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| Eternals | 
 enlarge | Authors: Neil Gaiman, John Romita Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $8.53
You Save: $21.46 (72%)
New (44) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $7.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 44230
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 11.1 x 7.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0785125418
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780785125419
ASIN: 0785125418
Publication Date: June 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new ships immeaditaly from pgh pa
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Product Description
You are thousands of years old. You have amazing powers. You have watched civilizations rise and fall. So why does no one remember any of this? Bestselling Author Neil Gaiman (Marvel: 1602, Anansi Boys, Sandman) is joined by superstar artist John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine) to present a tale that will change the Eternals and the Marvel Universe forever! Collects Eternals #1-7.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Gaiman enlivens Kirby's notion June 13, 2007
31 out of 36 found this review helpful
Neil Gaiman, who took a mothballed and gimmicky character from the DC Comics warehouse and created the Endless phenomenon, does similar service for Marvel Comics here by revisiting the late Jack Kirby's extraterrestial immortals. Kirby, who co-created Captain America for Marvel and devised the New Gods for DC, crafted the Eternals (nee Celestials) as a graphic response to "Chariots of the Gods?" and other ancient ET theories.
The fruit died on the vine back in the 1970s, but Gaiman has given new life to the concept.
Let me be frank: I've never been a fan of Kirby's inventions that, for all their purported godly origins, were just your average, oddly costumed superheroes. But, while DC inserts the New Gods into countless storylines, making them hard to ignore, the Eternals had fallen entirely off my radar over at Marvel. Until now; Gaiman's involvement was enough for me to give them a chance.
And he does it. He successfully remakes the Eternals in a way that honors Kirby's source material while shoehorning them into the Marvel Universe in a way that makes sense -- something Kirby himself was unable to do. And, while he hasn't created a sensation like the Endless, Gaiman has put some interesting concepts on the table; it remains to see what Marvel does with them next.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor
 Gaiman at his best with lovely pictures from Romita Jr. May 26, 2007
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
Jack Kirby created them and now Neil Gaiman has put his unique and always achingly beautiful spin on the Eternals. I loved this soaring, yet sensitive space opera years ago and what a pleasure it is to be reacquainted with Zuras, Thena and company. Gaiman makes it all fresh again without sacrificing the least of Kirby's baroque characters and concepts. John Romita Jr. provides gorgeous art that respects without preening. Once again this superb graphic novel reveals the heights and depths the comic book form is capable of achieving. Gaiman fans will love it and it would also be a great introduction to his work, in both the fiction and graphic novel genres. No previous knowledge of the Eternals is necessary, but knowing what has gone before certainly adds to the pleasure of the current work. They even managed to slip in some references to Marvel's Civil War big company-spanning and forever-changing multi-series, running concurrently.
 So-so. Kind of disappointing. September 24, 2007
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
When I was a kid, I collected all of the original "Eternals" series... It wasn't really very good, but it was fun in a goofy, campy kind of way, like much of Kirby's work in the 1970s. The characters were definitely paper-thin, and thus the prospect of having the great Neil Gaiman take on the story held out the promise of these stick-figure personalities gaining some depth and interest. Sadly, he seems to have dropped the ball in that regard -- other than the eternal-child, Sprite, very little is done to make any of these characters interesting or compelling... Certainly not anything on the level of Gaiman's best writing ("Sandman," et al)
This book was reasonably entertaining, with lavish, action-y artwork by John Romita, Jr. (gotta love him!) but nothing in the plot that really blew my mind. Oh, well. I might pick up the next book, but then again, I might not. This one didn't wow me as much as I'd hope it might. (Axton)
Well-executed, but not Gaiman's best work. February 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This reads like the first three or four chapters of a really good Neil Gaiman series. The problem is, that's all. He does a magnificent job of setting up the characters, starting their stories, and precipitating them into conflict, but then the energy trails off, and the resolution is stamped far more with "ok, time to close this off and work on other projects" than it is "I have thought of a masterful reworking of this concept."
All in all, it's not bad, but it's more a revitalization of Kirby's characters than a reworking of them -- the transformative brilliance Gaiman has displayed in works like the Sandman series or _1602_ isn't present here. There's no flash of genius, just a technically well-executed story. There are strong, believable characters, a decent plot, compelling villains, and so forth. That's still better than a lot of things out there, and overall this is probably worth reading, but it isn't in the first rank of Gaiman's works.
Nice Update of Kirby Universe August 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kirby's original Eternals was a truly cosmic epic and, typically, all over the place in execution. Of course it did have The King's usual massive action with eyepopping art and colour.
Gaiman's update brings an almost common sense focus to this vast many headed beast with some nice creative twists and suprises. The basic premise of superheroes who've forgotten who they are is done well. Mix in those nasty Deviants as religious zealots (Good touch) who want to raise a long dormant rogue Celestial and you've got quite the powder keg, but it doesn't really go off. And the overall plot doesn't quite gel, it would've been better off without the Civil War subterfuge jammed in there. But it's damn entertaining with some fantastic JRJR art and Gaiman's typically fine attention to character details. Recommended.
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