Neil Gaiman talks The Eternals

I <4 Neil Gaiman.
I love how Marvel is trying keep their projects a secret.
I wish he would of named the artist though.

 

it pisses me off that the Eternals are part of the Marvel Universe. they are clutter; plain and simple. there should be humans, altered-humans (spiderman, daredevil, the inhumans, etc), deities, and mutants, imo. i would be fine with the Eternals if they existed in their own little pocket universe like the Squadron Supreme but, if they are a part of the marvel universe, i'd rather they just represent the greek gods/keep Hercules company. it just makes no sense, to me, that there are greek gods and then these imitation Eternals/Deviants.

 

Learning that the rumor about him and P. Craig Russell on Thor was true at one point but abandoned very nearly made me cry. What an earth-shatteringly amazing team for Thor.

I hope that Absolute Sandman collection really is the whole of Sandman collected. I would so hit people and kill them with it.

 

It's too bad that he didn't get to do Thor but I'm looking forward to his Eternals anyway. Gaiman rules .

(I think I'm going to pick up Anansi Boys...or at least ask for it for Christmas)

 

I picked up Anansi Boys some time ago, but I haven't finished it yet. It's a very nice book, of course I'm biased, my favorite thing is the Spider on the cover (which you won't see unless you remove the dust jacket). It has seven legs, and Neil drew it himself.

On the note of "The Eternals". I really like when Neil does this with things. He takes something original or already established and re-establishes it or rather rebuilds it in his Gaiman-verse image. I feel that his best stories are told when he has centuries and centuries, maybe even millenia, to work with. I'm looking forward to this.

About the points he made about too much information given about comics these days. Everyone here knows he's right. Muze, I think, just proved him right. Knowing what's going to happen before hand pretty much ruins the story for everyone. That's why 1602 was so great, no one knew enough of anything to complain about it. Once it came out, we were able to just say "Wow", without the pre-publishing complaints and opinions we usually hear (Like with "The Other").

 

Dammit. I don't know what to do: Buy each issue and read it, or read it all in one sitting when the trade comes out like I did with 1602. Decisions, decisions...

 

Really looking forward to this.

 

most likely part of the reason he moved on from that project is because he wouldn't have had enough control over the project

 

profits from the single issues goes to the Marvels and Miracles fund while most of the profits from trades will go to Marvel.

If you want to be a help to the writer, buy the issues.

 

What is that?

 

Chances are, I'll buy both. Just not sure when to read it.

 

Could someone correct me with this, but I read somewhere that Thor and the asgardians are actually eternals who took on the mythology of the norse religion.

Eternals have been around since forever or something, and the normal people reverred them as Norse Gods, and that's how the whole shabang got started.

 

I liked Gaiman's work on 1602 but I never cared one bit for NEW GODS or Kirby's ETERNALS/DEVIANTS stuff. So it is quite perplexing. I'll likely get the first issue and see how I like it.

And it is a shame that Thor's fate was not in the hands of Gaiman and Russell. If any writer was completely unafraid of going against Marvel's "urban hero or LIMBO!" mantra these days, it's Gaiman.

 

i second this

 

I don't think they were ever Eternals. They certainly don't display the typical Eternal abilities, anyway. I know that Earth/Universe/Paradise X put forth the idea that the gods are amorphous alien types who conformed themselves to humanity's beliefs. Thus, Thor was able to change back from being turned into a woman by Asgardian "magic" simply by not believing he was a woman anymore or something. Although I didn't like Universe/Paradise X at all, I did find the idea of the gods as simply beings (not necessarily something as trite as aliens, though) who molded themselves to a human faith so closely that even after the faith had all but died out, they continued to cling to the familiar forms and traditions of it.

 

Marvel's official reasoning is that Earth/Universe/Paradise X were all an Alternate Reality, and not Canon-616, as proven in the recent OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE: ALTERNATE UNIVERSES 2005 which stated all that stuff as an alternate universe. So while it's a theory, its not Marvel fact for 616.

Besides, isn't any "god" an extra-terrestrial? As in, a being that lives above humanity in the stars?

 

Yeah, but there's a difference between living outside of humanity and being a sci-fi alien from another world. I'd prefer for the gods of Earth to at least have their origins with Earth. Just a personal quirk, I suppose.

I know the X series is an alternate universe, and I'm incredibly thankful for it, since I thought most of it sucked. I was just pointing out that the X series put forth that idea, which might be where Nick was getting the idea from. Maybe he just mixed it up with the Eternals since we're talking about both Thor and the Eternals in here.

 

No, I think. Hold on, let me check, I read it in my Marvel Bible, I think:


EDIT: Okay, I guess not. I swear I read it a long time ago though.

 

The only thing like that I know of is the notion that the gods were actually aliens who took on the characteristics of the Norse deities of Earth. I vaguely remember reading something about it outside of the X series, too, so it might've possibly been a part of continuity at some point, too. I don't think it is anymore, though.

 

It's complicated, but I found a really good short summary on Gaiman's website -

The story behind this is a long one...so I'll be over simplifying it. Neil wrote some comics for Todd McFarland and Image, creating the characters Medieval Spawn, Cagliostro and Angela. For Angela he wrote a three issue mini-series, collected as Angela's Hunt . He didn't receive royalties for any of the comics or the derivative works (such as the highly popular toys) and after awhile, Todd McFarland offered his share of the Miracleman rights. Neil already has partial rights, since Alan Moore, the original creator, gave Neil and the artist Mark Buckingham his portion of the rights...McFarland bought his from Eclipse when they went out of business. He sent Neil boxes of films that would allow him to reprint the comics, then changed his mind about allowing Neil to do anything with them. Neil attempted to resolve the issues in October 2002, where a judge decided in Neil's favor. To help defray the court costs and administer the Miracleman rights, Marvel's CEO Joe Quesada and he formed a company called Marvels and Miracles, and part of this agreement is for Neil to create two works for Marvel, of which 2003-2004's 1602 is the first. (For a more information, please visit Icv2: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/1878.html)

Here's another source: http://www.sequart.com/marvel1602.htm

 

Well, it's just my opinion, but Neil Gaiman had said in an interview that he wanted 1602 Captain America to affect present day 616 Captain America but they didn't go for it.
I'm thinking that if his changes to Thor were too drastic, Marvel wouldn't go for it either.

Yeah, two projects were part of the same deal.

 

Is Silver Surfer involved with the Eternals at all? (Dont mind me im just getting back into comics)

 

Nope, but definitely pick this title up next year when it comes out...with Gaiman, you don't need to know anything about the Eternals to understand and it's practically guaranteed to be a great story.