National Comics: Eternity #1 One-Shot Review

DC Comics
National Comics: Eternity #1 One-Shot Review
By Andy Frisk
July 26, 2012 - 16:34

DC Comics
Writer(s): Jeff Lemire
Penciller(s): Cully Hamner and Derek Donovan
Inker(s): Val Staples
Colourist(s): Patrick Brosseau
Letterer(s): Patrick Brosseau
Cover Artist(s): Cully Hamner
$3.99 US

I’ve been waiting for DC Comics to do something with their long dormant Kid Eternity property ever since the brilliant Vertigo series Kid Eternity by Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips went belly up after only 16 issues. Yeah, I’ve been waiting for quite a while. Finally, under the moniker of “National Comics” (probably used in order to keep name rights up to date) Kid Eternity gets a modern update, New 52 style, in Eternity #1 One-Shot. Here, he’s still basically a “kid,” albeit a kid who died at 27 and came back with the ability to resurrect the ghost of anyone recently deceased for 24 hours in order to enlist their help in solving the circumstances of their death. His job doing autopsies for the NYPD, and instincts instilled in him from his deceased NYPD Detective father, give him plenty of crimes to solve.

Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Animal Man) does an excellent job updating Kid Eternity for a contemporary audience. He’s the kind of character who isn’t a superhero per se (he even admits he “never really cared for superheroes anyway”), but does have a unique superpower that is ripe with storytelling potential. The twists and turns that Lemire works into the new Kid Eternity’s debut are also quite sharp and indicative of the kind of storytelling potential this new Kid Eternity is loaded with. I want to see more!

Cully Hamner and Derek Donovan's art fits the story excellently. It sort of reminds me of a more polished version of Klaus Janson’s work, but much more proportionate. The best thing about their work here in Eternity #1 is their use of multi-panel pages interspersed with some smartly laid out splash pages. Their work, coupled with Val Staples colors, is engaging throughout.

With a cliffhanger ending that leaves the reader dying (pardon the pun) for more, I really, really hope that Eternity gets picked up. It would fit perfectly into the world of The New 52 and give it something that it is lacking: an engaging supernatural/mystery based and mainstream universe book. Come on DC Comics: give us more Eternity!

Rating: 10/10