Eternals is a wonderful moment for Jack Kirby
Marvel’s latest is the first to give the solo creator credit to the legendary cartoonist, and it should not be ignored.
Marvel Studios
By Brad Gullickson · Published November 4, 2021
Marvel Explained is our ongoing series in which we dive into the latest Marvel shows, movies, trailers and news stories to predict the future of the franchise. This post considers how Eternals justifies Jack Kirby’s complicated legacy at Marvel Comics.
For a certain piece of fandom, Eternal is an extremely significant entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a special reason. It’s the first Marvel Comics adaptation to have a solo creator credit Jack Kirby, “The King of Comics.”
His name appears at the front when the credits roll, no longer tied with an and sign for creative collaborator Stan Lee. That’s enough to make a couple of us in the audience cry, never mind the actual content of the movie.
IN 1961, The Fantastic Four # 1 arrived at newsstands. Its impact could be felt almost instantly, and it set in motion the creation of the Marvel Comics universe, a realm where the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, and a thousand other spandex types would quickly populate and mingle within.
The creation of the comic is legendary and it is almost impossible to arrive at its truth as such documentation did not exist in those days. Marvel Comics (or Timely Comics as it was known at the time) made one-time stories for kids. No one imagined that their creations would dominate pop culture in a few decades.
But just because we do not know the whole truth does not mean that we can not quarrel about it. As the comic is explained today, it is credited as a joint venture between author Lee and artist Kirby. The first track was created using “The Marvel Method”, which meant that Kirby was merged That Fantastic four after Lee gave him a few ideas and an outline.
Kirby made a huge amount of plot, for which he rarely got credit. This practice allowed Kirby and Lee to make an insane amount of comics, allowing the Marvel Universe to spread rapidly.
Kirby’s disappearance
As the years went by, Kirby and Lee’s relationship deteriorated. In 1970, the artist jumped from the ship and swam over to DC Comics and created The new gods, Mister Miracle, The demon, Kamandi, and other. Eventually, frustrations over that company would send Kirby back to Marvel, where Kirby created The Eternal free from Stan Lee’s input.
These comics were wild, uninhibited outbursts, Jack Kirby’s brain exploded on the side. They looked, sounded like and felt like nothing else in the industry. As such, they confused and confused the company and its readership. The Eternal was canceled after a year, and once again, Kirby’s partnership with Marvel crumbled.
Jack Kirby died in 1994. As the architect behind the Marvel universe, his name is honored in both fan and professional circles. With his passing, however, Stan Lee’s popularity dominated the conversation, and as more and more Marvel movies appeared on screen and Lee’s face filled them all via cameos, Jack Kirby’s contribution was largely ignored by mainstream consumers.
The reality is that Marvel would not be what it is without either Kirby or Lee. The artist’s magnificent designs and trippy concepts are what made their comics pop on the stands. And no one could sell an idea better than Stan Lee. He was the ultimate carnival barker who hit as many media outlets as he could, advocating their work as “more than children’s stuff,” just as the media was maturing, and adults began listening, and more importantly, reading.
Kirby’s flared up
In recent years, the Marvel / Disney and Kirby property has reached an economic understanding. Although no amount was disclosed, we are led to believe that the artist’s family has received a generous amount for Kirby’s creative contribution.
Since then, the comic book company has resumed its interest in crediting Kirby as king. On every occasion, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has found Kirby’s name on his lips, and that makes this fan who writes quite happy.
One of the great joys of Marvel Studios is seeing how their films validate the more silly concepts of comics. Iron Man was nowhere near a famous name until he was. No one thought Thor would work on screen, but he did. Guardians of the Galaxy made a talking raccoon and his threesome’s gold. Clearly, nothing was too strange to be popular. You might as well make one Eternal movie.
From the moment they pressed on Eternal in production, Feige has kept Kirby in the conversation. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the producer faithfully confirmed the film as a love letter to the artist. Feige takes the comment even further and expresses a deep regret that Kirby has never lived long enough to see her creation in live-action:
“The other day I was thinking, ‘How cool is it that I live on the timeline where William Shatner went to space in real life?’ “One of the defeats that one can argue that there are many of, of the current timeline that we live in, is that Jack Kirby passed before he got to see any of this.”
Feiges producing partner Nate Moore has also made the rounds and pushed Kirby’s legacy to the conversation in front. When Moore spoke to the press on the set of the film, Moore stated it firmly Eternal has a stronger connection to Jack Kirby than the more modern incarnation written by Neil Gaiman:
“We will probably have to borrow from it. But the truth is that we are actually more inspired by the Kirby things, so we go back a bit to the old things, both mythologically and how the film unfolds. ”
Kirby’s eternal inheritance
We live in a moment here. Eternal is a chance to reaffirm Jack Kirby’s legacy and establish a greater meaning in the minds of the majority. You love Marvel, and you love it because of Jack Kirby.
Nobody deletes Stan Lee. He worked too hard and too long to disappear. And no one wants that either. He was and will always be Mr. Marvel.
But hell, the characters you know came from Jack Kirby’s pencil, and it’s worth noting that when he left Marvel, Stan Lee never created another sequel again (my apologies to Stripperella and “The Curse of the Werebeaver”). ). Kirby still had a dozen characters to manifest, and we will no doubt get that New gods movies one day and probably one The Devil Dinosaur film shortly after.
Jack Kirby’s name sits lonely as the creator below Eternal end credits give a second for reflection. Who was that guy? The film is a massive canvas that introduces space gods, their demigod children, and a mythology that is so head-scratchingly strange that you have to use a sweater or two to create heads or tales about it. It’s bizarre enough that you can even find yourself reaching out for a cartoon, and what you find there is even more bizarre.
Eternal lands in theaters on November 5th. Read our review of the film here.
Related topics: Marvel Explained
Brad Gullickson is a weekly columnist for film school rejections and senior curator of One Perfect Shot. When he’s not tumbling about movies here, he walks around comics as a co-host of Comic Book Couples Counseling. Hunt him on Twitter: @MouthDork. (he / she)
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