Eternals Annual #1, 1977

"The Time Killers"
Edited, written & drawn by Jack Kirby [*sniff* for the final time]
Letterer & Inker- Mike Royer
Consulting Editor- Archie Goodwin

SUMMARY

Zuras shows Thena an image on a view screen of a Neanderthal man rampaging in New York City. Zuras is convinced he knows who is responsible- Zakka the Tool-Master, a several-centuries-old Deviant! Thena believes that she can handle Zakka- she introduces her father to Karkas & Ransak!

Zuras:"So...these are the LOVABLE monsters you imported from the DEVIANT domain!"
Karkas:"HOLD you temper, sweet prince--! Great Zuras MERELY jests!
Ransak:"Jests are FEW in a life spent at killing in the arena! Am I a MONSTER for having been bred to this sport? I'd hate you, if I didn't hate the Deviants MORE!"
Thena:"Do you understand NOW, father?"
Zuras:"Yes--! We shall ferret out Zakka-- with his OWN kind!"
Ransak:"HAH! I thought so! You need us for some UNMENTIONABLE task of DEVIOUS design! You PIOUS Eternals are as eager to employ the ASSASSIN as our former master!!"
Karkas:"FOR SHAME, SIRE! To use us as PAWNS in some shoddy venture does ill to your noble IMAGE!"
Thena:"Oh, be still, KARKAS! To measure Great Zuras with a Deviant yardstick is ignorance at its ULTIMATE!"
Zuras:"I GIVE YOU NO ORDER TO KILL! You two shall carry out this task in a manner which your own natures DICTATE!"

In NYC, a "Mr. Zachary" is interrupted by his landlady, as he works at a strange device. He claims to be a "magician", as he shows her an image inside the machine of a knight on horse-back. Once she has left, he aims the device to the street below, and the knight appears in the street! He rampages off, while Zakka watches with glee.

At a hotel, Thena, Karkas & Ransak make their way to their rooms. Karkas has been disguised as a tall red-haired man, and all three of them wear normal clothing (dig Ransak's two-piece suit).

Ransak:"Human habitats have TOO many corners--! Places favorable to a LURKING enemy!"
Karkas:"They instill NO anxieties in me, REJECT! I rather LIKE this trip!"

Thena goes to her own room, as the bell-boy lets the other two into their room. Ransak immediately tears the bed apart.

Bell-boy:"W-what's HE doing?"
Karkas:"Looking for ENEMIES in his bed!"
Ransak:"Sneer if you like, you DOCTORED and deluded dinosaur! But I plan to be ALIVE when this mad task is done!"
Karkas:"Live you may, KILLER! But it shall always be with a FEAR of shadows!"
Bell-boy:"Er-- if you gentlemen need anything else, I'll be GLAD to help..."
Karkas:"He waits for the monetary TIP which Thena spoke of."
Ransak:"We owe the humans NOTHING! They should be in OUR debt for coming to their aid!"

Ransak tries to throw the bell-boy around, but Thena arrives and ends the fun and games.

Thena:"You are WISE to obey my command! You'd be wiser to CONTROL your own animal instincts!"
Ransak:"I'm NOT here to play games, Thena."
Thena:"Neither am I! But the humans have been subjected to ZAKKA'S temper! They need not suffer from YOURS!"
Ransak:"I AM WHAT I AM! A thing taught ONLY to make its kill- and prepare for the next! It is strength, NOT kindness which SUSTAINS me!"
Thena:"When the fates fashioned both you and Karkas, they foolishly put the WRONG hearts in each body! YOU are the TRUE monster, Reject!"
Ransak:"If I am pleasant to gaze upon, I hide NOTHING from the world! I do NOT choose to be an ILLUSION- like Karkas!"

Thena's wrist-band suddenly detects alien energies...

In a hall-way of the hotel, Jack the Ripper stalks a new victim! Just as he is about to slay a woman, Ransak and Thena arrive, and Ransak battles the Ripper!

Ransak:"Your kind is not even worthy of CLEANING the ARENA in which I've fought! The DEVIANTS would use your hide as FOOD for their CATTLE!"

Ransak beats him, then stabs him with his own knife! But there is no body- the Ripper vanishes as the knife plunges in. It seems that these men from the past can only survive in the present for a limited amount of time. They brief the police, then begin a search of the hotel.

In his hotel room, Karkas is visited by a young child named Georgie.

Georgie:"HEY! Y-you're a GIANT! Do you own a castle on the top of a big BEANSTALK?"
Karkas:"No, but I've been to the BOTTOM of the sea and lived in a place where people FLY without wings!"

Georgie's baby-sitter Janey arrives and apologizes, and just as Karkas begins to warn them to keep their doors locked, a pair of warriors appear- one of them, Attila the Hun! Knowing that he must employ great force, Karkas returns to his natural appearance, startling the Huns! Taking one in each hand, he drags them across the walls of a corridor, then throws them out a window! His true appearance frightens the other people in the hotel, so he is granted no hero's reward. Suddenly, Zakka appears!

Karkas:"So...you've decided to SHOW yourself, ZAKKA! Aren't you a bit frightened of FACING me at such close quarters?!"
Zakka:"I was hoping that this demonstration of AFFECTION by your human friends would give you pause to wonder at the WORTH of your task!"
Karkas:"If you think to win me to YOUR side- to become ANOTHER of your creatures in this reign of terror- best think AGAIN! Bringing CHAOS to the humans can WRECK this planet- for all of us!"
Zakka:"BAH! In the end they'll blow THEMSELVES up! Lemuria will rise to power! Our RULERS shall be served!"
Karkas:"I've FORSAKEN that family of TOADS! It's time they were brought to heel...as well as their FAWNNING servitors!"
Zakka:"Then, we are at odds, you and I! Too bad, Karkas. A giant MUTATE could have spread more havoc than a THOUSAND killers from time! In THIS age you were the PICK of the crop!"

Zakka pulls out a shock-pistol and begins blasting him, but he cannot kill him- his hide is too thick. He leaves him badly wounded and runs away.

Thena:"Follow me, Reject! Zakka's psycho-readings now lead to our own floor!"
Ransak:"Then Karkas can have the DUBIOUS honor of killing that old FLEA!"

They find the wounded Karkas, and Thena heals him, restoring his disguise.

Thena:"Karkas is recovering, Reject. He will NEED your help."
Ransak:"He needs LESSONS in dealing with a TREACHEROUS enemy!"
Karkas:"Do as Thena commands! We have WORK to do! If we don't STOP that Deviant Wizard now, his reign of terror will INCREASE tenfold!"
Ransak:"We'll find him-- if I can ever manage to lift you!"

But Zakka is no longer in the hotel. Using a "dimension-transit" device, he has returned to his apartment. He decides to call upon a new killer to battle his enemies- the Deviant Tutinax, the Mountain Mover! The backlash from the Time Projector is terrific, and Zakka is knocked to the floor. Then he sees a figure before him. In terror, he reaches for his dimension-transit harness- but the figure catches him.

Our heroic trio arrive at the apartment, guided by Thena's device. There's a commotion behind the door, and Ransak smashes it down- inside, Zakka hangs upside-down from the ceiling- dead. And his killer, Tutinax, is still there! Karkas rushes to Ransak's aid, but Tutinax is even stronger than him!

Karkas:"QUELL your murderous rage, Mutate! We two are of YOUR kind--! This is NOT the combat arena! You've left it FAR behind you!"
Tutinax:"Then tell me, squealing vermin! HOW was I snatched from the throat of a WORTHY foe-- to THIS accursed place!?

Thena saves them both by blasting him away, and Tutinax flees into the streets.

Thena:"We have but to stop Tutinax to ELIMINATE any FURTHER threat to the city!"
Ransak:"Be RATIONAL, milady! Each of us knows the Mutate's history! To defeat him would be a triumph BEYOND our combined talents! Yet...to do battle with this TITAN from the past would be an HONOR for any veteran of the combat arena! I would TRY, milady! I would test my skills in such an EPIC fight!"

Thena rewards Ransak by re-creating his gladiator costume for him.

Thena:"I shall restore your TRUE image, MASTER-KILLER!"
Karkas:"He looks most attractive-- for DYING!"
Ransak:"The REAPER is ever present in the arena, should he beckon me, I shall go to him in PROPER attire! Thank you, milady! Yea, though I be as the WASP to a giant who walks the earth, my wit and speed and deadly sting shall MAGNIFY in power- when the furies course in my blood!"
Thena(thinks):"Poor Reject...he has the DEATH-WISH!"

Thena levitates the trio into the sky as they follow the path of destruction Tutinax leaves.

Tutinax:"SO IT'S YOU THREE! Has good fortune numbed your brains, that you would risk a SECOND encounter!?"
Ransak:"The MOUNTAIN-MOVER is FAT with arrogance, and BLINDED by past triumphs!"
Karkas:"I agree!"
Ransak:"HEED THIS, TUTINAX! A worthy adversary CANNOT be judged by his size! I am fit for ANY arena that you choose for combat!"
Tutinax:"Did I REALLY hear those words?"
Karkas:"Deviants are NOT born to jest! This challenge includes my OWN! Are you too proud to ACCEPT it!? The ages HAVEN'T changed our kind! As it was in your day-- WE'VE BEEN BRED TO DARE AND DIE!"
Tutinax:"You've been bred to MADNESS!! Look upon me and know that death is certain! I need nothing more than my THUMB to defeat you both!"
Ransak:"USE WHAT YOU WISH, BEHEMOTH--! BUT FIGHT!"
Karkas:"Er- yes- FIGHT!!"
Tutinax:"By the gods of battle! I GRANT YOUR WISH!"
Karkas:"Th-then so be it! Let DESTINY decide!"
Tutinax:"SILENCE, FOOL! Your courage is NOT as promising as the Dark One's eagerness!"
Ransak:"Then, I am chosen! In the tradition of the ancient code of Deviant combat, I SALUTE YOU!"
Tutinax:"I SALUTE YOU, DEADLY MICROBE!"
Karkas:"You ignore me in VAIN! My force shall be felt!"

Thena teleports them to a deserted part of town where they can battle without danger. Tutinax starts the battle by throwing a bulldozer with one arm, and Ransak responds by striking him with a steel bar- which breaks on his face! Tutinax then lifts an entire building from its foundations to smash them, and the two Deviants heroically charge him, but Thena holds them back- as Tutinax vanishes! Thena knew it was only a matter of time, and she had to hold the building in place.

Ransak:"We've DONE our work, Thena- but what has all this done for US!?"
Thena:"It's helped us much MORE than the HUMANS!"
Karkas:"How?"
Thena:"This experience has given us TRUE comradeship! Each of us was willing to sacrifice for the OTHER!"
Karkas:"BAH!"
Ransak:"NONSENSE!"

THE END. For real this time.

COMMENTS

I chose to cover the annual last because I can't figure out where it fits into the Eternals chronology. It could be:

1) During the Cosmic Hulk story, if Zuras makes his appearance here, and then zips away to appear at the end of Eternals#15.
2) After the Dromedan story, if Zuras decided to return to Olympia and then come back to the States for #18.
3) Right here, at the end of the series.

The third option seemed best.

This issue includes a Jack Kirby essay, "Why Mutates?"

This is a great issue- I'm glad I left it for last, so that I could leave Kirby on a high note. Ransak & Karkas' relationship really makes this issue shine, and Tutinax's arrogance is wonderful.

Michael Hoskin, Prime Eternal.