REVIEW: ‘Eternals’, Issue #4

Eternals #4 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Esad Ribić, colored by Matthew Wilson, and lettered & designed by VC’s Clayton Cowles. The nation of Eternals are in disarray, as Thanos is systematically eliminating his rivals from the shadows, and the great machine continues to be plagued with an assortment of issues.

Previously, Sersi, Kingo, and Sprite traveled to Lemuria, the capital city of the Deviants. They are looking for Thena, daughter of the Prime Eternal, Zuras, who was recently murdered by Thanos. With the great machine offline and Zuras lacking the ability to use the resurrection chamber, this small band of Eternals must find the mad titan in order to fix what has been broken. Which is where things got complicated in the prior issue, as the entire population of Polaria, including Supreme Valkin, and all of their technicians were brutally murdered and discovered by the snake Eternal, Druig.

As we dive into Eternals issue #4 to explore the mystery further, we find that Sersi and Phastos are still working on getting the great machine back up and running, but with little to show for their efforts. Meanwhile, Ikaris has enlisted the help of Sprite to watch over Toby Robson, although we still have no idea why other than Ikaris feels it is vitally important to guard this child’s life. Lastly, Kingo and Thena have arrived at Polaria to investigate the crime scene and interrogate Druig as a suspect, given how he’s just become the Supreme Leader.

Gillen is reveling in the role of storyteller through this current series of Eternals, and it’s quite entertaining to see him flex his imaginative chops. The story has a delightful tandem plot that keeps you invested until the very last page. The narrative is actually written from the perspective of the great machine that is effectively connected to the very planet. As the machine continues to glitch and fail, so does the narrative style of the machine, as the tone often breaks the fourth wall, or switches styles. Whilst this serves as an unreliable narration, it really does add a humorous level into the plot and contrasts nicely against the more rigid dialogue of the Eternals.

Ribić’s art is just sublime. Jack Kirby himself would be proud to see what’s been added visually into the mythos that he created all that time ago. Where I tend to praise the artist most is in his ability to create these astounding landscapes and backgrounds, and coupled with this, his ability to create scale effectively. When you see some of the visuals from this issue you really get sense of perspective to what you’re viewing, whether it been looking down at bustling metropolitan area from the eyes of Ikaris, or entering the city of Polaria with Druig as your host.

Wilson’s colors pair fantastically well here with the depictions. The colorist combines so well with Ribić’s art that they are able to reach this lovely synergistic product that by all accounts just works beautifully.

The lettering from Cowles is a tough one because the issue is extremely speech-heavy, but Cowles did a great job with the visual place of the speech bubbles. Each piece of dialogue is placed so that the eye naturally follows to give it the intended pace of the author. The style and design of the lettering for the narration are nicely dominant, so you can clearly tell when the machine is interjecting its thoughts into the story.

Overall, this was a solid issue. A specific highlight was watching as Thena, Kingo, and Druig all play mental chess with each other as to ascertain who is the mastermind behind Thanos’ killing spree and why. At the same time, you have Gillen overseeing this as the puppet master trying to lead us down the rabbit hole, as we follow this twisted tale. The ending was a lovely touch as well. Things are certainly gearing up now, and my level of intrigue has been dialed up to 11.

Eternals issue #4 is available wherever comics are sold.