Eternals, Vol. 1: To Slay a God

Eternals (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Charles Knauf, Daniel Knauf, Daniel Acuña (Artist)

Collects Eternals (2008) #1-6.

The Gods Walk the Earth! In ancient times, the Celestials, a race of cosmic giants, came to Earth and created a race of powerful immortal beings: The Eternals! For a time, primitive man worshiped them as gods, but eventually they disappeared. Now, they have returned! One of the Celestials now towers over Golden Gate Park, standing in judgment over the Earth... but does he bring the end of the world?

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy, Mythology

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2009

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

So some of the Eternals are still “sleep” moving around as regular people, not knowing they are Eternals. Druid is going around waking them up under his direction so he can be the lead Eternal. Ikaris, Sersi and Makkari are trying to wake up them up first however. The Horde is heading to Earth to wipe it out and Ikarus and company need all the Eternals to work together to stop this threat. In between all this was the ultimate betrayal based on jealousy. I can’t put my finger on it but the story felt a little clunky and not as smooth as I would have wanted. Daniel Acuña’s art was solid throughout.

[˗ˏˋ n a j v a ˊˎ˗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could be the best Eternals series if some of the lapses had a second chance. At some point, a few plots appeared to be improvised but in general, I'd say I enjoyed Knauf's version of Eternals.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve actually made a conscientious effort to read these in order, but it seems that when it comes to superheroes, I’m just hopeless. Didn’t even manage the Justice League movies in the correct order, so what chance did a relatively obscure line like Eternals had. But as it turned out it didn’t even really matter. Not for my purposes anyway.
These purposes being…well, number one is always just pure entertainment. But also I really wanted to check out how the series were updated for the modern age, having just read the original Jack Kirby books. Those were very, very 70s, like good music and terrible fashions, so they had a potent kitsch appeal, but were at times difficult to take seriously. Fast forward some decades and you can definitely take these guys seriously, but then again you kinda miss the kitsch. And you might definitely miss the Deviants, which get no page time. Kirby’s Deviants are such fun creations, my favorite being Karkas, whose appearance once and for all answers the question of what the supersized love child of Tyrion Lannister and a ketchup bottle would look like. I don’t care if that isn’t PC, I love both, Tyrion and ketchup, and so found Karkas to be an absolutely adorable creature.
Anyway, familiar story, updated look, fun enough and very fun from a comic book evolutionary perspective. Kirby had an interesting idea with this concept, but it seems there’s only so much you can do with it, originality wise. I don’t think I need to read any more Eternals, I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid them. Then again I’m not all that into the conventional superhero universes, so…The art’s great, except for kids, which are drawn very oddly with alarmingly disproportionate giant noggins. So it’s a very conventionally appealing sort of a graphic novel and it entertains sufficiently.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I really grasped the story. It was convoluted, confusing, and at times, ridiculous... but I really liked this nonetheless! It had this vast, “mortals at the whims of Gods” feel to it. Reminded me of Lovecraft, or to be more contemporary, Mass Effect.

I also really liked the art. Makkari was drawn exceptionally well. The nebulous spacey stuff had the aura of magnitude it deserved.

This is cool, I’ve decided. It’s cool in a “what the fuck just happened” kind of way. I’m definitely planning on reading it again, because even though I’m not sure I understood it, the clever writing and engaging art made me want to understand.

Definitely check this out, but read Gaiman’s mini series first.

[Centauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the art was too busy and a tad confusing on what was happening, but its noirre feel was complimentary to the tale.
Its difficult not comparing it to the movie (which I enjoyed), but it stands on its own and separate from it.
The complex weaving of narratives/plots come together in a tapestry that lets the reader know (me) that humanity is kind of screwed ten different ways from sunday. I didn't feel there were any good versus bad, just a buncha powerful, immortal folks out doing for themselves. And I liked that. Not inherently evil or benevolent, the Eternals are just trying to get by. Having a world full of them not knowing who they are and needing to be awaken was an awesome barrier to the progression of the tale (which the movie could have used in its plot). The lore of Celestials and their no nonsense programmed/algorithmic function, in congruence with Eternals' freewill interfering with their purpose was a nice interweaving of chaos.
Bottomline is no one can truly trust another, because boredom and desire will outweigh function and purpose, creating chaos in its wake.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty entertaining continuation of the more modern Eternals story which Neil Gaiman began on his run. This story picks up with the Dreaming Celestial still standing in judgement over humanity in Golden Gate park while Ikaris and Thena make their way to see Druig, traveling by car rather than flying to try to sneak up on him. Makkari is still struggling to understand what the Dreaming Celestial is telling him, while Ajak is jealous and wants to reclaim his role as sole communicator with the Celestials. For a race of immortal super-beings (who actually can die, but they'll be reborn in new identical bodies in their regeneration chamber), they sure have all the baser emotions of humanity and in the last hundred thousand years have not learned much about dealing with emotions such as jealousy, anger and pride.

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good, as I wasn’t even going to read it at first. After watching the MCU version of The Eternals (which I thoroughly enjoyed, contrary to everyone else apparently), I wanted more, but material is sparse. Given this books rating, I was going to pass, but the story is actually not bad. As a stand-alone story, after playing whatever catch-up is necessary, it’s interesting. I will say though, it doesn’t feel like the Eternals. Or even MU necessarily, as the Celestials and other players don’t really feel like themselves either. Certain emotional “punches” don’t feel earned or bare enough weight, but I see the vision. Acuña’s art is consistent and good, even if it’s not the best I’ve seen him do.

Not a stunner by any means, and it doesn’t feel truly Eternals, but I will say I think it’s worthwhile where I assumed it’d be a throwaway. Not bad.

[Cheeno · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume further expanded the Eternals mythology introducing a few more Eternals with distinctive characters. I don't remember having read them so I'm not sure if they were created by Kirby. The story was able to explain the presence of the Dreaming Celestial and with that a few history of the Celestials and their purpose. No Deviants here. I'm not sure when was Joey introduced and how the Horde had infiltrated him.
Drawing and coloring is good but coming off of Gaiman's this felt uninteresting. I also have an issue with some covers featuring Ikaris because clearly it was Sersi who had a primary role here, talking with Iron-man and saving the world.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read about the Eternals before the movie come out because I don't know them at all. This run however didn't get to me, not even enough for me to bother finishing it, with the second volume. The mythology behind it seem quite interesting and have a lot of potential, but when you go all too powerful an immortal it can become tricky to balance it all and that's why I'm afraid/curious to see how the MCU will do it. Not bad, but maybe a bit too much all over the place and lack of context. I read it on its own so maybe it will have fit better with proper background from another series but I couldn't find where it was suppose to fit...

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follows immediately after Gaiman's run.

The most winning parts were the emphatic notes to the reader at the end of each issue. This is not a backhanded compliment. They were outrageously strong.

I'm not sure the villain is particularly interesting. There are so many Gah-Lak-Tus Swarms—a horde of bug-looking things that plan to devour everything.

And, I don't know, it's hard to really get into Makkari as a protagonist. He doesn't seem to have relatable desires.

If Makkari's not the protagonist, then Sersi is. But her devotion to Makkari is not interesting for the same reason that Makkari is not interesting.

[Jordan Risebury-Crisp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up the Eternal's story from Gaimen's run, the Knauf's craft a much better story in their first six issues. The few awakened Eternals are in a race to awaken others before the 'evil' Druig can do the same. Meanwhile Makkari has become the conduit to the newly discovered Sleeping Celestial.

There's more of the fantastical in this series compared with Gaimen's and actual characterisation for the cast.

This collection also benefits from the incredible art of Daniel Acuña, which is full kinetic and colourful (an improvement on Romita Jr too!)

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this is beautiful, the story less so, even as the authors attempt to acknowledge their place in the overblown saga of it all. Something Kirby nailed, and Starlin after him, was that cosmic events, even though they are big and huge and long and epic, still have to be paced in a way that satisfies, and while this story does do that with Makkari and Sersi, it basically fails to do it with anyone else, setting up a pointless deus ex machina that only halfway pays off.

Unless all of this is a set-up for what comes later. We'll see.

[Helene Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one pretty good? Not sure why the other readers didn’t understand the story, but if you (like me) picked up this volume after reading Neil Gaiman’s previous instalment of the series, then you should know what’s going on. A few details have been changed, and a few alterations have been made, but this is, essentially, the continuation of what Gaiman started. And the celestials still look ridiculous…

[Yuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. This book managed to give more development to the characters but also makes the story more cohesive than the one before. My only issue with it it’s the lack of explanation about how Eternals’ powers work. Like, I didn’t understand what exactly Sersi does and also didn’t get why Ajak and Druig seems to have the same powers. Considering they’re, apparently, unique to each one of them.

[ISMOTU · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series follows up on Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.’s Eternals miniseries and I remember being excited when it first came out but upon revisiting it I’m less into it. Not exactly sure why but it just doesn’t seem to capture the Kirby spirit.

[Kat(ja) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd be down if the Eternals movie would be about this. (Actual rating 3.5)

[Liam Mcguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid Eternals run that gets better with each passing issue. It starts off a bit convoluted and slow, but if you can make it past the first couple issues you are in for a decent story.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the characters if you have no idea who they are (like me). Not the best comic I'll ever read, but certainly not the worst.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Michael Mason-D'Croz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Luke the premise, but it’s just kinda meh execution.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recently decent comic, but definitely not to be read without Neil Gaiman's run first!
Still a bit confusing, but reasonably enjoyable nonetheless

[Mitchell Loll · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8

[Alasondro Alegré · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½

[So · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story and art

Superb follow up to Gaiman's tale. The art was excellent, and I think I prefer it to JR Jr's art of the Eternals.

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eternals: To Slay a God

Appeal Characteristics: ILLUSTRATIONS, Marvel Universe, Celestial/Sentient/cosmic beings, superheroes, family, relationships, power, snark

There is a reason why I love certain comic book heroes. What do Spiderman, Deadpool, Venom, and Tony Starks all have in common? SNARK. SNARK. SNARK. I kept looking forward to the when Tony Starks would show up and be all like witty and sarcastic...OMG especially when they were getting on his nerves :) Makes me want to re-visit my Ironman comics all over again...

Anyway to the point of the Eternals. I loved how they did a quick backstory (for people like me who get confused because I’m not cool enough to follow everything that happens in the Marvel Universe) I’m too into everything to actual know how everything is related and you people are my heros who do..and can... I have too many obligations elsewhere...or I’m just distracted easily. Anyway, besides me wanting to take out some of the art shots and frame them... I must say, I enjoyed this comic. I enjoyed it on two levels because 1) I like happy endings 2) I liked the crazy theme that’s the center of the Eternals: love. That might sound cheesy, but after watching the ending of Fringe...I needed some extra dosage of wonderful sci-fish superpowerness in my life. The Eternals delivered! I wouldn’t mind going back and reading the ones done by Neil Gaiman (because i love him sooo very much) and I’m getting off topic.

So stylistically this was enjoyable. My only teeny tiny complaint was some of the font that showed you “all powerful beings were narrating” because I was squinting...and going OMG... I wish I could enlarge this... is this digital yet? OH AND the fact that the higher or highest power was named the “fulcrum” was just kinda like... really? Cuz I was like well I could think of all this symbolism that could accompany that name...but then I was like... naaah... really? fulcrum? Maybe this is why I’m not the highest power... I think I could come up with a much cooler name :P Anyway, This made me more determine after I catch up on a significant amount of comics to come back and revisit Marvel.

[Amber DiTullio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had originally been introduced to the Eternals through Neil Gaiman. (But then again, much of my new found love of comics is because of Neil Gaiman.) I didn't know that they were a reworking of a classic Jack Kirby set of heroes or that there was more to them than a fantastic story woven by one of my favorite writers. But I need to save this gushing for another day, when I do my review of Neil Gaiman's Eternals (since I reread it recently).

Eternals has been in my mind since I first picked it up, wanting to know what happened next. When I happened across the two sequel volumes by Charles Knauf (To Slay a God and Manifest Destiny) during a sale at my comic distributor, I had no choice but to pick them up.

While the story isn't as well woven or engaging as Gaiman's first new outing for them, they were still interesting stories to read. Watching the various Eternals come to terms with who they are, and why the Celestial was there, what it was doing... it did keep me turning pages.

The artwork was very well done, helping to tell the story as it should. There were some wonderful nuances of expression or background that I love to find in graphic novels, letting the reader know that the writer and/or artist is paying attention.

All in all, they were a good couple of books. I'll probably reread them again as well, especially since I own them. I may be able to give a better review the next time around, catching more than I did this time.

[jedioffsidetrap · Rating 4 out of 5]

On second reading, this makes more sense to me. The Eternals got mind-wiped by one their own, and another is making a play to be the high eternal. So inner-strife. But many many questions too.

I’m still not sure how this will all tie into the greater MCU. Like, what are the Celestials up to? Just doing science experiments with worlds, letting Eternals battle Deviants on each world then harvesting all life with the Horde? I don’t quite get it still. The cosmology seems uneven.

Makkari sums it up oh too clearly when communing with the Dreaming Celestial: “You guys just cruise around the universe, setting up sentient life on planets like...like...PIECES ON A BOARD GAME? Then WHAT? You take off for a while, see how things shake out and the winner takes all?”

And then the link with the MCU… why haven’t we seen the Eternals before, and what’s their connection with the other super-powered (but not Eternal?) heroes on the planet? Tony Stark shows up talking to Sersi & Sersi wanting the Avengers to just let the Eternals do whatever. So why haven’t the Eternals taken on Thanos? As god-like supposed defenders of earth? Because they fell asleep (why, by whom)?

[Emily Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Eternals: To Slay a God Charles and Daniel Knauf
In The Eternals: To Slay a God, Thena and Ikaris find they are quickly losing the battle against the evil Druig for control of the eternals, a race of immortals who have lost their true identities. While Thena and Ikaris seek to guide the eternals to fight evil and protect man, Druig wishes to eliminate man and rule the eternals.

Aiding Thena and Ikaris’s cause is the Dreaming Celestial, who will only speak to Makari in a fugue state. To complicate matters, Ajak, who has worshipped and studied the Dreaming Celestial for centuries feels uncontrollably jealous of Makari’s connection. Jealousy between humans can have catastrophic consequences. Between immortals, it could mean the end of the world.

Nothing too special about this volume. Perhaps other volumes are more interesting?

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting setup with the Dreaming Celestial in San Francisco, also building on the previous stories by Neil Gaiman. Coupled with gorgeous art by Acuna and my love for godlings in the Marvel Universe, this seems like the prerequisites for a home run... except, it's not.

Too much is going on, no time is given to let any characters develop. Everything is always in crisis mode. It really could have been much more.