KNOW YOUR ETERNALS III: KIRBY & THE ETERNALS (I)

[MattBrady]

by Robert Greenberger

Kirby was coming…back!

After a five year hiatus, Jack Kirby was returning to Marvel Comics in 1975. Similar to his just-ended contract with DC Comics, the King would write, pencil and edit a line of comics from his California home. At this point in his illustrious career, Kirby had big ideas still waiting to make it onto the page and as a result, he didn’t want to repeat himself. Still, publisher Stan Lee and then-Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas wanted Kirby’s energy to infuse some of the core titles. Reluctantly, Kirby returned to Captain America and helped relaunch the Black Panther. His imagination could not be earthbound so he agreed to adapt the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey which led to an ongoing title, which begat the popular character Machine Man.

Kirby wasn’t done, though.

Always captivated by the notion of legends, he thought heroic legends were created by people who needed something to look up to, to ease their suffering since so much of man’s early history was a struggle. A Viking would come back from a battle, feeling tired and covered in blood, but he knew atop the mountain, Thor was still fighting the good fight. Such notions influenced much of his work dating back to Captain America, addressing a far more modern need.

Ever since his tenure on Thor in the 1960s, Kirby liked the notion of aliens being perceived by humans as gods. Now back at Marvel, he still wanted to explore the theme. The timing was fortuitous given Erich von Däniken’s best-selling book Chariot of the Gods? which discussed the idea that aliens had visited Earth in the distant past, influencing ancient cultures, including the Mayans. Marvel thought the idea had merit, as they had already jumped on that bandwagon with the first issue of Marvel Preview in 1975.



Kirby was given the green light to produce The Celestials. As Kirby set to work, it was decided to rename the title Return of the Gods in order to cement the relationship in consumers’ minds. A logo had been created which was even used in several house ads before the Legal Department stepped in and had it removed. They felt the type treatment was close to an infringement so the final title became The Eternals.

The first issue arrived cover-dated July 1976 and continued for nineteen issues and one annual, one of the longer runs for a Kirby creation that decade. In an introductory text piece, Kirby wrote, “How do we view the Eternals?

“That is the question. And it's a big question, because it involves us all in a great cosmic adventure which began when the dinosaurs split the scene and humanity was first pushed on the stage of that universal Gong Show we call History.

“Something happened back there, among the steaming ferns and moving continents of prehistoric Earth. And neither Walter Cronkite nor Howard Cosell nor your ever-lovin' current events teacher was there to take notes on the events we must nowadays sift from the myths, the mummies, and the skeletons that lay buried beneath tons of soil.

“So what happened there, in that unreported, unwritten, mystifying beginning of all things? How many mammoth events provided the oil which still spins the wheels of this plastic pickle-works we hail as modern civilization?

“I feel that playing around with this sort of conjecture is highly entertaining, and that we should aim our gun sights at this giant puzzle we've inherited more often. We can't leave it all to the professors, pundits, and paperback prophets. The puzzle belongs to you and me as well.”

In the telling, Kirby postulated that a race known as the Celestials had come to Earth during the early days of life. These titanic, armored figures came from the far reaches of the cosmos to various planets to weigh and measure life as it was developing. Their studies occur over countless years in four visits with different delegations, known as Hosts. The First Host arrived on Earth about one million years ago and began their experiments with the humanoids found at that time. As a result, two new species were created: Eternal and Deviant.

The Eternals were given superior genetics, imbued with cosmic energies that took centuries to discover and master. The Deviants, on the other hand, were given an unstable genetic code which caused them to mutate over the years.

The Second Host arrived some 20,000 years back when the Deviants had managed to forge a worldwide government – based in Lemuria -- crushing any human resistance. During one such attack, the city of Atlantis sank. In their hubris, they thought to challenge their creators. The Celestials had other ideas and much of the Deviant civilization was eradicated during the Great Cataclysm, including the sinking of the continent of Mu, and man was left to evolve on his own.

The Eternals kept to themselves in their polar retreat, recognizing their advanced abilities would frighten the humans. Among them, one stood out, having fought brave battles but then was shunned by man and even Eternal, earning the title the Forgotten One. There were other periodic exchanges between Eternal and human, such as the Eternal later named Ikaris marrying a human woman and having a son, Icarus. When the son died, Ikaris adopted the name in tribute. Best known are the exploits of Sersi, the bombastic woman who enjoyed dealing with man and his culture. She frequently walked through man’s world, savoring hedonistic pleasures, notably dancing.

They were nobly led by Kronos until his death when the son, Zuras, succeeded him. Zuras was the Prime Eternal until the arrival of the Fourth Host and is noted for being the first to combine all the Eternals into the Uni-Mind. Zuras perfected the Ritual that brings just about all Eternals together so their cosmic energy can be merged into a brain-like construct. Much remains to be learned about the Uni-Mind but it has been formed only during times of great crisis, requiring a unified effort. The records indicate humans and Deviants have also been tapped to help form the Uni-Mind which showed its adaptability.



About 1000 B.C. heralded the Third Host, their duties described by the Eternal Ajak as “inspection and cultivation.” The Incas worshipped the visiting Host as gods while instilling fear in others around the globe. The Eternal Ajak spoke directly with the Celestials, protecting their base, and then placed himself in suspended animation, awaiting the Fourth Host.

In the nineteenth century, the Eternal Ikaris sensed it was time to prepare Earth for the Host’s arrival and left his home to interact with man. Using the name Ike Harris, Ikaris dealt with humans for the first time since the Third Host and marveled at the changes.

The Fourth Host came to Earth in the recent past, ready to render judgment – the setting for Kirby’s run. They witness what man had wrought, as well as the resumption of the ages-old conflict between Eternal and Deviant. The Deviants sought to either gain favor with the Host or see to it no one benefited. The Eternals, meanwhile, sought to preserve not only their lives but that of the noble, less powerful humans, whom they saw as having great potential. A small group, known as the Young Gods, made a gift of themselves to the Celestials to show how well the experiment had worked. Arishem, leader of the Fourth Host, accepted them and gave Earth his verdict: a thumbs-up.

Sales were solid but never spectacular. Looking back, historians Gerry Jones & Will Jacobs called it “great fun” while Peter Sanderson in Marvel Universe called it Kirby’s last great creative achievement. He wrote: “Like much of Kirby’s work for Marvel and DC in the 1960s and 1970s, The Eternals is an inquiry into the nature of God. Working with Lee, Kirby had created the Stranger (in X-Men), Odin and the High Evolutionary (in Thor), the Source (in New Gods), the Watcher and Galactus (in The Fantastic Four); now, working on his own in The Eternals, he presented us with ‘space gods,’ the Celestials.

“The Eternals is as memorable for its characters as it is for Kirby’s epic feats of visualization. There was the shadowy, brooding figure of the Forgotten One, the Eternal who was known to ancient civilizations as Gilgamesh, Samson, and Hercules. There was Kro, the demonic military leaders of the Deviants, who despite his ruthlessness was still gripped by passion for his former lover, Thena, the fiery warrior daughter of Zuras, monarch of the Eternals. And there was Sersi, perhaps the most fascinating of all, an Eternal with many sides to her personality. She was known to the Deviants as Sersi the Terrible for her temper and her ability to alter the shapes of persons or objects at will, as when she transformed Ulysses’ men to pigs in ancient times. (Sersi explained that Homer had misspelled her name in The Odyssey.)

“Despite its considerable merits, the original Eternals series was not a commercial success, perhaps because Kirby dealt with his large cast of characters as a true ensemble, continually shifting the focus from one group in one issue to another set in the next; there was no central heroic figure who appeared in every story line.”

While most comics of the day focused on one or two main characters, even the team books such as The Avengers and X-Men kept the focus tight on a handful of protagonists and gently shifting that focus over the course of issues. Not Kirby, whose kinetic storytelling meant readers were treated to a rush of concepts, one coming after the after with little time spent fully exploring any one character or concept. As a result, his titles tended to either be embraced by fans who loved the art and energy or shunned by those who were left breathless.

Ray Wyman Jr., in The Art of Jack Kirby, suggested, “Although the story writing in EternalsM was fragmented and distracting, Kirby’s pseudo-techno designs were as fascinating as ever.”

In Kirby’s mind, his space saga was in its own reality, divorced from the Marvel Universe. By 1977, though, editors back in New York wanted to play with his concepts and thought the book would benefit from the familiar super heroes and super-villains making appearances. Kirby, by then, was already battling with editors over the way his dialogue had been altered without approval in his various titles. In an effort to be one of the gang, he made a few attempts to acknowledge the Marvel Universe in his cosmic series. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began to show up followed by one of his earliest hits, The Thing – however, the blue-eyed adventurer proved to be a regular Joe whose features were momentarily transformed into a likeness of the Fantastic Four hero by Sersi. Another attempt had an appearance by The Hulk, but this too proved to be a falsity – this one was a cosmically-enhanced robot.

After 1978 Kirby stopped the title, and the characters were fair game to the next generation of editors, writers and artists, many of whom were strongly influenced by Kirby’s creations and were eager to play with them.

But none of the series featuring these entities has proven successful, a track record likely to change with 2006’s miniseries from Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr. When the announcement was made, Gaiman said, “What drew me to it was not the god side of things, but the incredibly long-lived nature of things. I just loved the idea of seeing two people standing in a town square looking at a statue of themselves that was erected 1,000 years before.

“It was kind of the opportunity to create a mythology. In 1602 I re-created everything that had happened in the Marvel Universe because they'd got it right. The Eternals still had that amazing Jack Kirby outpouring of ideas, and there were some amazing things. But he didn't get it right. It's sort of weird and lumpy.”

How the Eternals, Deviants and Celestials were shoehorned into the evolving Marvel cosmology will be covered in part two.

Eternals Checklist
Eternals #1-19 (July 1976 - January 1978)
Eternals Annual #1 (1977)
Eternals #1-12 (October 1985 - September 1986)
Eternals: The Herod Factor (March 1991)
The New Eternals: Apocalypse Now (February 2000)
The Eternal #1-6 (August 2003 - January 2004)

Kirby’s original work will be collected in a handsome hardcover available in finer shops everywhere in June. This article was originally written by Greenberger for Marvel.com

[Bird Flu Man]

I know Newsarama is just trying to be helpful and informative, but that article was entirely too much for me to read. You guys lost me somewhere around "begat the popular character Machine Man."

Can someone just explain to me who Jack Kirby was and what he did, preferably in 10 words or less?

[DeTroyes]

Originally Posted by Bird Flu Man

I know Newsarama is just trying to be helpful and informative, but that article was entirely too much for me to read. You guys lost me somewhere around "begat the popular character Machine Man."

Can someone just explain to me who Jack Kirby was and what he did, preferably in 10 words or less?

In ten words or less:

Jack Kirby=Comic Book God

[xdemon]

Weren't there some back-up stories in the original What If series (Vol. I) that went into further detail on the Eternals of Titan and Uranus?

I wouldn't mind reading the original Eternals series but I just can't stand Kirby's art.

[Hooper]

Damn... just looking at that art makes me giddy. I said it before and I'll say it again: Kirby was genius. I wish more artists put that kind of detail into their work today.

[Lemurian]

I'm sorry, did Neil Gaiman just accuse Jack Kirby of getting it wrong? That's... well, I guessed he's earned it, with Sandman and 1602 and Poison Ivy.
Also, I now see some irony: Jack Kirby wrote stories about the idea of God. But recently, Mark Waid wrote a Fantastic Four story where the Four went to Heaven(they got better, though) and met God, who was in fact - Jack Kirby! Oh, that is good.
Bring on "Chapter 4: When Strikes... the Englehart!"

[mrhelm]

While not his best work by any stretch of the imagination, The Eternals really are ripe for revision.

And if anyone can do it, it's Gaiman.

Although just like 1602 before it, I'm sure we're going to hear that "It's no Sandman" statement over and over again. Which, as Gaiman himself has stated, is good, as it won't be copyright infringement then.

[Bird Flu Man]

Originally Posted by DeTroyes

In ten words or less:

Jack Kirby=Comic Book God

Thanks.

But I still find this "Jack Kirby's" continuity to be overly complicated and confusing. If I have to know all this stuff in order to enjoy the upcoming Neil Gaiman series, then I'm out!

[Nathan Jewell]

Matt, You should provide a link at the bottom of the article to the previous two articles.

[shady878]

Good article and easiest of the 3 to follow. I'm i little more interested in it this time around

[MatthewSmith]

This was the first of these Eternals features that I've been able to read all the way through and actually get interested in. Good stuff.

And I certainly look forward to seeing how the later Marvel writers tried to fit the concept into the regualr Marvel universe. Something tells me that's going to be entertaining.

[moosenlawyer]

Not sure whether I can do it in under ten words but here goes...

Jack Kirby is considered to be one of, if not the most, influential comic book creators of the 20th century. He had a hand in creating and/or greatly defining such Marvel Comic characters as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the original X-Men, the Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom, Galactus, The Watcher, Magneto, the Inhumans and the Black Panther.

He eventually had a falling out with Stan Lee in 1970's and moved to DC Comics. During this time, Kirby began to explore more cosmic/epic characters and storylines, creating the New Gods (also referred to as The Fourth World) for DC Comics. The New Gods are best known through the characters Mister Miracle, Darkseid and Orion.

Kirby eventually returned to Marvel where he once again dabbled in cosmic/epic storylines with the Celestials, the Eternals and the Deviants.

---

While Gaiman will probably mine and/or reinterpret Kirby's concepts for his work, I find it highly unlikely that Gaiman would create a series which would require intimate knowledge of thirty plus years of obscure and only occassionally referenced characters.

[berk]

Gaiman statement shows exactly why anyone who actually likes the original Kirby series has good reason not to hold very high expectations for Gaiman's revision. Kirby didn't get it wrong with the Eternals. On the contrary, it's one of his most successful creations, holds together remarkably well, the surface narrative and imagery is extremely compellling, and has a very powerful and coherent thematic subtext, if you care to look beneath that surface. Gaiman apparently doesn't think so; to each his own, and no disrespect to Gaiman's ability, but it's too bad they didn't assign this project to someone with a higher opinion of the original.

[Crusader K]

Originally Posted by Bird Flu Man

Thanks.

But I still find this "Jack Kirby's" continuity to be overly complicated and confusing. If I have to know all this stuff in order to enjoy the upcoming Neil Gaiman series, then I'm out!

I can understand the confusion. Perhaps it helps to understand that Kirby created whole universes and characters. Unlike many writers of today, and this is no slam, he wasn't perhaps as interested in creating wholly believeable/get-into-their-heads-over-six-issues-so-it-can-be collected into a trade, but larger than life, iconic practically symbolic characters and events. He was interested in the "larger" picture, the "saga" rather than the details.

Hmmm...that probably doesn't help either, now that I read it but . . .

[ParisCub]

Originally Posted by Bird Flu Man

Thanks.

But I still find this "Jack Kirby's" continuity to be overly complicated and confusing. If I have to know all this stuff in order to enjoy the upcoming Neil Gaiman series, then I'm out!

Well, knowing how Gaiman works, I'm sure it will be very accessible and that you won't need to know anything about the Eternals.

But to sum up, the Eternals are a species of long-lived "humans" created by space gods who have been mistaken for gods during Human History. Ikaris = Icarus, Makkari = Mercury, Sersi = Circe, Zuras = Zeus, Thena = Athena... etc... Another offshoot of humanity was created with them, the Deviants, and they're responsible for most of the old mythological creatures and monsters beliefs. That's all you need to know really.

[tyopot]

no one compares to the king. i just love everything that he did, and i always will. he was just a visionary.

as a matter of fact, i just bought Supreme : the return #6 by alan moore and rick veitch, it was a tribute to the king, they even had a talking head of the king. expect nothing but the best from a genius like moore and rick veitch.

[mpg]

Originally Posted by Bird Flu Man

Thanks.

But I still find this "Jack Kirby's" continuity to be overly complicated and confusing. If I have to know all this stuff in order to enjoy the upcoming Neil Gaiman series, then I'm out!

I am sure Mr Gaiman will ease you in.

I think the point of these columns isnt to give u homework,
its just to introduce and show how much history Gaiman will be drawing upon to create a story here in 2006.

[Bird Flu Man]

Originally Posted by mpg

I am sure Mr Gaiman will ease you in.

I think the point of these columns isnt to give u homework,
its just to introduce and show how much history Gaiman will be drawing upon to create a story here in 2006.

Before anyone else tries to convince me to give Gaiman's Eternals a try, don't waste your time!

I'm getting it! I'm a big Eternals fan! I know who Jack Kirby is!

My earlier posts were meant as a satirical spoof (or, to put it in friendlier terms, as an "homage") of the posters in the previous two Eternals threads who incessantly whined about the ungodly length (3 pages?) of the articles and the complexity of the Eternals history.

Sorry for the confusion!

[comicnazi]

Any chance of an Eternals Essential Volume of the 70's series?? The mid eighties mini is easily had in most older shops but the first Kirby series is hard to locate. I know there is a hardcover coming out in June I believe but it's a bit out of my price range. Here's hoping for an Essential Eternals sometime in the future.....

[Cobalt Kid]

Originally Posted by DeTroyes

In ten words or less:

Jack Kirby=Comic Book God

Perfectly put.

Jack Kirby is probably the single greatest comic book genius in the history of comics and that is saying a lot. You can define comic books after him as simply "after Kirby" because he's inspired every creator since.

I also think the large majority of his work still holds today. Even his throwaway ideas come back every so often (albeit changed), like Klarion the Witch Boy, and OMAC & Brother Eye.

In the Silver Age Stan Lee christened him as "the King" and its a very appropriate moniker.

[Grimm22]

Originally Posted by DeTroyes

In ten words or less:

Jack Kirby=Comic Book God

In the case of the marvel universe, that is actually true (as seen in FF #511 or #509 I cant remember).

But Jack "The King" Kirby is so much more than a creator. I mean without him there would be no comics today.

[Simon Garth]

Originally Posted by berk

Gaiman statement shows exactly why anyone who actually likes the original Kirby series has good reason not to hold very high expectations for Gaiman's revision. Kirby didn't get it wrong with the Eternals. On the contrary, it's one of his most successful creations, holds together remarkably well, the surface narrative and imagery is extremely compellling, and has a very powerful and coherent thematic subtext, if you care to look beneath that surface. Gaiman apparently doesn't think so; to each his own, and no disrespect to Gaiman's ability, but it's too bad they didn't assign this project to someone with a higher opinion of the original.

Gaiman's statement is the first thing that has interested me about this project - good to see a creator going into a Kirby world who didn't think everything Kirby wrote & draw was the One Revealed Truth. IMHO, Eternals had some interesting ideas (albeit told for the umpteenth time), but was appallingly written, as was just about anything where Kirby didn't have a co-writer or a strong editor.

[Not From Around]

Jack Kirby was trying so hard to sound like Stan Lee in that old interview they quoted, bless his heart.

By "got it wrong," Neil Gaiman was probably referring to the way Kirby's writing ability fell well short of his artistic skills and sheer imagination. I think most (though not all) of his fans are prepared to admit that his writing skills fell short of genius. He did his best work when collaborating with a writer. In that Mark Waid FF story someone mentioned above, the Deity they meet (who is clearly Jack Kirby) comments on getting a telephone call from his collaborator. "God has a collaborator?" one of the characters asks. The FF's creator indeed did.

[Not From Around]

Originally Posted by Cobalt Kid

Jack Kirby is probably the single greatest comic book genius in the history of comics and that is saying a lot. You can define comic books after him as simply "after Kirby" because he's inspired every creator since.

That might be overstating it. In the specific field of American superhero comics, though, his influence was indeed very considerable. Most of what we see in that area owes something to him.

[Whipsnakes]

Self Promoting Whore, One Last Time
I only bring this up so much because I just got laid off, but
I still have the Eternals 1-16 for sale. And many others as well...

and in response to the article
KIRBY > THE UNIVERSE AS WE KNOW IT

Yep, Kirby is pretty much God.
Hell, Mark Waid said so.