quote:

Originally posted by Dweller in Darkness:
And, honestly, that no one can do what Kirby did is a GOOD thing for both Marvel and comic books in general. His energy was great, yes, but it was so wild and untamed - yes, he gave us the Eternals and the New Gods, but he also gave us Devil Dinosaur and The Living Eraser. The Kirby giveth . . .

And Paranax the Fighting Fetus!
Neil needs to write a series about him

Got #1 coz I just saw it and couldn't help myself. I don't know who these people are, but I'm intrigued enough to find out.

Can anyone who knows anything tell me where to start reading the Sand man comics? Where does it exactly start?

Wrong place for that question, Tricia. We have this thread where we answer the same question for a previous poster, though. Save any further comments or questions for that thread, please.

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In as much as issue #2 was far shorter than the premiere, I actually think I enjoyed it more. Yes, I like plot development and there's nothing wrong with a good, solid start, but things are really starting to pick up here and there no place to breath in issue 2. Damn, now i've got to wait for 3...

I also liked the second issue more. Beside the plot being interesting, I was glad to find one of the best things about Gaiman: the small details that make me smile, or think, or that I find touching. Like, "they stopped being Russians like 15 years ago". I can't even explain why I liked this line so much. Maybe because it contains so many things in such a small place: of course all those republics that gained their independence recently were never "Russians" to begin with. There's also the confusion and superficial understanding of the rest of the world (except for some of their neighbors), but also what it meant for them to separate from the Soviet Union, because politically they were forced to be Russians for a while. And on top of it, they are the bad guys, which makes it even more twisted.

Or the plug for the Daily Show and all the showbiz stuff which is kind of a new thing in Neil's writing (he's always been more about ancient legends and stuff). Things like that.

And I want more!

Issue #2 carries the plot forward a lot more.

Poor Ikaris.

I like the cliffhanger, but I do find it a bit off-putting that Makkari is starting to access his hyperspeed while Sersi, who's completely dominant at altering molecular structures, is . . . standing there panicking slightly. Although her eyes are glowing.

Wow. This issue really surprised me. Ikaris is dead? I just didn't see that coming. All in all, great issue. The romantic bit between Makkari and Sersi was a nice touch. I loved how the "next superheroes" were unwilling to do anything because they'd signed contracts to not use their superpowers.

The only thing that bothered me was Druig. He seemed surprised everyone was about to be killed once the scientists were carted off. I thought he was smarter than that.

quote:

Originally posted by chimeer:

Or the plug for the Daily Show

That was my favorite part! (and one of my favorite segments on the Daily Show!)

I *really* loved this issue. I love how they're all starting to move together and get ready to WHAMBAM something soon. Really good tension building.

Ikaris isn't dead, is he? Isn't he just...... extremely tortured?

He can't be dead... maybe it's just coz I just read Miller's Dark Knight Returns thing and it's got Superman in it and he's bombed and stuff but he still lives (although he looks uglier than usual afterwards).
I'm hoping his molecules will come back together eventually...

I'm waiting for them to go all superheroy, but at the same time I'm dreading it coz I never liked superheroes that were too super... but I trust Gaiman.

Also I like the Croup-andVandemar-y villlains.

Don't be so naive, he's not dead, not yet. Just in a lot of little pieces.

Very, very little pieces - and not for the first time. Last time this happened to him, he regenerated. Well, it wasn't exactly this, it was more a bluish ray from the hand of Ghaur, but it's a similar idea.

I don't know if I liked the second one more than the first one. I love background and links to ancient legends and all that stuff he had in the first one (reason why I fell in love with "The Sandman" really). I felt like the second one was way too short (but then again, that's comparing it to the first one).

I did like the action picking up though - I am worried about Ikaris - I think he was my favorite so far (I haven't read anything about the Eternals before this so I'm pretty new and perhaps naïve at it all).

quote:

. . . while Sersi, who's completely dominant at altering molecular structures, is . . . standing there panicking slightly.

yeah, I was wondering about that too... but then again, only a split-second happened in those last few frames.

I am thoroughly enjoying the mini-series thus far.
I honestly don't believe Ikarus is dead. That would be too easy.
I have a feeling that issue 3 will hit the ground running and not look back.

Anyone else read issue 4? Thoughts?

So you guys were right and I was wrong about Ikarus. He's back and ready to kick ass. Good.

I thought the twist with Sprite was a cool one. I didn't expect that or see it coming. It reminds me a bit of Interview With The Vampire, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm interested to see how the rest of it all ties together.

Yeah, I didn't see that thing with Sprite coming, it was good, though. Now I can't wait to see this whole 'Dreaming Celestial' thing.

I'm enjoying this mini immensely.
My only complaint is that it's not an ongoing.

D

i'm enjoying it less than i expected to. it just seems so straightforward and conventionally superhero. definitely not as good as 1602.

A quick question - I was expecting the issue 6 to be out even before NYE but I only got a chance to check the store today. To my surprise it wasn't even out yet. Anybody has any idea of what's going on with it?

Eternals#7: (SPOILERS)
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ok now that the series is finished i have to say that it really sadly disappointed me how much i didn't like it. i've never read much else by Gaiman except for his Sandman, Books of Magic, Death, & Murder Mysteries. but i absolutely love everything of his i have read, especially his Sandman stuff (some of my all time favourite reading), and i had so hoped Eternals would follow in the same iconic timeless pseudo-mythological-yet-human vien. plus i used to read a lot of marvel and really liked the Eternals, most of all the seminal Kirby stuff. so i thought the combo Gaiman + Eternals would be incredible... sadly not imho... i don't know whether it was not to my tastes, or just plain bad (i'm so sorry Neil) and i apologise about giving it the big diss, but here are a few things i especially didn't like:

(1) major premise in issue 5: celestials eating deviants like caviar. What??? once the celestials became fully integrated into the MU, in almost every story they have featured in, they are inscrutable, aloof, god-like mysterious beings. more powerful than Galactus. it was never even clear if they were biological in any way. so... eating deviants as a snack? so what i want to know is, do the celestials watch reruns of "Friends" in their spare time too? i read it over and over trying to see if perhaps the deviants were lying. did i miss something?

By comparison, i read a recently written re-imagination of the Celestials that just blew my mind. Kreuger, Ross & Leon cooked up a great (non-canon) explanation for the intervention of Celestials in Marvel's 'Earth X': that new born celestials incubated in the heart of planets. that their interventions with the native species (humans, skrulls, etc) were an attempt to create a plantetary 'immune system' to protect the planet and unborn celestial. and that galactus goes around eating planets to destroy the gestating celestial & to prevent them overrunning the universe. wow, by comparison, that blew me away, elevating and unifying kirby, lee etc concepts. Gaimans explanation... it couldn't have been worse if he had said that celestials work 9-5 at the office and on weekends cut their lawn. worse than no explanation in my opinon.

(2) I'm all for character development and taking characters in different directions, but i think Gaiman tried too hard...
- Sprite: woah. what was with him? an interesting premise, but taken a bit too far. Sprite always was a heroic character previously. in one of Kirby's classic issues he helps the Forgotton One defeat a Deviant flying bomb on course with the Celestial ship. & What was with Zuras breaking his neck? after millenia of being a goodguy and he screws up? in the time frame of an eternal that sort of a screw up is like a kid denting the front bumper while taking Dad's car out for a joy ride. kid'll get grounded but hey it'll all be fine in time for the prom. why not just make Sprite immortal again as punishment? (oh well this is Marvel next writer will resurrect him, collect up his atoms again undoubtably). plus that whole scene on the train was a exceptionally creepy, Zuras looked like a child molester, kind of like a character from this Sandman story about a Serial (Murderer) Convention. brr, gross. speaking of which...
- Zuras- more like Volstagg from Thor than Zuras. Zurstagg. he looked fat and was useless with his dog. He's supposed to be the most powerful dude. and he previously was dead with atoms scattered.
- Sersi- the fun sexpot of the bunch... what was up with her???
- Thena- uh wasn't she hanging with the heros for hire a few yrs ago? when did she get knocked up? is this another of Luke Cage's love children? (BTW Power Man and Iron Fist rock!!!)
- Iron Man... is this the same guy in Civil War?

(3) overall, a very unoriginal concept- it was either or both Tom De Falco and/or Warren Ellis who did the entire amnesia gods lost on earth concept in the mid 90's with Thor, Odin, asgardians, and spin-off/ revival series Journey into Mystery. Odin was a homeless guy there too. DeFalco and/or Ellis did it better.

(4) why make the Deviants (ok changing ones, i guess deviants sounds too much like a bunch of SnM folks and all the 10 year olds are gonna get confused and ask their folks all the wrong questions) anyway why are they like a bunch of barbarians? this is not a Conan comic. way back when, they conquered the earth with giant kirbyesque weapons firing huge amounts of energy and cosmic kirby dots, had sophisticated technology, genetic engineering, space ships, technology out the kazoo, etc.

(5) if it was a movie... this recent Eternals series would be a made-for-tv series. now, if it was the original Kirby stuff, the movie would be a huge budget epic made by George Lucas. yep i picked Lucas, not because i'm the biggest fan of Star Wars (i'm not, i was frankly a bit disappointed with Episodes 1-3) but because Lucas and Kirby share a similar vision: timeless mythological concepts, tons of crazy ideas and characters many of which never get fully fleshed out, special effects mania, huge, grand concepts, uh sometimes cardboardy dialogue. (and not to metion but Lucas "may" have borrowed many Kirby New Gods ideas for the original Starwars EpIV). but credit to them, if kirby and lucas were architechts they would be planning the biggest skyscrapers in the world, the 8th and 9th wonders. i got none of that vibe from this series, gaiman's eternals would be a nice stylish condo building.

you know i could go on and on. i read it and just couldn't believe how not-good it was. really for me the whole thing drove over the edge of the cliff after i read about semi-omnipotent space gods munching on deviants like onion rings. i've read original Kirby Eternals, the follow up stuff with Eternals or Celestials from Roy Thomas, Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin, and most recently Jim Kreuger's highly recommended Earth X (his follow-up Universe X is so-so not bad, Paradise X can be avoided). by comparison to the worst of these, this most recent series failed to achieve anything except providing a bit of a wierd, confusing, mis-introduction into the world of eternals, celestials and deviants.

ok enough criticism, on the plus side, props to Gaiman and Romita for the imagining of Olympia - it was fantastic, as well as the dreaming celestials prison and his release. the reactivation of ikarius was interesting and clever. and Sersi was so hot man... I'm not his biggest fan, but Romita's artwork at it's best here was fantastic, some of his best.

other opinions?

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