By: Neil Gaiman Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: July 16, 2008
Product Description: You are thousands of years old. You have amazing powers. You have watched civilizations rise and fall. So why does no one remember any of this? Bestselling Author Neil Gaiman (Marvel: 1602, Anansi Boys, Sandman) is joined by superstar artist John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine) to present a tale that will change the Eternals and the Marvel Universe forever! Collects Eternals #1-7.
"explosive art work", inconsistant story line I picked up this very slick volume having already read five Neil Gaiman books, but no graphic novels yet. I mostly like Mr. Gaiman's work, particularly "The Anansi Boys" and a couple of the kid's books. Gaiman has worked in an amazing variety of genres, but, even so, most of them have some underlying theme of pagan gods. While "Eternals" is no exception, the gods here are actually an alien race called the Celestials, who visited earth eons ago and created three types of beings: Eternals, Deviants, and mortals. This story, as most readers no doubt know, is a re-working of the 70's Marvel comic book series featuring the original Eternals by Jack Kirby.
I found this book to be quite visually pleasing. The pages are heavy and slick, and the drawings are dynamic and colorful. The Eternals when fully powered are kind of corny looking in their costumes, and also it seems strange that the Celestials would be represented as ginormous robot creatures. Of course that is just their material "shell". Anyway, artist John Romita, jr succeeds in making them appear incredibly massive and powerful. The Deviants are a variety of fang-mouthed monsters, not unlike Ghostbuster or other villain type creatures. I liked the part where the Celestials grabbed up handfuls of Deviants and...well, you'll have to see that for yourself.
The basic story is that the Eternals have been morphed into mortal-type beings and have lost the memory of their true nature, due to a scheme by Sprite, a youngster-looking Eternal, and they must re-awaken from that state and take up their special powers in order to save the earth from eminent doom, presumably from the Deviants. The story was somewhat entertaining, but bogged down at times trying to get the immortal thing going. Also, parts of it were contradictory or did not make sense. Such the character Druig, who was uniformly evil, although he belonged to the race of Eternals, whose express purpose was to protect humankind. And some of the events and characters seemed disconnected from the story, with no explanation, such as the Avengers and the Superheros.
I think I'll try Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" for a light read soon. Also I am excited to read the books in the Amazon order which I've just received! I ordered five well-known graphic novels, including: "Sandman", first in the series of Gaiman's acclaimed graphic novel series; "Watchman", by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbon; Art Spiegelman's "The Complete Maus"; and "Understanding Comics:the Invisible Art" by Scott McCloud, a sort of literary-critical book. Also "Epileptic" by French writer/artist David B. I'll be posting a reviews about these books soon. It was absolutely astonishing! Anyway, these are a few ideas that might be useful.
Happy Reading, Friends!
So Disappointing Great subject to work with, but clearly, Neil was phoning this one in. A story with build-up, and no resolution, not even a real story, a descriptive narrative that goes nowhere.
its a prequel kind of hands out a bunch of questions and no answers, but it is an ok story anyway.
I loved it and want more... Okay I will start by saying I am a huge Gaiman fan. So, I really like his stuff. When I saw that this had been released I stuck on my wish list and finally got it for Christmas!
Supposedly this is a revamp of The Eternals as done by Kirby back in the day. I never read any of the originals but this still looked pretty cool.
The drawing is fantastic; the super heroes and Eternals have undergone a revamp and are now sleek and updated. I thought it was fun that some classic super heroes made appearances in here, the appearance of Iron Man was especially timely.
The Eternals themselves were made into mysterious and curiously deep characters. In the beginning I was a bit confused about who was "good" and who was "bad'. Of course that was the point the Eternals don't take sides, they just are. As usually Gaiman made the story go deeper than the overall plot; bringing in questions of mortality, eternal youth, and the origin of life.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I am very happy I read it. The only thing I was really disappointed in was that Gaiman did all this work to set up these great characters and this great story and then it was over! I hope that there are more additions to this set.
Only if you're a Gaiman apologist... Review by Brian Grindrod
Neil Gaiman's first seven volumes of the Sandman series is one of the finest comic books ever published. The impact and influence from this body of work is immeasurable on how it finally brought artistic credibility to a medium that was believed to be catered to simple minded children. When one of the pioneers of the Modern Age of comic books takes an interest in modernizing a concept from the pioneer of the Silver Age, Jack Kirby, the barriers and standards are set high. However, it would be wise to temper down your expectations or else you will be disenchanted with The Eternals.
Gaiman respects all who wishes to let him tell the tale of Gods and monsters of the Marvel pantheon. Whether one has read every Eternals comic ever published and collected every appearance as opposed to the newcomer of this Jack Kirby creation, everybody has an equal chance to enjoy it. Unfortunately, this saga cannot be regarded as one of Gaiman's finest tales. The tortoise pace of the first four chapters makes it a chore to keep an interest in what is transpiring. While the attempt to integrate these characters within the Marvel Universe is well executed, the constant referrals to the mega Civil War crossover tend to be annoying and heavy-handed. It tends to stick out like a cheap prostitute who is searching for clients at a religious gathering.
With the first part of the story being presented as a mystery with a heavy dosage of dialogue, the pace finally picks by the middle of the sixth chapter when some of the mainstream super-heroes from the Marvel Universe form part of the script. Nevertheless, it is a case of too little, too late, to save this lacklustre tale that takes too long to find its focus. The reward for reading this update of this Jack Kirby idea is insufficient. Gaiman has simply laid a new backdrop for Marvel Comics to take the concept in any direction they wish.
While many are quick to praise John Romita JR's art, I have never been one to be impressed by the angular Frank-Milleresque stylized renderings. The unmoving facial expressions and lack of detail in the pencil work fails to impress me as it once did on his Daredevil run with Ann Nocenti. The choice of monotonous hues is another factor that makes the visual aspect of this book a sight for sore eyes. I have tried on a number of occasions to appreciate Romita JR's art but there is simply nothing about it that gets me excited. In the future, I will have to avoid whatever project he is working on if I wish to avoid frustration of my comic book purchases.
Neil Gaiman and John Romita JR's Eternals is hardly worthy of your leisure time and money. But if you are a Gaiman apologist and a rabid fan of Romita's work, then I suggest you get this edition which includes a laughable self-servicing interview with Neil Gaiman.
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