The Eternals find a Sersi-less world to be as merciless as it sounds, but they’re determined to pay for their sins in A.X.E.: Judgment Day Omega #1, written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Guiu Vilanova, colored by Andres Mossa and lettered by Travis Lanham.
Rasmus Lykke: As it began, so shall it end.
This entire event sprang from Gillen’s run on Eternals, so it seems only fitting that this Omega issue focuses on them, too. Thematically, it fits, as the event began with the Eternals wanting to change (albeit only on the surface level) and ends with them actually having changed.
One thing that definitely hasn’t changed though, is the review team! After Austin Gorton stepped in for me last issue, me and Sean are back to cover this final final issue! Getting the old team together, one last time! Rasmus & Sean, back together! Woo! Take it away, Sean!
Karen Charm: This is a bit awkward, but I think we can blame it on the Machine that is the Earth getting rebooted. In any case, I am not Sean. In a similar mixup, I could have sworn this issue was drawn by Pasqual Ferry again. Looks like you will be spared my gushing in that respect, Zoe, I mean Mark, I mean Rasmus. See what happens when the Eternals start changing? What’s next, Kieron Gillen isn’t going to be writing them anymore?
Rasmus: … Sean?
Making Amends
Karen: I may not be Sean, but I’m happy to find that the Eternals also consider comics to be the “highest of all art forms.” Makkari uses the holy language of merging words and images to translate the events of Judgment Day into legend, into scripture. The visuals we get are a nice synthesis of Vilanova and Mossa, lines of colored light weaving sketches of the Progenitor and Ajak into the black air. This little shadow play helps bring the reader up to speed on what went down during Judgment Day #6, particularly the death of Sersi and the deification of Ajak. The latter is now a Final Fantasy-style Celestial who declares the next chapter of the Eternals’ story will be “heresy.”
I’ve written before about Clayton Cowles’ (letterer and designer for the preceding Eternals series) work establishing the look of the Machine’s interface, and it was fun to see how that changed to accommodate the Progenitor during Judgment Day. We get a final evolution in Ajak Celestia’s word balloons, now a yellow (or gold)-on-black style.
We read Zuras’ summarization of Eternal society now that he’s been re-established as Prime Eternal. The toys are going back on the shelf for the majority of Eternals with a few key alterations, most importantly a more tangible relationship with the human and mutant nations of the planet. On the other hand, there are those who choose to follow Ajak Celestia and in so doing are expressly exiled. The throughline of Gillen’s Eternals run has been their efforts to change anything about their nature. Now that they’ve succeeded, it sets them apart from their society and in need of a new direction.
Rasmus: The Eternals are definitely the characters that I’m most excited about coming out of this event. It’s been a thrilling reinvention/refinement of the characters by Gillen, through the Eternals series, one-shots, this series, the Death to the Mutants companion series and the A.X.E.: Eternals one-shot.
They’ve gone from characters that I, a Marvel comic reader with over 20 years of experience, barely knew, to some of my favorite characters. Gillen really dived into the heart of these characters and made the central conceit (being Eternal) into something relatable. We all know the feeling of being stuck, wanting to make ourselves into something better but seemingly not being able to. Add the tragedy of the cost of their eternal life and they’ve finally become proper Marvel characters, with an interesting dualism at the heart of them.
Karen: I’m glad you’ve come to enjoy them so much. Gillen’s work with them has really been a treat, not least of which being the new additions he brought to the mythos. Syne the Memotaur was a breakout star of this crossover, transcending Valerio Schiti’s amazing creature design to reveal a gentle spirit hiding inside the literal war machine. It’s her turn to offer atonement now, showing up in London to meet her chat buddy Sally in the flesh. Syne doesn’t apologize exactly, but also doesn’t try to duck responsibility. Instead, she emphasizes Sally’s impact on her life and encourages the human to pursue her talents (“Please, do the zine”). Syne’s going away for a long time, but she’ll also continue to write, and asks to share what poetry comes with Sally’s descendants. Especially coming after the scene with Sophia Robson, this recalls the story of Ikaris and the boy on the shore from Eternals #2. Whereas in that case, Ikaris overshot his pledge by a few generations, Syne is a bit more forward thinking. Sally, despite her shock and sense of betrayal, says yes.
Rasmus: All things considered, Sally handles a skyscraper-sized war machine showing up really well. It’s a surprisingly touching conversation, told well through Vilanova’s art. He sells both the scale and weirdness of it all, but somehow also manages to not lose track of the emotional core of the scene. Lovely work.
Tying Up Loose Ends
Karen: Uranos is happily beating the shit out of Druig in the Exclusion. Zuras pops in to let him know the mutants of Arakko have access to his weapons of destruction. I’m glad for this explanation because the details eluded me a bit when I read A.X.E. Zuras tries to put emphasis on how it’s totally not a good thing, but Uranos is always optimistic about his ability to be awful. The ball’s in your court now, Mr. Al Ewing; let’s see some mayhem!
Rasmus: What I find most interesting about this development isn’t so much the idea that Ewing is going to play with it in X-Men Red, but rather that he might not. It’s a ticking bomb, put into play by Gillen. It might be because Ewing has plans already and this will all develop wonderfully soon-ish. But it might just as well be setting up dominos for some writer 20 years down the line, who’ll realize this old bit of continuity and have it pay off. It’s a looming threat in the background, and who knows if it’ll ever pay off. Either way, it makes Uranos even more imposing and scary, neither of which are qualities he was lacking to begin with!
As Sean and Austin pointed out last issue, there’s a new god now. The Progenitor is gone, but Ajak has risen. Her first major act as a god is to brand all her followers heretics, as they will no longer be part of the larger Eternal society. Instead they’ll continue the path laid out before them by Gillen — they’ll try to change. However, they’re still bound by the principles they must abide by. Ajak knows this and how it might limit them. But she also knows the principles aren’t set in stone, limited to one singular narrow definition. We already saw this at the start of the event, when Druig acted on the realization that technically mutants could count as excess deviation and thus should be wiped out. Ajak has a more … progessive reading of the principles. They should guide the Eternals to help everyone and make the world a better place for all, Eternal, human, Celestial and even Deviant.
Karen: Ajak’s theses are such a breath of fresh air compared to the bone-chilling sadism of Uranos’, that’s for sure.
I would have been pretty disappointed if we hadn’t gotten a Kro scene, but thankfully we next join him and Thena in Lemuria. Even though the question of curing excess deviation remains on the table, what’s most interesting to me about this scene is when the conversation turns to Sersi. Her casual flirting with Kro had been a funny bit of business earlier in the series. Here, Thena asks straight out if there was any genuine feeling there, and Kro doesn’t have a conclusive answer. From his perspective, even though he’s had an extremely long life for a Deviant, he never expected to outlive an Eternal. Whereas Thena has had to witness partners die constantly (This whole scene takes place in front of what remains of her lover’s art), it’s a new experience for Kro. The pair agree it would be better not to rebound with each other again — “It would be good to move on.” This is the kind of pathos I love these comics for, and Vilanova draws a nice Kro. I’m pleased.
Angels Earning Their Wings
Karen: All the sorries have been said, and all that’s left to do is put in the work. Ikaris returns to Sophia Robson’s house after they’ve both calmed down and the Eternal has shaved off his beautiful golden locks. She’s got a room to let, and so Ikaris will be staying until his karmic debt is paid, so probably a very long time. It’s interesting to find Robson alone; I believe her husband was still around the last we saw her, but it isn’t too far a leap to imagine the breakdown of their marriage at some point after Toby died. A subtle, extra dimension to the pain the Eternals’ secret nature has inflicted on humanity.
And that’s really where the series is leaving us, with a division between the Orthodox and the Heretics. The former being those who follow Zuras and maintain the Eternal status quo, while the latter are our heroes who are as much outcasts from that status quo as the human world that now hates and fears them. I was guessing that the series might be rebranded as Deviants a few months ago, but it’s interesting that they’ve instead taken on the term used to describe Uranos.
A relaunch is not promised at this point in time, but this does feel like it’s the full stop on Gillen’s statement about the Eternals. He pitched them as the angels of the Marvel Universe, and we see here the Heretics are essentially fallen angels, though still dedicated to doing the Good Work. I can always cross my fingers and hope for more, but all things considered, this has been incredibly strong, start to finish. I’m left feeling satisfied with where things are but also incredibly sad that Sersi remains off the board (for now). One note of ambivalence I have is over the Eternals wearing plain clothes at the end there. It calls to mind the rebranding of the Inhumans from a few years ago, and I really don’t think that’s an association anyone wants. Especially coming after an acronym-heavy VS event.
Rasmus: This is true, but I think it works more as a counter to how the Eternals have traditionally been depicted, as godlike entities floating above us, either completely disconnected from human affairs or mainly in it for the admiration that comes with being a hero. Now they’re working in the shadows, not seeking glory, but instead seeking to make the world a better place. This is how they follow the new protocols laid forth by Ajak Celestia, and protect celestials, correct excess deviation, protect the Machine and justify themselves every 24 hours.
“Every day matters, and we should act like it.”
Last Words
- I would totally buy an expensive doll of Ajak Celestia.
- Seeing Druig, battered, bruised and bloody, is disturbingly satisfying.
- The photo that Sophia keeps of Toby is certainly a choice only a mother could love.
- Ikaris looks just like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable.
- No Avengers and only two X-Men in this Omega issue of Avengers/X-Men/Eternals: Judgment Day. Like Death to the Mutants before it, it really feels like another issue of Eternals that’s just rebranded to benefit from the event. Comics are weird.
- Those two X-Men do play an important and emotional role, though, as it’s revealed that the Machine was built from a template created from the living island of Krakoa, as Phastos delivers a goodbye message from child to parent.
- Rarely been so happy to see an emoji as on that final page.
- Even if this isn’t really so much the final issue of A.X.E.: Judgement Day as it’s the final issue of Gillen’s Eternals, I want to say that it’s been an amazing event — the best in recent memory, to be honest — and a ton of fun to cover, both with Sean and Karen! Thanks for reading!
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.
