Eternals #2 (1976)
by Jack Kirby
The cover promises “The coming of the Celestials”, but don’t get TOO excited: they barely show up.
If you had any doubts why I went through the trouble of mentioning Chariots Of The Gods last time:
Also this might be Kirby’s reaction whenever people bring up Spider-Man.
We begin with a splash page, in case you were afraid the trend would end.
Followed by a double splash page with the TITANIC arrival of the Celestial ship.
I will continue to criticize Kirby’s writing when it’s needed, but I also praise his artwork here: not only it’s gorgeous, but it REALLY sells you how colossal that ship must be.
Considering each Celestial is thousands of feet tall and the ship carries half a dozen MINIMUM, it’s definitely warranted.
Less awesome: the CONSTANT need to have characters react in awe to what they are witnessing.
This is already getting on my nerves, not just because most of these characters have no characterization, but because this undersells the artwork.
Come on, you’re JACK FREAKING KIRBY, you don’t need characters to announce that they’re awe-inspired by something you’re drawing!
I must also point out that Ikaris has lived for hundreds of thousands of years and yet he chooses this haircut.
I wonder if Kirby really planned to have Kro become a central character of the series and one of the more nuanced, because he’s really just a walking stereotype at the beginning.
I’m willing to cut him some slack for these awkward faces, considering he’s a shapeshifter.
Kro, not Kirby.
A reminder that we’re in an ancient temple, and those are contractually obligated to collapse on the adventurers.
This is a rather confusing scene: it’s supposed to be the temple being shaken by an earthquake (no doubt caused by GINORMOUS SHIP that just landed on top of it)… but it looks like Ikaris just shoved the archeologist’s daughter, one of the Deviants is bouncing, and another one is twisting his arm in a weird position.
Ikaris warns Kro that the Incan hero and “friend of the gods”, Tecumotzin, is still alive and well.
Kro doesn’t believe him, which is really stupid… Kro should be aware that he’s talking about another Eternal, so why couldn’t he also be still around?
He’s probably confused because, as soon as he shows up in a couple of pages, he’s addressed with a completely different name and will never be called Tecumotzin again.
Also: I don’t know a lot about Incan and Aztec mythologies, but every mention of “Tecumotzin” I could find refers back to this story… did Kirby made up the name? Or is it a different spelling?
Well there’s no time to waste on that, because we have to use ANOTHER SPLASH PAGE to showcase the self-destruction of the underwater section of the temple.
We’re just at page EIGHT and this is the THIRD splash page, AFTER a double spread… up to this point this is less of a comic book and more a collection of posters.
I hope you enjoyed all that action that almost happened, because it’s time for another infodump!
You know we could have got all this explanation together with the rest of the framing device LAST ISSUE, if Kirby didn’t use so many splash pages.
Something that I genuinely love about the Eternals is the lore surrounding the Celestials.
I think Kirby does a fantastic job conveying their otherworldliness and just how aloof and superior to everything they feel, helped by the fact that they never talk.
But their actions also informs us that they’re not exactly benevolent gods: in fact, this flashback shows that they COMPLETELY ignored the fact that the Deviants enslaved all of humanity… and only showed the slightest bit of attention to the Deviants after they tried to attack the Celestials.
Who basically use continent-destroying nukes as pest control.
We will later see that Ikaris has a direct inspiration from Greek mythology… as if the name wasn’t already telling… but since he’s the one who saved humanity from the worldwide flood created by the Celestial weapon… he’s also Noah!?
Once he’s done with the exposition, Ikaris then finds a way to free Tecumotzin…
…who from this point forward will only be called Ajak.
Ajak is supposed to have been worshipped as (of confused with, depending on the continuity) Quetzalcoatl, by the way.
Ajak’s arrival makes the humans EVEN MORE IRRELEVANT, which is saying something!!!
It is kind of hilarious how the return of Ajak is made such a big deal, but he also has with him a bunch of other Eternals that don’t even get a name.
Ajak is kind of important in other iterations of the Eternals, because he’s the only one who is able to communicate with the Eternals. It’s not particularly notable in the original run.
In fact we hear a Celestial TALK!!! That’s a Celestial giving that message at the left.
So one of the Celestials lands on a pillar specifically built as a pedestal…
And that’s the big one: Arishem himself. I will talk about the Celestials in the next issues, but I absolutely love their design… and the inspired talk of not giving them eyes REALLY helps making them alien.
The Celestials are supposed to take 50 years to judge Earth. I wonder if Marvel is going to do ANYTHING when the actual 50th anniversary of this series happens in 2026?
Historical significance: 2/10
Technically speaking the first appearance of the Celestials, but they’re here just at the last page so they don’t get to do anything. Slightly significant for the ancient reign of the Deviants, which will later be used as the backstory for other stuff.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
You simply could not have the humans being THAT calm around those revelations today.
Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
A step backward from the previous issue: aside from some more exposition, nothing happens! There’s even less action than before; what was even the point of bringing the Deviants to the temple if they were going to escape immediately once the Celestials show up!?
As mentioned, introducing Ajak makes the humans even more useless, since now they’re the only characters around without any clue of what’s going on. Which COULD work if they had anything to contribute in terms of plot or characterization… but no, they’re just useless.
It’s also an incredibly short comic: it’s just 17 pages, exactly like the first issue, but with all those splash pages there isn’t much story.
Does this fit the Marvel Universe? 8/10
It is a bit weird to have TWO ancient civilizations that sank beneath the ocean, considering that’s also the origin of Atlantis. It’s a bit weird that nobody ever mentioned humanity having been enslaved, but it’s been several thousand years.
The 50 years to judge humanity makes me wonder: since Kirby didn’t plan on this being part of the Marvel Universe, did he consider eventually making a time skip?
Splash pages: 5 out of 17 (29%)
Splash + double splash pages: 6 out of 17 (41%)
Most Kirby panel
Most WTF panel