Jack Kirby
****
December 1977
Tho it lacks the several weaving plots of the mag’s first year, this issue helps return it to its epic form. A corrupt Eternal investigates ways to kill the space gods. His discovery: on a prior visit, Celestial fought Celestial! The double-page spread showing its disintegration is King-size superb.
[last issue: The Eternals #17]
[next issue: The Eternals #19]
Archive for the ‘Zuras’ Category
The Eternals #18
July 30, 2012The Eternals #17
July 29, 2012
Jack Kirby
November 1977
***
A return to this mag’s magniloquent format, a constantly roiling cauldron of super-ideas. Sersi helps the men against a monstrous mind-tyrant. The mummied titan speaks w/ the same imposing, will-annihilating voice as Kirby’s greatest creation, Darkseid. The art, however, is less impressive.
[last issue: The Eternals #16]
[next issue: The Eternals #18]
The Eternals #16
July 28, 2012
Jack Kirby
October 1977
***
Under the city, the Eternals’ leader, red-bearded Zuras, faces a psi-beast he’d interred in prehistoric times. It echoes Kirby’s Thor work w/ Lee, but the tone is darker & angst-ridden. Once again, Manhattan lies devastated; its residents cower in their homes as the firefighters stomp out blazes.
[last issue: The Eternals #15]
[next issue: The Eternals #17]
The Eternals #15
July 27, 2012
Jack Kirby
September 1977
**
Ikaris & the gang face an irradiated robot version of the Hulk. In Jack’s hands, it should be cool, but his heart seems to have left The Eternals as editorial (presumably) dictates he write less gonzo sci-fi & more conventional superheroics. Even his “neo-Hulk” lacks the rugged dynamism it deserves.
[last issue: The Eternals #14]
[next issue: The Eternals #16]
The Eternals #14
July 26, 2012
Jack Kirby
August 1977
**
Cosmic energy irradiates a Hulk robot, causing it to come to life w/ all the brutality & strength of the actual monster. Kirby makes a hard turn into conventional superhero fare, which plays to his weaknesses (ham-fisted dialogue, old-fash plots) rather than his strengths (a hyperactive imagination).
[last issue: The Eternals #13]
[next issue: The Eternals #15]
The Eternals Annual #1
July 24, 2012
Jack Kirby
July 1977
***
Kirby pens a stand-alone episode, a rather creaky superhero adventure that lacks the monthly mag’s panoramic complexity & sprawling cast. Still, it’s more fun than most conventional comics, then or now! The duo of noble-minded monster & savage hunk hunt a mad inventor who’s lifting historical evildoers from their home eras to contempo NYC. An esp nice beat has giant Karkas entertain a lost kid.
[continued in The Eternals #13]
The Eternals #12
July 23, 2012
Jack Kirby
June 1977
****
Readers w/ the taste for Kirby’s magniloquence will boggle as the Eternals form a collective super-brain! Even better, we’ll relish a rare show of human depth, as a throwback to Kirby’s Atlas era monsters displays a philosophic mind. An action scene actually distracts from the mag’s propulsive pace.
[continued in The Eternals Annual #1]
[last issue: The Eternals #11]
[next issue: The Eternals #13]
The Eternals #11
July 21, 2012
Jack Kirby
May 1977
****
This mag follows a fractal pattern, w/ each issue expanding a plot from earlier. A global gathering of the titular superman introduces a polar clan—who, significantly, have infiltrated the Kremlin as voices of moderation. But to no avail: bellicose Russians attempt to nuke a Celestial space god.
[last issue: The Eternals #10]
[next issue: The Eternals #12]
The Eternals #10
July 20, 2012
Jack Kirby
April 1977
*****
This mag derives its power from its novelistic, big/little scope. As History occurs—space gods visit Earth—protagonists act & react in great & small ways. A leader summons his people to confer; a star-crossed couple loses another opportunity for love; a heroine shows compassion for monsters.
[last issue: The Eternals #9]
[next issue: The Eternals #11]
The Eternals #9
July 19, 2012
Jack Kirby
March 1977
****
Kirby has fallen into a rhythm w/ this book, expanding its scope w/o losing momentum. But despite adding characters to its roster, this issue feels a little thinner than others. Instead, it’s a big setpiece—arena combat btw a berserker & a monster—that delivers bone-jarring action.
[last issue: The Eternals #8]
[next issue: The Eternals #10]
The Eternals #5
July 15, 2012
Jack Kirby
November 1976
****
Kirby revises the Olympians in Jungian style, reimagining the pantheon as a mountaintop science utopia of supermen. But his comic gets its depth from the human tension btw superstition & courage. Only when the blue-collar cops stare down the demons do the heroes arrive, cavalry-like, to save NYC.
[last issue: The Eternals #4]
[next issue: The Eternals #6]
Index Indigo 