I like to think this was the main inspiration behind the toe-tapper on the second Joy Division album, but had this been the case then it probably would have been a better song, or at least one which sounded less like Imagination's superior Just an Illusion. The Eternals represented Jack Kirby's return to Marvel Comics given more or less free reign to draw what he wanted to draw following the success of DC's Fourth World books, and so continuing his mythological fascination with yet another set of new Gods. Unfortunately, and possibly in the wake of Star Wars, it didn't go down too well, and these nineteen issues plus one annual seem to lack the focus of earlier efforts towards similar ends.
That said, it's still Kirby, with much to recommend it even beyond splash pages of such grandeur that they actually rewire your brain as you stare at them and try to work out what you're seeing. The Eternals, although working with superhero types, is closer to science-fiction than the traditional caped stuff. The premise is undoubtedly wonky, being inspired in part by Erich von Däniken with roughly the same casual regard for detail, but even with alleged Incas identified by unmistakably Nahuatl names, the sheer spectacle is such that it's hard to care about the ethnological bloopers. The story is that the Space Gods have returned as silent, inscrutable giants called Celestials who stride across the globe leaving the rest of us to wonder what they want and why they're here; except for the Eternals, an ancient Godlike offshoot of humanity created by the aforementioned Celestials last time they stopped by to inspire cave paintings and monolithic sculptures. The Eternals understand that the Celestials are here to judge our world, to discern the success or otherwise of their grand experiment, and to wipe us out should it seem like we've failed to live up to our potential. So far, so mythic, and undeniably startling in visual terms.
Unfortunately, either Jack's initial enthusiasm wore thin, or else he felt restricted by editorial pressures given how the book doesn't quite connect with the rest of the Marvel universe and may even have been intended as its own unique entity, at least initially. A couple of generic SHIELD types turn up early on with little consequence, there's a reference to Ben Grimm, and when the Hulk turns up in issue #14, he's a robot version built by a couple of students - which sort of preserves the integrity of the saga at the expense of war breaking out on the letters page from readers who presumably wanted to know who would win in a fight between Ikaris and Paste Pot Pete. There's also the deal with the Eternals having provided inspiration for established mythological figures, with Zuras obviously representing Zeus, despite Hercules' dear old dad having made regular appearances in previous Marvel titles. Maybe it all became a bit of a headache with Jack wrapping it up before anyone decided we really need to know whether Galactus could knacker Arishem the Judge.
The collection develops a bit of a limp as we near the end, then just stops leaving the rest of us to consult the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in order to find out what kind of judgement the Celestials passed on us, or even whether they just got bored and went home. Yet even Kirby with a bit of a limp pretty much shits over anything else which has tried for such scale, and it still makes more sense than the movie. I think by this point we've pretty much established that whatever they were paying Kirby, it wasn't enough, and even this arguably lesser work is more evidence of the same.
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