Paperback, 256 pages
Published April 24, 2018 by Marvel.
During the 1970s, comics legend Jack "King" Kirby returned to the House of Ideas with perhaps his biggest idea of all: the universe of the Eternals! Their creation was the result of Kirby's ceaseless curiosity about the origin of man and his mythologies - but like many of the King's concepts, it was defi nitely ahead of its time. Flash forward to 2006: Superstar creators Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. have boldly taken on these concepts with a loving hand, in the process telling a fresh and crackling fun yarn full of mystery, suspense and majestic power - all with an eye on helping establish Kirby's creations as a vital part of the Marvel Universe once and for all. Against the backdrop of Marvel's Civil War, the Eternals are awakening one by one from a strange, waking dream, at once coming to terms with the fact that they are …
During the 1970s, comics legend Jack "King" Kirby returned to the House of Ideas with perhaps his biggest idea of all: the universe of the Eternals! Their creation was the result of Kirby's ceaseless curiosity about the origin of man and his mythologies - but like many of the King's concepts, it was defi nitely ahead of its time. Flash forward to 2006: Superstar creators Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. have boldly taken on these concepts with a loving hand, in the process telling a fresh and crackling fun yarn full of mystery, suspense and majestic power - all with an eye on helping establish Kirby's creations as a vital part of the Marvel Universe once and for all. Against the backdrop of Marvel's Civil War, the Eternals are awakening one by one from a strange, waking dream, at once coming to terms with the fact that they are far more than the normal people they have thought themselves to be. They find there is little time to commiserate about such things, however, as they are thrust into a life and death struggle that spans both time and space!
I watched the new trailer for the movie adaptation this afternoon, and it reminded me that I had this hardcover sitting on my to-read shelf. Pretty sure it’s been there for over ten years! Anyway, I finished it in a couple of sittings, and it was pretty fun! Nothing terribly special, but it’s an interesting premise, for sure. Kind of made me want to hunt down the original Jack Kirby series.
Not bad or anything. Just not particularly original or noteworthy. Just a fairly run of the mill powerful superhero story. It feels like Gaiman is phoning it in a bit in this one.
Didn't realize this was just the beginning of the story. Was interesting, but inevitably felt incomplete. I wonder if there's more somewhere.
Gaiman takes an idea from legendary comics creator Jack Kirby and brings it to a new generation of readers. Overall it is a pretty good story with the good blend of mythology and imagination that Gaiman is known for. The Eternals have been gone from the world, and now they are waking up once more. They lived their lives basically as common humans, and they have to remember who they are once more in order to save the world. The events happen during the Civil War story arc, with some small appearance by Iron Man and some of the Avengers. The art is also very good in this volume, plus this volume does include some extras such as cover galleries, art galleries so you can see how some of the characters looked in Kirby's day compared to today, and an extended interview with Neil Gaiman. Marvel fans will probably like …
Gaiman takes an idea from legendary comics creator Jack Kirby and brings it to a new generation of readers. Overall it is a pretty good story with the good blend of mythology and imagination that Gaiman is known for. The Eternals have been gone from the world, and now they are waking up once more. They lived their lives basically as common humans, and they have to remember who they are once more in order to save the world. The events happen during the Civil War story arc, with some small appearance by Iron Man and some of the Avengers. The art is also very good in this volume, plus this volume does include some extras such as cover galleries, art galleries so you can see how some of the characters looked in Kirby's day compared to today, and an extended interview with Neil Gaiman. Marvel fans will probably like this one. Gaiman fans who like his other graphic novel work may like it as well even if they are not "real comics readers." Overall, a pretty nice story.
Neil Gaiman takes on one of Jack Kirby's creations for Marvel.
Despite the fact that these are two very big names, the biggest reaction I can muster is "meh". It was okay, but there was nothing that really grabbed me about it. Gaiman and the artist managed to squeeze the Kirbyishness out of it, without imparting anything particularly great or new.
It was okay, but that's about it. Nothing about it was particularly memorable; it didn't stay in my mind. In a fractional system I guess I'd give it a 2.5.
