Review: "Eclipse" Issue 1

Reviewing this was a bit of an eye opener for me.

Look out, Eclipse! The villain got ahold of Pym Particles!

I got an email the other day from a couple guys who made a comic on Kickstarter; they were asking me to review it. I was ecstatic. But when I read it…. I didn’t think much of it, comparing it to the stuff I usually read. Until I researched its creators. Then I gave it a re-evaluation.

Trevor Talbott and Scott Meier, the guys behind Eclipse, are two completely normal, average guys who just wanted to make a comic. Heck, as far as I’ve been able to research, it’s their first. And with that knowledge, I now respect these two for what they’ve accomplished. I’ve seen “professional” comics that were much worse than this. While the art flounders at points, it looks really good when it actually decides whether it wants to look realistic or stylized.

"Stop calling me Nightwing!"

The main character is shown to be a good guy, even before he becomes a hero. Instead of having an Uncle Ben-type figure, he takes care of his Autistic father, which is an interesting twist on the familiar dynamic. (According to the creators, this was loosely based on a real relationship between two people they knew.) Unfortunately, the main character can easily come across as a cheap Nightwing ripoff at first. But you see the symbol on his chest? At the end of the issue, it revealed to be the symbol of the villain; this guy wears the symbol of his greatest enemy. Why? We’ll find out. There are definitely some interesting ideas at work here.

The first issue spends most of its time setting the stage for the character’s origin story and introducing our (unfortunately slightly generic) villain. Admittedly, the pacing could be better. However, as I said, there really are some interesting ideas here. If the next issue picks up the pace a bit and delivers on some of the mysteries promised by the first issue, this could be really good.

All in all, I’d say this isn’t a bad first issue for a first outing, and I think this title could be pretty interesting. There are a total of five issues planned, and if this sounds like your cup of tea, you might want to check out this series. I know I probably will. I want to see how this ends. Have a link!
http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product/125793/Eclipse-1