''Eclipse, The Magazine'' (renamed ''Eclipse'' from the second issue) was a black-and-white

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

magazine published bi-monthly by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

from 1981 to 1983. It was the company's first ongoing title, Eclipse having previously published

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s, and was designed as a competitor to the likes of ''

Epic Illustrated ''Epic Illustrated'' was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. Similar to the US-licensed comic book magazine ''Heavy Metal (magazine), Heavy Metal'', it allowed explicit content to be featured, un ...

'' and '' Heavy Metal''.

Overview

Like the rest of Eclipse's output at the time, the anthology allowed creators to retain ownership of their material. The format attracted an eclectic mix of contributors, from mainstream industry veterans such as

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight ...

and

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

figures including

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he ...

Rick Geary Rick Geary (born February 25, 1946) is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He is known for works such as ''A Treasury of Victorian Murder'' and graphic novel biographies of Leon Trotsky and J. Edgar Hoover. Biography Rick Geary was born on F ...

Hunt Emerson Hunt Emerson (born 1952) is an English cartoonist. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His many comic strips and graphic novels have ...

and

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired ...

, as well as newcomers to the medium like

Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic literature. His work has been published in several formats, such as his '' Ms. Tree'' series and his '' Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a fi ...

and

Charles Vess Charles Vess (born June 10, 1951) is an American fantasy artist and comics artist who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His influences include British "Golden Age" book illustrator Arthur Rackham, Czech Art Nouveau p ...

. There was no set format for contributions, which ranged from a single page to 11 pages in length, and mixed serialised stories with one-offs. Further freedom was permitted by Eclipse not being a signatory for the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of American comic book, comic books in the ...

and

Val Mayerik Val Mayerik (born March 29, 1950) is an American comic book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of the satiric character ''Howard the Duck'' for ''Marvel Comics''. Biography Early life and career Val Mayerik was born in Youngstown, ...

's "Role Model" and "Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others" in ''Eclipse'' #2–3 directly addressed the

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. ''Eclipse'' introduced several strips that would go on to appear elsewhere – Collins and

Terry Beatty Terry Beatty (born January 11, 1958''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107) is an artist who has worked as a penciler and inker in the American comic book industry, where he is perhaps best known for his co-creation of the female ...

created

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

detective Ms. Tree for the first issue, and would be ever-present in the magazine before receiving her own series from 1983; Englehart and

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

's ''

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

'' first appeared in the second issue, and would be collected in a graphic novel by Eclipse; McGregor and Colan's ''Ragamuffins'' would be similarly collected; and B.C. Boyer's tongue-in-cheek Masked Man would debut in #7, and later graduate to his own title. Due to the diverse number of contributors the magazine struggled to keep to its bi-monthly schedule; Eclipse publisher and title editor

Dean Mullaney Dean Mullaney (born June 18, 1954) is an American editor, publisher, and designer whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic-book companies. Eclipse published some of the first graphic novels and was o ...

would later state the difficulties in co-ordinating the freelance creators led to the title's cancellation after 8 issues. It was replaced by the color anthology '' Eclipse Monthly'', which ran from August 1983 to July 1984, and continued both ''The Masked Man'' and

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins ( Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic '' I ...

' adaptation of

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

'' Dope''.

Features

References

External links

* {{Steve Gerber 1981 comics debuts 1983 comics debuts Comics anthologies Comics publications Defunct American comics Eclipse Comics titles