The Eternals #18
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe penultimate issue of Jack Kirby's original Eternals run packs two landmark first appearances into a single Bronze Age chapter: Tiamut the Communicator — the renegade Celestial better known as the Dreaming Celestial — and Ziran the Tester, a fully distinct member of the Fourth Host whose design showcases Kirby's cosmic imagination at full throttle. Tiamut in particular proved to be one of the most narratively durable Celestials Kirby ever conceived, returning across decades of Marvel cosmic storytelling and becoming the central threat of the 2021 MCU film, where the Uni-Mind itself is used to petrify him. The issue also includes a flashback to the Second Celestial Host, deepening Kirby's self-contained mythology of Earth's secret prehistory at the very moment the series was about to conclude — making it a dense, consequential piece of world-building squeezed into a near-finale chapter.
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Written, penciled, and self-edited by Jack Kirby — with inks by Mike Royer, colors by Glynis Wein, and a cover inked by Frank Giacoia — the issue shipped to retailers on September 13, 1977, carrying a December 1977 cover date, and retailed for 35 cents. Kirby had returned to Marvel in 1976 after his celebrated Fourth World tenure at DC, and the entire 19-issue Eternals run was his attempt to revisit the 'gods among men' mythology he had pioneered with New Gods and Forever People, this time building it directly into Marvel's cosmology. Archie Goodwin served as consulting editor-in-chief throughout the run, credited in this issue with his characteristic in-joke title 'Marvel's Own Alter-Ego,' reflecting the collegial but arm's-length editorial arrangement Kirby enjoyed on the series.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Tiamut the Communicator, also known as the Dreaming Celestial — a renegade Celestial who would later become a cornerstone of Marvel's cosmic mythology and the primary antagonist of the 2021 MCU Eternals film.
- First appearance of Ziran the Tester, a member of the Fourth Host of Celestials, adding another named, distinct Celestial to Kirby's rapidly expanding pantheon.
- Story title is 'To Kill a Space God!' — the plot follows Druig capturing Ikaris and deploying the Neural Beast to extract the location of a weapon capable of killing a Celestial, while Zuras and other Eternals monitor Ziran's activities in Washington, D.C.
- The issue includes a flashback depicting the Second Celestial Host visiting Earth, one of several in-series glimpses at Kirby's layered secret history of humanity.
- Written, penciled, and edited by Jack Kirby; inked by Mike Royer; colored by Glynis Wein; cover inked by Frank Giacoia. Archie Goodwin served as consulting editor.
- This issue is the penultimate chapter of the original 19-issue Kirby Eternals run (1976–1978), placing it squarely in the climactic stretch of Kirby's unfinished saga.
- Reprinted in the Eternals Omnibus hardcover (Marvel, 2006), Eternals by Jack Kirby Vol. 2 (Marvel, 2008), Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection (Marvel, 2020), and The Eternals: The Complete Saga Omnibus (Marvel, 2020), as well as in the French Marvel Deluxe: Les Éternels (Panini France, 2007).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Etranges Aventures #64 (1979), Gli Eterni #17 (1979), Eks almanah #392 (1984), Eternals by Jack Kirby [The Eternals Omnibus] #[nn] (2006), Les Éternels #1 (2007), Eternals by Jack Kirby #2 (2008), The Eternals by Jack Kirby Monster-Size #[nn] (2020), Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection #[nn] (2020), The Eternals: The Complete Saga Omnibus #[nn] (2020), Biblioteca Marvel: Los Eternos #3
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