As the Eternals battle the Avengers, Thanos and Druig find the information they seek in Eternals #12, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Esad Ribic, colorist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Clayton Cowles. This issue is a wonderful way to close out the beginning of the Eternals new era and put them on the road to Judgment Day.

The Avengers put up a better fight than expected, but Ajak and Makkari are still able to find what they’re looking for, just as Thanos and Druig do in A’Lars’s mind. Unfortunately, Thanos has changed himself in a way that means he can’t be connected to the Machine, so he sets out to destroy the Earth before leaving. The Eternals are warned about this and get the Avengers to stop fighting so they can stop him. They get help from a most unexpected source, and the whole thing ends with the Avengers distrustful of the Eternals; they are profoundly changed by the things they’ve learned and endured and their new leader preparing them for a new war.

Gillen does it again with this issue. He balances epic action with info dumps, setting a brisk pace throughout the book and moving it inexorably towards the ending. The stakes just keep escalating throughout the comic, both the actions oriented ones, as the fate of the planet is suddenly in the balance, to the revelations about Thanos, the Eternals, and the Deviants. This is some extraordinarily creative and deft writing, and Gillen pulls it off in an effortless fashion.

This issue is also significant for anyone who wants to know what laid the seeds of Marvel’s upcoming event, Judgment Day. All of the connective tissue is in this book. It changes the way the Avengers look at the Eternals, gives them a new leader and lays out the why of the coming war between the mutants and the Eternals. It’s an action-packed comic that does a lot of heavy lifting but never bogs the reader down; it’s exciting even during the portions that are all dialogue.

Ribic’s art runs the gamut from exquisite to sketchy. As usual, he renders one of the best Thanos ever, and his action scenes are a joy to behold, frozen tableaus of wars between gods. The moment Thanos is struck down looks amazing, and there’s some great character acting throughout the issue, as secrets are revealed that shake the characters to the core. That said, some panels don’t work as well as others, there are highs and lows, but the highs are so amazing, the lows are excusable. Wilson’s colors make every scene, whether it be beautiful or otherwise, pop.

Eternals #12 is one of those books that is almost too good for words. Gillen is such a fantastic writer, able to find a way to make a standard length story feel long and satisfying, delivering everything readers want from a narrative. Ribic’s art goes both ways in quality, but its greatness far outweighs the few deficiencies, with Wilson’s colors taking the cake. This is a crucial issue, and the entire creative team nailed it.

Grade: A