as part of a plot against the Avengers.

Recently, a nuclear warhead set off by Apocalypse caused a chain reaction leading to the resurrection of Virako, and created the potential for other deceased Eternals to be revived. Virako could not accept his son’s new status as Prime Eternal, and resented that they had befriended Deviants such as Karkas and Ransak. In order to approach humanity again, this time Ikaris pretended that he and the Eternals were super-heroes called the “New Breed.” Many of the Eternals of Earth also opposed Thanos when he possessed the Heart of the Infinite.

Variant versions of the Eternal race are known to exist in other dimensions — notably Earth-712, where the Eternal known as Hyperion is the leading hero of that world (though he only learned of his Eternal heritage by encountering Makkari of Earth-616). Also, Celestial experiments on extraterrestrial races have apparently spawned non- Earthly Eternals and Deviants in the Earth-616 reality, such as the warrior Ultimus, last known survivor of the Kree Eternals.

[BradyKiller]

I love John Romita Jr - and I know Marvel keeps him around by throwing these awesome assignments at him...BUT...

That Walt Simonson cover to #1 of the 12 issue series is so AWESOME even today I wish he was tapped to draw the new series.

Imagine Gaiman and Simonson...wow! If not this then maybe a Thor graphic novel together?!

[BlueThunderArmy]

Interesting stuff, sounds right up my alley. Of course, it's a question how much of this will be relevant in the Gaiman series. Very much looking forward to the new book, and this article makes me curious about scaring up some Essentials collections.

[ScottSummers]

I have a headache now.

[Jack Burton]

I can't wait to see JRJR work his magic on this

[mister_costa]

Was Oceanus The Forgotten One Aka Gilgamesh Aka Hero?

[OM]

...Good retrospect, even if it did downplay the events in Thor 289-301. That arc was the finest Thor arc ever written, and stands absolutely equal to that of Walt Simonon's run.

[pifpog]

Man, what a complete history. I'm looking forward to the Essential Eternals book before Gaiman's book starts. Hopefully that will help put some faces with the names.

[XmanMoby]

What language was this written in?? Do they still make school kids learn Kirby? I look foward to anying Gaiman does, but i lost this artical after the third Uranos. Is this before or after the civil planet anilihation??

Seriously. This is a great article matt. Thanks for the info. just that now i need to go read street fighter to let my brain relax.

[Whipsnakes]

At this time I would like to remind everyone that I am selling the first 14 issues of the original Eternals run.

Contact me if you would like.

end of alert

[c_andrew_s]

Originally posted by pifpog
Man, what a complete history. I'm looking forward to the Essential Eternals book before Gaiman's book starts. Hopefully that will help put some faces with the names.

I am looking forward to this also; I have never been a big fan of the Eternals, but Gaiman is amazing! I am definitely getting this.

[Sean Walsh]

I forget - is there an Essential Eternals collection coming up? I sold my originals years ago but I would LOVE to get these stories back somehow - an Essential would work quite nicely.

And if there is an Essential coming, I assume it's just the Kirby stuff? I'd love to read that Walt Simonson maxi-series (and the 1-shot just after that) too.

[biffordmichael]

25 year plus comics fan here and I have never ever picked up a title with these characters in it.

Considering the new title but that history piece may have scared me off!

Biff

[bishop-m]

I remember reading the Eternals growing up, and loving them. Along with the Inhumans, the Eternals were one of my favorite series. The Deviants! Kro! Thena! Ikaris!

I am looking forward to what Gaiman and Romita JR are going to do with them.

[Banana_Oil]

Originally posted by Sean Walsh
I forget - is there an Essential Eternals collection coming up? I sold my originals years ago but I would LOVE to get these stories back somehow - an Essential would work quite nicely.

And if there is an Essential coming, I assume it's just the Kirby stuff? I'd love to read that Walt Simonson maxi-series (and the 1-shot just after that) too.

There is a huge hardcover of just the Kirby material coming. I should point out that Simonson only drew covers: he did NOT write or draw that miniseries. It was by Peter Gillis & Sal Buscema.

The one-shot was awful. Just awful.

Also, there is much evidence behind the scenes that Kirby did not originally intend for this series to be set in the regular Marvel universe. 99% of integrating this with Marvel history was done after Kirby left, by Mark Gruenwald in What If? and Roy Thomas in Thor.

[Hooper]

This is exactly why Kirby was a god who walked the earth.

But that limited series from the 80s? Simonson's cover art may be pretty, but Peter Gillis' story sucked a$$.

Can't wait for Gaiman and Romita to bring the magic back (I think a Grant Morrison/Howard Porter Eternals would be cool, too).

[Rodrigo Baeza]

Originally posted by Banana_Oil
I should point out that Simonson only drew covers: he did NOT write or draw that miniseries. It was by Peter Gillis & Sal Buscema.

Simonson wrote the last 4 issues of that series.

Rodrigo
http://rodrigobaeza.blog-city.com

[kalorama]

I'll give the new mini a shot (probably in trade) but I'm really looking forward to the collection of the Kirby stuff. I wasn't crazy about most of the stuff Kirby was doing for Marvel in the 70's (his Black panther was like some weird fever dream) but I loved the Eternals. I almost never buy hardcover collections of superhero stuff, but I'll definitely get this.

[OM]

...Per the King himself, Eternals was *not* intended to be in the MU, just as his take on 2001 wasn't either. There were a couple of hooks thrown in at editorial request just in case Jack ever changed his mind - the three SHIELD agents who tried to nuke one of the Celestials at their landing site, and the "Cosmic Powered Hulk" robot, the dialogue surrounding which gave hints that it was based on the *real* Hulk - but other than that the 19 issues he got to play with his creations was in a world of their own, similar but different from the MU.

...Roy Thomas was the first to bring the Eternals saga into the MU proper, by bridging the gap using the character most suited for such a role - Thor. This let Roy construct and carry out most of a really excellent story arc that not only concluded the Celestials Saga, but built up a *LOT* of the Thor mythos into something that actually made the Kirby-Lee run pale by comparison. Hell, the only other time the Ring of the Niebelwhatchamacallit ever looked that enjoyable was when a balding hunter and a wascally wabbit played a 7 minute version of it in the theaters 20 years earler.

...The rest came later, but if you *really* want to understand the Eternals as they should be comprehended, read Kirby's 19 issues, and then the Celestials Saga arc in Thor. The rest can honestly be safely ignored. Especially the Chuckles Austen debacle.

[fistofkhonshu]

Originally posted by ScottSummers
I have a headache now.

My sentiments exactly. Those Marvel U books are horrible reads.

[bsmith]

Looking forward to an Essentials as well, if and when it comes (crazy not to really).

Won't be buying this, but maybe in TPB as it's Gaiman doing what may be his last work for Marvel

(still hope he does some more DC work at least, that's some good stuff)...

I always thought the ETERNALS was Kirby's lamer follow-up to his Fourth World/NEW GODS cycle, but I'm curious to find out...

B

[Squashua]

Originally posted by ScottSummers
I have a headache now.

[Not From Around]

I used to think the concept of very long-lived, superpowered beings flitting around the solar system was so neat! And the concept of a mortal meeting and falling in love with one of these was so romantic....

"Eternals" was probably Jack Kirby's most lucid post-FF work. One could actually make heads or tails of it, and of course it had that incredible Jack Kirby artwork. He had obviously been reading his Erich von Daniken "ancient astronauts" books. His pre-Columbian-Indian-art-influenced designs for the Celestials and the Eternals looked just right.

[Bird Flu Man]

Originally posted by MattBrady


And now, in the first of a multi-part look at who the Eternals are (and reproduced with permission from Marvel), Marvel’s encyclopedia entry on The Eternals.

Encyclopedia entry? What encyclopedia is that from?

It looks more like an entry from the new OHOTMU series, probably from the "E" edition about to come out.

I think you've got your facts wrong.

[delawarejoel]

Originally posted by XmanMoby
What language was this written in?? Do they still make school kids learn Kirby? I look foward to anying Gaiman does, but i lost this artical after the third Uranos. Is this before or after the civil planet anilihation??

Seriously. This is a great article matt. Thanks for the info. just that now i need to go read street fighter to let my brain relax.

The Eternals was the series that opened my eyes to just exactly how incredible Jack Kirby was and what comic books could do as a storytelling medium. I have the complete run of the original series and other than the elsewhere-mentioned Roy Thomas run on Thor they have never ever ever gotten their due.

I have high hopes for the Gaiman run but I encourage everybody who can afford it to buy the special edition hardcover that's coming out this summer. You are in for a treat. If you want a taste of it, Eternals #7, which is comprised of some of the most spectacular full-page images every put to newsprint, is in the first volume of the Kirby Visionaries books.