It's that time again! Every year, I like to dedicate one month to looking at a 12-issue maxiseries. We've looked at epic stories like Secret Wars, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Squadron Supreme, and last year, we looked at the maxi-series Justice. This year, I thought it would be fun to look at a maxiseries focused on the Eternals. Yes, the Eternals got a maxiseries in the 1980s.
So, how did this miniseries come to be? Well, mainly because of writers Peter B. Gillis and Mark Gruenwald. Gillis was a big fan of Jack Kirby's short-lived Eternals title. Even though the series was originally set off in its own little world. Marvel desired to bring the Eternals into the Marvel Universe, but incorporating that mythos into it would not be an easy task. However, Gillis and Gruenwald were up for it. When Gruenwald was the editor of the What If title, he wrote backup stories for the book that allowed him to start work folding the Eternals into the Marvel Universe, also tying in the cosmic stuff Jim Starlin was doing at the time.
Gillis would continue on the work when writing Iron Man Annual #6 (1983), setting up the Eternals to face a cosmic threat appropriate to their god-like power levels. Roger Stern helped out by having most of the Eternals leave Earth during his time on The Avengers.
When Gillis got the go-ahead to write the 1985 Eternals maxi-series, it got him thinking about the Deviants. He started wondering what Deviant culture would be like? What would be like if children never resembled their parents? And worse, what if you knew a bunch of alien space gods were the reason your species was like this?
Another thing Gillis wanted to do is give the Eternals a major defining villain. After all, many of Jack Kirby's other major creations and co-creations had a defining villain. The Inhumans had Maximus. The New Gods had Darkseid. The Fantastic Four had Doctor Doom, and the X-Men had Magneto. But the Eternals did not seem to have a major one of their own. Gillis wanted this villain to embody the fury of the Deviants. Several artists suggested designs, but it would be John Byrne who would win out.
And with all of that out of the way, let's look at The Eternals #1!
The cover is a Walt Simonson piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts our man Ikaris flying into action front and center. Which makes sense, as you will see. We also see a bit of Sersi and her human friend Sam Holden, a Celestial, and some Deviants charging on the bottom. All of this gets touched on in the actual story, with Ikaris being portrayed as a main event. My favorite thing about this cover is the masthead logo. I love the Greek pottery styling of it. It helps give the vibe that the Eternals are ancient beings that made a mark on history.
"A Mirror for Mortality"
Writer: Peter B. Gillis
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Al Gordon
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Al Rosen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with a lecture.
Oh, it's not so bad! The lecturer is an anthropologist named Samuel Holden. His lecture is about the origins of mankind as we know it today. It's way of recapping the origin of the Eternals. Basically, millions of years ago, ancient alien beings called Celestials came to our world and experimented on our early primate ancestors. These experiments led to not only modern man (and also offshoots like mutants and Inhumans), but also the creations of the Eternals and the Deviants.
Sadly, when his lecture ends, people immediately forget what he's talking about. But they always end up finding his lecture quite fun to listen to. How does that work?
Despite this, he does get some reassurance from another source.
Sersi decides to take him out for a night on the town! Go have some fun! But beforehand, she tries to give him a little perspective on his situation. The Eternal points out that humans have reacted...badly to the existence of mutants and Inhumans, so they may not be able to handle the existence of the Eternals and the Deviants. Not to mention that Deviants have oppressed humans in the past. Holden remembers that there's going to be a ceremony for Thena's coronation after the death of her father Zuras in Iron Man Annual #6. Sersi would rather go to Paris, as it's more fun!
We next head out to Olympia, the home of the Eternals. Thena is sitting on now-her throne. We also see that despite Sersi finding the idea of attending the ceremony boring, she still attends it.
The coronation ceremony involves her being given the great cosmic power that was once wielded by Zuras into her. Well, that was quick.
As the new ruler of the Eternals, Thena points out that most of the Eternals have left Earth in Avengers #248 (October 1984). She wants the ones that remain to help continue protecting Earth from the Deviants. Ikaris then up and vanishes. Is this the sign of a crisis? No, it turns out that it was just a hologram. Ikaris himself was elsewhere.
Makkari groans and looks into it. They make a bit of a discovery. The city's central computer's processor overloaded. Whoops.
Makkari is able to fix it, but the charade is exposed. It turns out that except for the speedster (and Karkas, a Deviant ally of the Eternals), Thena was actually all alone. The other Eternals were basically attending this ceremony via their version of Zoom. Thena is infuriated by this.
She falls into tears, saying that she is all alone. Makkari tries to comfort her, saying they came up with the idea of the other Eternals attending as holograms as a form of compromise. None of them wanted to come originally. Thena points out that Olympia has essentially become a city of ghosts...
In New York City, Ikaris is with his main squeeze, Margo Damian. He changes his Eternal garb into some wrestling gear. He's going to rassle tonight as "Iceberg" Ike Harris, going up against the New Jersey's masked mangler: Enigmo!
Both Ikaris and Enigmo head to the ring.
Hey, wait a minute! Enigmo was described as masked! He's wearing no mask! Bit of a goof there, likely miscommunication between artist and writer. A plexiglass container is put over the ring for the protection of the audience. The ref flees, and the two wrestlers fight.
Ikaris then reveals that his opponent is not human.
Yup, Enigmo is really Cataphrax the Mighty, a Deviant. He punches a hole in the ground. The plexiglass is there for a reason. It somehow makes people see the two as ordinary human wrestlers. I don't know.
Cataphrax manages to grab Ikaris and bring him into the hole. Margo realizes that there's something wrong here. The amtch was not supposed to be booked this way, so she heads to the building's basement. Cataphrax drags Ikaris to a Deviant base underground. Cataphrax rants about how it's unfair the Eternals get to be beautiful and immortal while the Deviants are stuck as monsters. Ikaris gives Cataphrax some eyebeams, but Cataphrax has buddies, and they ambush Ikaris! For Gawd's sake, somebody stop the match!
The Deviants say Ikaris has a hidden secret, and they are going to tear it from him. And they will do it with this machine.
They put the machine on his chest, and it glows. They take it and run, even though it seems to have done nothing to Ikaris. He goes after the Deviants, but a speedy railcar and a collapsing ceiling slow him down. The Deviants' rail car takes them to Lemuria, the Deviants' homeland. When they arrive, they meet up with a warrior monk-like figure. Cataphrax eagerly reports their mission was a success. Cataphrax sees himself as Lemuria's new champion. But despite that, he has been judged genetically unclean, and thus, he is to be purged.
Yeah, that's gratitude for ya. Ikaris and Margo return to Madison Square Garden. Ikaris fears that he may have started the final war between the Eternals and the Deviants. Back in Olympia, Thena expresses regrets over her actions in the throne room. She picks up a crystal that contains a recording of her father Zuras. She laments that he is gone, as Eternals are supposed to be, well...eternal. She throws the crystal aside, but as she leaves, the crystal plays a recording warning her of dire peril coming...
I liked this issue. The main thing is I liked that it recapped and gave us all we needed to know about the Eternals and the Deviants, as well as any other story stuff so that it felt more self-contained. I like the nice little touches of character in the book, like Sersi's party animal nature, Ikaris' playing hero, Thena's struggles with being the new leader of the few remaining Eternals, that kind of thing.
The issue is mainly just set up, but that's a necessary evil. And there are a couple of headscratcher moments. But it didn't ruin it for me. It was cool seeing Ikaris trying to play pro wrestler. I really like how Sal Buscema draws the Deviants. He really makes them look monstrous, and there are moments that I swear they look almost Kirbyesque.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2020 trade paperback The Eternals: The Dreaming Celestial Saga. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
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