Eternals #8 (May 1986)

It's that time again! It's time to join the Eternals in their greatest battle against the Deviants! Last time, Thena and Kro, who are now seen as traitors by their peoples, on the run. Kro makes a shocking discovery about a brutal ritual about his people. So, what's the followup from this? Where do those two go from here? Let's find out in Eternals #8!

The cover is a Keith Pollard piece, and it's pretty cool. In my opinion, anyway. it depicts the Eternal known as Ikaris attacking a bunch of Deviants that are deciding to crash one of Sersi's parties. 

"When Titans Party!"
Writer: Peter Gillis
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Rick Parker
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with a view of the Celestial known as Arishem.

“I thought I’d try a new look.”

Arishem is arguably the most famous of any individual Celestial, thanks to his appearance in the MCU film Eternals. In the comics, every Celestial has a function/specialty. For example, in the comics, there is a Celestial called Oneg the Prober. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Oneg was called that because his job was to experiment on things. And then there's Eson the Searcher, who is tasked with, like his name says, seeking/finding things. Arishem is known as "The Judge", as his job is basically judging whether a planet's civilization should be allowed to continue surviving...or be exterminated. And his attention has been turned back to Earth. In the past, Arishem has determined that humanity is worthy of survival. 

But enough about potentially massive cosmic events, another big event is happening! Sersi is throwing a party!

“I hope I ordered enough pizza…”

Why is she throwing a party? It's Sersi. She'll throw a party just for the fun of it. I can imagine that during her time in the Avengers, the Mansion itself could tell stories of the debauchery she brought it. And her party's going to have a pair of unexpected guests. 

“I told you to take that left turn at Alberquerque, Thena!”

Thena and Kro really have nowhere else to go at this point. Both the other Eternals and Deviants think they're traitors. Sersi points out that it's understandable, considering their actions. Kro tries to point out that whatever Ghaur has planned, it's about far more than the old Eternal-Deviant wars. The world could be at stake. Sersi isn't interested at first, as she puts it, "the world has a way of going on, my lord Kro, no matter what we do". Thena then tries another tactic: helping in the name of love. 

That gets her interest. Sersi has long known that Thena was in love with Kro and had waited centuries for her to admit it. 

She agrees to help, so she has her two human friends, Sam Holden and Dave Chatterton, help provide outfits for them. After all, this is a costume party. The party begins, and things are swinging. Even Kro and Thena are getting into it.

“Stop steaming up my tail! You’re gonna wrinkle it!”

I like to imagine it was Sersi's idea to have Thena in the Playboy Bunny costume just because she thought it would be funny. I do think classic Sersi would not be above a bit of minor trolling like that. Kro and Thena agree to split up, as it would provide less chance of discovery. And Thena finds herself making...a friend. 

Remember this cowboy. 

Dave Chatterton is minding the door, when the other Eternals arrive, and they're not here to party. 

“Candygram for Sersi!”

That's a shame. Sersi's parties are a lot of fun, from what I heard. The lady herself greets them dressed like Scarlett O'Hara. She tells the Eternals that Kro and Thena aren't there, and they're free to look around. It does give Sersi a problem, though. She really did not want this fight to come to the party. Especially since the party has some other...special guests.

Obligatory superhero cameos.

Those guests are in the form of Namor the Sub-Mariner, Edwin Jarvis, and Warren Worthington III, aka the Angel. They're here on invitation from Sersi after the events of Avengers #248. Warren is confused why he was invited, as he wasn't an Avenger at the time. Give it time, Warren. Over the years, many X-Men served as members of Earth's Mightiest. Beast, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Firestar (she was an Avenger first in her case), and most recently (as of this writing) M and Psylocke. Your time will come, Wings. Sersi greets them dressed as Captain America. 

Meanwhile, Thena has decided to hide out in another room, where she finds herself talking with another partygoer. A Deviant tries to get Thena through the window, but her new friend sent him packing with some mace.

“YOU LIKE BEAR MACE, BRAH?!”

Sam Holden and Sersi also spot a group of Deviants. This annoys the dark-haired Eternal (who decided to switch to a Doctor Strange cosplay), and she uses hypnosis to make them into waiters. Ikaris then spots Thena, only to discover that Sersi has switched costumes again. She donned a duplicate of Thena's suit, and a blonde wig.

Ikaris is furious, but Sersi responds by teasing him. She trolls him by revealing that several other women have matched Thena's bunny suit. Ikaris is not having a good day.

Sam Holden observes this, and notes how insane this whole thing is. Two offshoots of humanity barreling into war, and they're fighting it out on a dance floor. And then things get worse.

“I’m looking for a murderer.”

Page 369, Panel 4"I wish to indulge in waht you humans call...hors ordure's." Yup! Ghaur himself now has shown up! Evidently, he heard that Sersi's parties are the life of the town and wanted to see one for himself. 

Ghaur ends up meeting with the cowboy from earlier, who turns out to be Hercules. The two discuss the nature of gods and their idea of boons. Meanwhile, Namor and Ransak are having their own conversation. Ransak is being miserable as usual, and Namor thinks he's drunk. Would not surprise me. It would be funny that for all his bluster and anger, Ransak is a massive lightweight when it comes to alcohol. Meanwhile, Kro is spotted by Ghaur. Yup, he's a dead man. Well, dead Deviant, but you know what I mean.

Dave Chatterton sees the two, and immediately gets worried. He is the only one who can do something about this. His fear is understandable, though. Ghaur is ruthless enough to kill a man in cold blood if he needs to, and thanks to Sersi, he's slowly growing an aversion to dying. But the man is hit with a bolt of inspiration. 

He gives a block of ice to Ghaur and socks the drunken Ransak with his best Mighty Punch. This allows Kro and Thena to quietly and quickly slip away. The inebriated and furious Deviant tries to attack Dave, but Ghaur unwittingly saves the human by knocking Ransak away with the ice block...and ends up flying into Namor.

Sersi (who now has whipped out her She-Hulk cosplay) is not too happy with the idea of a fight breaking out in one of her parties. Ghaur orders the Deviants to move in, but she foils and confuses them with a little distraction tactic: turning everyone’s costumes into duplicates of Ikaris’s. Thank the space gods Deviants are dumb. 

Ikaris catches up with Kro and Thena. Thena calls him stubborn, and then teleports away with Kro. Before she leaves, she says that if Ikaris is willing to listen, she'll explain. But Ikaris is in no mood to listen. He swears to track her down and make her pay for betraying the Eternals. 

I have to say, this is one of the more...unique entries in the miniseries. I did enjoy it, but I do admit, considering the drama of the last issue, this story does feel a bit jarring. I was also surprised by the cameos of other superheroes. I can see why some would look at this as a bit of a forced reminder that "this story is set in the Marvel Universe", but I did like the issue subverted the expectation that these guys would get into a fight. I do feel that this would have also been a great opportunity for a bit more character development, mainly for Sam and Dave. Maybe this party (as well as his socking Ransak in the last issue) can help show that Dave is growing more confidence and starting to embrace life again). 

Despite the issues, I still enjoyed it. Sersi throwing a party is always fun. 

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!