Advance Review: Eternals #1

Marvel’s synergy department is in full force as Marvel seeks to bring the Eternals back to the fore with their phase 4 movie just around the corner. It is most certainly the right thing to do as who, other than the hardest core of Marvel fans even know of their existence? But how do you create an ongoing story when the the second task is too educate a new audience?

Ikaris, the last of the dead Eternals is the awoken last to a summons of Eternal Prime with a task of releasing Sprite from her exclusion. The pair are given a relatively simple job; resolve an excess deviation. You see the Celestials, alien gods came to Earth eons ago and left 100 Eternals to protect the human race; the flip being 100 Deviants also exist and thus we have the core principle of semi civil war between god like beings.

To write this book, with its many layered approach, Marvel have turned to British writer extraordinaire Kieron Gillen who is no stranger to gods and big epic story lines. Gillen starts off at a steady pace with a monologue that expects the reader to go with the flow rather than give all the answers straight away. It may sound laborious but in reality, it is an intriguing read, with Sprite acting as the sort of conduit for the reader. Gillen also uses Iron Man in order to place the Eternals into the current Marvel Universe. Gillen’s plot and pacing is exquisite, balancing out the story and the need to educate. Nothing is gung-ho though a level of patience is required from the reader.

For a book essentially about gods you want the art to look epic and grandiose. In that regard, Esad Ribic rises to the task brilliantly with powerful characters existing in grand halls, machines and environments. This is across the board, including Iron Man. Moving away from the style or vibe that Ridic generates, there are a couple of problems with Ikaris’ face at times, though this is a minor quibble; Ribic’s art screams quality from the get go. Very impressive indeed. Adding to the quality of the art are the painted like colors of Matthew Wilson which adds both depth and textures to proceedings. For a big launch book, you need the best letterer in the business, and in VC’s Clayton Cowles, creator of the X-font, Marvel assigned one of the best. This is a wordy book for sure, it has to be as Gillen has two different writing tasks to complete. Cowles doesn’t let that stop him, delivering a font and word boxes that give an impressive timbre to the book.

I know that this may be considered sacrilegious, but I was never a big fan of Jack Kirby’s credited writing. To me, Eternals originally came from the same vein as the New Gods. Yet both Marvel’s and DC’s alien god-like beings have a dedicated fan base and have repercussions in their respective modern universes; where else could Jonathan Hickman got his Krakoan revival of mutants, rebooting to their last saved selves other than from The Machine featured in Eternals? Marvel’s cinematic universe is heading into a crucial phase; with no marque icons like Captain America or Iron Man to utilise, they are moving down their character tree. Marvel Comics are certainly holding up their end of the bargain in the production of a well written book featuring high quality of art to match the high concept of the Eternals.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Kieron Gillen
Art by; Esad Ribic
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network