Cover Review: The Eternals #14

Jack Kirby strikes again!  For a man I didn't appreciate as a kid (mainly because his art freaked me out), I definitely appreciate him now.  This is not, obviously, his best cover, but it works.

The Eternals was a weird series, and I never picked it up, but seeing the Hulk on the cover would have caused a curious Hulk fan to at least page through this.  It also has all the Kirby standards, which definitely doesn't hurt.

The first thing that catches the eye is the imposing figure of a red-clad man flying off the cover courtesy of the Hulk.  A cover that shows off action like this begs to be investigated regardless of whether or not you know who the characters are.  There are no word balloons.  There is a cover blurb, however, which pretty much details the cover with one exception -- this is a "cosmic powered" Hulk.  Attention grabbed; curiosity peaked.  Mission accomplished.

Cover artists of today could take more than a few lessons from Kirby.  He did every cover as if his career depended on it.  You can argue about whether they all worked, but you can't argue with the creativity put into them.  He knew what worked, and used it.  Perhaps if more artists followed his lead sales would be better these days.  Then again, Kirby was one of a kind ...