Tag: Eclipse

Lost Crossovers: The Unofficial Inter-Company Crossover between the New Teen Titans and the DNAgents

This is one of those staged events where, even while it was happening, a lot of people in fandom were unaware of it. This despite the fact that it wasn't truly disguised at all. It's somewhat remarkable that a thing of this nature happened in this way this late in the game--though similar things happened … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: The Unofficial Inter-Company Crossover between the New Teen Titans and the DNAgents →

Brand Echh: Destroyer Duck #1

DESTROYER DUCK #1 was a stopping point in a much larger saga, one that I'll recount the broad strokes of momentarily. It was also a benefit book published by Eclipse, work on which was provided free by all of the contributors in support of the underlying cause of the book in the first place. It … Continue reading Brand Echh: Destroyer Duck #1 →

Brand Echh: Vanguard Illustrated #7

One of the areas in which the nascent Pacific Comics publishing firm made some unexpected inroads was with a series of comics devoted primarily to horror and science fiction themes--titles in keeping with the well-regarded EC books of the past. Nobody else was quite doing this material in this fashion, and certainly nobody else was … Continue reading Brand Echh: Vanguard Illustrated #7 →

Brand Echh: Star Reach #1

One of the more overlooked pioneers of what would come to be called the Direct Sales comic book market was Mike Friedrich. He'd started his career as a writer for DC and Marvel, among others, and eventually became first Marvel's first executive in charge of Direct Sales and thereafter an artists representative. But in-between, he … Continue reading Brand Echh: Star Reach #1 →

Brand Echh: Eclipse Magazine #7

As the Direct Market opened up at the beginning of the 1980s, a deluge of new publishers rushed in to ply their wares before this new dedicated comics-dedicated audience. One of the earliest companies in this period was Eclipse, founded by brothers Jan and Dean Mullaney. They had started out as publishers by printing Don … Continue reading Brand Echh: Eclipse Magazine #7 →

5BC: Five Times DC Referenced Marvel Characters in Interesting Ways

We've been talking a lot about the unofficial crossovers between characters and the homages that were done. But beyond that, there's a whole other category of instances in which one company either appropriated or parodied or referenced the characters of another. These instances tended to take many different forms--there was one memorable instance, for example, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times DC Referenced Marvel Characters in Interesting Ways →

5BC: Five Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators

Comic books for years were considered a juvenile medium, and that sensibility often extended to the behavior of the practitioners in the field. Like those who work in any other industries, not all comic book creators get along, and on occasion some of them have felt the need to take their aggression out in public, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators →

Perfect Game: ZOT! #33

Scott McCloud's ZOT! has become somewhat forgotten over the past three decades, overshadowed by his later work on UNDERSTANDING COMICS and its sequels, and even his epic graphic novel, THE SCULPTOR. But it's a brilliant strip, very much ahead of its time. McCloud was one of the first to apply the influences of Japanese manga … Continue reading Perfect Game: ZOT! #33 →