How much does faith weigh, and does it balance the scales of what Ajak has done to the world? She’s about to find out in A.X.E.: Eternals #1, written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Pasqual Ferry, colored by Matt Hollingsworth and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Karen Charm: Rasmus, this has been a week full of great A.X.E. tie-ins and I’m happy to be chatting about one drawn by Pasqual Ferry. Not only is this issue a peach to look at, it is also effectively the second part of Kieron Gillen’s Eternals denouement (the first being A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #3, which we just talked about). Gillen’s reinvention of the Eternals has been a great joy to me over the past two years, and the ending is bittersweet, but deftly handled. I was pretty moved by this issue, but what did you think?
Rasmus Lykke: Not moved, per se. But definitely entertained. It’s a(nother) good issue, with some pretty deep philosophical questions being raised. While fighting and killing a bunch of monsters, because this is a superhero comic.
Osmosis Tony
Karen: This issue wraps up a triptych following our heroes (a collection of significant X-Men, Eternals, and Tony Stark) sneaking through the insides of the Progenitor. Along the way, we’ve seen Tony and Jean Grey receive their due judgment. Jean just got the thumbs down so this comic opens up with a splash page of her explosive power, which looks to be emanating from her crotch (perhaps unintentionally). At least Tony’s and Logan’s responses are kind of funny.
Past that initial awkwardness, I’m loving the marriage of Gillen, Ferry, and Hollingsworth storytelling right away. Ajak has a neat dodecahedron map of where they’re going, Sinister continues to be an asshole, and Makkari threatens to bring back the gag they used on him in A.X.E.: Eve of Judgment. I also like Ferry’s interpretation of the Progenitor’s antibodies, more robotic fairy drones than eldritch zombies.
Rasmus: Ferry is an artist that needs a good colorist to shine, but when he has one, he really does shine. Not surprising, Hollingsworth is a very good colorist and as such, this entire issue is just gorgeous from start to finish.
Karen: The swarming antibodies slow the party down enough for Iron Man and Sersi to catch up, really for the first time since their dinner in A.X.E. #1. Tony hasn’t gotten any closer to a straight answer from the Eternal, and he tries to put the question to her now. Sersi is “complicated,” as the Machine would say, and she continues to be the aching heart of Gillen’s larger Eternals project for me. She’s so worn down, so resigned and she carries the truth of being an Eternal like an irradiated stone that’s killing her over time. She lashes out and lies to Tony, anything to own up to her failure before the Progenitor’s judgment. A flashback reminds the reader that she was the one who kept Ikaris from telling the secret of Eternal resurrection. This scene resonates well with Ikaris’ final scene in Death to the Mutants #3. Even to the end, Sersi won’t confess, won’t take any steps toward healing.
This is as good an opportunity as any for me to gush about how much I love Ferry’s use of solid spot blacks. His Sersi is spectacular and makes Esad Ribić’s new costume design shine with its pattern-work. Ferry is also the best person besides Ribić to draw characters walking through a geometric landscape.
Rasmus: The panel of Sersi, filled with premature regret and sorrow, before she calls Jack of Knives is masterful and heart crushing.
This entire sequence with Sersi is so tragic. She cracks jokes and deflects Tony’s questions, but she’s filled with an immense sadness, that can’t help but spill out in small ways. It’s only a few pages, but it serves as both a nice continuation of Sersi’s arc ever since Eternals #1, as well as a reminder of what the Eternals have gone through to get here. This issue might mostly be Ajak’s story, but that doesn’t mean the other Eternals are forgotten about.
The Cost
Karen: Ajak’s judgment can be deferred no longer – the time is now. She’s whisked away to a vision where she sits at the feet of her god. Not the Frankenstinean monster we’ve seen, but a glowing and sleek idealized version. The Progenitor she was hoping to have made instead. Once again, Ferry and Hollingsworth are on fire here.
Rasmus: The look of adoration on Ajak’s face as she looks up at her golden god is marvelous. It makes us want to believe, like she does. This is a god worth celebrating, worth fighting for. Not the mess that she actually got.
There may well be a comment about the pure idea of God versus the way God is perceived in the actual world here. Or put in another way: Canon God is great. Fandom God is awful (using terms stolen from Wil Wheaton). Ajak’s quest is making canon God the real one. She has faith that it can happen. But the road is hard.
Karen: That road is paved with every single mortal being that has been sacrificed to bring her back to life. Gillen rubs our faces in it by having the first, a Deviant named Cataka, introduce her to the children she orphaned. We haven’t gotten to see too much of Ajak before now, at least compared to the other main Eternals, and what is revealed here is fascinating. She ascends the levels of the god in her mind, killing more and more innocents because that’s what she’s called to do. It’s Abraham and Isaac to the 100th power, with Ajak not flinching one bit even as it disgusts her.
I love seeing this as a contrast to Sersi, who we can see is eaten up inside about their nature. Conversely, Ajak stays the course because in the end her faith provides all the justification she could need. It’s unsettling, and lends weight to Sersi’s comments earlier. They may both be Eternals, but they are not the same.
What’s really surprising, though, is the Progenitor’s response.
Rasmus: It’s not just a pilgrimage to her god, the Progenitor. It’s her entire life’s path. It has all been leading to this moment, to her creating the Progenitor. And while it should make her question if her life has been worth it, when her attempt at making a god turned out this way, the more interesting part is that it seems to make the Progenitor question himself if it has been worth it, if it is worthy of life, given the high cost of it. It’s a scene that adds nuance and interesting context to all of what has gone before it, as we get a glimpse inside a god, before it passes its verdict on Ajak.
Boxing with God
Karen: The struggle for the Eternals throughout this run has been whether or not change is possible for them. Where Ikaris tried to learn something new, Ajak is much less idealistic. The only way she can change is if the Celestials rewrite the Eternals’ source code. That’s what this is all about for her, and the Progenitor can criticize her all it wants, but unless it changes the equation the result will always be the same. They’ve failed her. The frustration of this realization leads her to violence.
Rasmus: Like the Progenitor says, Ajak is very much a fanatic. Even in the face of Armageddon, she refuses to change. It’s a very familiar tale of religious fanaticism. When their beliefs don’t match up with the real world, it’s the world that’s wrong, not them. And it’s the world that has to change, no matter the cost. It’s the kind of blind fanaticism that has led to the Progenitor and the end of days that he has brought with him. If Ajak had been less of a fanatic, things probably wouldn’t have gotten this bad.
The interesting thing is that she didn’t really have a choice, though.
The principles drive every Eternal and they can’t deviate from them. Their every action is bound up in following the principles, having to live their lives according to ancient scripture. Every Eternal have their role to play in their society. Ikaris is an arrow, Sersi is a manipulator, Druig is a snake and Ajak is a priest. One of the foremost roles of a priest is to spread the gospel. But equally important is interpreting the word of god. This is where Ajak has failed.
Because it turns out she did have a choice. The event has actually shown that it was fairly easy to bypass the principles. Either a creative interpretation will show that there’s a lot more wiggle room than previous thought or through telepathy. The Eternals – and Ajak – were just too set in their ways to see. Yet even with that knowledge, Ajak refuses to see things in a new light. She still thinks that it’s the world that’s wrong. It’s not her interpretation of the principles that are wrong, it’s being bound to them by the Celestials that have forced her to do what she has done. She refuses to take responsibility for her actions. And the Progenitor judges her accordingly.
Karen: I may be a simple creature, but it’s really so cool when Ajak grabs the Progenitor’s down-turning wrist and forces it to hold its judgment. She’s still bargaining, and the other end of the bargain is fascinating. The Progenitor makes the ominous pronouncement that Ajak will have “freedom” in the end, but declines to explain any further.
It leaves Ajak slumped over, with the first look of uncertainty on her face that I can remember seeing. This comic rules!
Rasmus: That is one of the most badass moments in this entire event and it’s not an event that has been short on badass moments!
I think the moment of uncertainty is what will give her her freedom in the end, freeing her from her fanaticism and giving her – and the Eternals – a more free definition of the principles.
Karen: This entire event has left me on the edge of my seat, never sure what is waiting around every corner. I’ve said that over and over and it continues to be true. I’m eating up the Eternals end of the story, and I have high hopes for the finale. I don’t know if my faith is as strong as Ajak’s but I do believe we’re going to be wowed. My only wonder is how everything is going to fit in one comic…
Rasmus: That’s why God (or Marvel Comics, I guess) invented the omega issue!
Jury Box
- I appreciate the little note explaining why humans exist in 1 million BC. I’m assuming that’s just pulling for Jason Aaron’s established lore, but it would be hilarious if it’s Gillen patching that hole.
- I’ve said it in pretty much every review of this event that I’ve covered and I’ll say it again: Sinister continues to be a delight.
- The lightning effects throughout are very neat.
- The scene with Ajak and Cataka is heartbreaking. A short, effective scene showing the cost of a life.
- Having the Progenitor appear to Ajak as Makkari is a great touch, and also a nice excuse to see more of Cowles’ distinctive lettering for her.
- If this is Gillen’s final word on the Eternals, it’s been a good run. But I do hope there’s more to come on the other side of the event.
Karen Charm is a cartoonist and mutant separatist, though they’ve been known to appreciate an Eternal or two.
Rasmus Skov Lykke
Rasmus Skov Lykke will write for food (or, in a pinch, money). When not writing, he spends his time with his wife, their daughter and their cats, usually thinking about writing.
