Two '70s cosmologies conceived in a Kingly manner

New Gods - Eternals and Deviants (part 1)

So “the King” left the employ of Marvel, and proceeded to craft his own cosmology at DC in 1971: the “Fourth World.” Intended to have a beginning and end, the three series New Gods, Mr. Miracle and the Forever People were unfinished insofar as Jack Kirby's conception. As great as the FW is, he really needed someone to smooth his rough edges (clunky dialogue, often less-than-coherent concepts). Some believe, however, that the Fourth World had a great influence on the conception of Star Wars.

Kirby returned to Marvel in the mid ‘70s, and rejiggered the concept into the Eternals. So clearly the players in these grand, cosmic epics are best paired up.

Commonalities:
Mainly, it’s the sense that it might have been best for both diasporas to remain separate from each company’s main continuity, but that both enrich the DCU and MU, respectively. Otherwise, both revolve around concepts of a “true history of the universe,” and races waging war with the highest stakes imaginable.

Differences:
The New Gods reside on two planets in an extradimensional realm, whereas the Eternals and the Deviants live in hidden realms on Earth. And Kirby never came up with a Deviant that represented ultimate evil; a retcon that saw Jim Starlin’s characters becoming Eternals saw to it that Thanos filled the Darkseid slot.

Alternate histories:

NG: A series of “Old Gods” engineer two variant offshoots of the early human race: the first is a long-lived and (by human standards) aesthetically pleasing subset, who depart to the hidden realm New Genesis; whereas the second, a genetically unstable and grotesque (by human standards) sect, departs to the similarly situated Apokolips. The two races war against one another for hundreds of thousands of years (a delegation of former inhabitants of New Genesis departs to another planet) until the modern age, when the “old gods” return to judge the worthiness of their creations. Many New Genesis-ians leave this plane of existence, but some have recently awoken in human hosts.

Izaya: The ruler of New Genesis, now deceased.

Big Barda: his warrior daughter and presumptive heir to throne of New Genesis.

Orion: A warrior who assumes the throne of New Genesis.

Lightray/Sollis- A warrior who has taken a keen interest in human affairs.

Himon- Izaya’s brother, who leads an off-world sect of former residents of New Genesis.

Scott Free- Son of Himon, who takes the name Mr. Miracle and joins the Avengers.

Uxas/Darkseid- Son of Himon, who becomes a harbinger of death.


ET: A “godwave” unleashes energy that produces two perpetually warring “godlike” races: one, the peaceful and conventionally beautiful Eternals, resides on extradimensional realm Olympia; the other, the warlike and grotesque Deviants, resides in the similarly situated Lemuria. The two war against one another for hundreds of thousands of years until a truce is brokered by the trading of the firstborn children of the rulers of Eternals and the Deviants to the other. But when both children choose sides against the Deviants, their ruler Thanos strikes out against the Eternals, the inhabitants of Earth, and the rest of the universe in an effort to extinguish all life forever. The Eternals oppose him: recently Thanos has been exterminated by Ikaris, but at the cost of most the lives of most Eternals and Deviants. Some, however, have “awoken” in human hosts.

Zuras- The ruler of the Eternals of Olympia, now deceased

Thanos- The ruler of the Deviants of Lemuria

Ikaris- Son of Thanos who is traded to Zuras in childhood, but opposes Deviant aggression upon adulthood

Eros- Zuras’ son traded to Thanos who returns to Olympia and later Earth to oppose Deviant aggression, known later as Starfox

Thena- A Deviant with Eternal attributes, wife of Eros

Makkari- A high-spirited Eternal

Alars- An Eternal living in Lemuria who mentors Eros