Bypassing my opinion on the quality of the book for a minute, Eclipse #1 was definitely written with every bit of passion that you would expect from anyone working for the big two. Every bit of dialogue just bleeds genuine emotion. You can definitely tell that the people who created this have been fans of comics for a long time. There are some similarities here to some other very successful series. But my initial reaction to Eclipse #1 is that it was done by some very inexperienced people. That being said, it was definitely a very strong first attempt into the world of comic books. One bit of advice, though; to avoid looking inexperienced, research as much as you possibly can. Don’t rush. This first issue is by definition, an origin story. There is a story here that you don’t get to see very often in comics, if ever. A very moving and heartfelt story about a father and son lies in the pages of Eclipse #1. I will be honest, however, and say that it will definitely not seem like your stereotypical origin story. Usually a hero is created by loss, in this case, a decision is made to prevent loss from ever becoming an issue. I’m not exactly sure if I really buy the origin, because of the fact that there is no loss, but maybe that’s just because I’m so used to heroes being created by suffering, I don’t know. But the quick rundown of what ignites the conflict, is a young boy taking care of his disabled father. So it is definitely a little different than what you’ll already be used to.
Aside from the couple of negatives that I’ve already written, there are several grammatical errors. I know that in the heat of the moment those things don’t matter, but it tends to make the creators appear to lack a sense of professionalism. That may be something that they want to improve on next time. But on the bright side, the dialogue was written with a sense of heroism that isn’t used in the industry today. I’m glad that somebody out there isn’t afraid to go old school in that sense.
At times, the art was impressive. I kinda liked the character design for the hero. But when we were looking at the characters in street clothes, there really wasn’t much there. It was hard to get around it more so in some places.
In a nutshell, this series almost feels like a mix between Full House, Nightwing, and a cheesy 80’s action movie. That seems like a strange conglomeration, I know, but that’s what came to mind. So in closing, nice attempt everybody. This was definitely better than I thought it would be. Keep it up.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Trevor Talbott and Scott Meier Artist: Peter Raymond Publisher: S&T Comics Price: $0.99 Format: Digital Website