Eternals, Vol. 2: Manifest Destiny

Eternals (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Charles Knauf, Daniel Knauf, Eric Nguyen

Ikaris makes a huge move as the next saga in our cosmic adventure begins! As the drastically approaching Horde legion moves ever closer to Earth, Druig and Ikaris' ageless hatred towards one another finally explodes! Pacts are broken, alliances are shaped, lines are drawn, and Eternal blood will flow on the Marvel landscape! Don't miss it, dear reader, as the goldern-haired Eternal breaks from the pact to become a star! Collects Eternals #7-9 and Annual.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Mythology, Fiction, Comic Book

104 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2009

Reviews

[˗ˏˋ n a j v a ˊˎ˗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★½
KNAUF IS IMPROVING! Compared to the previous issues, "Manifest Destiny" has more quality in art, plot and characters. Eternals, now having interaction with some of the X-Men, have a real high potential in settling in their own account.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. Book opens up with the annual. Here we have the 12 humans who left earth with the celestials forever ago. They were given god like super powers. Looks like they first appeared in a Thor book way back when. They show up and get into a brawl with the Eternals. Decent. Then the book continues on from vol 1. The Olympians had a pact with Druig not to attack him and his city. Ikaris said to hell with that and renounced his affiliation with the Olympians and goes after Druig. He had a plan and some help. Who you might ask? Just look at the cover of the book. As that battle rages on, The Horde shows up. Ended up having a cool resolution to that problem and a decent ending.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing is better here, but the art can't keep up, and there is an X-Men crossover buried somewhere within these pages. The Dreaming Celestial's arc is the most interesting thing about this one, while the first chapter, with the Young Gods is great, it's also slightly out of sequence, so the transitions are jarring. I can't decide if it's writing or editorial, but these don't work very well for me.

[Kat(ja) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really need that excursion in the beginning, but a nice conclusion in the end.

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.25/10

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 1 out of 5]

So...who really thought this dog’s dinner would make for a great movie idea?

Jack Kirby’s original material has some promise to it, despite the problems which arise any time Kirby is working on his own. But the reboot just gets worse and worse...this is spiraling out of control into ridiculousness.

The real problem, though, originated with Kirby, was never improved on by Gaiman in the reboot, and now whatever dumb monkey is doing the writing still hasn’t figured it out: there’s not a single interesting, compelling character here among the entire cast of the Eternals.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

After an interesting, but too hectic start everything draws to a conclusion.

This time there is really too much going on in mutiple locations. It is clear, that the scope of this saga was not meant for just 9 issues (plus an Annual about the Yopung Gods that seems to be ill fitting intothe continuity at best). The epilogue was a highlight though.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this conclusion to the 2008 run on Eternals in which the Eternals are attacked by the New Gods who have just returned to Earth from deep space where they were ignored for millennia by the Celestials. Later, Ikaris renounces his affiliation with Zuras and the other Eternals so that is not help to Zuras' promise not to move against Druig. Ikaris can't take on Druig and the other Eternals he's recruited alone, so Ikaris lures Druig and his pals into a trap on Madripoor where Ikrais and the X-Men lie in wait. Meanwhile, Cersei sacrificed herself to bring Makkari back to life after he was killed by Gilgamesh (who also destroyed their reactivation chambers). Cersei finds herself in a bar in a mysterious plane of existence known as the Vestibule (the place in between life and death, I guess) being served by a familiar looking bartender named Jack, who turns about to be a being of even greater power than the Celestials. Also meanwhile, the Dreaming Celestial discusses his thoughts and feelings and need to intervene on Earth's behalf with - who else? - the Watcher.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This consists of an annual and a 3 issue arc involving the Eternals and the X-Men battling the horde.

The annual is boring. Seemed to drag on forever. It didn’t even fit within the context of the other issues... so, I’m not even really sure why it was there.

The 3 issue “Manifest Destiny” arc was badass as fuck though. I loved it. Some awesome writing paired with really epic, exhilarating moments. My only complaint is that it was a little too short. It could have used one more issue. I’ll say this though; too short is better than too long. It kinda seems like they had to finish up the series ahead of schedule. Who knows. Either way, I’d love to see another Eternals series someday, because this series proved that they are an awesome group of characters with some amazing stories to tell.

I want more horde/celestial action. Seeing Fulcrum was cool. Is he the One Above All? Once you get past the lame annual, this conclusion really is a treat.

[So · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Rounded up from 3.5 stars.

Doesn't hold a candle to book 1, and the manifest destiny tie-in seemed unnecessary and shoe-horned in. I don't see the point of it, other than to have the x-men feature. Maybe there's some callback or reference that I missed which would have explained their relevance to the Eternals. Artwork was also less to my preference than the previous volume. The revelation about the Dreaming Celestial wasn't to my liking--melodramatic rather than awe-inspiring. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself reading this since I do like the Knaufs storytelling.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A humdrum affair, with characters seemingly bursting with ability, throwing fists against equally formidable opposition. It's all quite blah for the most part, and leaves you feeling little more mildly interested in where the story will turn to next. Portions of the story that take place in the limbo Vestibule hint at something keen and playful, but the writers it abandon it far too quickly in favour of empty lightbeam battles and wordless panels that don't excite in the least.

[Cheeno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I'm not sure if the rest of the Eternals knew what Ajak did to Makarri. This might be ended early so those details were not addressed. I'm just happy the Dreaming Celestial found a higher purpose. Speaking of higher purpose, it's weird and complicated to add and try to explain something more powerful than the powerful there is. Paradox is it just makes them less intimidating. Maybe the mystery of a higher power should be left a mystery.

[Yuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fights and twists but the end felt rushed and, again, didn’t exactly fit the overall narrative.

[Alex Sarll]

Daniel Knauf worked on two of the most underappreciated shows of the US cable golden age, Carnivale and Spartacus, but really doesn't have as big a filmography as he ought. Similarly, he co-writes comics with his son, but not that many. And based on the brief Eternals run this wraps up, he should do more of those too. The Eternals were always a bit of a square peg even in the glorious mess that is the Marvel universe - immortal scions of ancient alien experiments, they're clearly Kirby's riff on von Daniken &c. But against his own best instincts (IIRC), he was obliged to wedge them into a world where the ancient gods already walked the Earth, so there wasn't really historical space for these guys also to have been the inspiration for those same myths. Or indeed for another race of superhumans created by alien experiments when you already have the Inhumans. Try to sort that tangle out and you're almost guaranteed to come unstuck, so Knauf sensibly ignores it; the only nod here to the wider Marvel universe is a guest spot by the X-Men who at that point were based in San Francisco, convenient for prime Eternals MacGuffin the Dreaming Celestial. But fundamentally the story confines itself to its ostensible leads and their wider role, managing a sound combination of straightforward superhero action with Olaf Stapledon riffs about cosmic evolution.

The collection also includes an annual in which Fred van Lente ties up another loose end from another confusing side-road of Eternal/Celestial continuity, and casually drops in an audacious response to one of Marvel's most famous lines. Though that's awkwardly filled out with a few pages introducing the Young Gods (no, not the industrial band) from back around their original appearance, when it was apparently not felt to be in any way a bad idea to show very curvaceous 14-year-olds bathing with only water and long hair obscuring anything. Oh, the seventies.

[jedioffsidetrap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, liked better on second reading. More comprehensible but still so many questions about how these god-like beings fit in.

Sersi is in a cosmic afterlife bar because their rejuvenator is smashed, by the rival Eternals. Who have their own somewhere or no? How do they get risen when they’re killed? So much for gods, huh? They’re just superheroes with an anti-death machine.

The two Eternal factions fight, and Ikaris gets the X-Men to help him. Not the Avengers. Why? Because they’re too judgey of the Eternals aloof arrogance? Then the Horde comes. The Eternals mind-meld to take control of the Celestial to fight them off. And the Fulcrum—the bartender of the purgatory bar—trips off with the now independent Celestial who is no longer the Eternals in mind-meld form? Like as boyfriends? Uh... so how does THAT fit into this convoluted cosmology?

So then in a hundred years later p.s., an Eternal fools a spunky reporter into believing there are only three Eternals left, and are in hiding. That’s not true, it seems they’re all back (apparently a hundred, including the rebel baddies? Are they all made up now?)—even Sersi somehow, because the bro-mance freed her? And they just want to do their thing fighting evil & defending humans without the humans knowing about them? Then they mind-wipe them? Dude, I really don’t get it...

[Devero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Con un annual in cui gli Eterni affrontano, in una storia senza senso e priva di basi, gli Young Gods creati a suo tempo su Thor come offerta ai Celestiali perché risparmino la Terra, inizia la fine della nuova serie dedicata agli Eterni. Prosegue con una storia in cui Ikaris si allea agli X-Men residenti in Alcatraz per battere Druig e i suoi Eterni. Altra sequela di nonsense scritta male, e pure disegnata male. Acuna se n'era già andato.