The Eternals #1

After his disappointing and disastrous move to DC Comics where his Fourth World concept failed to catch on (at least at first) Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics scantly two years later.

Stan Lee was thrilled to have his old drawing partner back but unfortunately the two were unable to re-team and re-inite their creative magic (save for a Silver Surfer Special) as Stan had moved on and no longer was the writer and editor he once was.

That being the fact Jack was still given plenty of work cranking out issues of Black Panther,  2001: A Space Odyssey, Machine Man, Captain America, The Inhumans, Devil Dinosaur, various fill-in issues and a score of covers.

Now in his late fifties and early sixties the quality of Jack’s art was starting to show signs of wear.  Although still exciting to see, his art looked rushed and less detailed.

Unfortunately his art had gone out of style.  Younger comic book readers gravitated toward the art of Rich Buckler, Jim Stalin, Mike Ploog and a bevy of other young artists/fans artwork.

All respected and appreciated Jack’s work, but their styles were radically different to his.  Although many tired to imitate his incredible imaginative settings and character designs.

One of the last projects Jack did for Marvel upon his return was creating, writing, drawing and editing an ambitious new series: The Eternals.

In issue #1 Jack starts the series with a group of scientists/explorers seeking the lost God Chamber.

One of the explorers (unknown to the others at first) is Ikaris, one of The Eternals.

For millennia he has been looking for the God Chamber in hopes of returning to his people: The Eternals.

Eventually they find the God Chamber, while at the same time a dark and nefarious foe seeks to destroy the spot.

In The Eternals Jack Kirby let his imagination run wild. 

Inspired by The Chariot Of The Gods book recently released, which postulated that aliens had visited the Earth in the past and changed the course of human evolution and development, Jack introduced his own take on the concept: The Eternals.

In the series it was discovered that a gigantic race of humanoid aliens (The Celestials/Space Gods) had altered/modified the genes of a pre-human species thus creating three distinct species: Humans, Deviants and Eternals, with The Eternalsl being the first.

From these three branches came super-humans, Inhumans and a host of other modified or enhanced versions of the original three groups.

While the series (at the time) received a lukewarm reception, the Eternals concept eventually transformed the Marvel Universe.

Kirby’s concept would go on the affect not only the Earth’s population but also other species around the universe-all manipulated by the The Celestials/Space Gods.

In fact, brief glimpses of The Celestials/Space Gods can be spotted in various Marvel films.

It was recently announced that Disney and Marvel would be releasing an Eternals film in the future.

It will be interesting to see how they are intertwined with the other Marvel movies-especially Thor, The Avengers, The Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain Marvel franchises.

There are even hints that Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox Studios may introduce the concept into the future X-Men films and the promised Fantastic Four re-launch.

It is remarkable that one man: Jack Kirby, introduced such a galaxy-spanning concepts not only at Marvel but DC Comics as well with his Fourth World Universe.

The Eternals #1 continues to escalate in price and by all appearances will soon attain the position as one of the key comic books collectors must have.