Eclipse #1 ComicWow! Review


Yet another post-apocalyptic series has been released. Image and Top Cow give us Eclipse, a sci-fi series about survivors living after the Earth has endured a solar explosion. Now, humans have no choice but to come out at night, and stay clear of the sun. Security is strict, cameras are everywhere, and no one is left out during the daylight—the authorities make sure of it.

One day, a man is unaccounted for when everyone goes underground for the day. He shows up later, flesh burnt and peeling off, having been exposed to the sun. One officer, Bax, is in charge of figuring out just what the Hell is going on. In the process, the officers and some locals see something they’ve never seen before: someone—outside a hazmat suit—is surviving the sunlight.

Who is this man? How is he living through the sunlight? Why does he want to kill the humans left on Earth? Where did he come from? What does this mean for Earth’s population?

I haven’t seen premises as unique as this in a while. Although I’ve seen storylines that follow this basic idea, Eclipse has a certain quality that stands out. Writer Zack Kaplan is very clever with the killings in this issue. Each comes with a Bible verse. Adding a religious context to the script makes us speculate about the man who can withstand the rays of sunlight. Is he a God? Does Christianity have anything to do with it, or is it just used as a reference? I’m really excited to see what the Bible has to do with this stranger.

Artist Giovanni Timpano doesn’t create much of a realistic world for us, but there are some details that I can appreciate, like drops of water and bits of dirt in the city (New York). There is a subtle lack of detail in characters’ facial expressions, but we can read everyone pretty clearly based on body language alone.

This issue is the start to what I imagine will be a really interesting series. I’m left with tons of questions and a mind full of possibilities. I have no idea where Kaplan is going to take the series from here, but I do know that from this one issue alone, I’m already hooked.

Written by: Zack Kaplan

Illustrated by: Giovanni Timpano


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