Neil Gaiman, Eternals (Marvel, 2007)

Neil Gaiman working on a superhero comic? I signed up for this one as soon as I heard about it, and it didn't disappoint. Not much, anyway. (My disappointment will vanish entirely as soon as there is a volume 2.)

Eternals is basically set-up for a larger, as yet unrealized, series; we get to meet the characters, all of whom we already know in other flavors through the Marvel universe, and then we get the scene set for us. The characters, of course, have Gaiman's touch added to them, and a fine touch it is, as anyone who's perused his Sandman books is well aware. So you're not really reading this one for plot (though I don't mean to suggest there's no action to be found here; there certainly is), but just to get a feel for what's happening. The obvious-setup angle made me think about other series that simply started off with a bang and built up from there (Azzarello's 100 Bullets is the one that comes most quickly to mind); Eternals is a great example of the fact that a nothing-but-setup book is quite capable of working in the correct hands. Can't wait to see where this one is going. ****

Marvel Knights fans will recognize the central conceit here from Paul Jenkins's Sentry reboot--longlost superheroes from another era have forgotten who they were, and so has the world. The main difference between the two series, however, is that the Sentry was a modern-day creation by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, while the Eternals were created by the legendary Jack Kirby in the 1970's.

In the case of the Eternals, at least one person remembers them--Tony Stark--although it's not clear why he does. There's a mythology here involving three alien races, the Celestials, Deviants, and the Eternals, and something vague about the origins of life on Earth. The script, by Neil Gaiman, has its moments, while John Romita Jr.'s art is as visually stunning as always. Unfortunately, it's pretty clear that the mandate here is to re-introduce the characters into the Marvel Universe--and not to tell a complete story. While Gaiman doesn't stay entirely faithful to Kirby's Eternals mythology, one ends up wondering if Kirby's original creation, that lasted only 19 issues, was strong enough to warrant bringing back.