Kid Eternity

The Original Kid Eternity (Quality Comics)

Kid Eternity was engineered by Quality in 1942, to boost Hit Comics, one of its lower-selling titles. The hero’s artistic creator was Sheldon Moldoff, who confirmed in an interview with Roy Thomas (Alter Ego #4, Spring 2000) that he was a freelancer at the time. He answered a call from Quality to draw this feature, but he admitted, “it didn’t work out, and I just did maybe a couple of stories, and that was it.”

The story in Hit Comics #25 doesn’t bear Moldoff's byline, but it was added by DC when they reprinted the story in Secret Origins #4 (Sept./Oct. 1973; Moldoff worked for DC at the time). The writer at Toonopedia cites Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff as the Kid’s creators. Binder wrote mostly for Fawcett, Archie and Marvel in the early 1940s. Some sources erroneously attribute the art in early “Kid Eternity” stories to Mac Raboy. Busy Arnold cleared this up: “Mac Raboy never did any work for Quality Comics,” (per a letter to researcher Jerry Bails dated May 1972). Raboy was the primary artist for Fawcett’s Captain Marvel, Jr., who later became Kid Eternity’s fictional brother at DC. This might have spurred some indexers to wishful thinking.

The character definitely borrowed elements from Fawcett’s successful Captain Marvel family. Like them, the Kid summoned aid from beyond and used a special magic word—“Eternity!”—to access his powers. Also like the Marvels, Kid Eternity was an adolescent. He behaved rather impetuously, and was sometimes ungrateful and disrespectful towards his mentor, Mr. Keeper.

The life of this unnamed boy changed on the day he sailed aboard his grandfather’s boat, off the east coast of the United States, where they were hit by an Axis submarine. Not content to sink the ship, the Nazis also shot and killed those who leapt to safety—including the boy. An American destroyer chased it off but it was too late. When the boy arrived at the Pearly Gates, he was stopped; it seemed his name wasn’t “on his list.” The gatekeeper called for Mr. Keeper, whose mistake it was that the boy had come to heaven. To atone, Mr. Keeper brought the lad’s spirit back into his body, and with a clap of his hands, a ray of light struck the boy’s corpse and he lived again! Further, Mr. Keeper endowed him with great powers, reciting the creed: “Justice shall never perish from the realm of the Living. It shall exist throughout eternity!” Upon the word “eternity,” they were transported through the Corridor of Time. Uttering it again, they entered the Land of Eternity (a.k.a. the afterlife, or heaven) where they observed history’s heroes: Hercules, Samson, George Washington and more. As Kid Eternity, the boy was now neither dead nor alive. On Earth, he could call upon any of these historical persons. (Hit Comics #25)

On his first case, he followed a missing person into the lair of Doctor Pain, who fancied himself a modern day Dr. Frankenstein. Kid Eternity summoned up Robin Hood (one of his more frequent helpers) and then Blackhawk. (#26)

Matching Kid Eternity’s pace was quite the job for Mr. Keeper, who preferred napping and not to exert himself. Sometimes Mr. Keeper had to teach the Kid a lesson by withholding his powers. The Kid’s next case became a debacle after he tricked “Keep” into transforming two ordinary guys into he-men. For misusing his power, Keep removed Kid Eternity’s powers. Meanwhile, some crooks had witnessed these men’s transformations and told their leader, Her Highness. This diabolical granny sent her agent, the beguiling Silk, to capture the men. When the Kid investigated, Keep saw fit to restore his powers, and he called upon Samson to defeat Her Highness’ gang. Mr. Keeper’s trust in Kid Eternity’s judgment was restored, and he allowed the boy to return the two men to their “improved” selves. Her Highness and Silk weaseled out of prosecution. (#27) These anti-heroines were spun off into their own feature, which ran in Hit Comics #28–57.

Rather than solving the world’s problems, Kid Eternity chose personal charity cases. His powers were quickly broadened to include fictional characters, so it was a “mere technicality” to bring Sherlock Holmes back (because he seemed real to many). (#29)

It was mayhem on Earth when Father Time’s time machine was broken, and Kid Eternity found that his library of helpers had come to life all at once. When a Roman Caesar took over New York, the Kid called upon a dizzying array of champions such as Vercingetorix the Gaul, Jim Jeffries, and Zybisco, until the problem was resolved. (#30)

Kid Eternity’s lack of education affected his ability to conjure appropriate helpers for a given situation. Mr. Keeper tried in vain to encourage him to study history at the library. When Eternity was faced with rescuing people from a flaming oil rig, he couldn’t think of anyone to help. Keeper himself summoned the god Mercury to usher everyone to safety, and the Kid learned his lesson. (#33)

The first woman summoned by the Kid was the silent film star Sarah Bernhardt. This was during a case involving a bratty young actress, Rita Rowley. When Rita went on location in the Southwest desert, the Kid found an opportunity to reunite her with her long-lost father and correct her selfish ways. (#34) 

The heroes could also travel back through time, going to 1636 to lift an old curse, (#36) and to visit Paul Revere. (Kid Eternity #2)

When Thor was summoned and his hammer missed its mark, the god was incensed. The god managed his own return and together they solved the mystery: his bolt missed its target because of a hidden antenna. (Hit #38)

The first issue of Kid Eternity featured a trio of super-villains. The first was the beastly Thuggoths (evil counterparts to the phoenix), which emerged from an Egyptian tomb. King Tut-ankh-amen was summoned to re-imprison them. Queen Matilda and her Amazon-like sisters enslaved men until she was shown how superior men were. And the Kid chose to finish off the evil Kali with his own fists, sending him to a watery grave. (Kid Eternity #1) The stories in Kid Eternity sometimes sprinkled in historical events as well as characters. Subjects included the Middle Ages, the time of Treasure Island, and the Wright Brothers. The latter was a sprawling tale about the inventor of a steam-powered plane, and a land of dinosaurs and cave men. (#5)

Sometimes he found it necessary to summon history’s villains. But after summoning Attila the Hun, he found that Mr. Keeper had again taken away his powers, and the magic word failed to send the Hun back. Once he’d learned his lesson, the Kid brought in Genghis Khan to show Attila that “evil doesn’t pay.” (Hit #40) Captain Kidd and his crew managed to escape from Eternity because someone had forgotten to “check them in.” They declared war on the US Navy but John Paul Jones helped bring them down. (#41) This happened again when a million year old man wasn’t checked in to Eternity and ran amok on Earth, leading conquerors to victory (not unlike DC’s Vandal Savage). Kid Eternity called another cave man to send him to his rightful death. (#52)

Lally Lawton became enamored of the Kid’s abilities and for romance advice, he called upon Lord Byron, who advised him to make her jealous. He won her over instead by saving her from kidnappers who were after her inheritance. Afterwards, she invited him to a party. Keeper allowed it—if he maintained a low profile. (#46)

Murder Marton was scheduled for the electric chair. His gang rigged the chair so that he was imbued with super-lightning powers, becoming the Lightning Man. Ben Franklin used a lighting rod to stop (and kill) him. (Kid Eternity #7)

Perhaps the heroes’ biggest battle was a real invasion of men from Mars! Eternity warned the Air Force about their green blanket of “mould” that caused semi-paralysis over Junction City. The Martians ordered everyone to vacate the country as the Kid was taken to their leader, Lt. Kona. The scientist, Steinmetz, identified their machine and helped neutralize the mould. (Hit #50)

A real magician called Skir made paintings come to life, and could walk through walls; he got speared by the Salem witch judge, Hathorne. (Kid Eternity #9) When green bat-winged men attacked from another dimension, the Kid followed them home, where they were no match for a British tank. Their leader, Zotar, was killed and the rest surrendered. (#10) And the inventor Professor Zbloni hypnotized Kid Eternity with his super-video-telepathizer, making him call upon Adolf Hitler. (#13)

Two tales introduced the infernal opposites of Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper. Keep revealed that he had an evil twin brother who was banished from Eternity over a million years ago to Stygia. This twin escaped, knocked out Keeper, and fooled the powerless Kid Eternity, who managed to send him back to Stygia using the “Cup of Jove.” (#11) The Kid’s Stygian equal was the Master Man, empowered by the devil to summon the likes of Rasputin and Torquemada by shouting “Stygia!” Master Man’s Batu Khan lost against Eternity’s Charles Martel. For his failure, the devil brought Master Man back to Hell. (#15) Note: “Master Man” was also the name of a short-lived Fawcett character that debuted right after Captain Marvel.

Eternal Life at DC

Nearly 30 years after his last appearance, Kid Eternity was reintroduced at DC Comics by writer E. Nelson Bridwell. In Alter Ego #17, Bridwell cited several Golden Age heroes among his childhood favorites, one of which was Kid Eternity. His tales in Shazam! remained fairly true to the Golden Age. He and artist Kurt Shaffenberger placed Captain Marvel’s Family on “Earth-S,” where they’d been trapped in a globe of Suspendium since 1954. Nearly two decades later the Suspendium melted in the sun and they were freed. When Captain Marvel faced his old foe Sivana again (Shazam! #27, Jan./Feb. 1977), the mad scientist used his time machine to dredge up historical villains. Billy Batson implored his benefactors Mercury for help and the god sent Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper to him. The Kid mopped up the villains in a snap by summoning their equal number in historical heroes. Afterwards, the two heroes parted ways with little fanfare.

Bridwell continued the Marvel Family’s adventures in World’s Finest Comics. In issue #268 (May 1981), readers learned that Kid Eternity was the brother of Captain Marvel Jr. (Freddy Freeman)! Their father, David Freeman, was a fisherman who was lost in a great hurricane. His mother, Rebecca Troop Freeman, also perished in the storm. Freddy and his brother—Christopher “Kit” Freeman—went to live with their only surviving relatives. Kit went to their grandfather Dan Troop, and Freddy to their grandfather Jacob Freeman. A few years later, both were transformed into super-heroes. Bridwell’s decision to link Kid Eternity with Captain Marvel Jr. undoubtedly stemmed from their similar origin stories. Both lost their grandfathers while boating and had similar power sources. 

Kid Eternity helped the Marvels in secret by summoning troops from World War II to help defeat alien invaders from Prenzor. (World’s Finest #276) The Marvels were confused by this sudden appearance of historical helpers. Eternity sent Jack (of beanstalk fame) to Cap Jr. (#277) and the Norse hero Thjalfi to help Mary Marvel. (#278) Freddy recalled a similar incident during World War II, when he was aided by someone resembling the fabled Sherlock Holmes (this, from an actual tale in Captain Marvel Jr. #2!). After sending the ancient healer, Asklepios, to help them, Kid Eternity revealed himself as their benefactor. It was then that Captain Marvel Jr. recognized Eternity as his brother, Kit. (#279)

Catching up, the brothers realized that their fates had been reversed: on the day that Kit Freeman had been unjustly whisked to the afterlife, Freddy Freeman’s life was saved by Captain Marvel. The Marvels sought the counsel of Shazam, who verified their history. (#280) Now a member of the “Marvel Family,” Kid Eternity helped them take down Mister Mind. Kit used both of his powers to defeat the worm. First, he called upon Sigurd Fafnir’s-Bane to free the Marvels, and then he became invisible and disabled Mind’s power device. (#281)

His next adventure (by Bridwell and artist Gil Kane) featured the surprising return of Her Highness and Silk. The “ladies” teamed with the Marvels’ foe, Aunt Minerva. Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper overheard their plans to steal charity proceeds. By working together, they easily mopped up Her Highness’ men. Eternity even summoned two heroines to help: Annie Oakley and Penthesileia, the Amazon. (#282)

In his last pre-Crisis appearance, Kid Eternity’s return prompted Satan to assemble an army of super-villains, including his creation, the Master Man. The Marvels mopped up the Master Man’s champions and Kid Eternity kayoed the Man with his own fists. (Adventure Comics #491-492)

Powers

The original Kid Eternity had two primary super-powers. Because he was technically dead, his natural state was “ghostlike.” In that state he was invisible, and could fly through space, even quickly across great distances. Upon uttering his magic word, “eternity,” he became tangible, visible, and effectively mortal. Kid Eternity used that same word to summon an unlimited number of people from the afterlife—which was also called Eternity. Fictional or real, Kid Eternity only needed to know of an individual to summon him. There was no apparent time limit on the people’s visits. In his first case only, Kid Eternity transformed himself into the historical person. The Kid wasn’t the best hand-to-hand combatant, but that didn’t stop him from using his fists. Mr. Keeper had the power to withhold Kid Eternity’s powers. And if Keeper was absent or incapacitated, the Kid was powerless. Keeper was unable to intervene directly in matters on Earth (most of the time).