Eternals #1

Eternals #1

Marvel Comics 2021

Written by Kieron Gillen

Illustrated by Esad Ribić

Coloured by Matthew Wilson

Lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles

NEVER DIE. NEVER WIN. ETERNALS.

What's the point of an eternal battle? For millions of years, one hundred Eternals have roamed the Earth, secret protectors of humanity. Without them, we'd be smears between the teeth of the demon-like Deviants. Their war has waged for all time, echoing in our myths and nightmares. But today, Eternals face something new: change. Can they – or anyone on Earth – survive their discovery?

I do enjoy giving first issues a try and or chance depending on where it comes from. Now I know little about the Eternals, even though Sersi was a member of the Avengers and she and the Black Knight had their torrid romance. To me they sounded like the Inhumans and now it seems that the X-Men have the same means in becoming Eternals which kind of cheapens that which makes the Eternals so special in my humble opinion. I am a big fan of Kieron’s writing and Esad’s artistic talent so it was an automatic decision that I was going to read this issue. I am glad that I did too because Kieron doesn’t disappoint in the slightest as he utilises one character to draw me into the story and then solidifies my interest and intrigue factors with how he utilises the narration.

I adore the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented is this amazing fashion. The character development we see is phenomenal and how it’s being presented to the reader just exemplifies why I am such a fan of Kieron’s writing. Between the dialogue, narration and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter work together to create these characters and turn them into relatable people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and where they are at since their last encounter is incredibly well done.

How the book is structured and how the layers within the story emerge keeps us guessing as to what’s to come next. The way everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is beautifully done. I also greatly appreciate that this is new reader friendly and that anyone can pick this up and enjoy the story for what it is.

Oh goodness the interiors here are so utterly gorgeous. The linework is the definition of exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques we see are being utilised to bring focus to the details that we see is stunning. Esad does a really nice job in incorporating backgrounds into the composition of the panels. They not only enhance the moments but bring this great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a brilliant eye for storytelling. The colour work here is utterly stupendous! The techniques utilised to lay the colour down is simply brilliant to say the least. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is sensationally rendered. Two things, one Sigh really no full frontal and two those geometric shapes we see is a mic drop moment.

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This is the kind of story that I live for. It is also the kind of series that Marvel doesn’t tend to let cultivate into one of the most long lived series either. This is very intelligently written and there is this complexity and substance to what we see and read that sets this apart from the rest. This is the kind of book I want to see, need to see and will defend to the end because this how I envision Marvel Comics. So don’t put them into the giant crossovers and let them develop the way they should, organically without being forced into some ideal that doesn’t work for them.