My thoughts on Eternals #1

Some comic fans might not like Jack Kirby.

Are those folks evil?

No, just ignorant.

But enough about them, let's talk about Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.'s excursion into one of the most Kirby-centric aspects of the Marvel Universe, the Eternals.


Some quick history, and I do mean quick. The Eternals were a group of cosmic alien pseudo gods created by Jack Kirby. They have a fair amount in common with Kirby's New Gods: they're powerful, have advanced technology, fight misshapen monsters and tyrants, and have been around a really long time. Unlike the New Gods, the Eternals have influenced Earth history and even lived here for while, inspiring legends of ancient gods and heroes. So the speedster Makkari becomes, you guessed it, the basis for Mercury (and Osiris, go fig).

Yeah, I know, Marvel also has ancient gods and heroes running around. It's a long story which mostly makes sense, but I said this would be a quick history so in the words of the Bard in your fair minds let this acceptance take* and let's move on.

So fast forward to this Wednesday when American Gods & Anansi Boys novelist and comics veteran Neil Gaiman teams with one of my favorite artists ever to bring us a new version of the Eternals, who are apparently all on Earth and few if any of them remember who they truly are. All the while their enemies, the Deviants, are hunting them down and trying to use this opportunity to commit some nefarious act upon them that I'm unclear about because they haven't started with the committing by the end of the first issue.

I know what some of you are thinking. This all sounds really familiar, doesn't it? Like "this was basically the plot for the 7 Soldiers: Mister Miracle mini by Grant Morrison" familiar? And yeah, on some level it is. And that makes sense really. After all, New Gods are and Eternals of DC, and vice versa. So again, I say get on with the accepting and the taking and let's talk about this comic.

First the story. It's a set up issue mostly. And admittedly the plot's a bit standard: young man doesn't remember he's a chosen one and needs to rediscover his heritage. A crazy guy named Ike Harris** shows up to tell him about who he really is and he thinks the guy is crazy until...well, as of issue #1 he still thinks he's crazy. We also get a nice background on the Eternals for anyone who needed or wanted one as well as insight into what the other Eternals are doing right now. There was also a nice bit with a superhero reality TV show, a Eternal masking as a child celeb, and some Public Service Announcements that made for a unintrusive tie-in to Marvel's big Civil War event.

The whole thing didn't strike me as totally mindblowing and revolutionary like say, Morrison's 7 Soldiers. However, it's good solid storytelling with a mythic undertone that fits characters who are supposed to be immortal alien servants of primordial beings who were once wortshipped as gods. It's also a nice insight into how the Eternals would fit into our world if they were not immortal alien servants of primordial beings who were once wortshipped as gods. So the story's good and it's worth picking up if you have any love for the subject matter and aren't one of those "comics haven't been good since ________." morons.***


So the writng's solid and fun and will get me to check out issue #2. Now let me talk about the art.

Remember when I said John Romita Jr. was one of my favorite artists? Well, he is. Thus I'm biased. Still, that doesn't mean I necessarily like everything he does. After all, Frank Miller is one of my favorite comic writers and I wouldn't cross the street to get free-copies of All-Star Batman & Robin or Dark Knight Strikes Again. So it's entirely possible I wouldn't like the art in this issue, despite my admitted bias.

And I don't. I love it. Especially the scenese with the Eternals all decked out in full cosmic glory and fighting the Deviants. The colors, inks, pencils, etc... all combine to create something that invokes Kirby but isn't. Thus you get stuff like the sample images, which don't do the gorgeous art justice but should give you an idea of what it's like.

Strange though, that my only quibble with the issue is art related. The books ships with three variant covers. The most common on is, IMO, the least appropriate. It's a painted cover which looks great, but also looks nothing like the interior art nor anything Kirby did with these characters. I would have preferred something a bit more invocative. Still, its a minor complaint and as I've said there are two other covers, both more fitting.

So there it is. Check this book out if you love the Eternals or similar Kirby creations, want some more works like the recent Mister Miracle mini, or are a fan or either the writer or artist. I thought it was worth my 3 or so bucks.

*Henry V, Act 5, Scene 2. The more you know...

** Who's Ikkaris, leader of the Eternals before they went all Japanese CRPG protagonist.

*** Not to be confused with the "Classic version of a character means the version of the character I liked best or that I started reading" idiots. They are a different species. Same genus, though.

Some Comments on the Justice League Season II DVD Set

So I picked up Justice League, Season 2 last night and am reminded how much I enjoy that show. The first season is very good, but it makes some mistakes in plotting and development. Namely the accidential wimpification of Superman. Apparently they kept having him get kicked around to show how nasty the bad guys were and didn't notice he was constantly getting kicked around. The result is a lot of Superman getting thrown through walls and beaten up. For an entire season. It's still fun and well done, but that particular bit seems a bit like a joke that's getting old (and based on Bruce Timm's comments on the Season 1 DVDs, totally accidental).

But enough about Season 1, let's talk about Season 2. Season 2 is where the show really hits its stride. These are big damn heroes doing big damn heroics. They beat up Darkseid, fight a talking gorilla and his Secret Society of Super Villains, and end the whole thing with saving the planet from aliens...again. This is where the big plotlines that set up a complete show revamp in season 3 really started. This is also where the guest stars begin to show up. Sure, the first season had the Green Lanterns and a faux JSA, but this one has Green Lanterns, New Gods, Dr. Fate, and so on. It even ends up with the big Thanagar invastion, which was perviously released as the Justice League movie Starcrossed.

For me I think the strength of this cartoon in any season is probably something that some folks will complain about. That is the show's multiple influences. This isn't retelling old stories from comics. Instead the show takes old stories from comics, combines them with other bits from comics, history, film, and the like and comes up with something both new and familiar. Personally I wish more TV would do this, as the stuff that does usually seems to hold my interest better and longer.*

Also, for folks planning on going to see Superman Returns like yours truly, this came with a free ticket. Thus the 30 bucks I paid for this is really more like around 20. So to say I got my money's worth is an understatement.

*House for example draws heavily from Sherlock Holmes and Supernatural combines Buffy/Angel with some actual folklore and myth.

I hope they all get sick and die and other nice things I'm thinking right now

So my wife Mira's sick. She's got some godawful throat thing that I fear I'm starting to catch. Mira's a law librarian. An important job, but hardly something that will cause the cosmos to grind to a halt if she goes to the doctor and stays home.

Thing is, her boss is an utter bitch.

That's right, Holly, if by some miracle you are reading this...you are an utter bitch. As far as I can tell you're underqualified (she's the only librarian at the law library w/o a law degree despite being middle management) and have no idea what "unprofessional" means despite throwing that around like it's going out of style (apparently Mira's job as a teacher and law clerk don't count since her current position is her "first professional job"*) and embody everything that's wrong with management.

Now, I admit my wife isn't perfect. Even I myself had a few problems with her when we worked together briefly. But those few minor quibbles pale in comparison to the incredible mix of arrogance and incompetence that is her current boss. One would think getting a job largely because you were buds with the head of the library would make her a bit more humble and less likely to talk down to everyone else.

But why speak generally? I should be more specific about why this woman is an utter bitch.

Mira's sick and has been for about 4 days. So she wants to go to the doctor. Thing is, despite her having ample sick time, her boss has been getting on her about "excessive absences"** So my wife who I'm pretty damn sure is contagious and might even have strep or something has to go in to work before her appointment and go back to work after so she doesn't get in trouble. And for whatever reason, the head of the library let's this woman conduct things in this manner and it seems like no one else complains either.

So yeah...I hope they all get sick and die.

Sorry folks, just needed to vent. Been dealing with that crap all morning and I cannot express how frustrating it is to want nothing more than to walk into my wife's workplace and tell her boss how badly she makes the whole law library look with her crap and how as a licensed attorney in the state of IL I would tell anyone who asks that they should avoid that particular law library and perhaps the school as a whole like the plague until they cut her loose and get someone new. Perhaps someone who can keep the turnover rate below obscene and is actually at least as qualified as her subordinates. I'd also probably say that for an institution that pays in the bottom 10 percent for the area they sure expect a lot.

And yet, as it is not my workplace...I really can't. But damn I really want to. And I suppose my ranting about her would be unprofessional...if I worked for her. But I don't, so she can bite me.

* Which I guess would be a bit true in the case of teaching if you only count traditional professions of medicine, law, engineering, and military officers. But even then the law clerk job counts. So again, this woman is just wrong.

** and to be fair Mira has missed some days, but she hasn't missed as many as her boss claims. As in, she has caught her boss counting her absent or late on days when she isn't...like the time she was at a training seminar the her boss sent her to.

Well, I suppose it had to happen sometime.

Well okay, actually it didn't. And it might not be even now. But I guess, technically, I now have a blog.

I had to create one of these things so I could post some comments to a friend's new blog. And so here it is in all its glory. I might do some reviews, essays, etc... if I get the chance but I've never been much for keeping anything resembling a journal.

Oh, I almost forgot. You can check out my friend Daniel's blog here. He's got a pretty interesting review of Brian Azarello's new comic, Loveless.

Later,
Jack