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Eclipse Comics

November 28, 2023

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 specialty store market. It was one of the first to offer royalties and creator ownership of rights.

Eclipse Comics
Founded1977
FoundersDean Mullaney
Jan Mullaney
Defunct1994
(intellectual property acquired by Todd McFarlane in 1996)
Headquarters locationStaten Island, New York, then Columbia, Missouri, then Guerneville, California, then Forestville, California
Key peopleCatherine Yronwode
Fred Burke
Letita Glozer
Beau Smith
Publication typesComics
Graphic novels
Trading cards
ImprintsIndependent Comics Group
4Winds Creative Group
Eclipse International

Creators whose early work appears in Eclipse publications included Scott McCloud, Timothy Truman, Dan Brereton, James Hudnall and Chris Ware, while the publisher also produced creator-owned work by Don McGregor, Mark Evanier, Gene Colan, Alan Moore, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber and P. Craig Russell.

History edit

Foundation edit

The company was founded as Eclipse Enterprises by brothers Jan and Dean Mullaney – the sons of early electronica musician Dave Mullaney of the band Hot Butter – in April 1977.[1][2] Dean Mullaney would later claim that he was inspired to create the company after learning of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's struggles to gain recognition for creating Superman in 1968, and that this led him to create a company with an ethos that respected creator ownership and royalty payments over the then-standard industry practice of work-for-hire.[3] Jan Mullaney, a session keyboardist who had toured with the Bee Gees and Bad Company, put up the $2000 starting money.[4]

The name was thought up by Sue Pollina, a friend of the Mullaneys, while the company's first logo was designed by Mark Gruenwald.[3] The company was initially headquartered at 81 Delaware Street, Staten Island, New York.[5]

Early graphic novels edit

Eclipse published one of the first original graphic novels, and the first to be sold through the new "direct market" of comic-book stores,[6] Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy. Published on 30 September 1978 and previewed in Heavy Metal, the book was a success. This led to the Mullaneys being contacted by P. Craig Russell, McGregor's collaborator on Marvel Comics' Amazing Adventures. Eclipse published Russell's experimental Night Music 1 in November 1979, by which time the company had also released a compilation of Fred Hembeck's parody Dateline: @!!?# strips from The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom.[3] Russell would later go on to create comic adaptations of numerous operas for Eclipse.[7] A more sophisticated logo was also commissioned from Tom Orzechowski; it would remain the company's insignia for the rest of its life, minor alterations aside. The profits earned to date were used to fund publication of McGregor's Detectives, Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green (with artist Marshall Rogers) and Steve Gerber's Stewart the Rat.[3] In 1980 Mullaney moonlighted as co-editor of the brand-new hobbyist publication Comics Feature, produced by Hal Schuster's New Media Publishing, but left after a year to focus on Eclipse.[8]

Ongoing titles edit

Not wanting to limit the company to graphic novels alone, the brothers devised Eclipse, the Magazine, a 68-page bi-monthly black-and-white anthology title with a rotating group of creator-owned characters. The first issue, dated May 1981, introduced the hard-boiled female detective Ms. Tree by Max Allan Collins and Steve Ditko's Static. The title would later introduce Steve Englehart's Coyote, Trina Robbins' adaptation of Sax Rohmer's Dope, McGregor and Colan's Ragamuffins (which Mullaney would later describe as "perhaps the finest thing we ever published") and B.C. Boyer's Masked Man.[3] October 1981 saw the publication of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar graphic novel The Price when the writer-artist was having contractual issues with Marvel. The success of the volume enabled Starlin to leverage a better deal with Marvel, and led to the creation of Marvel's Epic Comics imprint in 1982. Dean Mullaney would later claim Epic's name was purposefully picked to cause confusion with Eclipse.[4] Another disgruntled Marvel creator to work for Eclipse was Gerber; Eclipse commissioned his Destroyer Duck series. Another anthology, it was partly motivated to allow Gerber to raise funds to sue Marvel over the ownership of Howard the Duck. The first issue of Destroyer Duck sold 80,000 copies and proved to the Mullaneys that colour ongoing comics were viable; a Saber series started in 1982 and would run for 14 issues.[4][3]

In December 1981 production of Destroyer Duck introduced Dean Mullaney to Cat Yronwode, then news reporter for Comics Buyer's Guide.[9] At the time, Yronwode was working as an archivist for Will Eisner. Yronwode recalled that Eisner and his wife Ann "hosted a party for me with all these comic book men I was flirting with. All these men came up; they all wanted to meet Will. One of them was Dean Mullaney, the co-owner of Eclipse Comics, a small independent publishing house. He was the most flirtatious."[10] The pair began a personal and professional relationship,[4] though the former aspect was initially kept private. Yronwode rapidly became Eclipse's de facto editor-in-chief.[11]

Expansion edit

 
Catherine Yronwode and Dean Mullaney at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con

While Jan Mullaney remained based in New York to handle the economic side of the business, Dean Mullaney focused on the role of publisher and Yronwode that of editor-in-chief for Eclipse's growing number of titles, and the pair briefly relocated to Columbia, Missouri.[12] After meeting Mark Evanier and Will Meugniot Eclipse published their first superhero regular series, The DNAgents. It was joined by Eclipse Monthly, a colour successor to Eclipse, the Magazine that continued Static, Dope and Masked Man as well as introducing further characters. Ms. Tree was spun off into its own title, while Yronwode rediscovered Will Eisner's lost 1948 story John Law, which was published for the first time.[13][4] After the stopover in Missouri, Dean Mullaney and Yronwode established Eclipse's main offices in the small town of Guerneville in July 1983.[12] In October 1984 Jan Mullaney opted to discontinue his involvement in order to focus on his music career, leaving his brother as sole publisher and Yronwode officially promoted to editor-in-chief.[4] Eclipse's advertising copy flagged their stance on creator ownership,[14] the maturity of the material[15] and the individuality of the output[16]

Increased output included Scott McCloud's Zot! (which the writer-artist originally submitted through the mail) and Doug Moench's Aztec Ace.[12] Yronwode would effectively become the face of the company, continuing to write her influential Fit to Print comic in Comics Buyer's Guide and from late 1984 penning the Penumbra column printed in most Eclipse titles; it had previously been named Notes from Surf City in reference to the 1963 Jan and Dean song, an in-joke between the similarly named Mullaney brothers.[4] During this time her name was professionally rendered as "cat ⊕ yronwode" in CBG and Eclipse material, though other publishers were less exhaustive. The comic market experienced a downturn in 1984 due to a crowded market but Eclipse were successful enough to weather it; when rival Pacific Comics folded, Mullaney was able to arrange purchasing their titles. This included Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer, Mr. Monster and Somerset Holmes, as well as a recently signed deal for the American rights to Quality Communications' acclaimed British anthology Warrior. They also set up the Independent Comics Group to publish two issues of the anthology Twisted Tales, while Fred Burke would also join the company in 1984. Burke would go on to edit and write numerous titles for Eclipse.[17]

The inherited deal with Quality was fortuitously timed; Alan Moore had recently taken over writing Saga of the Swamp Thing for DC Comics, triggering the so-called British invasion. The Warrior deal brought in Axel Pressbutton and The Spiral Path, which would be coloured by Eclipse and printed in limited series, as well as taking over Peter Milligan's Strange Days anthology, starring Johnny Nemo.[4] The deal also included the acclaimed revival of Marvelman written by Moore, though legal issues – resulting in the book being retitled Miracleman – had to be resolved before Eclipse could run the title.[18] Miracleman was originally one of three 75¢ books launched by Eclipse (along with The New Wave and the new-material Laser Eraser and Pressbutton) as part of a short-lived deal with a Finnish printer at the time they were the cheapest direct market full colour comics ever made. However, the results of the printing were severely lacking and the price soon became unviable, with Eclipse reverting the books to their standard 95¢ bracket after the initial printing contract expired. After the Warrior material ran out Moore continued the series at Eclipse. Other new additions around this time were Timothy Truman's Scout, Larry Marder's Tales of the Beanworld and Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, Don Chin's spoof of the already-parodic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while Russell continued his adaptations with comic versions of the operas Salome and Pelleas and Melisandre under the Night Music banner. Eclipse also produced a series of Murray Ward's indexes to various DC titles, continuing from his deal with Pacific; to avoid the complication of Eclipse's logo appearing on books featuring another publisher's intellectual property, these were published via a sub-label named the Independent Comic Group.[4]

Eclipse attempted to innovate with new publishing models for comics. Among these were so-called "micro-series", limited series of two bi-weekly or even weekly issues;[4] a line of 3-D stereoscopy books in collaboration with Ray Zone (including the official adaptation of Disney Michael Jackson vehicle Captain EO)[19] and – later – flexi disc records containing theme songs for titles. By this point, Eclipse was selling around half a million comics a month, and was the third largest comics publisher after Marvel Comics and DC Comics.[20]

Flooding edit

Eclipse suffered a major setback on February 14, 1986, when the Russian River flooded after heavy rainfall. Eclipse's offices were swamped; the water reached the second floor of their building, as well as Mullaney and Yronwode's homes.[21] Mullaney would recall that Yronwode had to be rescued from her office by a Red Cross canoe;[22] while he was able to save much of the original artwork in the offices by moving it up to the third floor[21] It destroyed the company's inventory of back issues,[22] as well as colour separations for planned reprints of Zot! and Yronwode's notes for a non-fiction book about Steve Ditko.[23] The subject was covered in Fit to Print and Penumbra columns.[24] The events would be alluded to in a tongue-in-cheek framing sequence Yronwode wrote for Miracleman #8.[25] The damage caused was estimated at $200,000.[26]

Despite the material and financial losses, in July 1986 the company launched its first regular bi-weekly title, Airboy. A revival of a defunct Golden Age aviator hero originally published by Hillman Periodicals between 1942 and 1953, the series was written by the prolific Chuck Dixon. The title initially had another unusual format, being a 16-page 50¢ full-colour title initially.[21] While this was eventually dropped, Airboy would be a critical and commercial success for Eclipse, and several spin-off titles followed. Superhero series The New Wave also launched using the bi-weekly model before becoming a standard monthly.[27] To deal with the increasing output both Burke and Letita Glozer (Yronwode's half-sister) were added to the full-time editorial staff, while Beau Smith would join as Sales Manager.[22]

To avoid further flooding the company also relocated to Forestville in Sonoma County, California.[28] In July 1987, Yronwode used her Fit to Print column to announce her forthcoming marriage to Dean Mullaney, set to take place on August 15 in Forestville; readers were encouraged to write in to receive invitations.[29]

Setbacks edit

Eclipse's creator-owned ethos had commercial flaws; as the company owned few of its properties it was dependent on its freelancing creators to keep popular titles going as fill-in issues and spin-offs had to be cleared with the creators, who also had the rights to take their work to other publishers when contracts expired. After losing his lawsuit over Howard the Duck, Gerber wound down Destroyer Duck to return to his former employers Marvel as a freelancer;[30] Aztec Ace was cancelled due to the inability to find satisfactory artists;[31] Scott McCloud's work on the Creator's Bill of Rights caused delays on the award-winning Zot!;[32] Dave Stevens struck a deal with Comico to serialise new Rocketeer material;[23] DNAgents and its spin-off Crossfire were abandoned when Mark Evanier took on work for DC Comics;[4] Ty Templeton abandoned Stig's Inferno soon after transferring it to Eclipse when he received offers to work on Booster Gold;[33] and Miracleman slowed to a point where the bi-monthly title shipped three issues between April 1988 and December 1989 due to artist John Totleben's health issues.[34]

While Airboy and Scout remained solid sellers for the company further attempts to expand into superhero comics, such as The New Wave, Kurt Busiek's The Liberty Project, Tim Truman's The Prowler and Chuck Dixon's Strike! encountered little long-term success. Between 1987 and 1988 Eclipse's share of the market fell from around 8%[35] to 3.6% (also falling behind First Comics.[36] The successful emergence of Dark Horse Comics (who also took on Mr. Monster) further ate into Eclipse's share. The company began to explore non-fiction; Yronwode and Robbins co-wrote Women and the Comics, a volume on the history of female comic strip and comic book creators. As the first book on this subject, its publication was covered in the mainstream press in addition to the fan press.[37][38][39]

Eclipse International edit

Attempting to diversify, in 1988 the company created a new division, Eclipse International, to publish material from overseas. One source was Japan, where manga was produced in prodigious amounts; the success of imported anime such as Robotech and Voltron had showed a large potential market for such subject matter. A deal was struck with Shogakukan's subsidiary Viz Communication for some of their titles, which were translated and modified for the American market by Toren Smith's Studio Proteus.[40] The first titles were Area 88, Kamui and Mai, the Psychic Girl.[41] These were successful and were followed by other similar titles, including Appleseed.[22] However, before Eclipse could publish the heavily advertised Lum * Urusei Yatsura the title was halted due to "circumstances beyond [either party]'s control".[42] In November 1988 Viz chose not to renew their contract with Eclipse, instead setting up their own American publishing wing. Eclipse continued to work with Studio Proteus on other manga imports, including Dominion and The Lost Continent. The company also commissioned Adam Warren to create an English-language version of Dirty Pair.[43]

Alongside this it partnered with the British independent publisher Acme Press to distribute their comics in the American market.[44] Highlights from the relationship included Power Comics, a four-issue superhero title with art by Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland; Aces, a five-issue black-and-white anthology of serialized Jazz Age genre stories which were originally published in Europe; licensed James Bond material[45] in the form of the official adaptation of latest film Licence to Kill[46] and three issue mini-series James Bond: Permission to Die — the first James Bond comic book storyline not adapted from a previous work — both featuring art from Mike Grell; mini-series Steed and Mrs. Peel (based on television show The Avengers but renamed to avoid confusion with the highly prominent Marvel Comics series of that name) by Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson; and Eddie Campbell's The Complete Alec.[47] The collection won the 1991 UK Comic Art Award for Best Graphic Novel Collection.[48] The deal ended in 1992.

Total Eclipse edit

As their tenth anniversary approached, Eclipse planned Total Eclipse, a company-wide crossover in the style of DC's blockbuster Crisis on Infinite Earths. Due to most of its characters being creator-owned permission had to be sought from each individually; many acceded.[49] Eclipse put considerable resources into the prestige-format "super series", including hiring Crisis writer Marv Wolfman to script the series and commissioning covers from Bill Sienkiewicz.[50] Despite promotional stunts such as bespoke plastic bags for comics stores,[51] Total Eclipse was beset by delays and a commercial and critical failure, nixing any hopes of relaunching the likes of Strike! and The New Wave on the back of its success.[52] Soon afterwards production problems saw the stalwart Airboy put on hiatus after 50 issues,[53] while Scout would likewise stall before mooted third series Scout: Marauder could begin. At the end of 1989 Eclipse would announce they were turning away from mainstream comics to 'special projects'.[54]

Trading cards edit

One of these avenues were adult-orientated trading cards. In 1988 Eclipse had become the first comics company to produce such items with the Iran-Contra Scandal Trading Cards, with text written by Paul Brancato and featuring art by Salim Yaqub.[55] These were a commercial success, and led to other similar sets on other deliberately provocative subjects – gaining Eclipse considerable mainstream publicity in the process.[56]

Other sets included:

Less sensational subject matter also included baseball bloopers,[81] James Bond, Country Music and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon.[82]

Decline and closure edit

After the failure of Total Eclipse, Eclipse would largely discontinue superhero comics bar the ongoing Zot! (which would end in 1991[83]) and Miracleman. Instead comics output would largely focus on literary adaptations, including J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit,[84] Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight[54] and several Clive Barker works,[85] either as mini-series, one shots or graphic novels. Otherwise the company focused on collected editions, and only occasional titles – such as Truman's revisiting of pulp hero The Spider[86] or zeitgeist-tapping spoofs such as X-Farce[87] (a satire on Rob Liefeld's X-Force) and Loco vs. Pulverine[88] (based on Lobo and Wolverine) made any impression on sales charts. Several titles, such as a new Aztec Ace mini-series and several titles under the Eclipse F/X horror label, were announced but failed to reach publication.[59]

By 1991 Eclipse typically held around 1% of the market and had been definitively overtaken by Malibu, Valiant and Image. Having always done most of their business with comic stores rather than larger retailers, Eclipse were one of many small publishers adversely affected by the post-speculator boom contraction of the direct market, and by a problematic contract with the book publisher HarperCollins.[89]

Bankruptcy edit

Problems were exacerbated when Mullaney and Yronwode underwent a messy divorce during 1993;[90] Yronwode would later claim that Mullaney began behaving erratically and emptying Eclipse accounts.[91] The company was left so low on resources that despite receiving completed versions of Miracleman #25 and spin-off Miracleman Triumphant #1 no printer would extent them credit to print the comics.[92] Eclipse's last publication was its Spring 1993 catalog, which was a complete bibliography of its publications, and it ceased business in 1994[93] before finally filing for bankruptcy in 1995.[94]

Assets edit

The company's intellectual property rights were later acquired by Todd McFarlane for a total of $25,000.[95] Due to most of the company's titles being creator-owned this largely consisted of the Airboy characters and trademarks for some of the anthology titles; at the time McFarlane and others involved believed it also included a two-third share in Miracleman.[96] Eventually it would be discovered that Quality Communications, and thus Eclipse, had never correctly licensed the characters from creator Mick Anglo.[97]

Controversies edit

Payment of creators edit

After their contract with Eclipse ended in 1988, manga translator Toren Smith's Studio Proteus signed with Dark Horse. Finding his income suddenly increasing despite similar sales, Smith instigated an audit of Eclipse's finances, revealing double-entry bookkeeping to avoid paying the agreed royalties. A large judgement was eventually made against Eclipse, the losses from which were a factor in the company's strained finances.[92]

Garry Leach,[98] Dez Skinn,[99] Alan Davis,[100] Neil Gaiman,[92] Mark Buckingham,[101] Dave Stevens[102] and Mike Deodato[92] have all gone on the record to state they were either not paid or not paid correctly for work with Eclipse, while Davis has also stated his work was published without his permission.[100]

Lawsuits edit

In 1992, the convicted serial killer Kenneth Bianchi, one-half of the pair known as the Hillside Stranglers, sued Yronwode for USD$8.5 million for having an image of his face depicted on a trading card; he claimed his face was his trademark. The judge dismissed the case after ruling that, if Bianchi had been using his face as a trademark when he was killing women, he would not have tried to hide it from the police.[103][104]

Eclipse was also a plaintiff when Nassau County, New York, seized a crime-themed trading card series of theirs under a county ordinance prohibiting sales of certain trading cards to minors.[105] The case, in which Yronwode testified and the American Civil Liberties Union provided Eclipse's representation, reached the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. It ruled against the county, overturning the ordinance.[106][107][108]

Titles edit

Main article: List of Eclipse Comics publications

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Mullaney, Jan; Mullaney, Dean (August 1978). "A Word from the Publisher". Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species. Eclipse Enterprises.
  2. ^ McGregor, Don (August 1978). "Afterword". Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species. Eclipse Enterprises.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Mullaney, Dean (w). "Ten Years After!" Total Eclipse, no. 1 (May 1988). Eclipse Comics.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bob Hughes (June 1, 1988). "Enlarging the Penumbra". Amazing Heroes. No. 142. Fantagraphics Books.
  5. ^ "Eclipse Comics". USPTO Report.
  6. ^ Gough, Bob (2001). . MileHighComics.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  7. ^ Rockwell, John (April 5, 1990). "Conan in Comics? Yes. Hulk? Sure. But Fafner? Wotan?". The New York Times. from the original on April 28, 2015.
  8. ^ Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames (eds.). "Dean Mullaney". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. from the original on May 11, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  9. ^ Mullaney, Dean (w). "Kingston, Youngstown, San Bernandino?" Total Eclipse, no. 2 (August 1988). Eclipse Comics.
  10. ^ Andelman, Bob (2005). Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Milwaukie, Oregon: M Press. p. 220. ISBN 1-59582-011-6.
  11. ^ Heidi MacDonald (May 15, 1988). "Cat Yronwode - Editor in Chief". Amazing Heroes. No. 141. Fantagraphics Books.
  12. ^ a b c Mullaney, Dean (w). "In Chicago Even Beans Do It!" Total Eclipse, no. 3 (November 1988). Eclipse Comics.
  13. ^ Markstein, Don. "John Law". Don Markstein's Toonopedia.
  14. ^ "This guy is totally bored with comics! (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 62/1985 Preview Issue. Redbeard, Inc. January 1, 1985.
  15. ^ "I grew up! (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 66. Redbeard, Inc. March 1, 1985.
  16. ^ "The Eclipse Formula (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 67. Fantagraphics. March 15, 1985.
  17. ^ Mullaney, Dean (w). "California, Here I Come!" Total Eclipse, no. 4 (January 1989). Eclipse Comics.
  18. ^ Sergi, Joe (2015). The Law for Comic Book Creators. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 9780786473601.
  19. ^ Valentino (February 1, 1989). "An Index to 3-D Comics". Amazing Heroes. No. 158. Fantagraphics Books.
  20. ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2015). Overstreet Comic Book Marketplace Yearbook 2015-2016. Gemstone Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1603601801.
  21. ^ a b c "Newsflashes". Amazing Heroes. No. 90. Fantagraphics Books. March 1, 1986.
  22. ^ a b c d Mullaney, Dean (w). "Ten Years Later" Total Eclipse, no. 5 (April 1989). Eclipse Comics.
  23. ^ a b "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 147. Fantagraphics Books. August 15, 1988.
  24. ^ Yronwode, Catherine; Nagasiva, Nagasiva (2002). "The Lesser Book of the Vishanti: A Companion to the Dr. Strange Comic Books". LuckyMojo.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  25. ^ Yronwode (w), Beckum, Chuck (a). "(untitled framing sequence)" Miracleman, no. 8 (June 1986). Eclipse Comics.
  26. ^ John Lustig (July 15, 1986). "New Eclipse Universe". Amazing Heroes. No. 99. Fantagraphics Books.
  27. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 103. Fantagraphics Books. September 1, 1986.
  28. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 116. Fantagraphics Books. May 1, 1987.
  29. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". *Amazing Heroes. No. 120. Fantagraphics Books. July 1, 1987.
  30. ^ Shayer, Jason (December 2008). "Steve Gerber in the Marvel Universe". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (#31): 33–40.
  31. ^ "Newsflashes". Amazing Heroes. No. 80. Fantagraphics Books. October 1, 1985.
  32. ^ Heidi MacDonald (January 15, 1988). "Zot!". Amazing Heroes. No. 133/Preview Special 6. Fantagraphics Books.
  33. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 123. Fantagraphics Books. August 15, 1987.
  34. ^ Khoury, George (2001). "Miracleman Index". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  35. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 125. Fantagraphics Books. September 15, 1987.
  36. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 161. Fantagraphics Books. March 15, 1989.
  37. ^ "Women in the Comics: Assertive and Independent Women Make a Comeback" Miami Herald (newspaper), December 1, 1988.
  38. ^ "Comic Books Are For Adults Too" by William Singleton, Scripps Howard News Service, Chronicle-Telegram (newspaper), January 7, 1988.
  39. ^ "Funny How Things Change" Daily Herald (newspaper), December 28, 1988.
  40. ^ Darwin McPherson (July 1990). "Inside Studio Proteus - a talk with Toren Smith". Amazing Heroes. No. 181. Fantagraphics Books.
  41. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 116. Fantagraphics Books. May 1, 1987.
  42. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 142. Fantagraphics Books. June 1, 1988.
  43. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 146. Fantagraphics Books. August 1, 1988.
  44. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 136. Fantagraphics Books. February 29, 1988.
  45. ^ Curson, Natasha. "Acme – take two Earthquake Pills and exit over cliff...," Natasha Curson blog (August 18, 2010).
  46. ^ Conroy, Mike (2004). 500 Great Comicbook Action Heroes. London: Chrysalis Books Group. ISBN 978-1-84411-004-9, p. 293.
  47. ^ Yang, Sam. "A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Eddie Campbell," The Comics Journal #145 (Oct. 1991), p. 59.
  48. ^ "British Awards Announced," The Comics Journal #142 (June 1991), p. 17.
  49. ^ Andy Mangels (January 15, 1988). "Total Eclipse". Amazing Heroes. No. 133/Preview Special 6. Fantagraphics Books.
  50. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 136. Fantagraphics Books. February 29, 1988.
  51. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 138. Fantagraphics Books. April 1, 1988.
  52. ^ Williams-Pennick, Virginia (October 15, 1988). "Comics in Review". Amazing Heroes. No. 151. Fantagraphics.
  53. ^ Ed Sample (August 1, 1989). "Airboy". Amazing Heroes. No. 170/Preview Special 9. Fantagraphics Books.
  54. ^ a b "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 174. Fantagraphics Books. December 1989.
  55. ^ "Top of the News (advertisement)". Amazing Heroes. No. 159. Fantagraphics Books. February 15, 1989.
  56. ^ "The Beautifully Drawn True Crime Trading Cards From The '90s Were An Instant Outrage". Ranker.
  57. ^ Sheldon Weibe, Ed Sample & Gil Jordan (January 15, 1989). "Graphic Novels". Amazing Heroes. No. 157/Preview Special. Fantagraphics Books.
  58. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 184. Fantagraphics Books. October 1990.
  59. ^ a b "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 196. Fantagraphics Books. November 1991.
  60. ^ Crossen, Judith. "Trading Card Fame for S&L Scoundrels", Reuters via Philadelphia Daily News, September 9, 1991
  61. ^ Trausch, Susan. "A Full Deck of Scandals at a Glance", Boston Globe, September 18, 1991
  62. ^ "Insider Trading with Keating, Milken", Los Angeles Daily News, October 20, 1991
  63. ^ Rubin, Paul (August 14, 1991). "Keating Gets Carded: Your Money Might Be Safer in These than in an S&L". Phoenix New Times. from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  64. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 179. Fantagraphics Books. May 1990.
  65. ^ Jones, Kathryn. "Price tag on JFK intrigue Assassination aficionados spawn cottage industry",The Dallas Morning News, November 22, 1991
  66. ^ "Kennedy Assassination is an Industry with Growing Market", Associated Press via The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio), November 28, 1991
  67. ^ Rogers Cadenhead (February 1991). "Reviews - Misc". Amazing Heroes. No. 188. Fantagraphics Books.
  68. ^ "1992: Crime and Punishment Trading Cards". Total Eclipse.
  69. ^ "Where It's Wall-to-Wall Celebrities : An Illustrator Pictorializes Star-Conscious L.A. for Palms' Famous Gallery". Los Angeles Times.
  70. ^ "Ban Urged on Sale of Crime Cards", The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey), April 30, 1992
  71. ^ "'True Crime' Cards Thriving Despite Outrage", The New York Times, June 16, 1992
  72. ^ "Killer Cards Hit Capital Stores Amid Criticism", Sacramento Bee, June 19, 1992
  73. ^ "Killer Cards: Two groups trying to deal fatal blow to criminal cards", The Oregonian, August 18, 1992
  74. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 201. Fantagraphics Books. July 1992.
  75. ^ "1993: True Crime Trading Card Booklets". Total Eclipse.
  76. ^ "AIDS cards to include condoms", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (newspaper), September 23, 1992)
  77. ^ "AIDS Awareness is in the cards", Dallas Morning News, July 7, 1993
  78. ^ "AIDS Activism turns to cards", Dayton Daily News, July 13, 1993
  79. ^ "Ban Sought on Cards depicting AIDS victim", Boston Globe, January 15, 1994
  80. ^ Hutchinson, B. (1993). It’s in the AIDS cards. Alberta Report / Newsmagazine, 20(25), 21
  81. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 190. Fantagraphics Books. May 1991.
  82. ^ "Trading Cards". Total Eclipse.
  83. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 187. Fantagraphics Books. January 1991.
  84. ^ Ed Sample (August 1, 1989). "The Hobbit". Amazing Heroes. No. 170/Preview Special 9. Fantagraphics Books.
  85. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 193. Fantagraphics Books. August 1991.
  86. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 192. Fantagraphics Books. July 1991.
  87. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 199. Fantagraphics Books. January 1992.
  88. ^ "Newsline". Amazing Heroes. No. 203. Fantagraphics Books. July 1992.
  89. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (March 30, 2007). . "The Beat" (column), Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 7, 2007.
  90. ^ "Newswatch: Business News: Eclipse Copes with Divorce and Back Debt". The Comics Journal (165): 12. January 1994.
  91. ^ Khoury, George (2001). "Miracleman and the Days of Eclipse". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  92. ^ a b c d Khoury, George (2001). "Ages of Gold, Silver and the Darkness". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  93. ^ "Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown". The Comics Journal (172): 13–18. November 1994.
  94. ^ "Newswatch: Eclipse Files for Bankruptcy". The Comics Journal (174): 25. February 1995.
  95. ^ "McFarlane Buys Eclipse Assets at Auction". The Comics Journal (185): 14–15. March 1996.
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  99. ^ Khoury, George (2001). "Reign of the Warrior King". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  100. ^ a b Khoury, George (2001). "Magic Words and Marvelmen". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  101. ^ Khoury, George (2001). "Buckingham and An Age of Miracles". Kimota! The Miracleman Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781605490274.
  102. ^ "Comic Book Artist Magazine #15 - Dave Stevens Interview - TwoMorrows Publishing". twomorrows.com.
  103. ^ "Serial Killer Sues Trading Card Maker", San Jose Mercury News, December 18, 1992
  104. ^ "Card-Carrying Rebels: Two Guerrilla Journalists Turn Crime and Crises into Camp Collectibles" by Kathleen Donnelly, San Jose Mercury News (newspaper), January 10, 1993
  105. ^ "Nassau County Limits Sale of Crime Trading Cards". The New York Times (newspaper), June 16, 1992
  106. ^ "Nassau Is Faulted for Law Over Killer Trading Cards", The New York Times (newspaper), October 17, 1995
  107. ^ "Arts & First Amendment Issues: Comic Books". First Amendment Center. Archived from the original on December 21, 2004. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
  108. ^ "ECLIPSE ENTERPRISES INC v. GULOTTA | FindLaw". caselaw.findlaw.com. 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.

External links edit

November 28, 2023
eclipse, comics, american, comic, book, publisher, several, independent, publishers, during, 1980s, early, 1990s, 1978, published, first, graphic, novel, intended, newly, created, comic, book, specialty, store, market, first, offer, royalties, creator, ownersh. 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 specialty store market It was one of the first to offer royalties and creator ownership of rights Eclipse ComicsFounded1977FoundersDean MullaneyJan MullaneyDefunct1994 intellectual property acquired by Todd McFarlane in 1996 Headquarters locationStaten Island New York then Columbia Missouri then Guerneville California then Forestville CaliforniaKey peopleCatherine YronwodeFred BurkeLetita GlozerBeau SmithPublication typesComicsGraphic novelsTrading cardsImprintsIndependent Comics Group4Winds Creative GroupEclipse InternationalCreators whose early work appears in Eclipse publications included Scott McCloud Timothy Truman Dan Brereton James Hudnall and Chris Ware while the publisher also produced creator owned work by Don McGregor Mark Evanier Gene Colan Alan Moore Steve Englehart Steve Gerber and P Craig Russell Contents 1 History 1 1 Foundation 1 1 1 Early graphic novels 1 1 2 Ongoing titles 1 2 Expansion 1 2 1 Flooding 1 3 Setbacks 1 3 1 Eclipse International 1 3 2 Total Eclipse 1 4 Trading cards 1 5 Decline and closure 1 5 1 Bankruptcy 1 5 2 Assets 2 Controversies 2 1 Payment of creators 2 2 Lawsuits 3 Titles 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editFoundation edit The company was founded as Eclipse Enterprises by brothers Jan and Dean Mullaney the sons of early electronica musician Dave Mullaney of the band Hot Butter in April 1977 1 2 Dean Mullaney would later claim that he was inspired to create the company after learning of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster s struggles to gain recognition for creating Superman in 1968 and that this led him to create a company with an ethos that respected creator ownership and royalty payments over the then standard industry practice of work for hire 3 Jan Mullaney a session keyboardist who had toured with the Bee Gees and Bad Company put up the 2000 starting money 4 The name was thought up by Sue Pollina a friend of the Mullaneys while the company s first logo was designed by Mark Gruenwald 3 The company was initially headquartered at 81 Delaware Street Staten Island New York 5 Early graphic novels edit Eclipse published one of the first original graphic novels and the first to be sold through the new direct market of comic book stores 6 Sabre Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy Published on 30 September 1978 and previewed in Heavy Metal the book was a success This led to the Mullaneys being contacted by P Craig Russell McGregor s collaborator on Marvel Comics Amazing Adventures Eclipse published Russell s experimental Night Music 1 in November 1979 by which time the company had also released a compilation of Fred Hembeck s parody Dateline strips from The Buyer s Guide to Comics Fandom 3 Russell would later go on to create comic adaptations of numerous operas for Eclipse 7 A more sophisticated logo was also commissioned from Tom Orzechowski it would remain the company s insignia for the rest of its life minor alterations aside The profits earned to date were used to fund publication of McGregor s Detectives Inc A Remembrance of Threatening Green with artist Marshall Rogers and Steve Gerber s Stewart the Rat 3 In 1980 Mullaney moonlighted as co editor of the brand new hobbyist publication Comics Feature produced by Hal Schuster s New Media Publishing but left after a year to focus on Eclipse 8 Ongoing titles edit Not wanting to limit the company to graphic novels alone the brothers devised Eclipse the Magazine a 68 page bi monthly black and white anthology title with a rotating group of creator owned characters The first issue dated May 1981 introduced the hard boiled female detective Ms Tree by Max Allan Collins and Steve Ditko s Static The title would later introduce Steve Englehart s Coyote Trina Robbins adaptation of Sax Rohmer s Dope McGregor and Colan s Ragamuffins which Mullaney would later describe as perhaps the finest thing we ever published and B C Boyer s Masked Man 3 October 1981 saw the publication of Jim Starlin s Dreadstar graphic novel The Price when the writer artist was having contractual issues with Marvel The success of the volume enabled Starlin to leverage a better deal with Marvel and led to the creation of Marvel s Epic Comics imprint in 1982 Dean Mullaney would later claim Epic s name was purposefully picked to cause confusion with Eclipse 4 Another disgruntled Marvel creator to work for Eclipse was Gerber Eclipse commissioned his Destroyer Duck series Another anthology it was partly motivated to allow Gerber to raise funds to sue Marvel over the ownership of Howard the Duck The first issue of Destroyer Duck sold 80 000 copies and proved to the Mullaneys that colour ongoing comics were viable a Saber series started in 1982 and would run for 14 issues 4 3 In December 1981 production of Destroyer Duck introduced Dean Mullaney to Cat Yronwode then news reporter for Comics Buyer s Guide 9 At the time Yronwode was working as an archivist for Will Eisner Yronwode recalled that Eisner and his wife Ann hosted a party for me with all these comic book men I was flirting with All these men came up they all wanted to meet Will One of them was Dean Mullaney the co owner of Eclipse Comics a small independent publishing house He was the most flirtatious 10 The pair began a personal and professional relationship 4 though the former aspect was initially kept private Yronwode rapidly became Eclipse s de facto editor in chief 11 Expansion edit nbsp Catherine Yronwode and Dean Mullaney at the 1982 San Diego Comic ConWhile Jan Mullaney remained based in New York to handle the economic side of the business Dean Mullaney focused on the role of publisher and Yronwode that of editor in chief for Eclipse s growing number of titles and the pair briefly relocated to Columbia Missouri 12 After meeting Mark Evanier and Will Meugniot Eclipse published their first superhero regular series The DNAgents It was joined by Eclipse Monthly a colour successor to Eclipse the Magazine that continued Static Dope and Masked Man as well as introducing further characters Ms Tree was spun off into its own title while Yronwode rediscovered Will Eisner s lost 1948 story John Law which was published for the first time 13 4 After the stopover in Missouri Dean Mullaney and Yronwode established Eclipse s main offices in the small town of Guerneville in July 1983 12 In October 1984 Jan Mullaney opted to discontinue his involvement in order to focus on his music career leaving his brother as sole publisher and Yronwode officially promoted to editor in chief 4 Eclipse s advertising copy flagged their stance on creator ownership 14 the maturity of the material 15 and the individuality of the output 16 Increased output included Scott McCloud s Zot which the writer artist originally submitted through the mail and Doug Moench s Aztec Ace 12 Yronwode would effectively become the face of the company continuing to write her influential Fit to Print comic in Comics Buyer s Guide and from late 1984 penning the Penumbra column printed in most Eclipse titles it had previously been named Notes from Surf City in reference to the 1963 Jan and Dean song an in joke between the similarly named Mullaney brothers 4 During this time her name was professionally rendered as cat yronwode in CBG and Eclipse material though other publishers were less exhaustive The comic market experienced a downturn in 1984 due to a crowded market but Eclipse were successful enough to weather it when rival Pacific Comics folded Mullaney was able to arrange purchasing their titles This included Dave Stevens The Rocketeer Mr Monster and Somerset Holmes as well as a recently signed deal for the American rights to Quality Communications acclaimed British anthology Warrior They also set up the Independent Comics Group to publish two issues of the anthology Twisted Tales while Fred Burke would also join the company in 1984 Burke would go on to edit and write numerous titles for Eclipse 17 The inherited deal with Quality was fortuitously timed Alan Moore had recently taken over writing Saga of the Swamp Thing for DC Comics triggering the so called British invasion The Warrior deal brought in Axel Pressbutton and The Spiral Path which would be coloured by Eclipse and printed in limited series as well as taking over Peter Milligan s Strange Days anthology starring Johnny Nemo 4 The deal also included the acclaimed revival of Marvelman written by Moore though legal issues resulting in the book being retitled Miracleman had to be resolved before Eclipse could run the title 18 Miracleman was originally one of three 75 books launched by Eclipse along with The New Wave and the new material Laser Eraser and Pressbutton as part of a short lived deal with a Finnish printer at the time they were the cheapest direct market full colour comics ever made However the results of the printing were severely lacking and the price soon became unviable with Eclipse reverting the books to their standard 95 bracket after the initial printing contract expired After the Warrior material ran out Moore continued the series at Eclipse Other new additions around this time were Timothy Truman s Scout Larry Marder s Tales of the Beanworld and Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters Don Chin s spoof of the already parodic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while Russell continued his adaptations with comic versions of the operas Salome and Pelleas and Melisandre under the Night Music banner Eclipse also produced a series of Murray Ward s indexes to various DC titles continuing from his deal with Pacific to avoid the complication of Eclipse s logo appearing on books featuring another publisher s intellectual property these were published via a sub label named the Independent Comic Group 4 Eclipse attempted to innovate with new publishing models for comics Among these were so called micro series limited series of two bi weekly or even weekly issues 4 a line of 3 D stereoscopy books in collaboration with Ray Zone including the official adaptation of Disney Michael Jackson vehicle Captain EO 19 and later flexi disc records containing theme songs for titles By this point Eclipse was selling around half a million comics a month and was the third largest comics publisher after Marvel Comics and DC Comics 20 Flooding edit Eclipse suffered a major setback on February 14 1986 when the Russian River flooded after heavy rainfall Eclipse s offices were swamped the water reached the second floor of their building as well as Mullaney and Yronwode s homes 21 Mullaney would recall that Yronwode had to be rescued from her office by a Red Cross canoe 22 while he was able to save much of the original artwork in the offices by moving it up to the third floor 21 It destroyed the company s inventory of back issues 22 as well as colour separations for planned reprints of Zot and Yronwode s notes for a non fiction book about Steve Ditko 23 The subject was covered in Fit to Print and Penumbra columns 24 The events would be alluded to in a tongue in cheek framing sequence Yronwode wrote for Miracleman 8 25 The damage caused was estimated at 200 000 26 Despite the material and financial losses in July 1986 the company launched its first regular bi weekly title Airboy A revival of a defunct Golden Age aviator hero originally published by Hillman Periodicals between 1942 and 1953 the series was written by the prolific Chuck Dixon The title initially had another unusual format being a 16 page 50 full colour title initially 21 While this was eventually dropped Airboy would be a critical and commercial success for Eclipse and several spin off titles followed Superhero series The New Wave also launched using the bi weekly model before becoming a standard monthly 27 To deal with the increasing output both Burke and Letita Glozer Yronwode s half sister were added to the full time editorial staff while Beau Smith would join as Sales Manager 22 To avoid further flooding the company also relocated to Forestville in Sonoma County California 28 In July 1987 Yronwode used her Fit to Print column to announce her forthcoming marriage to Dean Mullaney set to take place on August 15 in Forestville readers were encouraged to write in to receive invitations 29 Setbacks edit Eclipse s creator owned ethos had commercial flaws as the company owned few of its properties it was dependent on its freelancing creators to keep popular titles going as fill in issues and spin offs had to be cleared with the creators who also had the rights to take their work to other publishers when contracts expired After losing his lawsuit over Howard the Duck Gerber wound down Destroyer Duck to return to his former employers Marvel as a freelancer 30 Aztec Ace was cancelled due to the inability to find satisfactory artists 31 Scott McCloud s work on the Creator s Bill of Rights caused delays on the award winning Zot 32 Dave Stevens struck a deal with Comico to serialise new Rocketeer material 23 DNAgents and its spin off Crossfire were abandoned when Mark Evanier took on work for DC Comics 4 Ty Templeton abandoned Stig s Inferno soon after transferring it to Eclipse when he received offers to work on Booster Gold 33 and Miracleman slowed to a point where the bi monthly title shipped three issues between April 1988 and December 1989 due to artist John Totleben s health issues 34 While Airboy and Scout remained solid sellers for the company further attempts to expand into superhero comics such as The New Wave Kurt Busiek s The Liberty Project Tim Truman s The Prowler and Chuck Dixon s Strike encountered little long term success Between 1987 and 1988 Eclipse s share of the market fell from around 8 35 to 3 6 also falling behind First Comics 36 The successful emergence of Dark Horse Comics who also took on Mr Monster further ate into Eclipse s share The company began to explore non fiction Yronwode and Robbins co wrote Women and the Comics a volume on the history of female comic strip and comic book creators As the first book on this subject its publication was covered in the mainstream press in addition to the fan press 37 38 39 Eclipse International edit Attempting to diversify in 1988 the company created a new division Eclipse International to publish material from overseas One source was Japan where manga was produced in prodigious amounts the success of imported anime such as Robotech and Voltron had showed a large potential market for such subject matter A deal was struck with Shogakukan s subsidiary Viz Communication for some of their titles which were translated and modified for the American market by Toren Smith s Studio Proteus 40 The first titles were Area 88 Kamui and Mai the Psychic Girl 41 These were successful and were followed by other similar titles including Appleseed 22 However before Eclipse could publish the heavily advertised Lum Urusei Yatsura the title was halted due to circumstances beyond either party s control 42 In November 1988 Viz chose not to renew their contract with Eclipse instead setting up their own American publishing wing Eclipse continued to work with Studio Proteus on other manga imports including Dominion and The Lost Continent The company also commissioned Adam Warren to create an English language version of Dirty Pair 43 Alongside this it partnered with the British independent publisher Acme Press to distribute their comics in the American market 44 Highlights from the relationship included Power Comics a four issue superhero title with art by Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland Aces a five issue black and white anthology of serialized Jazz Age genre stories which were originally published in Europe licensed James Bond material 45 in the form of the official adaptation of latest film Licence to Kill 46 and three issue mini series James Bond Permission to Die the first James Bond comic book storyline not adapted from a previous work both featuring art from Mike Grell mini series Steed and Mrs Peel based on television show The Avengers but renamed to avoid confusion with the highly prominent Marvel Comics series of that name by Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson and Eddie Campbell s The Complete Alec 47 The collection won the 1991 UK Comic Art Award for Best Graphic Novel Collection 48 The deal ended in 1992 Total Eclipse edit As their tenth anniversary approached Eclipse planned Total Eclipse a company wide crossover in the style of DC s blockbuster Crisis on Infinite Earths Due to most of its characters being creator owned permission had to be sought from each individually many acceded 49 Eclipse put considerable resources into the prestige format super series including hiring Crisis writer Marv Wolfman to script the series and commissioning covers from Bill Sienkiewicz 50 Despite promotional stunts such as bespoke plastic bags for comics stores 51 Total Eclipse was beset by delays and a commercial and critical failure nixing any hopes of relaunching the likes of Strike and The New Wave on the back of its success 52 Soon afterwards production problems saw the stalwart Airboy put on hiatus after 50 issues 53 while Scout would likewise stall before mooted third series Scout Marauder could begin At the end of 1989 Eclipse would announce they were turning away from mainstream comics to special projects 54 Trading cards edit One of these avenues were adult orientated trading cards In 1988 Eclipse had become the first comics company to produce such items with the Iran Contra Scandal Trading Cards with text written by Paul Brancato and featuring art by Salim Yaqub 55 These were a commercial success and led to other similar sets on other deliberately provocative subjects gaining Eclipse considerable mainstream publicity in the process 56 Other sets included Friendly Dictators Trading Cards in 1989 by Dennis Bernstein Laura Sydell and Bill Sienkiewicz 57 Bush League Trading Cards in 1990 by Brancato and Yaqub The Comedy Channel presents the Rock Bottom Awards by Peggy Gordon and Sienkiewicz this was a more light hearted set that mixed political and celebrity targets 58 Savings amp Loan Scandal Trading Cards in 1991 by Bernstein Sydell and Stewart Stanyard 59 60 61 62 63 Coup D Etat The Assassination of John F Kennedy Trading Cards in 1991 by Brancato and Sienkiewicz 64 These benefitted from an increased interest in conspiracy theories about the killing due to Oliver Stone s film JFK bringing it to a wider audience 65 66 67 Crime and Punishment Trading Cards in 1992 by Bruce Carroll and Bill Lignante featuring excerpts from famous criminal cases such as Sirhan Sirhan and Squeaky Fromme 68 Lignante was a former courtroom sketch artist 69 True Crime in 1992 by Max Allan Collins George Hagenauer Paul Lee Valarie Jones Peggy Collier and Jon Bright Covering both mafia and gang figures such as Al Capone and Hymie Weiss to more recent mass killers such as John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer this another to draw considerable controversy after an Eclipse press release was picked up by Entertainment Tonight leading to accusations of sensationalism 70 71 72 73 The series was also lambasted on The Today Show and The Maury Povich Show while Michigan senators put forward a resolution to ban the cards before they had even been released while legislators in Maryland and Arkansas made similar moves Reporting on the issue comics industry magazine Amazing Heroes noted Shel Tone Publications similar Bloody Visions set had attracted no such censure when released previously 74 Yronwode would later claim Eclipse received around 10 000 items of hate mail and wrote about the controversy when the cards were collected as a pair of albums True Crime Vol 1 G Men amp Gangsters and True Crime Vol 2 Serial Killers amp Mass Murderers in 1993 75 AIDS Awareness Trading Cards in 1993 which sought to provide a greater awareness of the effects and history of the disease the set was packaged with a condom 76 77 78 79 and mixed information about the disease with images of both everyday and celebrity victims including Freddie Mercury Liberace and Rudolf Nureyev as well as including a theory that AIDS had been developed by teams of American and Soviet bio warfare technicians and tested on people in Africa and Haiti before being introduced to North America s homosexual population 80 Less sensational subject matter also included baseball bloopers 81 James Bond Country Music and National Lampoon s Loaded Weapon 82 Decline and closure edit After the failure of Total Eclipse Eclipse would largely discontinue superhero comics bar the ongoing Zot which would end in 1991 83 and Miracleman Instead comics output would largely focus on literary adaptations including J R R Tolkien s The Hobbit 84 Anne McCaffrey s Dragonflight 54 and several Clive Barker works 85 either as mini series one shots or graphic novels Otherwise the company focused on collected editions and only occasional titles such as Truman s revisiting of pulp hero The Spider 86 or zeitgeist tapping spoofs such as X Farce 87 a satire on Rob Liefeld s X Force and Loco vs Pulverine 88 based on Lobo and Wolverine made any impression on sales charts Several titles such as a new Aztec Ace mini series and several titles under the Eclipse F X horror label were announced but failed to reach publication 59 By 1991 Eclipse typically held around 1 of the market and had been definitively overtaken by Malibu Valiant and Image Having always done most of their business with comic stores rather than larger retailers Eclipse were one of many small publishers adversely affected by the post speculator boom contraction of the direct market and by a problematic contract with the book publisher HarperCollins 89 Bankruptcy edit Problems were exacerbated when Mullaney and Yronwode underwent a messy divorce during 1993 90 Yronwode would later claim that Mullaney began behaving erratically and emptying Eclipse accounts 91 The company was left so low on resources that despite receiving completed versions of Miracleman 25 and spin off Miracleman Triumphant 1 no printer would extent them credit to print the comics 92 Eclipse s last publication was its Spring 1993 catalog which was a complete bibliography of its publications and it ceased business in 1994 93 before finally filing for bankruptcy in 1995 94 Assets edit The company s intellectual property rights were later acquired by Todd McFarlane for a total of 25 000 95 Due to most of the company s titles being creator owned this largely consisted of the Airboy characters and trademarks for some of the anthology titles at the time McFarlane and others involved believed it also included a two third share in Miracleman 96 Eventually it would be discovered that Quality Communications and thus Eclipse had never correctly licensed the characters from creator Mick Anglo 97 Controversies editPayment of creators edit After their contract with Eclipse ended in 1988 manga translator Toren Smith s Studio Proteus signed with Dark Horse Finding his income suddenly increasing despite similar sales Smith instigated an audit of Eclipse s finances revealing double entry bookkeeping to avoid paying the agreed royalties A large judgement was eventually made against Eclipse the losses from which were a factor in the company s strained finances 92 Garry Leach 98 Dez Skinn 99 Alan Davis 100 Neil Gaiman 92 Mark Buckingham 101 Dave Stevens 102 and Mike Deodato 92 have all gone on the record to state they were either not paid or not paid correctly for work with Eclipse while Davis has also stated his work was published without his permission 100 Lawsuits edit In 1992 the convicted serial killer Kenneth Bianchi one half of the pair known as the Hillside Stranglers sued Yronwode for USD 8 5 million for having an image of his face depicted on a trading card he claimed his face was his trademark The judge dismissed the case after ruling that if Bianchi had been using his face as a trademark when he was killing women he would not have tried to hide it from the police 103 104 Eclipse was also a plaintiff when Nassau County New York seized a crime themed trading card series of theirs under a county ordinance prohibiting sales of certain trading cards to minors 105 The case in which Yronwode testified and the American Civil Liberties Union provided Eclipse s representation reached the 2nd Circuit U S Court of Appeals It ruled against the county overturning the ordinance 106 107 108 Titles editMain article List of Eclipse Comics publicationsSee also edit1977 in comicsReferences edit Mullaney Jan Mullaney Dean August 1978 A Word from the Publisher Sabre Slow Fade of an Endangered Species Eclipse Enterprises McGregor Don August 1978 Afterword Sabre Slow Fade of an Endangered Species Eclipse Enterprises a b c d e f Mullaney Dean w Ten Years After Total Eclipse no 1 May 1988 Eclipse Comics a b c d e f g h i j k Bob Hughes June 1 1988 Enlarging the Penumbra Amazing Heroes No 142 Fantagraphics Books Eclipse Comics USPTO Report Gough Bob 2001 Interview with Don McGregor MileHighComics com Archived from the original on July 16 2011 Retrieved September 13 2011 Rockwell John April 5 1990 Conan in Comics Yes Hulk Sure But Fafner Wotan The New York Times Archived from the original on April 28 2015 Bails Jerry Ware Hames eds Dean Mullaney Who s Who of American Comic Books 1928 1999 Archived from the original on May 11 2007 Retrieved November 25 2020 Mullaney Dean w Kingston Youngstown San Bernandino Total Eclipse no 2 August 1988 Eclipse Comics Andelman Bob 2005 Will Eisner A Spirited Life Milwaukie Oregon M Press p 220 ISBN 1 59582 011 6 Heidi MacDonald May 15 1988 Cat Yronwode Editor in Chief Amazing Heroes No 141 Fantagraphics Books a b c Mullaney Dean w In Chicago Even Beans Do It Total Eclipse no 3 November 1988 Eclipse Comics Markstein Don John Law Don Markstein s Toonopedia This guy is totally bored with comics advertisement Amazing Heroes No 62 1985 Preview Issue Redbeard Inc January 1 1985 I grew up advertisement Amazing Heroes No 66 Redbeard Inc March 1 1985 The Eclipse Formula advertisement Amazing Heroes No 67 Fantagraphics March 15 1985 Mullaney Dean w California Here I Come Total Eclipse no 4 January 1989 Eclipse Comics Sergi Joe 2015 The Law for Comic Book Creators McFarland Incorporated Publishers ISBN 9780786473601 Valentino February 1 1989 An Index to 3 D Comics Amazing Heroes No 158 Fantagraphics Books Overstreet Robert M 2015 Overstreet Comic Book Marketplace Yearbook 2015 2016 Gemstone Publishing p 77 ISBN 978 1603601801 a b c Newsflashes Amazing Heroes No 90 Fantagraphics Books March 1 1986 a b c d Mullaney Dean w Ten Years Later Total Eclipse no 5 April 1989 Eclipse Comics a b Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 147 Fantagraphics Books August 15 1988 Yronwode Catherine Nagasiva Nagasiva 2002 The Lesser Book of the Vishanti A Companion to the Dr Strange Comic Books LuckyMojo com Archived from the original on September 13 2012 Retrieved September 28 2010 Yronwode w Beckum Chuck a untitled framing sequence Miracleman no 8 June 1986 Eclipse Comics John Lustig July 15 1986 New Eclipse Universe Amazing Heroes No 99 Fantagraphics Books Newsline Amazing Heroes No 103 Fantagraphics Books September 1 1986 Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 116 Fantagraphics Books May 1 1987 Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 120 Fantagraphics Books July 1 1987 Shayer Jason December 2008 Steve Gerber in the Marvel Universe Back Issue Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 31 33 40 Newsflashes Amazing Heroes No 80 Fantagraphics Books October 1 1985 Heidi MacDonald January 15 1988 Zot Amazing Heroes No 133 Preview Special 6 Fantagraphics Books Newsline Amazing Heroes No 123 Fantagraphics Books August 15 1987 Khoury George 2001 Miracleman Index Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 125 Fantagraphics Books September 15 1987 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 161 Fantagraphics Books March 15 1989 Women in the Comics Assertive and Independent Women Make a Comeback Miami Herald newspaper December 1 1988 Comic Books Are For Adults Too by William Singleton Scripps Howard News Service Chronicle Telegram newspaper January 7 1988 Funny How Things Change Daily Herald newspaper December 28 1988 Darwin McPherson July 1990 Inside Studio Proteus a talk with Toren Smith Amazing Heroes No 181 Fantagraphics Books Newsline Amazing Heroes No 116 Fantagraphics Books May 1 1987 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 142 Fantagraphics Books June 1 1988 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 146 Fantagraphics Books August 1 1988 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 136 Fantagraphics Books February 29 1988 Curson Natasha Acme take two Earthquake Pills and exit over cliff Natasha Curson blog August 18 2010 Conroy Mike 2004 500 Great Comicbook Action Heroes London Chrysalis Books Group ISBN 978 1 84411 004 9 p 293 Yang Sam A Loaf of Bread A Jug of Wine and Eddie Campbell The Comics Journal 145 Oct 1991 p 59 British Awards Announced The Comics Journal 142 June 1991 p 17 Andy Mangels January 15 1988 Total Eclipse Amazing Heroes No 133 Preview Special 6 Fantagraphics Books Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 136 Fantagraphics Books February 29 1988 Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 138 Fantagraphics Books April 1 1988 Williams Pennick Virginia October 15 1988 Comics in Review Amazing Heroes No 151 Fantagraphics Ed Sample August 1 1989 Airboy Amazing Heroes No 170 Preview Special 9 Fantagraphics Books a b Newsline Amazing Heroes No 174 Fantagraphics Books December 1989 Top of the News advertisement Amazing Heroes No 159 Fantagraphics Books February 15 1989 The Beautifully Drawn True Crime Trading Cards From The 90s Were An Instant Outrage Ranker Sheldon Weibe Ed Sample amp Gil Jordan January 15 1989 Graphic Novels Amazing Heroes No 157 Preview Special Fantagraphics Books Newsline Amazing Heroes No 184 Fantagraphics Books October 1990 a b Newsline Amazing Heroes No 196 Fantagraphics Books November 1991 Crossen Judith Trading Card Fame for S amp L Scoundrels Reuters via Philadelphia Daily News September 9 1991 Trausch Susan A Full Deck of Scandals at a Glance Boston Globe September 18 1991 Insider Trading with Keating Milken Los Angeles Daily News October 20 1991 Rubin Paul August 14 1991 Keating Gets Carded Your Money Might Be Safer in These than in an S amp L Phoenix New Times Archived from the original on September 14 2011 Retrieved September 13 2011 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 179 Fantagraphics Books May 1990 Jones Kathryn Price tag on JFK intrigue Assassination aficionados spawn cottage industry The Dallas Morning News November 22 1991 Kennedy Assassination is an Industry with Growing Market Associated Press via The Chronicle Telegram Elyria Ohio November 28 1991 Rogers Cadenhead February 1991 Reviews Misc Amazing Heroes No 188 Fantagraphics Books 1992 Crime and Punishment Trading Cards Total Eclipse Where It s Wall to Wall Celebrities An Illustrator Pictorializes Star Conscious L A for Palms Famous Gallery Los Angeles Times Ban Urged on Sale of Crime Cards The Record Bergen County New Jersey April 30 1992 True Crime Cards Thriving Despite Outrage The New York Times June 16 1992 Killer Cards Hit Capital Stores Amid Criticism Sacramento Bee June 19 1992 Killer Cards Two groups trying to deal fatal blow to criminal cards The Oregonian August 18 1992 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 201 Fantagraphics Books July 1992 1993 True Crime Trading Card Booklets Total Eclipse AIDS cards to include condoms Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper September 23 1992 AIDS Awareness is in the cards Dallas Morning News July 7 1993 AIDS Activism turns to cards Dayton Daily News July 13 1993 Ban Sought on Cards depicting AIDS victim Boston Globe January 15 1994 Hutchinson B 1993 It s in the AIDS cards Alberta Report Newsmagazine 20 25 21 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 190 Fantagraphics Books May 1991 Trading Cards Total Eclipse Newsline Amazing Heroes No 187 Fantagraphics Books January 1991 Ed Sample August 1 1989 The Hobbit Amazing Heroes No 170 Preview Special 9 Fantagraphics Books Newsline Amazing Heroes No 193 Fantagraphics Books August 1991 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 192 Fantagraphics Books July 1991 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 199 Fantagraphics Books January 1992 Newsline Amazing Heroes No 203 Fantagraphics Books July 1992 MacDonald Heidi March 30 2007 Mullaney on Eclipse The Beat column Publishers Weekly Archived from the original on May 7 2007 Newswatch Business News Eclipse Copes with Divorce and Back Debt The Comics Journal 165 12 January 1994 Khoury George 2001 Miracleman and the Days of Eclipse Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 a b c d Khoury George 2001 Ages of Gold Silver and the Darkness Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown The Comics Journal 172 13 18 November 1994 Newswatch Eclipse Files for Bankruptcy The Comics Journal 174 25 February 1995 McFarlane Buys Eclipse Assets at Auction The Comics Journal 185 14 15 March 1996 Neil Gaiman s Journal Last Legal Post for a long time Journal neilgaiman com February 25 2004 Retrieved October 15 2013 CCI Cup O Joe Marvelman at Marvel Comic Book Resources July 24 2009 Retrieved October 15 2013 Khoury George 2001 The Architect of Miracleman Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 Khoury George 2001 Reign of the Warrior King Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 a b Khoury George 2001 Magic Words and Marvelmen Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 Khoury George 2001 Buckingham and An Age of Miracles Kimota The Miracleman Companion TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 9781605490274 Comic Book Artist Magazine 15 Dave Stevens Interview TwoMorrows Publishing twomorrows com Serial Killer Sues Trading Card Maker San Jose Mercury News December 18 1992 Card Carrying Rebels Two Guerrilla Journalists Turn Crime and Crises into Camp Collectibles by Kathleen Donnelly San Jose Mercury News newspaper January 10 1993 Nassau County Limits Sale of Crime Trading Cards The New York Times newspaper June 16 1992 Nassau Is Faulted for Law Over Killer Trading Cards The New York Times newspaper October 17 1995 Arts amp First Amendment Issues Comic Books First Amendment Center Archived from the original on December 21 2004 Retrieved 2006 09 26 ECLIPSE ENTERPRISES INC v GULOTTA FindLaw caselaw findlaw com 2015 Retrieved October 17 2015 External links editEclipse Comics at the Grand Comics Database Total Eclipse Blog Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eclipse Comics amp oldid 1185237486, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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