Marvel Studios' Hall H panel was more than a week ago, but I'm still reeling from all the Phase 4 announcements. Today, I'm going to celebrate another of those announcements with another one of these things. THE THEME: Superhero teams are a common thing in comic books. You've got your Avengers, your Justice League, your X-Men, your Teen Titans and more. While the scope of the average person's knowledge is limited to a couple of these aforementioned groups, adaptations in recent memory are starting to give us depictions of lesser known comic book teams. Stuff like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doom Patrol, and Umbrella Academy are now known entities in the casual, non-comic reader realm. While a lot of the names we saw in the Marvel Studios Phase 4 slate are more or less familiar to mainstream audiences, there are two movies in particular that will surely baffle the uninitiated. One of these movies is The Eternals, and while they're not a team per se, they are often treated as an ensemble. As such, I wanted this week's theme to cover lesser-known comic book groups (including the Eternals themselves). THE ETERNALS: Before I get to the comics, I'll give a brief summary of the Eternals for those who are interested. Millions of years ago, god-like cosmic beings called the Celestials came to Earth. They saw the earliest ancestors of humanity and experimented on them, creating two races: the Eternals and the Deviants (the sworn enemy of the Eternals). They thought "this is pretty neat", left Earth, and performed similar experiments on other planets. A notable side effect of these experiments led to the frequency of superhuman mutations in the modern age; it's not pure luck that Bruce Banner survived getting bombarded with gamma rays. The Eternals are ostensibly just people, but are practically immortal, and are often gifted with incredible abilities. While they mostly stayed away from regular humans, they appeared occasionally throughout human history, causing ancient people (like the Greeks) to create religions around some of the Eternals. Thena (who is reportedly Angelina Jolie's character in the movie) is one such Eternal; can you guess what goddess from ancient mythology she may have inspired? At some point, a faction of Eternals left the Earth, heading for Saturn's moon, Titan. Eventually, these Eternals evolved to be rather different from their earthly brethren. And here's the kicker: Thanos (yes, that Thanos) is one of these Titanian Eternals. I singled this fact out because I think this is how the MCU Eternals will connect with the rest of the series' lore. Other Eternals stories include their many conflicts with the Deviants, the occasional return of the Celestials who created them (one such incident caused Atlantis to sink to the ocean), battles with the Asgardians, and even an encounter with the mutant Apocalypse. If you're willing to take the time, it's a fun rabbit hole to fall into. THE COMICS: ![]() ETERNALS (2006–2007) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Neil Gaiman Artist: John Romita Jr. - In this sort-of reboot, most of the Eternals have forgotten their entire history, and are living among the humans as regular people. Only Ikaris seems to remember anything, and he has taken it upon himself to remind the rest of his people of what they are, lest the Deviants strike again. - Comixology link ![]() EXILES (2001–2008) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Judd Winick Artist: Mike McKone - Several X-Men from various alternate realities are brought together by the Time Broker. Their mission is to hop across different realities and fix any anomalies that threaten to destroy the entire fabric of existence. Think of it like Legends of Tomorrow, but with mutants. Later incarnations have featured members like Spider-Man 2099, Peggy Carter as Captain America, and an alternate Black Panther. - Comixology link ![]() ILLUMINATI (2015–2016) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Joshua Williamson Artist: Shawn Crystal - Marvel's original Illuminati is a secret council of Earth's smartest and most influential superheroes (members have included Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, Black Panther, Professor X, Doctor Strange, and Namor). This version is a group of "low-tier" villains assembled by the Hood to amass power. I'm a big fan of the art style in this one. - Comixology link ![]() THE NEW INVADERS (2004–2005) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Allan Jacobsen Artist: C. P. Smith - The Invaders are, chronologically, one of the first superhero teams in the Marvel Universe, having operated during WWII. This is a new incarnation of the team set in present day featuring some of the original Invaders, along with a bunch of other characters. - Comixology link ![]() THE WEST COAST AVENGERS (1985–1994) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Steve Englehart Artist: Al Milgrom - There have been many versions of the Avengers throughout the years (Secret Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, Savage Avengers, to name a few), but the original spinoff team came about when Hawkeye founded the group and moved to the other side of the US. The team's first adventure in this regular series has them going up against Ultron. - Comixology link If you think these teams are deep cuts, you haven't seen anything yet. There's still so many groups I haven't talked about, like Alpha Flight, Squadron Supreme, and more. That's a discussion for another time, perhaps. Also, I hope my primer on Eternals was helpful and informative. More importantly, I hope it has piqued your interest, or at least bolster your excitement for the upcoming movie. PANEL(s) OF THE WEEK: - end -
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June 2024
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