Eternals (comics) - Publication History

Publication History

In 1970, Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics to work at DC Comics, where he began the saga of the New Gods, an epic story involving mythological and science fiction concepts, and planned to have a definite ending. However, the saga was left incomplete after the cancellation of the titles involved. Kirby began The Eternals when he returned to Marvel. The Eternals' saga was thematically similar to the New Gods', but the series was also eventually canceled without resolving many of its plots, particularly the Celestials' judgment over humanity (see Fictional Biography below). Initially, the comic book was not intended to be part of the normal Marvel continuity but a stand-alone publication. The Eternals continuity was officially made part of the Marvel-616 continuity in Eternals, Vol. 1 #6, with the introduction of three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Nick Fury being mentioned by name, and an official statement made on the letters page of that issue.

It has long been erroneously thought that writers Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald brought the Eternals into official Marvel Universe continuity in a long storyline in the Thor comic book series that climaxed in Thor #301, resolving those lingering plotlines. Subsequent to the THOR storyline, the Eternals (and the mythology connected to them) have appeared or been mentioned in numerous Marvel comics. In particular, the Celestials' experiment on humanity has been used to explain how certain humans can develop super-powers. The Titanians (created by Jim Starlin) and Uranians (created by Stan Lee) were later retconned as being Eternals as well.

The storyline took elements from the ideas of the Ancient astronauts, which postulate that humanity may have been visited by extraterrestrials in ancient times and interpreted them as supernatural beings. Thus, a recurring topic of the plots was to use the Eternals, the Deviants or the Celestials to provide explanations for myths or obscure events from history. In particular, many points from the book Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken were incorporated into the plot, such as the Nazca Lines being a spaceport or the Incas getting technological advances from them and in turn worshiping them as gods.

The Eternals returned for a twelve-issue limited series in 1985 under writer Peter B. Gillis, unfortunately, according to comic book historian Peter Sanderson, "editor in chief Jim Shooter disliked Gillis’s scripts, so Walter Simonson wrote the final four issues." However, Sanderson feels that "of all the attempts to portray the Eternals before the Gaiman revival, the Gillis-Simonson series was by far the most interesting and creative, but it has been grossly underrated and did not lead to an ongoing series."

Neil Gaiman, with artist John Romita, Jr., created a 2006 limited series, which helped bring the Eternals role in the modern Marvel Universe up-to-date. Originally solicited as a six-issue series, an extra issue was added to the run, because, according to editor Nick Lowe, "There was too much story to fit into the structure we set for ourselves. Neil was starting issue five and told me that he might need a seventh issue. He just had too much story to fit in six issues (even with the first and sixth double-sized)."

The first ongoing series since Kirby's run was announced at the San Diego Comic Con in 2007. It is written by Charles and Daniel Knauf, with art by Daniel Acuña, and the first issue was cover dated August 2008. In late 2008 Marvel also published an Eternals Annual by writer Fred Van Lente and artist Pascal Alixe, in which the Eternals come into conflict with the Young Gods. On February 27, 2009, Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada confirmed that the ongoing series had been cancelled.