Eclipse Volume 1 (Eclipse, 1)

Very good storyline and art. The art really makes the story work. Makes smooth flow of action and character development. I already purchased volume 2

good story

This trade paperback compiles all four issues of ‘Eclipse’, published by Top Cow from September –December 2016. The book also contains a cover gallery, a commentary on selected pages, profiles of the main characters, and remarks from the colorist and letterer.‘Eclipse’ was the first comic series written by Zack Kaplan. It’s also one of the better miniseries released in 2016.The backstory to ‘Eclipse’ is offbeat and original: an intergalactic solar flare has made sunlight much stronger and more lethal, so much so that anyone exposed to sunlight without benefit of a protective covering will melt within seconds.The Flare has turned the surface of the Earth into a depopulated wasteland, and in New York City, civilization survives underground. During the night hours, people come up to the darkened streets of the city, but when the alarms sound for the approach of dawn, everyone retreats down the subway stairs to their subterranean abodes.David Baxter is an ‘Iceman’, one of the technicians whose special suits allow them to go about in the daylight hours, tending the solar arrays that provide New York City with its power.As the series opens, the Icemen have discovered a melted corpse lying in a city street. Bible verses have been scrawled on a nearby wall, raising suspicions that the dead man has been murdered.A reluctant Baxter is recruited by the City’s mayor, Nick Brandt, to assist an investigative team looking into the murder. It seems that a person(s) unknown has been making threats against the children of the city’s business and political luminaries, including Brandt’s daughter Rose.As Baxter delves into the origin of the threats, he discovers that the perpetrator is no ordinary disgruntled citizen - and that Nick Brandt is keeping secrets about questionable actions by his own lackeys…..What makes ‘Eclipse’ a noteworthy debut is writer Kaplan’s attention to the obvious stuff – stuff that often gets neglected in so many contemporary comics.For example, the opening pages give exposition, in the form of narrative boxes, revealing the story of the Flare and its effects on civilization. In an era in which comics writers are admonished to ‘show, don’t tell’, a philosophy that too often gives rise to incoherent narratives, it’s refreshing to see a writer cue the reader in to what is taking place early on in the narrative. I didn’t find myself having to parse out conversational asides, snatches of radio or television transmissions, excerpts from books and magazines, lectures to kids in a classroom, angst-ridden soliloquies, etc., etc. in order to obtain the backstory.As well, Kaplan provides as a hero the traditional square-jawed, white male with a loner mentality. In an era in which too many writers fall over themselves in trying to craft ‘complex’ lead characters, the simplicity that Kaplan provides means that the plot doesn’t get sidetracked by detailing the travails of the hero’s personal psychodramas.Another strong point of ‘Eclipse’ is the artwork by Giovanni Timpano. Using a more detailed style that calls to mind the work of Juan Ferreya (‘Rex Mundi’) and the ‘Eurocomics’ approach to artwork, Timpano is adept at rendering the action scenes that are the bread-and-butter of ‘Eclipse’, as well as the necessarily more static depictions of the abandoned streets of New York City (in a sense, the real ‘star’ of the series).Colorist Chris Northrop is another reason the series succeeds so well, giving the daytime scenes of New York City the bleached-out, overexposed look in keeping with the concept of an Earth being irradiated by an apocalyptic solar flare.Summing up, ‘Eclipse’ successfully combines the murder mystery / cynical private eye genre with a near-future sci-fi treatment, and does so using a clear and straightforward narrative. I’m going to be looking for further installments in this franchise.

I had the oportunity to meek Zack at the Rose City Comicon. Great guy. Hearing him articulate the world in which he has set his story was exiting. His passion is strong and comes through in his book. It motivated me to purchace volume one and two on the spot and I am glad I did. It reads like a much more mature story than you would expect from a first time author. It is an engaging and enjoyable read. I've worked nights for 18 years and I really like his twist on the graveyard shift. Can not wait to read more from this young man!

A neat sci-fi horror concept falls prey to choppy storytelling and a rather simple showdown between hero and psychotic, cliche villain. At the start we learn a horrifying fact that a solar flare has fried billions of people on Earth, and now people need to flee underground during the day or get cooked in an instant. This is such a helpless situation, that the star millions of miles away from us, the one that provides us with life, could transform into an unstoppable killer.Of course, people, having ingenuity as they do, develop suits that allow them to explore during the daytime, suits called Icemen Suits. Bax is one such Iceman, and he finds himself caught up in an investigation into what appears murder using the sun. The development of this murder mystery is less interesting than the sci-fi concepts that Zack Kaplan shows on the page with the help of artist Giovanni Timpano and colorist Chris Northrop. Those latter two do a great job portraying the world, particularly the blazing sun, and they lessen the horror of crispy bodies by making them appear like something out of a Simpsons cartoon show.The problem is that the story moves a little too quickly, choppily so, jumping from scene to scene every page. Characters and relations are given little time to develop. This is particularly evident when Bax is alone with the Governor's daughter, protecting her. Instead of taking time to develop any intimacy between the two (not necessarily romance), Kaplan jumps to the next section of his story. Most characters are barely memorable, and one, Valerie, is memorable both for her irrelevance and the fact that she for some reason wears her blouse buttoned down while in her lab.Above all this is an action sci-fi story, and it is an entertaining, if sometimes silly one. There are some breathtaking scenes of the city, of a huge solar panel farm, and these are undercut by the usual action stunts you might find in a mediocre Hollywood actioner, complete with the one-dimensional baddy. I'll probably read the rest of the series because of the cool science and art.

This comic collection deals with a world where the sun has become hot enough to burn and kill so, in New York, the people live underground during the day, only coming out at night. The forces of law and order try to protect their fellow citizens but someone immune to the sun's rays is out for justice and our hero “Bax” is out to stop him.Quite a good yarn although the artwork does not always make it clear who each person is. This seems to be just the start of a series involving corruption in high places (there's a lot of it about!)

An interesting premise here but its far too quick of a read. Quite a few wordless panels. The art is good but too sketchy at times. I'm interested to see where the story goes though. Overall, a decent start to the series.

Great world. But why the bad guy is doing what he's doing is mehhhhhh. Story was lack luster. I may give the 2nd volume a chance.

I love the idea behind this story and am intrigued to read more!! Arrived in excellent condition!