WHAT IF? #24-28 (1980-1981): Origins of Inhumans/Eternals

A backup feature appeals in #24, “Untold Tales of the Marvel Universe.” The first short story (5 pages) is by Ralph Macchio and Rich Buckler.It’s not a What If?, it’s a history lesson. Which makes sense, given Uatu’s role as observer of everything that (and could have happened).

Unfortunately, it’s about The Eternals. Nobody’s favorite characters. Until the movie, that is. That may change things.

#24 shows how the God Chronos gave immortality to a new race of being that would become The Eternals. He was a God who essentially dispersed himself across the Universe, landing seeds in a bunch of humans in Ancient Greece.

Issue #25 tells of Zuras and Alars’ roles in the formation of the Eternals’ society. Finding themselves immortal, Mark Gruenwald and Ron Wilson show how they, and dozens of other new immortals, became the Uni-Mind.

In issues #26-28, the same creative team tell a multi-part story of The Uni-Mind transporting The Eternals collective to Uranus, where they fight a Kree Sentry and are pursued by an accuser as they build a craft to take them to Earth. It ends showing how, as a result of their pursuit of The Eternals, The Kree inadvertently created The Inhumans.

Look, I’m sure I got some of this wrong. I’m not in school anymore and don’t really want to study shit I don’t care about. I’ve collectively tagged The Eternals because they fall squarely into that category. So if I made a glaring error, drop a comment below. Educate me.

I really hope The Eternals movie is better than this.

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