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Underground > Comic Books >

Gaiman's ETERNALS

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03:54 / 25.06.06

Still no "host" vs "horde" theories? I'm sure it's not just an idle change of terms.

rabideyemovement

06:31 / 25.06.06

I hope this new series doesn't rewrite the origin of Chuck Austen's version, The Eternal. The art was boring, but I thought it was one of the few well-plotted series he's done.
I wasn't impressed by Romita's art this go round. I know they chose him because he can emulate the Kirby feel, but his art was just distracting. I know Gaiman has a story in here somewhere. I might pick up issue two.

13:48 / 25.06.06

Austen's Eternal was the rewrite (and not in continuity, anyway).

I wasn't really impressed by issue #1 of this. My inner fanboy kept saying "Can we get to the superhero stuff now?".

14:30 / 25.06.06

I'm in a vary Gaiman Mood at the moment (found the Neverwhere novel for 75p in Asda and am enjoying it muchly) so I picked this up and enjoyed it. Very much an opening chapter with the groundwork being laid but none the worse for that.

The fact that the next comic I read was Nextwave 5 was hilarious.

18:08 / 25.06.06

Well "Host" has a certain religious concept (i.e. "the Heavenly Host"), while "Horde" suggests more of a conquest feel. The implication I'd take from it is that, in this retelling, the Celestials are a bit more malevolent, as opposed to Kirby's "space gods"

I'm The Goddamn Shonen Bat
(prev. Essential Dazzler)

21:13 / 25.06.06

really disliked Romita's art on Wolverine, but it isn't too bad here, quite nice actually. Not a massive Gaiman fan, but I enjoyed this issue. Only come across the Eternals as a concept in Earth X, But I think I've got a feel for the characters already, it was a nice introduction.

Anyone else notice that Romita missed the apostrophe on the "It's so sprite" logo?

05:18 / 26.06.06

Wow, I'd forgotten about Austen's "Eternal" stuff.

I think I read in a Joe Q. interview a while back where Joe sort of dodged questions from the reporter about the possible ways the story could offend religious conservatives who would be upset with the idea that anyone but God could have created/helped along humans/"seeded" the earth with life....the interviewer hinted that Marvel may have changed/softened this aspect a bit so as not to piss off Midwest religious folks. It's a subtle line, though, as issue 1 has Ike Harris saying 'well, one guy I know thinks the Celestials seeded earth with humans, but I think they just helped humanoids that were already here evolve.' I think the issue also contains a reference to intelligent design, even...?

Papers Loves Patsy Walker
(prev. Lunch with Lenny)

07:02 / 26.06.06

"Intelligent Design" should be a short-lived Seattle-based software company that shines brightly for a moment before being smote by the mad god Microsoft.

Actually, the references to ID in Eternals aren't too bad. They're a bit obvious - sure, maybe it's intelligent, but don't presume to understand why. The Eternals have to operate without a specific operating manual purported to be the Celestials' grand design. It's snide and offhand, which is probably why I liked it. And I liked the analysis of the Deviants: "Imagine a race of people, none of whom are even the same species." Individuality taken to the utmost extreme. A couple panels of proto-Apokolips.

The Sersi scene is fun for no reason if not for her have to ask to borrow a top, instead of simply rearranging her clothes at will. Romita's Sersi is lovely.

I'm not sure how I felt about the "Who wants to be a Super Hero" interlude, the Civil War registration bit. Sprite as the Establishment. I couldn't decide if it was unnecessary, an attempt to tie into recent events or actually necessary for the story.

13:54 / 26.06.06

I liked it better when Zelazny wrote it.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

16:47 / 26.06.06

Anyone short $75 should buy the first couple of issues and the special which is great. I'm a HUGE Kirby fan 9and I quite like his comics as well) but this isn't one of his best comics.

Definitely worth checking out and features some of his best designs, but on a budget, if you stick to the first two and the special you'll be fine.

17:03 / 26.06.06

I bet they'll release the Kirby Eternals run in a more affordable paperback eventually afterwards.

>> The Sersi scene is fun for no reason if not for her have to ask to borrow a top, instead of simply rearranging her clothes at will. Romita's Sersi is lovely.

And it has to be a *green* top, of course. So did she steal a boyfriend in the past or is she predicting the future? (probably the past, since everyone's memories of The Eternals have apparently been erased)

I felt the same way about all the Civil War registration stuff - they kept mentioning it and I thought, "Is this really necessary for the story Gaiman is telling?" Hopefully it will be relevant somehow and not just "See? This story really does take place in the modern Marvel U.!!"

00:23 / 27.06.06

I thought the first issue was quite good. Gaiman's stories tend to unfold slowly so it'll be hard to tell if this becomes one of his really good works or not until the end. His most successful works are the ones that combine plot and character very intricately in a way that to change any one thing would affect everything else. He's certainly missed the mark many times, but when he hits it's a very satisfying read. In any case, unlike 1602, it would seem that Gaiman is more in his element here, as his forté is stories about how gods and/or powerful mystical beings intersect with the modern world.

I'm not overly familiar with the old Kirby books so the characters were all kind of new to me. Also, other than Astonishing X-Men I'm not reading anything else in the Marvel universe so the continuity and Civil War stuff doesn't mean much to me. While I'm not a fan of Romita, Jr's I think his artwork lent itself to the material. He really captured the Kirby-esque designs on the Celestials, even if they did all vaguely resembly that stupidly-named sentinel he created for the X-Men oh so long ago. I think he's better at drawing mechanical or artificial-type stuff than he is at drawing people and their facial expressions. At the very least I've always respected the fact that he has a developed a style of his own in an industry where so many are simply imitating the popular style of the time.

As for whether ID was supposed to be heavily referenced, hey it's only the title of this issue.

I thought the reality show and the Disney TV show were nice social commentaries, but it's not like noone's touched on that topic before. Maybe Hillary Duff is an Eternal? Hee-hee.

This issue was mostly backstory and build-up. At the least I'm willing to see where it goes.

Cheers.

07:05 / 27.06.06

I love JRJR's art.. but what about Ladronn? oh, man..

Bots'wana Beast

16:27 / 27.06.06

Yeah, Ladronn's amazing - I bought that Inhumans mini just for his art.

Is that your point, Hector, that Ladronn is better? I'm sure there are several artists we'd each maybe rather have seen do this. Tom Scioli, for example.

01:00 / 28.06.06

Walter Simonson....

Deculture Aquatripper

01:52 / 28.06.06

Amanda Conner...

... Sergio Argones...

... Leiji Matsumoto...

... Frank Quitely...

I'm just not getting the 'why' of this particular series. It's got some tics of Gaiman's, in the mix, yes, but really, it's like Dean Martin covering Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades', y'know?

Better than the JMS Doc Strange redo, but not as good as, say, the revisioning of the Fantastic Four in 'Unstable Molecules'. Maybe if Gaiman were to craft it more - how to put it - vigorously? More vigorously (then), to his own habits and style.

I just hope Byrne doesn't come round in a few years and try to correct it.

04:03 / 28.06.06

I quite liked this,but I'm an Eternals fan from way back. I happen to think J.R.Jr gets better and better - I want to pick up the sketchbook.

There was some wooden dialogue here and there, which doesnt bother me too much, but, "Osiris", Neil? That's just sloppy.

05:38 / 28.06.06

He should have written "Thoth," right? Thoth was the god who gave the Egyptians writing.

Deculture Aquatripper

05:44 / 28.06.06

It's 'the Siris' surely.

14:27 / 28.06.06

Falconer, not better in general, they're both great. but for this particular story, yes, because if you're going to pull a Kirby maybe he's better suited.

not that you *need* a Kirby-cover like Sciolli [and don't get me wrong, I love when artists can do that and have been enjoying GODLAND so much - it's another teen power fantasy to be able to work with a guy like Sviolli], it's just that guys like him or Ladronn channel that vibe better than others like JRJR.

01:59 / 29.06.06

He should have written "Thoth," right? Thoth was the god who gave the Egyptians writing.

That, and Thoth is identified with Hermes/Mercury (...Mark Curry/Makkari).

17:24 / 29.06.06

Byrne has already expressed discontent over this series...

18:08 / 29.06.06

Let me guess... "insulting Kirby's memory"?

18:37 / 29.06.06

He got upset when Gaiman said The King got something wrong and he was going to do it right. Essentially the same thing. Getting a bit obsessed with Byrnes website,

18:45 / 29.06.06

The abyss also gazes, Brunt.

21:22 / 30.06.06

Don't think I don't know. I'm getting obsessed. I even know JBF stats like Byrne posts an average of 50 posts a day.

I need help.

22:32 / 30.06.06

>> Byrne posts an average of 50 posts a day.

well, JB certainly doesn't seem to be spending that time during the day to improve his art style and make it less scratchy, lame and breakdown-y. *drum snare to accentuate*

Deculture Aquatripper

23:10 / 30.06.06

To be totally honest, that 'Kirby got it wrong' thing didn't work for me, either. I really don't enjoy possibly agreeing with John Byrne, but the things Gaiman listed as faults of Kirby... were, to me, some of his strengths. The slow-it-down idea was not one I was excited to here in the prospect of this redo.

13:43 / 01.07.06

Well Byrne seemed more offended that anyone thought they could improve on a creation of someone else, that the creator was automatically right, more than any specifics of Gaimans interview.

14:35 / 01.07.06

Man of Steel. Spider-Man: Chapter One. Hulk: Chapter One.

Oh, and the changes he made to Mister Miracle's history.

19:05 / 01.07.06

Shhhh! Don't try and reason with supporting evidence. That's against the rules.

Papers Loves Patsy Walker
(prev. Lunch with Lenny)

06:08 / 03.07.06

It's...interesting, really. If you look at The Eternals (Gaiman Version) while ignoring the idea he was approaching it to remove Kirby's "faults," it's not bad. But Gaiman saying that is just hype, and most of these projects fail to live up to the hype. That said...whenever anyone tries to do a revamp of anything, it's usually taking the original work in and trying to remove "faults" the new author sees. Morrison did it with New X-Men and the rewrite of the Phoenix. Anytime a fairy tale is redone...et cetera.

Eternals #1 hasn't stuck out for me yet, beyond the Sersi scene which manages to stick without anything particularly noteworthy about it - maybe it's just the Romita rendition of Sersi that does it.

And it does continue to bother me that this is coming out so soon after GM's Mister Miracle, but I'm sure if it's just something in the zeitgeist...

01:20 / 07.08.06

There was some wooden dialogue here and there, which doesnt bother me too much, but, "Osiris", Neil? That's just sloppy

He should have written "Thoth," right? Thoth was the god who gave the Egyptians writing.

I think this is Gaiman being a bit cocky. In some Egyptian myths it is Thoth who invented writing which was then passed on as a gift to the people of Egypt by Osiris. I don't think it was a mistake. It would have been much easier to just write it as Thoth but i think he was playing about a bit so he can go 'ah...but..' at signings and online when brought to task on it.

Quite liked the first issue by the way.

09:07 / 07.08.06

Of course that doesn't quite fit in with the Mark Curry-Makari-Mercury idea...Maybe he is just being a bit shit then..

19:17 / 11.08.06

I just got a torrent [can you say tha there?] of the original Kirby's ETERNALS and OMAC's runs and, man, it's pure joy from amd ideas. there's more to Kirby in the classic Marvel characters than we're usually led to believe.

you could lick all those the splash pages and trip on them, not to say the mold-infested paper itself. it's pure zeitgeist energy captured in four colors.

read bits from both when I was a kid and wasn't aware them of how much stuff crammed there would affect a generation on a subtle subconscious level. the Paul Pope SOLO issue - where he did a cover of the whole OMAC's #1 - opened my eyes to the fact that I should reread those again.

sorry for the threadrot but, damn, OMAC is the distilled VALIS [P.K. Dick's trilogy] in its core concept. it's inspiring, actually. and affected future stuff I'm doing.
are there collection of these comics?

I haven't read Gaiman's ETERNALS but - no offense - I think there's no way to live up to the original. of course that's not his aim but it's such a thingon it's own that even if you put Morrison + Sciolli [the GODLAND artist] in the new book it would'nt be the same. it was Kirby trying to understand the crazy world he was in.

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