Hey everybody, welcome to another great character spotlight, right here in Marvel Snapshot! This week, we’ll be checking out one of Jack Kirby’s most under appreciated creations with the beautiful Sersi! Yes, the vivacious Eternal herself will be the subject of our column today, so get ready for some magical shenanigans! She was created by Jack Kirby in 1976 (The Eternals #3).
The master himself, Jack Kirby, crafted many things in his lifetime, and arguably one of his best creations is the Eternals. In early issues of that series (written and drawn by Kirby), Sersi made her inaugural appearance while the Deviants were running wild in New York City. She, along with a couple of others, were outed (with their approval) to the world at a college campus. After this, the Eternals had an all out war with Kro and his evil Deviants, a robotic version of the Hulk, and much more. Another limited series in the mid-eighties brought Ghaur, and more trouble from the Deviants.
She eventually became an Avenger and proved her worth during “Galactic Storm.” Later on, in a great one-shot called Black Knight: Exodus, Sersi and her lover, the Black Knight, traveled back in time to the era of the Crusades. A young man named Bennet Du Paris was the best friend of the Black Knight of that era, Eobar Garrington. Both men are adventurers and wild spirits. Sersi eventually coaxed Eobar (with Dane Whitman’s mind inhabiting the body) to listen to her. She explained who she is and that they were out of their normal place in time. Just as this was being figured out, Bennet decided to take off on his own since Eobar was acting so strangely. He headed for a fortress that’s rumored to be in the desert that housed great power. In truth, it’s the lair of Apocalypse himself! This book was fantastic, and featured Jim Cheung and Andy Lanning on art!
The next big story for Sersi came in Avengers. A long running story line that involved an alternate universe version of her lover, the Black Knight, named Proctor. He was jumping through different universes killing off the Black Knights to gain more power and to rid himself of terrible anguish. The story lasted over more than a dozen or two issues, with other catastrophes popping up, too. It was a fantastic finish in issue #375, and is one of my favorite comics of all time, believe it or not (Bob Harras and Steve Epting)!
There was a brief crossover into the “Ultraverse,” but it was very short lived. She eventually returned to Olympus, and helped in a fight against Morgan Le Fey.
Later, in the 2006 series, some of the things about the origins of the Eternals were slightly retconned. At that point in time, most of the Eternals didn’t remember who they were or what powers they possessed, and were living among humans like everyday people. That changed when Iron Man confronted Sersi about her past ties to the Avengers. At first she didn’t remember, but eventually she came to realize she’s different. In the end, she remained at her home, and pursued a normal life. This re-imagining by Neil Gaiman was met with mixed reviews due to its lack of following Kirby’s initial origin.
In 2008 another limited series was spawned, this time by Knauf and Acuña. It was visually stunning, and the story was decent, as well. Nothing trivial or Earth shattering came out of it, but it did also feature the X-Men and the High Evolutionary!
As usual, check out my recommended reading list along with some of Sersi’s best cover shots below! See you next time!
Recommended Reading
The Eternals Omnibus (1976)
Avengers: Operation Galactic Storm vol. 1 & 2 – Tpb
Avengers vol. 1 #350-375
Eternals #1-12 (1985)
Eternals HC (2006, Neil Gaiman)
Eternals (2008) – Tpb
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
