Kid Eternity is a character that I have been meaning to feature on the blog for ages now. I used to read reprints of his adventures in Detective Comics and elsewhere, and liked his schtick of calling forth famous historical figures to assist him. We don't see much of him these days, I guess with the impermanence of death in the comics, his abilities are less in demand.
Excellent ! Not only is this utterly brilliant but it's a Wonderful surprise to catch the occasion golden age greats.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Captain Marvel also the name of a superhero that Kid Eternity met in DC Comics?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete"Isn't Captain Marvel also the name of a superhero that Kid Eternity met in DC Comics?"
Yes... and although the Kid was originally published by Quality, whereas the Marvel Family were originally published by Fawcett, DC actually decided at some point (after acquiring all of those characters) that Kid Eternity and Captain Marvel Jr. were cousins!
close-brothers.
ReplyDeleteOUTSTANDING! This is so ironically appropriate. I'm probably one of the few of your readers old enough to remember when Kid Eternity and Capt. Shazam Jr. were ret-conned into being long-lost brothers. But, with Billy Batson having been ret-conned even further (into the most morally ambiguous Capt. Shazam, Sr. ever), DC has no reason to revive that Late Silver Age plot gimmick.
ReplyDeleteAs yet!
Yeah they really should probably leave that later ret-con in the past. Now if CM was anywhere as popular as the main trinity @ DC like he used to be back int he day, Johns' might've brought that plot back. For the best as it were.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Johns, while Morrison really darkened up Kid Eternity during the 90's, Johns' at least seemed to respect the character more to ignore the child molestation elements that Morrison needlessly attached to the the Kid's history.
I wish he was brought back, well he is of sorts, reincarnated (?) as a chick this time over at DC's Young Animal imprint, but not the main one we all know.
Actually the gender changed character is Shade although this version is an entirely new character.
DeleteMorrison is basically a New Age iconoclast; that's why his incarnation of KE was so needlessly dark.
ReplyDeleteQuite a number of Morrison'[s stories seem to be to ruin characters so they are no longer usable unless retconned away. Morrison seems better for a "What If?" world.
ReplyDeleteBack on original subject- Death - if I had Ross's skills I'd create a blog of deaths of comic characters with resurrections. There are different types of deaths, some good a lot bad, and resurrections, some good a lot bad.
Examples:
* Golden Age Sandman death - good - served a purpose
* Golden Age Atom, Dr Midnight and Hourman - bad
* Golden Age Hourman resurrection - good
* Phoenix death and resurrection, ok but repeated times is really bad
Some deaths are part of story you know is temporary like "Death of Superman". Those are different although there are good ones and bad ones as well.
TBH, Jim Starlin was responsible for the very controversial Death of New Gods storyline, not Morrison.
DeleteGolden age Kid Eternity was awesome and the modern versions just weren't done right. We need a modern Kid Eternity who can bring back heroes from pre crisis onward to beat the modern villains.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if an Arrowverse version of Kid Eternity could bring back Laurel Lance and/or Ronnie Raymond....
ReplyDeleteWell, of course he could. What implications that would carry is another story altogether.
Two of my favorite characters together for the first time!
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of the few Kid Eternity reprints that have crossed my path. What a cool and unique character. I always liked that in addition to calling forth obvious characters like Hercules and Sir Lancelot, he also resurrected the likes of Knute Rockne and Will Rogers!
I would love to see the Kid make a comeback without being "re-imagined". I think Jeff Parker would be the perfect choice to write a new Kid Eternity series. He seems to be able to bring older characters into the modern era without trashing everything that made them good in the first place.
Cary Comic said...
ReplyDelete"Morrison is basically a New Age iconoclast; that's why his incarnation of KE was so needlessly dark."
Glenn Host said...
"Quite a number of Morrison'[s stories seem to be to ruin characters so they are no longer usable unless retconned away. Morrison seems better for a "What If?" world."
Still a LOT better than Miller, though...
@Simreeve: Agreed. At least Morrison has some reverence for the characters he destroys, whereas Millar seems to do it for shit and giggles.
ReplyDelete@Cary Comic: Hmm. Never thought of him like that before, but it makes sense.
@Glenn Host: Damn good idea on that Death blog man.
I thought that Morrison was only capable of writing dark and gritty stuff.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I thought that hiring Morrison to write the JLA was like hiring Johnny Rotten to sing the U. S. national anthem at the Super Bowl.
I was astonished that Morrison's JLA turned out to be so good.
Definitely NOT better than Miller...and undeniably worse than Alan Moore.
ReplyDeleteBut still better than Liefeld.
DeleteKid Eternity briefly became a member of the Teen Titans before 52 started
ReplyDeleteTrue. Liefeld nearly drove Image Comics into bankruptcy...twice!
ReplyDelete