The Eternals: The Dreaming Celestial Saga

Comic Info

The Eternals (Limited Series) #2

Reprints What If? (1) #23-30, Iron Man (1) Annual #6, Avengers (1) #246-248, and The Eternals (Limited Series) #1-12 (October 1980-September 1986).  The Eternals have been guardians of Earth for centuries as man evolves and the Deviants continue to seek power.  When Ikaris learns that the Deviants are planning something new, he must summon the Eternals to fight…but not every Eternal might agree with him.  As Thena continues to hide her secret past with Kro, the Eternals could find themselves pitted against each other…and the threat could destroy the world.

Written by Peter B. Gillis, Walter Simonson, Roger Stern, Mark Gruenwald, and Ralph Macchio, The Eternals:  The Dreaming Celestial Saga is a Marvel Comics collection.  Following the events of Thor and the Eternals:  The Celestial Saga, the series features art by Sal Buscema, Al Milgrom, Keith Pollard, Paul Ryan, Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, and Luke McDonald.

The Eternals limited series was being released right when I was starting to collect.  Secret Wars, Squadron Supreme, Eternals, and even Team America…it felt like everyone could get a limited series that even extended over four issues.  While Squadron Supreme got the attention and praise, The Eternals feels like classic Marvel Comics.

The Eternals were always tough characters.  Kirby originally didn’t intend them to be part of the Marvel Universe and then the characters were shoehorned into Marvel in Thor.  The Eternals and their lore is deep and tied to Earth…but they had little encounters with other Marvel heroes.  The story somewhat goes to explain it (mankind is officially made to forget things like giant Celestials looming over Earth).  Despite this, the Eternals still feel pretty separate from Marvel, but the size and scope of the story doesn’t make sense to not have more heroes involved (the Avengers and a few other heroes do make appearances).

The Eternals (Limited Series) #12

The art for the series is strong.  Sal Buscema does a great classic style comic design.  While I like Kirby, his style of art is closely tied to the characters, and Buscema had a challenge of adopting a more modern style for the characters.  Buscema gets it right and it has that a traditional comic look that fits from the 1980s.

The challenge for modern readers probably is the amount of dialogue in the series.  It was pretty indicative of comics of the time, but it feels weightier and clunky.  A lot of the dialogue is skippable, but I love classic writing with all the melodrama and internal conflict.

The Eternals:  The Dreaming Celestial Saga gives a bit deeper insight to the characters who feel like blank slates at this point since they are still relatively new to the Marvel Universe.  Like the movie, Eternals comics are kind of divisive…but it is a challenge for readers to determine which side they fall on.

Related Links:

Eternals by Jack Kirby—The Complete Collection

Eternals

Eternals (2021)