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Hey everyone, welcome back to another great week here in Ye Olde School Cafe’! This week we’ll shift gears away (sadly) from Marvel Horror, and jump into one of Jack Kirby’s crowning achievements (in my opinion), The Eternals! This series was great for several reasons, and the biggest is obviously Jack Kirby. This story was written, drawn, and conceived by Kirby. It also ushered in a brand new cast of characters with a rich back-story that are still around in the present. Well, without any further delay, here we go with The Eternals!

The story begins with three individuals exploring a vast cavern and then discovering an ancient Inca chamber. The three people are Dr. Daniel Damian, his daughter Margo, and a man named Ike Harris. The adventurers explore the cavern with Ike recording the whole thing. The doctor theorizes about these “Space Gods,” and the how and why they came to Earth. Ike and the doctor then start to discuss the possibility of these Space Gods being part of human history and then another race of beings that also sprang from these so-called gods. The doctor quickly dismisses Ike’s theories as drivel, but then Ike reveals something to him to contradict those feelings.
As the explorers continue their discussion, another incident is taking place in the Pacific Ocean. A plane is circling around that has lost its bearings, but a more sinister fate awaits in the ocean depths. Suddenly a crackling noise, followed by a bright flash starts to shut down the power on the plane. The pilot tries to escape the imminent explosion by ejecting, but the blast destroys everything in the vicinity. A glimpse of a powerful, and almost alien weapon can be seen being lowered into the blue waters. Under the water, the device is then stored in a silo, and then we are introduced to the others that Ike had referred to earlier with Doctor Damian. They are called The Deviants, and they have been hiding under the water for a very long period of time now, and we’ll find out why later on.
Back at the Inca underground ruins, Ike has found a device that lets him and his fellow explorers see out into the outer reaches of space. Ike exclaims, “Behold! The universe! The vast home of the Gods!” Margo and her father are stunned by Ike’s knowledge of these devices and certain events, so they beg him to tell them more. Ike then tells them about how millions of years ago, a race of beings visited Earth. On this visit, these supremely powerful beings walked amongst the early inhabitants, apes if you will. These apes were given a “cosmic chemistry” by the Space Gods that would eventually lead to the offspring of three different species. “The Deviant – The ever changing and destructive failure. The Human – This species bred with true balance of structure and disposition. Although he was a destroyer, the human was capable of building for peace. Finally, The Eternal – He was more a child of the gods than of Earth…he reached for the universe!”
Ike then talks of how the Deviants took to reside in the inner depths of the Earth to make war machines for battle. The Eternals did just the opposite when they made a home at the tops of the highest mountain tops. The humans stayed on the ground and battled each other for supremacy of the land. As Ike tells Dr. Damian and his daughter this fantastic retelling of Earth’s history, he’s suddenly alerted by a flashing on a screen. He tells his friends that this can only mean that the Space Gods are on their way back to Earth! At this same time, The Deviants, led by the warlord Kro, are heading to where the beacon is located for the Space Gods to home in on. They think that the Eternals haven’t found it yet, and they know they have to find it to try and stop the Eternals from activating it. After surprising Ike and his friends, a melee breaks out and it looks as if it’s going to be a stalemate between Ike and the Deviants. As the two races fight, a rumbling stops them in their tracks. The Space Gods are landing and it could mean doom for all of Earth!

In issue #2, we see a mighty vessel docking at the ancient ruins of the Incas. Doctor Damian and Margo are stunned by the size of the ship and the levity of the situation. Ikaris is somewhat unfazed, and Kro tells everyone to be wary of these travelers because all they leave is destruction in their path. Ikaris and the humans are very careful with their words, but Kro lashes out at the ship verbally. He’s then knocked backwards by several bolts of lightning and Ikaris warns him to not anger them again. The group flees back to the chamber where much of the sophisticated devices were to be safe from the lightning and crashing rocks from the ship. Kro then warns them of the gods and their anger, and Ikaris says that he will solve the mystery of the gods and their actions. Kro then exits the chamber with his cronies and returns to his home. Ikaris tells Margo and her father of how the last time the Deviants were left to their own devices, they took over the world. They enslaved humans, and lived like kings on places like the island of Lemuria.
Ikaris then explains that the Space Gods returned to see the progress of their work years later, but were met with violence from the Deviants. The Space Gods then unleashed their mighty weapons on the Deviants and sank their cities to the bottom of the ocean. At this point, Ikaris also tells his friends of how a great flood was brought about and how he helped guide a great wooden ship to safety. Dr. Damian and Margo are stunned to learn of Ikaris’s involvement in this great story. Ikaris then sees an ancient symbol that he recognizes and begins to activate a trigger. This switch releases an Eternal named Ajak, who was also worshiped by the Incas as Tecumotzin. Ajak tells Ikaris that he was present at the last visit from the Space Gods and actually can communicate with them. Ajak immediately gets his men to start a process that will welcome back the extraterrestrials to Earth. Once everything is in place, Ajak prepares everyone to greet the Fourth Host, Arishem (see pic below), to Earth!

Well, that’s the first two issues of this fantastic journey, and I cannot wait to get back next week for the next few issues that will include…The Deviants strike back, demons invading New York City, and the most pompous Eternal herself, Sersi! See you next week!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net