“I’ve been thinking about death.”
The late ’80s and early ’90s have been a heady time for reinventing and reinvigorating numerous characters throughout the DC Universe. Some, like Sandman caught fireplace, whereas others pale again into fondly remembered however relative obscurity. Regardless, it was a time of rampant creativity, taking fascinating dangers with the characters, usually shaping them into one thing new. One of them re-imagined the previous Quality Comics character, Kid Eternity, by Grant Morrison, Duncan Fegredo, and Gaspar Saladino, as a type of supernatural, horror title.
Our major perspective is from failed comic Jerry Sullivan. After being attacked by Qliphothic entities at a celebration, a dying Sullivan meets Kid Eternity who has escaped from Hell and is tasked to guard the Earth by means of establishing chaos spheres world wide. But, first, they’ve to avoid wasting Kid’s mentor and buddy, Mr. Keeper, from the depths of Hell. At the identical time, one other of the party-goers, Val Hoffman, experiences her personal tribulations, encountering a variety of nasty city legends come to life. And a serial killer, that you just would possibly spend a couple of sequences pondering is Jerry, and also you’re going to wish to learn once more after your first learn by means of.
Kid Eternity faucets into a few of Grant Morrison’s favorite themes and motifs of magic—after a style, it may be extra appropriately thought-about bits of faith, although the Kabbalah components appear to be coming from a airtight magic interpretation—and manufactured actuality. And issues not precisely being what they appear. I really feel it type of bridges concepts introduced in Zenith, Animal Man, and Doom Patrol pointing in direction of a number of the tapping into fictional actuality that we’d see later in The Invisibles, The Filth, and past.
It’s…bizarre, however very entertaining.
Bolstered by completely beautiful art work from Duncan Fegredo. Fegredo chooses to color his work right here and it’s attractive. Rather than the thicker, darker traces he usually makes use of for his line artwork, his characters listed here are a bit looser, extra scratchy advantageous traces working as a framework for the chaotic bliss of his paints. It’s considerably harking back to Ralph Steadman and Bill Sienkiewicz, with explosions of splatters of color, however there’s a restraint and order to Fegredo’s work that makes it really feel like contained chaos. It works extremely nicely conveying the absurdity, oddity, and horror of the story.
I’d even be remiss if I didn’t point out the lettering by Gaspar Saladino. He was an absolute grasp at his craft and it shines by means of right here. His method to phrase balloons and fonts change for various characters and sequences, at all times enhancing conditions relatively than drawing consideration away from issues. Especially in terms of differentiating characters, like Jerry and the killer, in addition to giving a novel really feel to the scenes following Hoffman, bringing within the textual content of a e book of city legends as one other layer of the storytelling.
Even earlier than this reinvention, Kid Eternity was type of an fascinating one. Although the character was picked up alongside the opposite Quality Comics characters like Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Plastic Man, and the opposite heroes that DC would place on their Earth-X, Kid Eternity was introduced into the DCU on Earth-S with the Captain Marvel Family. (It truly does make sense when you think about that he additionally had a key phrase for his powers when shouting “Eternity!”) It set the character aside early on, a practice that continued with this incarnation occurring to be one of many early Vertigo ongoing collection (from Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips), who then died instantly when introduced into the DC Universe correct once more.
For a story finally a few Kid attempting to avoid wasting the world and going to Hell to do it, there may be truly loads occurring in Kid Eternity by Morrison, Fegredo, and Saladino. It’s a piece that has a number of layers to it, reinterpreting a comparatively obscure character, whereas nonetheless utilizing acquainted components to his backstory, that advantages from a number of readings and analyzing a number of the stranger concepts that Morrison is wont to throw of their work. It’s positively price one other look.
Classic Comic Compendium: Kid Eternity
Kid Eternity
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino
Publisher: DC Comics / Vertigo
Publication Date: December 15, 2015 (Deluxe Edition)
Aspiring humorist Jerry Sullivan joins Kid Eternity on a quest to free his Keeper from Hell, solely to seek out himself swept up in a a lot bigger wrestle between the Lords of Order and Chaos.
Read final week’s entry within the Classic Comic Compendium.
Discussion about this post