The Eternals #5

Nov 1976 · Marvel · 0.30 USD

📊 ~66,351 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Olympia”

★ 1st appearance — Thena

About this Issue

The Eternals #5 is the single densest first-appearance issue in Jack Kirby's celebrated 1976 series, introducing four characters in a single issue — the super-speed Eternal Makkari, the warrior-diplomat Thena, the Prime Eternal and Olympia's ruler Zuras, and Domo, the city's head technologist — while also delivering the first full, in-story glimpse of Olympia, the hidden mountaintop homeland of the Eternals. Thena and Makkari in particular became cornerstones of every subsequent Eternals run, from Peter Gillis's 1985 series through Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.'s 2006 revival, and both characters were central to the 2021 MCU film. The issue also marks a subtle but meaningful production shift: Mike Royer replaced John Verpoorten as inker beginning here, giving the back half of Kirby's run its own visual character. Taken together, issue #5 functions as the series' second world-building crescendo, expanding Kirby's cosmos from Earth-level conflict outward to the immortal civilization behind the curtain.

writer, artist Jack Kirby · inker, letterer Mike Royer · colorist Glynis Wein · cover Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $6

CGC 9.8 · 159 in census $141

CGC 9.6 · 322 in census $59

CGC 9.4 · 213 in census $49

CGC 9.2 · 175 in census $39*

CGC 9.0 · 122 in census $37

CGC 8.5 · 99 in census $28

Show all 19 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 70 in census $25

CGC 7.5 · 39 in census $21

CGC 7.0 · 45 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 32 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 19 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 7 in census $20

CGC 5.0 · 10 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 none in existence

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 · 2 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

VF $2.99 VF $3.99 NM $3.99 FN/VF $4.99 FN+ $5.89 NM $5.99 VERY FINE $6.4 VF+ $6.87

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 80 total · seen 31 days ago

Read it digitally

Marvel Unlimited Marvel’s subscription reader ▸ Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The Eternals was entirely written, penciled, and self-edited by Jack Kirby during his mid-1970s return to Marvel, a tenure in which he sought the creative autonomy to build mythology-scaled stories without outside editorial interference. Kirby drew inspiration from Erich von Däniken's ancient-astronaut theories and from Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End to construct a cosmos of Celestials, Eternals, and Deviants that he originally conceived as operating outside the regular Marvel Universe — a tension that Marvel editorial would eventually force his hand on by pushing crossover elements into later issues. Issue #5, cover-dated November 1976, arrived as the series hit its stride; the transition to Mike Royer on inks (from John Verpoorten, who had handled issues #1–4) brought a tighter, more angular line quality that defined the series' look for the remaining fourteen issues and the Annual.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Makkari (spelled 'Makarri' in this issue), an Eternal speedster who was later retroactively established as also having been the Timely Comics character Mercury from Red Raven Comics #1 (1940).
First appearance of Thena, daughter of Zuras and future Prime Eternal, whose name was changed from Azura to mirror Athena as part of a pact between the Eternals and the Olympian gods; she is portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the 2021 MCU film.
First appearance of Zuras, the Prime Eternal and father of Thena, whose resemblance to Zeus underpinned centuries of mythological confusion between the two races.
First appearance of Domo, head technologist of Olympia, whose name was later given to the starship in the 2021 MCU Eternals film.
First full in-story appearance of Olympia, the hidden Eternal city that serves as the seat of their civilization; an image of the city had appeared briefly in a magic mirror in issue #4 but this is its first proper depiction.
Story title is 'Olympia!'; written, penciled, and edited by Jack Kirby, with inks by Mike Royer — Royer's first issue on the series after John Verpoorten inked issues #1–4.
The plot turns on Sersi and Margo Damian being captured by Deviant mutates during Kro's attack on New York, prompting Makkari to race to Olympia and persuade a reluctant Zuras to send Thena and himself as reinforcements.
The issue was collected in the Marvel Omnibus 'The Eternals by Jack Kirby' (2006) and in 'Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection' (2020), both of which reprint the full 19-issue Kirby run and the Annual.