Kid Eternity collects the three issue mini-series written by Grant Morrison in 1991. This was during a period when a number of lesser known characters were being revamped at DC. Morrison had previously taken over the reins of two other titles Animal Man and Doom Patrol to great critical success. Kid Eternity would be his next challenge and here was an indeed a rather forgotten character. Kid Eternity was originally published by Quality comics and made his debut in 1942. The origin at the time was that the kid was traveling on a boat with his grandfather that was sunk by a German torpedo. However Heaven made an error, and the kid was not supposed to die for another 75 years. The “Keeper” in Heaven granted the boy certain powers to use for 75 years to make up for the error. By saying the word “eternity” the kid could summon up historical figures from the past to aid him. Quality Comics sold their line to DC Comics in the mid-1950’s and there Kid remained, relatively forgotten outside of a few cameo appearances until Morrison’s dark revision in this mini-series.
Like most of Morrison’s works the book is heavily metaphor-laden and one gets the feeling that Morrison has all sorts of secrets that he’s reluctant to relate to the reader. This was a Pre-Vertigo release but for all intents and purposes it should be considered a Vertigo comic and as such aimed at a far more mature and sophisticated audience. The Kid’s origin is thoroughly revamped and turned completely inside out. He now finds that he was never in Heaven in the first place but in Hell. This was all a part of a plot by the Lords of Chaos to use Kid as their unwitting agent in order to set up their Chaoshere engines to hasten humanity’s evolution. They plan this as a gift to God to get back in his good graces and return to Heaven from where they fell. Kid discovers that Mr. Keeper was, in reality, a demon all along, as were the many historical figures that he could summon up over the years to aid him.
The Kid believes he and Mr. Keeper were capture and imprisoned in Hell and he has escaped and sought out the help of a two-bit standup comedian named Jerry Sullivan who has been critically injured in a car crash after being pursued by demons called Shichiriron. But it’s when the Kid and Jerry (in spirit) wind their way through Morrison’s industrialized version of Hell that Kid finds out about his true origins.
The plot tends to meander a great deal cutting back and forth between various plot elements with little explanation, as was often a trait of many of Morrison’s earlier works. The events are really secondary to the revelations about Kid Eternity’s true origins as his past is changed just as radically as Swamp Things was just a few years earlier, and in much the same manner although by the more accomplished pen of Alan Moore. Duncan Fegredo’s painted art is appropriately dark, moody, and abstract and a perfect complement to Morrison’s words.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since this came out. Morrison, so well-known in his earlier career for taking over these lesser known titles has of course gone on to do many mainstream projects such as the JLA and the New X-Men. Perhaps a bit conceptual for the sake of it, Kid Eternity was still an enjoyable new take on a character that otherwise would be gathering dust.
– TIm Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
