PART TWO OF 'ETERNALLY YOURS, JACK KIRBY' - COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Y'know, Crivvies, it's difficult for me to believe, whenever I cast my eyes over the cover of The ETERNALS Annual at the foot of this post, that I bought this mag 37 years ago.  The summer's day I sat reading it in my living-room, in a chair we no longer have, at the side of a mantelpiece that no longer exists, seems as fresh in my memory as more recent events.  So much has changed since then, so many friends and family have expired - yet the comic survives, in practically the same condition as when purchased in 1977.  How near that time seems, almost as if I could reach out and touch it (if you know what I mean) - it sometimes simply astounds me that I'm now living in a different century to the one in which this comic was first published.

Anyway, that's enough self-indulgent silliness from me for this post, you'll be glad to hear.  Now I can unleash the final ten covers of JACK KIRBY's longest-lasting new mag, which he did (amongst others) upon his return to MARVEL in the mid-'70s.  To all but diehard fans, his style of writing and drawing was 'out-of-sync' to the way things were then being done by others in the field of comicbook endeavour.  Kirby was still 'King', but it was more an honorary title than one that reflected the reality of his then-current place in the overall scheme of things.  Past accomplishments had secured his place in the hall of fame, but they seemed long ago and now other creators reigned from the throne that had once been his, and his alone.  Such is the nature of kingship, alas.

Yet Kirby's immortality is assured.  He'll still be celebrated and discussed long after the rest of us are forgotten, of that you can be certain.  And while you're pondering that simultaneously sad and happy thought, don't forget to enjoy the cosmic comic covers presented in this post for your personal perusal.