James Hill - Marvel Myths and Legends

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All myths are stories. They tell of wondrous beings in fabled lands bestride with gods and goddesses. Myths are borrowed, retold, and refreshed. They are stories of beginnings that shape the way people understand themselves and their worldand resonate over millennia.

Marvel Myths and Legends lifts the veil on the mysterious realms of the Marvel Universe, recalling the long-ago sagas and legendary events that ultimately gave birth to the modern age of Super Heroes. A compendium of individual stories, this book chronicles the exploits of numerous elder gods, divine pantheons, and otherworldly mages. Featuring familiar heroes such as Thor, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and the Avengers, these epic tales weave together to form an illuminated tapestry that spans the entire history of the Marvel Universe. From the birth of Earth-Mother Gaea at the dawn of time to the awakening of the Dark Celestials in the present day, these stories expose a history that has unfolded, largely in secret, over billions of years. Marvel Myths and Legends explores the mythic folklore and the tumultuous, time-lost events that underpin and enrich one of todays most beloved fictional universes.

The Marvel Age of Comics began with the launch of Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. It was clear from the outset that there was something different about this new line of comics. Pioneering creators Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko never talked down to their readers, trusting a more sophisticated approach to storytelling would be appreciated. Crucially, as the line grew in size, it became apparent that the new characters all shared the same universe. Spider-Man encountered the Fantastic Four who battled the Hulk who clashed with Thor.

Early Marvel writers and artists laid the foundations for a modern-day mythos. Of course, the comics were not created in a vacuum, and Lee and his creative partners drew some of their inspiration from the deep well of classical myths and legends. Their reworking of Thor as a Super Hero was perhaps the clearest example of this. However, what began as a simple conceit, soon developed into something far grander. Fueled by Lee and Kirbys interest in the Norse Eddaand their conviction that those sagas had universal appealthe Thor comic broadened in scope to encompass the entire Asgardian pantheon. Soon, other ancient gods like the Olympians were brought into the fold and, similarly, the mystical beliefs and philosophies of East Asia were used to expand the cosmology of Doctor Strange. But the Marvel team didnt merely take from the past, they augmented it, reshaping their source material into something spectacularly original.

In the 1970s, Kirby added another beam to the mythical framework of the Marvel Universe. Reflecting the then-popular theory that aliens had visited Earth in ancient times, he created the star-spanning Celestials and their genetically-engineered offspring, the angelic Eternals and the devilish Deviants. Authors Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald, and Neil Gaiman helped integrate these concepts into the wider Marvel Universe. Significantly, Thomas, a former English/history teacher, wove numerous classical references into the Marvel canon. Among his many contributions, he entwined the history of the heroic Black Knight more closely with Arthurian legend and, in homage to the Himalayan utopia of Shangri-La, he conceived the heavenly city of Kun-Lun as a home for the Immortal Iron Fist.

Recent Marvel writers have tread a similar path, with Ta-Nehisi Coates referencing African deities in his exploration of Black Panthers Wakanda and Jason Aaron imagining a team of stone-age Avengers who operated a million years ago. And, just as the legends of old evolved over time, Marvel mythology has been granted a new lease of life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with blockbuster movies such as Thor, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and The Eternals remaking the myths for a wider audience.

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F rom the beginning, Earth was a breeding ground for beings with enormous powers and equally enormous appetites and desires. Elder gods, degenerate demons, and mighty heroes all proliferated thanks to the Earths unique biosphere, infused as it was with cosmic energies and the essence of a dead Celestial. First there was Earth-Mother Gaea, who nurtured the planets emergent life-forms. Then came Atum, who slew the demons. Ultimately, Odin and the Prehistoric Avengers emerged as the worlds first coalition of superpowered individuals.

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In a time before time, the First Firmament created the Celestials and set in motion an unimaginable series of events that would shake the cosmos and make Earth unique among the stars.

In the beginning
To escape a profound sense of loneliness, the sentient universe of the First Firmament created life. Its children fell into conflict, however, and shattered the very fabric of reality.
The Ultimates 2 #6, Jun. 2017

T he First Firmament was the first universe ever to exist. Self-aware, it knew all there was to know about the nature of its own reality. Most of all, it knew that it was alone. To assuage its loneliness, it created offspringcosmic entities designed to entertain and enthrall. Some of these beings, known as Aspirants, worshiped the First Firmament unconditionally and prayed that their universe would remain unchanged forever. Others, called Celestials, were compelled to continually discover more about their own natureto grow and evolve, and to transform the universe as they themselves changed.

Inevitably, open conflict erupted between these two factions. Celestials attacked Aspirants, and the First Firmament was convulsed by all-out war. The battle raged for eons, on such a scale that the First Firmament itself was shattered into countless fragments when the warring parties finally detonated their ultimate weapons. The splintered remains of the Celestials and Aspirants became universes in their own right, forming a new Multiverse that was the next iteration of reality, the Second Cosmos. No longer in thrall to the First Firmament, the Celestials were free to explore this virgin cosmos as giant space gods, visiting planet after planet and experimenting upon any indigenous species they encountered.

Billions of years later, the planet Earth emerged from a maelstrom of space debris and roiling gases, forming around a bright yellow star that would one day be known as Sol. While the planet was still fresh and new, it was visited by the Celestial Progenitor. The space god was dying, and his arrival was merely happenstance, a cosmic fluke that would have a profound influence on the fate of the Earth and its inhabitants. Somewhere in the vastness of space, the Progenitor had been infected by a swarm of cosmic locusts called the Horde. Consumed from within by these monstrous parasites, the Progenitor had crashed to Earth in a fit of anguish and all-consuming insanity. As the Celestials life force ebbed away, his blood and decaying flesh seeped into the very fiber of the planet itself. This forever altered the Earth, making it unique among the stars as a potent breeding ground for superhuman beings and events. The Progenitors essence added to a primordial soup that would give birth to countless myths and legendsand ultimately give rise to the modern age of Super Heroes.