Who's This? A dead boy.
The facts: Originally a Quality comics character, Kid Eternity debuted in Hit Comics #25 (December 1942) in a story by Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff, two people who worked on Marvel Family comics at Fawcett, so we shouldn't be surprised that the Kid is Christopher "Kit" Freeman, no relation to Freddy Freeman, Captain Marvel Jr... until an unavoidable retcon made the two characters brothers when both publishers' heroes fell under the DC umbrella. Kid Eternity not only lasted 35 issues as Hit's lead feature, but also had his own series for 18 issues starting between 1946 and 1949. In 1991, Grant Morrison rebooted him as an agent of the Lords of Chaos in a 3-issue Prestige format mini-series that led to a Vertigo monthly by Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips (16 issues). This version of the character joined the Teen Titans in 2009 for a brief time. The New52 gave us yet another version, this one a coroner who can resurrect the dead, and he appeared here and there, but seems to have been forgotten as DC returned to "normal".
How you could have heard of him: Or now, her. There's a new Kid Eternity starring in Jeff Lemire's JSA series. She's styled like the Morrison/Vertigo character and brings JSAers back from the dead to keep them in the action (which certainly takes the sting out of losing any of them).
Example story: Kid Eternity #1 (March 1946 ) "Terror from the Tomb" by William Woolfolk and Al Bryant
Our story begins with Kid Eternity catching up on his studies in a library under Mr. Keeper's watchful eye. I like this, not just because I was a library rat myself at that age, but because it makes especial sense for a hero who can call historical figures from the afterlife. You can't do it if you don't know your history! Though these are usually "Boy's Own Adventure" versions of historical celebs, people modern history might draw as less heroic, I still enjoy the sort of educational remit Kid Eternity stories have baked into the premise. Of course, when he reads about monstrous Thuggoths, we're heading into completely fictional territory. And Mr. Keeper is startled and made apprehensive. Well, according to the lore dump, these beast-men were like reverse-phoenixes, killing people wherever they went until the last of them was destroyed by King Tut. What if, as the Kid supposes, all information about them was purged from the Library of Alexandria on purpose, setting up their return? Okay, we'll bite
And so will they, apparently. The Thuggoths are very coincidentally out there right now killing Egyptologists, really anyone who knows anything about the ancient race. It's time to ghost into action!
In Cairo, the next victim has figured it out, too, but he doesn't believe they exist. Not until they attack him, anyway! But as the Kid doesn't really have much to offer in a fight, it'll be up to his punch hitter from history... or myth! Or... something! Who is this Atlas, the "world's greatest weight lifter"?
Clearly, he's meant to be the Titan of myth, but the strip seems to acknowledge that that isn't real (say that to your brother, Blue Shazam!) so there must have been a real person who spawned the legend. That's not true according to my Robert Graves, and it makes me question the aforementioned educational remit of the strip. But let's keep reading. Atlas throws the Thuggoth around and kills it, but the damage was done. The archaeologist dies with King Tut's pyramid on his lips. Atlas is all, like, you're not thinking of going, are you?! And the Kid is all, like, of course, we are, but we don't need you, buh-bye! Seeing as Mr. Keeper had already mentioned the King Tut connection, I think the heroes would have gone there eventually. Or the Kid would have. Mr. Keeper is a bit of a coward, which is especially strange given that he's an intangible guardian angel.
On Earth-X, it seems the British never robbed the tomb of its treasures, because they're all still in there (no curse, then). But see, the thing about superheroes with magic words is that they can be stymied if silenced. A Thuggoth jumps him and covers his mouth, taking him down further into the tomb. But he struggles out of the creature's arms and essentially falls on him. Still, it's a fight he can't win, so he calls... William Tell!
Another Thuggoth bites the dust, possibly because they're rather useless against people who are already dead. But again, we're in the world of legend. Did William Tell really exist? Apparently, there's no evidence the folk hero actually lived, but this is comics. The legends are real. I'm okay with that. He finds the rest of the creatures in the pyramid's lower levels, but he can't understand what they're saying. Time to actually put some of his book-learnin' to use. From Eternity, he calls... famous linguist Johann Schleyer!
No, never heard of him either - or of Esperanto wannabe Volapük - but that's why we're here! To learn! Of course, we're not too surprised that the monsters are planning world conquest. So it's back to fighting and Tiglath IV is going to be our champion? Who?! Well, this was a common misnomer for Tiglath-Pileser III, apparently, so THAT'S why it didn't ring any bells. Cough, cough. Some Neo-Assyrian emperor and general, anyway, but he invented the standing army. Before him, it was all conscripts on a need basis. Maybe he was a deadly swordsman, too, I don't know. Anyway, his thing is ARMIES, so sending him alone against a cadre of Thuggoths won't work. It seems to me that if King Tut was responsible for finally (not quite) destroying them, he should be called in as a consultant. So here he is!
King Tut rounds the corner, intent on recapturing his ancient foes, and the Kid leaves the pyramid (uhm, what?!). He and Mr. Keeper see smoke from the creatures' funeral pyre, and all that's left is to send the historical celebrity back to Eternity. Did we just run out of pages, here?
Other celebs in this issue include Paul Bunyan, Porthos, and Lord Byron, as well as names I don't recognize who are probably more historical than one of the Three Musketeers. Regardless, I'll always have a soft spot for Kid Eternity in this form, because I love it when someone's powers continually bring up new abilities. And that's really what this is.
Who's Next? The future fastest man alive.
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