Thor Annual 7

and Ever -- the Eternals!
by Roy Thomas, Walt Simonson, and Ernie Chan
1978

This is a story from Thor's past, one which he has forgotten. His memory of the events in this story are restored to him by Mimir, Fiery Guardian of the Well of Wisdom. There are captions throughout which are present day Thor and Mimir's conversation.

Before getting into the story from Thor's past, that dominates this annual, Mimir provides a little bit of his origin story. Mimir first appeared in Thor 240 (Oct 1975). This is his 5th appearance. He also appears in the Eternals story that runs from Thor 283 - 300 but after that he has just a couple more appearance.

Mimir's story of Thor begins with the events of Thor Annual 5, when the Norse and Greek gods fought. This took place hundreds of years ago. After the battle and the events of Annual 5 were over Thor was frustrated and departed Asgard for a time. This is where the story proper begins and where Thor's memory fails him.

The first being that Thor encounters is Dromedan, the Deviant Mutate. Thor is lured to a sealed chamber in a mountain in South America. He breaks open the chamber and finds Dromedan. Dromedan tries to use his mental powers to compel Thor to free him. Thor resists, departs, and leaves Dromedan imprisoned in the mountain.

Soon thereafter Thor encounters some of the Eternals: Valkin (leader of the Polar Mountain Eternals), Virako (father of Ikaris), Druig (Valkin's son), and Ajak. Druig shows his true colors and attacks the God of Thunder. Once the misunderstanding has been resolved the Norse God and the Eternals speak. They explain themselves to one another and the readers. Thor tells them of his encounter with Dromedan and where to find him.

The Eternals tell him about the Celestials and the first and second hosts. They show him the city they are building which is presumably the same city where Dr. Damian, his daughter Margo, and Ikaris encounter Ajak in Eternals (1976) 1. They show him how they are guiding the natives of the various South and Central American civilizations. From this and some of Mimir's narration it becomes clear that this story is probably set about 500 years in the past. The Eternals of the region are worshipped as gods in the eyes of the natives.

While Thor is hanging out with Valkin, Virako, and Ajak, Druig plans to find Dromedan and use him for his own evil plans. It isn't long before the Eternals and Thor encounter Dromedan. They suspect that Druig may be behind the emergence of the Deviant. Dromedan uses his vast mental powers to call forth a South American deity known only as Thunder. While Thor battles the other god the Eternals square off against Tutinax whom Dromedan has also summoned. It is a bit unclear how this is done. The focus seems to be on the fighting and not so much on clear explanations.

Dromedan throws a number of things at the heroes. The last and most deadly is a giant worm. Virako ends up sacrificing himself to kill the worm. He irradiates himself and then throws himself into the great beast's maw. The beast is destroyed and Virako's atoms scattered. It is acknowledged that Druig is to blame for the death and destruction but Valkin naively forgives his son.

The third Host of the Celestials chooses that moment to arrive on earth. Valkin uses his powers to send Thor away and cause him to forget all that he saw during his time with them. This is kind of weird considering all they told him before about the Celestials. There is some promise after the story that Thor has not seen the last of the Eternals.

This isn't a great story but after reading all of Kirby's run on the Eternals, whom he created, it was nice to read a different and maybe less reverential approach to the Eternals. The story helped to tie some things together and give them a significance that they did not have before. It also serves as a bridge between Kirby's Eternals and the upcoming Eternals story in the pages of Thor.

The fact that the story was written and drawn by a couple creators (Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson) with whom I am more than passingly familiar also added to my interest in reading this story.

4/24

Eternals, Thor, and What If?

I wasn't entirely satisfied with how things wound down in Jack Kirby's Eternals series and I've been doing a little research. I knew that there was an Eternals story that ran for about a year in the pages of Thor. I started to read Thor 283 because I thought that was where it began. It was and it wasn't.

The year before in Thor Annual 7 there was a story that also featured the Eternals. That story was mentioned in Thor 283, which was how I found out about it.

Thor Annual 7 (1978)
Thor 283 (May 1979) - 293 (Mar 1980)
Thor 300 (Oct 1980) - 301 (Nov 1980)

It is hard to tell (based on my research) how big a role the Eternals play in these issues. It is possible that they just appear in flashback in some of them.

Thor 294 (Apr 1980) - 300 (Oct 1980) is a retelling of the Ring of the Nibelung series of operas by Richard Wagner. The Norse Gods feature prominently in Wagner's operas. In the collected edition this is considered to be part of the Eternals Saga that ran in Thor even though they only appear in Thor 300.

Also mentioned in Thor 283 was a similar story that ran in Thor 274 - 278. It was similar in that it was also about Ragnarok and also written by Roy Thomas. The earlier story opens with Balder getting killed and Thor getting replaced by Red Norvell. It is also relevant to the run of Eternals stories in Thor because the framing sequence in Thor Annual 7 takes place between Thor 274 and Thor 275.

I looked a little further and found that about the same time the Eternals were appearing in Thor there was also a run of Eternals backup stories in What If 23-28. All but one of them were written by Mark Gruenwald. They are each 6 pages long. I used to have some of these issues but I have no recollection of these backup features.

What If? 23 (Oct 1980) - 28 (Aug 1981)

All of these issues of Thor and What If plus Kirby's run on Eternals are available through Marvel Unlimited.

4/21

MCS: http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?SeriesID=42612896

Eternals Annual 1

The Time Killers
by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
1977

Thena, Karkas, and the Reject must stop Zakka the Tool Master from wrecking havoc in the world. Zakka uses one of his tools (which looks like a fancy film camera) to pull villains from the past. The villains can only stay a brief period of time but manage to do quite a bit of damage in that short span of time.

When the team locates Zakka he gets desperate and calls forth Tutinax the Mountain Mover. Zakka's calculations are off and Tutinax materializes in front of him. Tutinax kills Zakka before he can escape.

The Reject takes on Tutinax in single combat. Before the villain from the past can kill the Reject, Tutinax is returned from whence he came.

This is a fairly weak story. Not my cup of tea. It doesn't expand the mythology of the Eternals in any significant way.


Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

This is the same one that appeared in Eternals 16.


Eternal Utterings

Why Mutates? by Jack Kirby - a little text piece about the reality of genetic engineering (although he doesn't call it exactly that) in the 1970s. It isn't scientific but speculative.

4/18

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/30577/

Eternals (1976) 19

The Pyramid
by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Jan 1978

Druig, with some help from Sigmar, captured, weakened, and imprisoned Ikaris, his cousin. Druig heads to the Pyramid of the Winds to retrieve the weapon of the space gods. Ikaris remains trapped and guarded by Sigmar until his strength returns.

Once he has freed himself, Ikaris rushes to the Pyramid of the Winds. Druig has found the weapon of the Space Gods. Ikaris destroys the weapon with his disintegration eye beams. Druig is killed in the explosion and the Pyramid with him. Ikaris and Sigmar just barely escape with their lives.

The destructive force that destroyed the Pyramid threatens to spread until Ziran of the Fourth Host intervenes. He counters the spreading destruction and all is peaceful once again.

This is the final issue of the Eternals.

Eternal Utterings

Most of the letters have to do with Eternals 15, part two of the fight between Ikaris and the Cosmic Powered Hulk. Other subjects touched upon include (a) sexist attitudes of The Eternals, (b) more potential impact of the Uni-Mind which was responsible for giving the Hulk android cosmic power, (c) the face of the Hulk (on the cover) which was redrawn by John Romita, and (d) a no-prize demand. There is no mention of the fact that this is the final issue.

Stan's Soapbox

Includes announcements about How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by John Buscema and Pocket Books editions collecting classic Marvel stories of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

The only mention of Jack Kirby is in reference to his work on Captain America coming to an end. There is no mention of the Eternals. There are lots of announcements about who will be working on which book next. The most interesting of those is the mention of John Byrne and Terry Austin taking over the art chores on X-Men.

4/10

GCD: https://my.comics.org/issue/31866/

Eternals (1976) 17

Sersi the Terrible
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Nov 1977

The Eternals battle Dromedan. That is the sum of this issue. The Eternals are the same ones that were in the last issue: Ikaris, Makarri, Sersi, and Zuras. As the title implies, Sersi proves to be the deciding factor in this fight. Her powers help to confuse Dromedan enough that he doesn't use his mental powers on them. The fight ends with Ikaris killing Dromedan with his laser vision, or whatever it is called.

Not the most satisfying of chapters in the Eternals story. It is all action and no character development. Not much in the way of new information is imparted.

Eternal Utterings

More praise for the book which includes a letter that suggests that Jack Kirby is inspired by the writing of Arthur C. Clarke.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/31640/

Eternals (1976) 16

Big City Crypt
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Oct 1977

Zuras steps in to join the battle with the Cosmic Powered Hulk. He deals it a crippling blow and it goes running off. Ikaris and Makkari chase the creature underground but instead of finding the Comic Powered Hulk they find Dromedan the Brain-Snatcher, a creation of the Deviants.

What happened to the Cosmic Powered Hulk? There is no explanation in this issue. His next appearance was 11 years later when Doctor Doom got his hands on the creature in a story that started in Fantastic Four 320 and continued in Incredible Hulk 350. After that he appeared a few more times now and then but not with any great consistency.

Dromedan forces Ikaris and Makkari to fight one another. Once again Zuras comes to the rescue. After he frees the two younger Eternals from the Deviant's mental hold he turns to try and subdue Dromedan.

Marvel House Ad show the cover for Eternals Annual 1 plus annuals for Thor, John Carter Warlord of Mars, and (Jungle Tales of) Tarzan. On the same page there is a subscription order form but Thor is the only one of those for books to appear on that form.

Stan's Soapbox - KISS magazine, Hanna-Barbera, Women of Marvel book

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins - Marvel Super-Heroes Fun Book 2; Star-Lord is back in Marvel Preview by Claremont, Byrne, and Austin; Weirdworld in Marvel Preview by Moench, Ploog, and Nino; annuals and other specials

2/28

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/31538/

Eternals (1976) 15

Disaster Area
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Sep 1977

Ikaris, Sersi, and Makarri continue to do battle with the Cosmic Powered Hulk. They don't make any progress. Ikaris gets interrogated by a reporter who wants to know what's going on. Sersi uses her magic to turn inanimate objects into creatures that attack the Cosmic Powered Hulk. The issue end with Zuras stepping in to (presumably) deal with the cosmic powered monstrosity.

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

Stan's Soapbox announcements include a mention of a forthcoming Howard the Duck comic strip. Did this ever happen?

Island of Dr. Moreau one-shot movie tie-in announced. The creative team on this book was to be Doug Moench (writer) and Larry Hama (artist). The name Humanimals has a TM after it? There are plans for more movie tie-in books including a black and white James Bond book.

Jack Kirby is working on something. Could it be Machine Man? He deserves his own book.

In addition to Eternals, the following titles will also be getting annuals in the summer of 78: Invaders, Thor, Howard the Duck, Spider-Man, and John Carter, Warlord of Mars. Plus there will be a treasury-sized volume of Conan and the first issue of the Human Fly.

2/7

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/31433/

Eternals (1976) 14

Ikaris and the Cosmic Powered Hulk
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Aug 1977

Rusty and Arthur, a couple students at the Maryland Institute of Technology, working late at night, create a mechanical replica of the Hulk. Doctor Timothy Ryan orders them to shut their experiment down. Before they dismantle their creation it comes back to "life" and goes on a rampage.

The energy source that revived the "Huk" is the waves of cosmic energy emanating from the Uni-Mind, the union of all the Eternals. After the Uni-Mind ceremony is over Ikaris, Makarri, and Sersi are drawn to the fake Hulk by readings of cosmic energy. The fake Hulk proves to be a difficult opponent to beat. It takes down Makarri fairly easily. In the end Ikaris uses a power he has not used before, disintegrating eye beams, on the monstrosity in the hopes that power will work where brute force did not.

This felt a bit more like a Hulk comic with guest appearances by the Eternals even though it is really the other way around. It lacked the grandeur that most of other issues of Eternals have contained and did very little to advance the overarching story.

The art also didn't seem to be on a par with earlier issues. There was just one splash page, page 1, and there were a lot more crowded pages and panels.

Eternal Utterings

3 more letters all more or less positive with some interesting perspectives on how to read the book. Editorial responses call for an end to debate over whether or not the series should take place in the Marvel Universe proper which today is known as the 616.

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

Annuals: Iron Man (guest-starring the Champions); Captain America (versus Magneto)
7-Eleven Slurpee featuring Marvel characters are back
Godzilla; What If the Invaders Had Stayed Together After World War II; Remembering Bob Brown

1/24

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/31324/

Eternals (1976) 13

The Astronauts
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Jul 1977

Tode, leader of the Deviants sends three of his troops on a suicide mission to destroy the great spaceship of the Celestials. NASA also sends a spaceship to the great spaceship of the Celestials but it is on an exploratory mission to take pictures and learn about the great ship.

Third and finally a ship is launched from Olympia. Piloted by an unnamed Eternal who was sent by Sprite. He seems to be on a mission to stop the Deviants bomb-ship.

As the three ships near the Celestials craft at the same time a force within causes the occupants to change places. The unnamed Eternal winds up in the space-bomb. He rips the detonator to pieces at great personal cost to himself. The NASA astronauts find themselves in the Eternal's spacecraft which they pilot back to earth using the power of their minds. The Deviants find themselves in the NASA ship. Unfamiliar with the controls they are killed when it crashes as they try landing it back on Earth.

Lots of exposition which includes the introduction of a new Eternal. Not a hell of a lot to chew on here but there are hints that the story of the unnamed one is not over.

Eternal Utterings: more praise and grousing about the direction the book is headed

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

Star Wars the comic book
Spider-Man & Nova crossover in Nova 12 and Amazing Spider-Man 171
Staff changes
Captain Britain to make his first stateside appearance in Marvel Team-Up
Annuals

1/12

Eternals (1976) 12

Uni-Mind!
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Jun 1977

Thena arrives in Olympia with the Reject and Karkas. She encourages them to learn the ways of Olympia while she joins in the ceremony of Uni-Mind.

Dr. Damian has become disconsolate with life inside the dome. He wonders what's going on outside and what has become of his daughter, Margo. Ajak tries to console the human doctor by temporarily bringing to life a carving inside the Pyramid.

Margo and Samuel, one the guest of Ikaris and the other the guest of Sersi, join in the Uni-Mind ceremony. They fly around with the Eternals and like them cross over and into the blue flame.

As the Uni-Mind rises out of the blue flames and rises high above Earth and into orbit it's aura is seen by many humans as well as by Arishem of the Fourth Host.

The scenes of the Eternals flying into the blue flames were reminiscent of a splash page from the Great Darkness Saga when the Daxamites arrive en masse to aid in the battle against Darkseid.

Eternal Utterings - more praise for the book, more reasons why the book can't or shouldn't take place in the regular Marvel Universe

Stan's Soapbox - Celebrity , Tarzan, John Carter of Mars announcements

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins - Godzilla, holiday announcements, births

12/23

Eternals (1976) 11

The Russians Are Coming!
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
May 1977

. Eternals continue to gather in response to Zuras call; in addition to Makarri and Ikaris, Sersi shows up with the professor from #6 and Kingo, a Japanese Eternal, is introduced
. The rest of the issue focuses on Valkin, Druig, Aginar, and Zaria, some of the Polar Mountain Eternals, kin to Ikaris, who have disguised themselves as officers of the Russian military
. The Russians are deciding what to do about the giant Celestials who have been found in the Soviet Union. Valkin counsels against attacking them but the general in charge doesn't listen to him and after the Polar Mountain Eternals have left he has a nuclear missile launched at Nezzar of the Fourth Host.
. The Polar Mountain Eternals brawl with some other Eternals once they arrive at Olympia. Ikaris joins his relatives side of the fight but Balkin breaks it up
. It isn't hard to see that Kirby wanted this story to be epic in proportions but it is really developing slowly, no wonder people lost interest and it got canceled.

. Eternal Utterings includes a letter from Mike W. Barr comparing and contrasting New Gods and Eternals

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins includes Stan's Soapbox (Captain Britain plus Stan's trip to the U.K. To promote the new character); softball; staff changes; KISS; Hulk TV show; Deathlok

12/12

Eternals (1976) 10

Mother!!
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Apr 1977

. Eson investigates Lemuria causing panic and destruction as the city begins to flood but once his curiosity is dated he moves on
. Other members of the Fourth Host investigate other parts of the world: Oneg (Australian Outlands), Hargen (Tyrolean Alps), Nezarr (Siberian Wilderness); all are massive in size and tower mightily over all who lay on on them
. In Olympia, Zuras attempts to make mental contact with the Celestials spacecraft but what he sees causes him to have Domo activate the Unifier, which sends out the call to all Eternals around the Earth; even Thena in Lemuria hears it
. Before she hears the call and leaves Lemuria, Thena confronts the Reject and is in turn confronted by Karkas who asks for sanctuary for the two of them; after arguing with Kro, Thena leaves him behind in the flooding city and takes Karkas and the Reject with her as she goes to answer the call of Zuras

. The choice of title for this chapter isn't exactly clear; I wondered if it might be revealed that the Reject (and possibly Karkas) is (or are) the child (or children) of Kro and Thena in this chapter but that is not the case; it could refer to the way that Thena takes the two deviants under her wing at the end of the chapter but once again there is no clear explanation or reference

. Eternal Utterings: more votes for and against having the Eternals be set in the Marvel Universe; a letter complaining about the lack of action in #6, insisting that comics "are an action oriented medium and always have been." I don't agree with that assertion although I will concede that action has been very well represented in comics, especially American comics over the years

Stan's Soapbox: Stan and Jack are going to collaborate on a new Silver Surfer story; I'm not sure that ever happened

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: Lucca; Man-God in Marvel Preview magazine; Rampaging Hulk; Human Fly; King-Size Annuals

11/29

Eternals (1976) 9

The Killing Machine!!
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Mar 1977

. Ikaris, Makarri, and Margo travel to Olympia, home of the Eternals; they are attacked by a flying serpent which turns out to be an illusion projected by another Eternal, Sprite; he meant it as a joke but Ikaris doesn't see it that way and chases the trickster
. Thena and Kro are still in Lemuria where they witness a fight between the Reject and Karkas; the latter is smaller and prettier but he's on a killing spree that begins with Karkas and is only stopped by an energy field that prevents him from entering the viewing area from where Kro, Thena, and the Deviant nobility were watching the fight
. Space gods around the world are making their presence known; Eson, one of the space gods, has traveled to New Lemuria where it gets a fairly violent greeting from the Deviants who hit it with all they've got but fail to slow it down; Eson drains the energy leaving the city defenseless and eliminating the energy barrier between the Deviant nobility and the Reject

. Loved the energy in the fight scenes

. Eternal Utterings has more arguments for and against having the series take place in the Marvel Universe proper
. Bullpen Bulletins includes announcements for a few comic strips (Spider-Man, Says Who, Virtue of Vera Valiant); a new comic magazine (Rampaging Hulk); Gene Colan's 50th birthday party; hints of the returns of Deathlok and Warlock in Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-in-One, and Marvel Spotlight

11/10

Eternals (1976) 8

The City of Toads
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer

. Ikaris, Margo, Makarri, and Sersi make brief appearances but the spotlight in this issue is on Kro and Thena who leave Manhattan and travel to New Lemuria, the great underwater city of the Deviants
. In an earlier age Kro and Thena had a romantic relationship; Thena openly rejects the notion of rekindling that fire but still goes with Kro to New Lemuria
. Once they have arrived Kro tries to hide certain things from his would-be lover but is very unsuccessful in that venture; Thena asks him about Purity Time when she hears other Deviants speak of it; Kro refuses to tell her but then she sees one of the death wagons with her own eyes, sees the poor, misbegotten Deviants who are being rounded up for execution; this scene is truly chilling; some of the Deviants in the death wagon look pathetic beyond belief as they are being driven to their death
. The underwater voyage scenes are as wonderful as the death wagon scene is detestable
. Kro takes Thena to meet Tode, his ruler; there they see the reject, the Deviant who looks like an Eternal, as he prepares to battle Karkas

. There's lots to chew on here; I'm curious to learn more of Kro and Thena's past and more about New Lemuria

. House ad for What If…? plus an announcement for What If…? in Marvel Bullpen Bulletins

10/31

Eternals (1976) 7

The Fourth Host
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Jan 1977

. Doctor Damian and Ajak watch the celestials known as Gammeron the Gatherer and Jemiah the Analyzer at work; Gammeron gives them a life-seed which has the "stored atoms of living organisms"; the life-seed bestowed on Ajak and Dr Damian has the atoms of three SHIELD agents (Tyler, Parks, Stevenson)
. The SHIELD agents immediately want out despite what Dr Damian and Ajak tell them about the impossibility of departure; they threaten the human and eternal with pistols so Ajak gives a demonstration of his powers; when that doesn't work Ajak gives them a little lecture about the mission of the Fourth Host which doesn't sway them either
. After momentarily overpowering Ajak, Stevenson reveals and then hurls a small nuclear weapon at one of the Celestials, Tefral; it has little to no effect on the purple giant; the Celestials aren't moved by the humans' violent outburst; they gather to receive a message from outer space delivered by lasers known as the Ladder of Fire; it is all too much for the men of SHIELD and they make a run for it only to be cut down by Arishem of the Fourth Host who returns them to the life-seed from which they were recently released; engraved on Arishem's thumb "is the formula for world destruction!! If Earth fails -- Earth Dies!!"

. So happy to see the return to the Andes, to the Celestials and Ajak and Dr Damian; love the lore and mythology and culture clash
. It doesn't all make sense but that's okay because I enjoy seeing the various concepts, stories, and characters introduced as I try to piece it all together
. The names of the Celestials at least some of them like Arishem's and Tefral sound Jewish to me; others like Gammeron sound and look like Kaiju from Japanese monster movies

. Eternal Utterings is filled with letters responding to Ralph Macchio's letter in Eternals 3 in which he suggested that the Eternals should be set in a separate universe where there are no superheroes; some people agree, some disagree but it looks like the powers that be have already made up their minds based on this issue; note the Thing reference in the story
. Bullpen Bulletins includes announcements of the upcoming (1) Logan's Run by Gerry Coneay, George Perez, and Klaus Janson; (2) Black Panther's return by Jack Kirby; (3) Ms. Marvel by Gerry Conway, John Buscema, and Joe Sinnott; and Spider-Woman in Marvel Spotlight

Eternals (1976) 6

Gods and Men at City College!
By Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Dec 1976

. After a bit more fighting in Manhattan, Kro suggests a truce on whatever terms Thena and Makkari desire; the truce goes into place and the captured Eternals (Ikaris, Sersi) and humans (Margo) are released
. the Eternals and Deviants seem to form an alliance to deal with the Celestisls; the Eternals seem much more interested in the alliance than Kro, the lone representative of the Deviants, does; Kro is quite open in his derision of humans

. Love Thena's anti-gravity spear, the effect it has on the Deviants, and how quickly it gets explained
. This chapter is a weird left turn for this series; the last few issues have been all about the Deviants fighting the Eternals and now they seem to be on much more peaceful terms; they even go together to City College so that the students there can learn about them; I hope this doesn't last

. Letters page includes (1) the second weakly [sic] update on the Howard the Duck 1976 campaign for the presidency of the United States of America and (2) a fairly serious letter from Greg Potter about how Kirby isn't dealing with the material in Eternals seriously enough
. Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page includes (1) announcements about two new series, Spectacular Spider-Man series and 2001: A Space Odyssey and (2) a mention of a tv ad for Personna Razors in which Stan Lee appeared

10/13

Eternals (1976) 5

Olympia!
By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Nov 1976

. Sersi and Margo are captured by Kro and his Deviant hordes; they try reaching out to another Eternal, Makarri but he doesn't arrive in time to help them
. Makarri consults with the leader of the Eternals, Zuras, before rushing to NYC; he is joined in his rescue mission by Zuras' daughter, Thena; together they travel from Olympia to NYC at light speed and arrive in time to crack some Deviant skulls but don't find Sersi or Margo

. This chapter seems to be much more about introducing new characters than advancing the story; in addition to Makarri, Zuras, and Thena, a number of unnamed Eternals are shown plus Domo who seems to be Zara's right-hand man
. No double page splashes this time around and I wasn't as impressed with the splash pages in this issue as much as I was with the ones in prior issues, although I have to say that they do look better in the original than they do in the digital version
. Zuras and Thena playing with life-size rockem sockem robots

10/4

Eternals (1976) 4

The Night of the Demons!

By Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, and Irv Watanabe

Oct 1976

. Kro and a horde of Deviants attack NYC; Ikaris tries taking them on by himself but he is knocked out, captured, and placed in a capsule that is dumped to the bottom of the ocean

. Sersi tells Margo about her past, about encounters with Ulysses and Merlin, just before they are attacked by a trio of Deviants; Sersi defeats the trio by turning them into lizards but decides it is time to call for reinforcements

. From a great distance, in the Andes Mountains, Ajak sees what happens to Ikaris but chooses not to interfere just yet

. Announcements from the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page: 1) Archie Goodwin is the new Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, 2) the Treasury size adaptation of 2001: A Space Ofyssey written and drawn by Jack Kirby will soon be released

9/27

Eternals (1976) 3

The Devil in New York!
By Jack Kirby, J. Verpoorten, and John Costanza
Sep 1976

. As Arishem's followers begin to disembark Ajak reveals that the area is about to be sealed off for 50 years; Ikaris flees taking Margo with him, against her will; Dr Damian opts to stay behind with Ajak and his crew
. Ikaris and Margo are attacked by deviants led by Kro who has changed his form slightly and now looks very much like traditional depictions of the Devil; Kro's change is completely intentional and part of his plan to defeat the Celestials
. After eluding Kro and his crew, Ikaris and Margo head to NYC; they visit Sersy, another eternal and Ikaris asks her to keep an eye on Margo while he goes to battle Kro and the deviants

. the story continues to slowly build; I love the way Kro and Ikaris are each evolving; I am wondering if that is the last we will see of Ajak and Dr Damian
. what is Sersy's deal? who is she? what can she do? how will Margo interact with her?
. still love the splash pages

. Eternal Utterings features the three letters, two of which ask that the Eternals be kept in their own universe separate from the rest of the Marvel Universe, one of which is from future Marvel editor and writer Ralph Macchio whose earliest writing credits are from the summer of 76
. Marvel Bullpen Bulletins features the following announcements (1) Marv Wolfman has stepped down as editor and returned to writing and that his replacement will soon be announced, (2) Roy Thomas has come up with a new title called What If...?, (3) Steve Englehart is moonlighting as an astrologer, (4) Steve Gerber is selling Howard the Duck for President buttons

Eternals (1976) 2

The Celestials!
By Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten (inks), and John Costanza (letters)
Aug 1976

- the Gods have returned
- Kro is vocally defiant and lighting shoots forth from the spaceship of the Gods in reaction to his outburst
- all are sent running; Kro and his Deviant cohort take off in their submersible craft
-Ikaris, Dr. Damian, and Margo are left behind ; Ikaris tells them about the history of the Debiants and some of his own personal exploits including when during the great flood he guided the arc of humans to dry land; the flood was the Gods' reaction to the Deviants defiance; it sank their cities thus driving them beneath the sea
- Ikaris locates and activates a resurrection chamber which brings back to life the Inca God Tecumotzin and several of his warriors; Tecumotzin turns out to be Ikaris' old friend Ajak who had been living among the Inca for years as their God
- the issue ends with a Celestial, Arishem leader of the Fourth Cohort, touching down on Earth

- not a whole lot of action but I love the way Kirby weaves various mythologies together; it fires my imagination to greater heights and gives me a bit of a head rush
- lots of splash pages including a double (pp. 2-3)

- Eternal Utterings: Gods, Myths, and UFOs
- Kirby writes about the fascination with the origins of life on Earth and what those UFOs might actually be
- he also speculates about how characters from today's comic books might influence myths and rituals in the mid 26th century

9/6