Oh No, is it Eternals vs Avengers in Eternals #10?

The Eternals sneak into Avengers Mountain (which happens to be a dead Celestial) in an effort to find an answer to the Thanos problem in Eternals #10, written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Esad Ribić, colored by Matthew Wilson, and lettering/design by Clayton Cowles.

Karen Charm: As the great poets once sang, Zoe, “it’s been a while…”[Ed. Note: sinzihahhomyheauhhiiiii]

Zoe Tunnell: Wait we’re opening with Staind lyrics? Nevermind, I quit the feature, sorry, call my agent I’m out of here.

Karen: Look, this is the kind of thing that happens when Thanos is in charge, I really wish I could resist. But yeah, although it might seem like we both got held up by the malfunctioning resurrection machine, in actuality I’ve just been watching Eternals the major motion picture over and over again. We’re not here to talk about that, however, we only talk about comic books. So how about we spend a little time going over what’s been happening to our favorite angel-like beings since last we chatted?

Devil Went Down to Lemuria

Namor roasts Tony over not taking a date with Sersi.

Zoe: The World’s broken, except it isn’t. Thanos is dead, but not anymore. Phastos is a traitor but actually a good guy. And Ajak and Makkari are hot now.

That about sums it up, I think?

Karen: Ahem, I think you’re forgetting something very important. Kro. Is. Back! It’s Kro! This whole time I’ve been wanting to see Kro in this comic and he finally shows up when we go on a break! It makes me very happy to see him, even if Ribić is not drawing his sunglasses. That in itself is a real shame but some things you have to accept as the world changes. He does have a very snazzy new outfit with cool metal pauldrons.

But yeah, this arc leans really heavy on the Deviants which I think we were both excited to see. While I think I’m a touch underwhelmed by how the Deviants are portrayed visually, the setting of Lemuria is gorgeous and Gillen depicts their lives and culture as nuanced as we’d hoped. The objective really seems to be “if you thought the Deviants are monsters, look in the mirror first before talking smack.”

Zoe: As great as Kro is, I have to give a shout out to Tolau the Delirious. RIP. His love with Thena and a glimpse of a Deviant who isn’t a generic citizen or warrior but an artist did so much to flesh out Lemuria as a city where an entire culture lives rather than a secret lair for monstrous goons. Shame about that excess deviation, though. A tragedy.

Karen: I completely agree. Tolau’s story has been the highlight of this arc for me even as it’s essentially a B- or C-plot. The pathos, the PATHOS! I also love how his terrible circumstance acts as a narrative key for leading us to what happens in our current issue. Thena, once again forced to kill a Deviant she loves, vows to never let it happen again (I feel like she’s made that kind of vow before, but Eternals gotta Eternal) and cure Excess Deviation once and for all. Conveniently, Thena’s personal mission dovetails nicely with everyone else’s plan to figure out how to stop Thanos. The team regroups after the destruction of Lemuria and decide to journey to the heart of Avengers Mountain.

Celestial Stakeout

Zoe: Oh hell, Judgement Day hadn’t been announced last time we did one of these, Karen! Our babies are hitting the big time!! With the X-Men!!!

And also the Avengers are there. And here in this issue. Honestly, as unenthused as I am with the current Avengers run, Gillen and Ribić do some great work with them here, through the very disdainful lens of The World. Captain America being referred to as “surplus WW2 weaponry held with nostalgic affection” being a personal highlight.

Karen: I’m so excited for Judgement Day! I have no idea what’s going to happen but yes, it feels great to have a big crossover event made specifically for us. It does seem a little weird to tie-in with an out-of-continuity comic like Avengers but you know I trust these guys. I think the thing that threw me for a loop here was Starbrand. I did recently read all of Hickman’s non-X Marvel stuff so presenting the Starbrand as a “rival” Earth security system opposite the Eternals was cool. I just had no idea that Starbrand is a little kid now?

Zoe: Yeah, Heroes Reborn happened, it’s fine. Honestly, for all the work Hickman did with Starbrand in Avengers, the reframing of the system as a rival of The World is the most it has worked as a component in the Marvel Universe. Ever since the call to bring New Universe stuff into the mix, they’ve felt a bit…forced? Not terribly awkward but noticeable. Having it be another flavor of petty (it has a specific warning system for Eternals) world-scale AI just cracks me up.

Karen: I love the alarm balloon that Clayton Cowles drops in here, and we see an Eternal version of it later on. The lettering in this comic continues to be supreme.

Zoe: Now.

Karen.

We gotta talk about Sersi and Namor.

Karen: Haha what’s your temp on that ship?

Zoe: I mean I’m never gonna be SUPER ride or die for het pairings but I can’t help but laugh at how quickly these two disasters immediately decide to go bone down in the cosmic hot tub.

Karen: I’ll admit to not ever being super invested in Namor – kinda neutral on that front – but him and Sersi just makes a certain mathematical sense. Of course they would smash. I’m also really fixated on the Eternals’ view from Sersi’ earring shows that Namor is suddenly shirtless. Likely an art error that went unnoticed, but it’s also very funny to me that he’s like “Wanna fuck?” and his clothes just vanish.

Anyway, yes Sprite, Kingo, Ajak, and Makkari are tiny and hiding in Sersi’s earring. All the better for sneaking into enemy territory. This is a pretty great idea. Gillen’s narration does expect us to remember what Sersi said to Jack of Knives a few issues ago which I personally did not, but still. They do not follow Sersi to whatever debauched activities she gets up to with the King of Abslantis, but they wouldn’t have been able to show it anyway.

Zoe: They either had the hottest sex that has ever happened on the face of the planet or became so focused on being The Hottest One that it ended in an unsatisfying mess that neither will ever talk about again. No middle ground.

Karen: I bet Sersi was disappointed and Namor thought it was great.

Anyway, back to Starbrand. When she discovers the other, now normal-sized Eternals lurking in the shadows, it looks like the jig is up. Thankfully Sprite is good and turns into a fluffy cartoon character (“Pooble-Peebs”) to win the other child superhero’s trust, and honestly I think this should be how Sprite looks moving forward. A great design from Ribić, very much in favor.

“Perhaps I Just Wish To Hurt You”

Zoe: Thanos might be a little messed up, y’all.

Gillen continues to solidify his title as “best Thanos writer” of the modern era by virtue of recognizing that as much as he is a terrifying engine of death and destruction, hes an exhausted romantic goth who has to constantly live up to that reputation. The little glimpses we get inside his head that show this, such as when he’s saying some Very Cool Villain Dialogue and The World reveals he is only saying it to keep up appearances for his audience, do so much to give depth to a fascinating character often reduced to a one-note villain.

Karen: Some of those panels that Ribić draws are so so amazing. The art sells how much Thanos is starting to lose his grip – it was only a matter of time – especially in the panel when he considers Druig’s suggestion to kill Sui-San for a sixth time (more on that in a moment).

The torture chamber they have is just a bunch of crystals that, like, electrocute you, and I’m realizing now that it’s similar to if not the same place we saw when the series first began. Except instead of the icy blue tones of issue 1, Matthew Wilson is painting them in sickening golds that make it so sinister.

Zoe: The sequence where Thanos learns his parents are not just alive but a few feet away from him made my jaw genuinely drop. In any other book a bombshell moment like that, Thanos learning the people who brought him into this world to his eternal rage and distress are right around the corner, would be an end of issue or end of page beat. Not here. It’s casually tossed off by Druig and Ribić’s perfect panel of Thanos’ shocked and enraged face is smack dab in the middle of the page. It’s such a flex and a powerful vote of confidence for not just this story they’re telling but this take on Thanos as a character.

I’m still a little icked about Sui-San’s fate given the lingering baggage from the Thanos Rising one-shot but I can hope now that she’s not just locked in some cell off panel she may get some form of justice by the end of it. 6 deaths this issue for her. Oof.

Karen: As you said, Thanos is pretty messed up. I don’t love being reminded of that series, but I agree with the hope of there being some major comeuppance on the horizon. Perhaps with even the Celestials themselves getting involved in Judgment Day. I did quite love the panel where Sui-San glares right in our faces as she declared her unconditional hatred for Thanos, it’s a well-drawn panel despite the context. I also couldn’t help chuckle at the two beats directly after where Thanos just stares back and clicks his “plasma vent” detonator. Also funny that he tried to use the same leverage – destroying a small town and killing everyone in it – against his parents as he did against Phastos who actually cares about people. Another nod to the reader that Thanos is not as much of a “genius” as assumes.

Of course, setting off the plasma vent gives Ikaris and Thena something to do, as they’ve been waiting outside Avenger’s Mountain this entire issue on lookout. Uh-oh, but if they’re not looking out… well we just know something bad is going to happen, huh?

Zoe: AvE, all we’re missing is a few merry mutants and we’ve got a summer crossover. I’m certain it’s going to spiral out of control pretty quick but when Kingo closed out the issue doing his best John McClane impression getting ready to take on The Avengers by his lonesome, I got HYPE, Karen.

Karen: And the cover of next issue is Kingo VS Cap! This cover had Ikaris and Captain Marvel but we didn’t see anything like that. Still, maybe next time?! Kingo has played an odd comic relief role throughout this run so I will be happy to see him clanging his swords around.

Normally when a comic has two groups of heroes fighting, it’s a situation that could have easily been avoided by just talking. In this case, however, it feels completely natural because who wants to try to explain anything to the Avengers. It doesn’t even feel like an option.

Zoe: With Gillen launching Immortal X-Men very soon they really do feel like the odd team out here, huh? Both Eternals and IXM are focusing on groups of undying superpowered god-like beings and the power structures and politics they’ve found themselves entrenched in. Meanwhile The Avengers fight Kang sometimes.

It’s, honestly, a dynamic I find funny as hell. The rise of Krakoa within the MU and the Eternals as a dysfunctional newly prominent faction of fallen angel-vampires has been such a logical flashpoint that both of us have been predicting something like this for ages. Having the extra wrinkle thrown in with The Avengers living in one of Ajak and Makkari’s beloved dead gods? Mwah. Chef kiss. Cannot wait for Judgement Day if this is what we’re going to expect.

Karen: As we wrap up this arc, I’m really looking forward to figuring out what the Deviants’ secret is. If it’s as mind-blowing as the Eternals’ was in the first arc… hard to imagine but I’m ready for it. Thanos really needs to pay.

Zoe: I’ll be there with popcorn when Sui-San slaps the wrinkles off that purple bastard’s chin.

Marvelous Musings

Ajak and Makkari look great.
I did look up to see if Evisceration Samurai: Blood Katana was a real movie and it appears not. You can never be sure with that Kingo.
I can say with confidence that Die Hard is, in fact, a real movie.
I like that we’re learning six is a number of significance to the Eternals, given how many hexagons have permeated this series at every level.
What are the Avengers doing in there??