Marvel Is Celebrating a Big Anniversary With the Help of… Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump?!
The Eternals have been changing Marvel’s cosmic corner of things for decades… and now, they’re about to be celebrated in an unexpected way.
This week, the publisher announced Eternals 50th Anniversary #1, an oversized one-shot that will be released wherever comics are sold on Wednesday, April 1st. The issue will celebrate the landmark anniversary of the team, who were created by Jack Kirby in 1976.
Eternals 50th Anniversary #1 boasts three stories from buzzworthy creative teams: including one that will be written by Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump.
Yes, you read that right. According to Marvel’s official description, the issue opens with a high-stakes team-up between Ikaris and Captain America, exploring the Eternals’ place in superhero history in a story by Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, Dale Eaglesham, and Phil Noto. Next, Ralph Macchio and Michael Cho peel back the layers of one of the Eternals’ most fearsome figures, Ransak the Reject, revealing the character’s darker origins. Finally, Stump pens the debut of The Lost Eternal, a mysterious figure whose existence has been hidden for centuries—and whose sudden awakening raises unsettling questions.
“It’s fitting that Marvel’s version of God, its One-Above-All, was drawn in the likeness of Jack Kirby; Through his cosmic work on titles like Tales of Suspense, Fantastic Four, Thor, and climaxing with his mythologically inspired space opera The Eternals, he created the center of gravity all of Marvel’s galaxy is still orbiting,” Stump said in a statement. “So when I was tasked with the responsibility of introducing a Lost Eternal, I turned to the same sci-fi and mythology that got his mighty imagination spinning to begin with. I’m beyond honored to be part of celebrating 50 years of the Eternals, and while I can’t imagine some rock singer like me doing a titan like Kirby justice, I can promise you this has definitely been as much of a passion project as any album I’ve ever made or film I’ve scored.”
“Jack Kirby was a big influence of mine, and I devoured just about everything he did when I first discovered comics,” editor Mark Paniccia echoed. “The Eternals was one of my favorite Kirby creations…wild, dynamic, powerful stuff that fueled my imagination as a young reader. It’s a real privilege to work on this project with such a talented crew.”
Fall Out Boy’s Comic History
Stump’s involvement in the Eternals 50th Anniversary special continues a long and winding history of Fall Out Boy dipping into the world of comics. (Of course, you could argue that history began when the band was first formed, given the fact that their namesake is a superhero character from The Simpsons.)
Fall Out Boy’s bassist and lyricist, Pete Wentz, co-created the Image Comics series Fall Out Toy Works, which ran for five issues from 2009 through 2013. More recently, Wentz co-wrote the Vault Comics graphic novel Dying Inside. The band’s guitarist, Joe Trohman, co-wrote the recent Image Comics series The Holy Roller with Rick Remender and Andy Samberg, a crossover that still boggles my mind every time I think about it. That just leaves the band’s drummer, Andy Hurley, to complete the circle and write a comic at some point.
Outside of the comics themselves, Stump has contributed to the superhero tapestry in some surprising ways. He composed the theme songs or score for a number of family-friendly superhero projects, including The LEGO Batman Movie, Merry Little Batman, and Spidey and His Amazing Friends. In a way, it was only a matter of time until he entered the space in this way… and I am excited to see what he contributes to Kirby’s tapestry.
Eternals 50th Anniversary #1 will be released wherever comics are sold on Wednesday, April 1st.
(featured image: Rich Polk/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
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