The Eternals has launched on Disney+ today, so to celebrate, I’m giving you a comic guide I ran out of time to make in the lead up to the films cinema launch – the best starting points for Eternals comics!

Now, the Eternals haven’t had that many comic runs over the years, if anything, they probably rank quite low on the appearances list, but there is still a lot of lore to this group, so it’s best to not just pick something at random.

With that, let’s get into my two best starting points!

Jack Kirby

“The Gods Are Coming Back!” Imagine a race of immortal beings possessed with seemingly limitless superhuman abilities. Once worshipped as gods, this fantastic group left Earth to explore the stars after warring with the Greek, Roman and Norse pantheons for supremacy over humankind. They are the Eternals, and they are just one part of a cosmic mythology. Their opposites – the Deviants – also secretly populate Earth, while the towering cosmic entities that created both – the Celestials – are fated to arrive and judge our planet.

The original Eternals run, with their creator Jack Kirby. This is their first origin, first appearance, first everything. If you’re looking to build your Eternals knowledge from the ground up, this is, without doubt, the place to start.

Just note, that this run was cancelled before it properly finished, but it was continued on in:

Roy Thomas

Prepare – the Eternals are coming! Roy Thomas brings Jack Kirby’s Eternals into the Marvel Universe in one of the greatest THOR sagas of all time! The Mighty Thor confronts Odin with questions about Ragnarok his mother, and the threat of the towering cosmic beings known as the Celestials. Odin refuses to reveal the truth, instead sending Thor on a quest for answers. Thor’s journey will bring him face-to-face with the Eternals -and reveal the long-hidden secrets of the Marvel Universe! Thus is the stage set for an unbelievable war between gods! Before the dust settles, the Fourth Host of the Celestials will descend on Earth to lay down their judgment…and both man and god may be found wanting.

You’re probably thinking: this is a Thor run, what’s it got to do with the Eternals? Well, this run wraps up a lot of the plot points from Jack Kirby’s run and brings Thor face to face with the team, as well as the Eternals creator – The Celestials. Their name may not be the only one in the title, but it’s certainly an important part of the lore of the Marvel Universe, as well as a big part of the Eternals story.

Neil Gaiman

You are thousands of years old. You have amazing powers. You have watched civilizations rise and fall. So why does no one remember any of this?

Or, if you’re like me and really don’t want to go all the way back to Jack Kirby’s era (sacrilege, I know, but I’m just a more ‘modern’ comic reader!), then Neil Gaiman’s Eternals run is your best bet. Gaiman’s run introduced the Eternals as ordinary people with no memory of their history and takes you and Sersi and the team through them recovering their memories. This run also managed to sort out a few inconsistency’s from years gone by and reinvented the team for a modern age. If you’re a fan of Chloe Zhao’s Eternals film, this is definitely for you, as it plays on a few of the same plot points.

And that’s my top two best places to start with Eternals comics! I hope this was useful, and if you have any questions, please do leave them down below!