Editor's Note: Eternals #5 arrives in stores tomorrow, October 1.

"The Song of the Sleeper"

After one of the worst first issues I've read in quite some time (not counting my DC samplings, of course), the Knaufs have really gotten this book on track and firing on all cylinders. Now, after five issues, most of the threats are established, a fresh fracturing of the status quo has occurred amongst the Eternals, the characterizations are consistent, the dialogue is believable, when there are jokes, they are funny, and there are some truly cosmic touches that bring the narrative to a higher thematic level without seeming like the empty self-aggrandizement of the first issue.

If there were an award for "Most Improved Comic Over Its First Five Issues," this title would definitely take it home.

In fact, I'd say that this book is doing something very similar to JMS' Thor, in that the first six issues are heavily involved in reestablishing the cast of characters (who, coincidentally, are living lives as humans before being awakened to their true identities as god-like beings (yet another reason I don't like JMS' Thor)), but rather than each issue focusing on a single character and draped in pretentious metaphors, condescending moralism, and downright boring plotting, The Eternals is constantly moving.

We have at least five different plots advancing every issue, ranging from Makkari's cosmic/spiritual quest, to the spy in the Eternals' midst, to the obvious fragmentation of the Eternals' social order with Druig taking over a country, to the surprising fragmentation of the Eternals' social order with Ajak's betrayal, to the family dramas between Thena and Zuras, to the emotional desperation of Sersi's anxiety about Makkari.

And they all get time every issue, and none of them ever talk down to the reader or pretend to be some sort of paragon of moral superiority. And it's never boring.

But for some reason which escapes me, readers eat up the simplistic, depressing, condescending pabulum that is Thor (and The Twelve, too), but don't pay much attention to The Eternals. It ain't right, but then, many comics readers mistake cliched negativity for maturity. Just look around the web and you'll see it. It's not just comics readers, of course, but that's all I'm going to rant about for the moment.

Meanwhile, back in the comic, Daniel Acuna's art gets better with each issue. There are at least two moments in this issue where the script calls for pauses in dialogue before moving on (the first is a comic beat that works to essentially dismiss a silly one-liner by a character; the second is a comic beat that sets up a humorous one-liner), and Acuna's visual pacing does an excellent job of establishing the rhythm of the voices.

There is an avoidance of large crowd scenes this issue (one of the weaknesses of Acuna's computer enhanced illustrating style) which allows for the creation of distinctive and expressive minor and background characters.

This is the Daniel Acuna whose art I fell in love with back on Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. There is a very well-defined synchronism between the art and the script that just wasn't really there in that first issue. Over the previous four issues, Acuna and the Knaufs have begun feeding and enhancing each other's strengths while suppressing and sidestepping their weaknesses.

I'd have a hard time seeing this book written or illustrated by anyone else at this point.

Although I must admit that the closing narrative voice each issue is still not working. The classic "Stan Lee" hyperbolic excess is clever and fun, but really doesn't reflect the rest of the book. This is a good series that doesn't need to rely on a gimmick like that, especially since it really isn't carried out throughout the rest of the issues.

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