Eternals #1
Eternals vol. 2 #1 (October 1985) marks the first dedicated attempt to weave Jack Kirby's cosmically isolated race fully into the shared fabric of the Marvel Universe — a task Kirby's own series had deliberately avoided. Writer Peter B. Gillis picks up the threads left by Thor #300–301 and Avengers #246–248, opening on an Eternal society reeling from the death of their leader Zuras and the dispersal of the Uni-Mind, and forces these immortal beings to live among humanity for the first time as a narrative necessity rather than a stylistic choice. The issue also introduces three new Eternals — Phastos, Cybele, and Khoryphos — expanding Kirby's original cast and, in Phastos's case, planting a character who would later become a central figure in the 2021 MCU film. As the first chapter of Marvel's only Copper Age limited series devoted entirely to the Eternals, it remains the definitive post-Kirby baseline for every subsequent writer who has built on that mythology.
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After Kirby's original 19-issue run ended in 1978, the Eternals gradually filtered into wider Marvel continuity through guest appearances in Thor, Iron Man, and the Avengers titles throughout the early 1980s. By the time Marvel greenlit a 12-issue limited series for 1985, there was enough accumulated continuity — most critically the brain-death of Zuras in Thor #300–301 and the Avengers' encounter with the dispersed Uni-Mind in Avengers #246–248 — to justify a full relaunch. Peter B. Gillis was assigned as writer and Sal Buscema as penciller, with Walt Simonson providing cover art; editor Ralph Macchio shepherded the project under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. According to comics historian Peter Sanderson, Shooter ultimately disliked Gillis's scripts, which led to Gillis departing after issue #8 and Simonson stepping in to write the final four issues himself.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October 1985 by Marvel Comics as the first issue of a 12-issue limited series (vol. 2), cover-dated and released in the Copper Age of comics.
- Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencilled by Sal Buscema, inked by Al Gordon, colored by George Roussos, lettered by Joe Rosen, and edited by Ralph Macchio — with a cover by Walt Simonson.
- Story title: 'A Mirror for Mortality!' — the issue re-establishes the status quo of the Eternal society following the post-Kirby events of Thor and the Avengers titles.
- First appearance of three new Eternals: Phastos (the master technologist of the Eternal race, later portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry in the 2021 MCU film), Cybele (wife of the late Zuras), and Khoryphos.
- First appearance of two new Deviants: Cataphrax (Enigmo) and Karygmax, alongside the return of established characters Ikaris, Sersi, Thena, Makkari, Sprite, and Kingo Sunen.
- The issue is structured around the aftermath of Zuras's death — killed in Thor #300–301 when he absorbed a cosmic blast from the Celestials — leaving the Eternals leaderless and scattered among humanity.
- Includes a 4-page back-up tale tracing the Eternals' influence throughout human history, functioning as an in-universe primer for new readers.
- Walt Simonson, who drew the cover, later took over as the series' writer beginning with issue #9, after Peter Gillis departed mid-run.
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Eternals: The Complete Saga Omnibus #[nn] (2020), Eternals: The Dreaming Celestial Saga #[nn] (2021), Nous sommes les Éternels #[nn] (2021)
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