Marvel’s 'Eternals' Wouldn’t Exist Without A Half-Forgotten, Nonsense-Filled Bestseller From an Alien-Obsessed Swiss Hotel Manager

1968's 'Chariots of the Gods?' won over millions of readers, influenced comics great Jack Kirby and, eventually, inspired a film in which Angelina Jolie and others play ancient, godlike aliens.

Enduring comic book characters have a way of detaching themselves from the circumstances of their creation. Superman and Batman have been around for so long and appeared in many different media (to say nothing of t-shirts, lunchboxes, and the rest), but who now remembers that Superman wears capes and tights because creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster …