So I just finished reading Eclipse # 2 by Trevor Talbott and Scott Meier. If you didn’t read my thoughts on the first issue, you can check it out here. Eclipse is an interesting beast. The main character, Keith, takes it upon himself to don tights and fight crime. What got him to that point isn’t exactly clear, but one can infer that Keith suffered great loss. As a character, Keith is interesting and faces a fascinating villain and foil, Raze. Through a series of flashbacks, we see the two as their lives intertwine through happenstance, culminating in what I imagine will be an epic fight. And as a character, I really like Raze. The man seems obsessed with money and the good life. Starting as an independent hit-man, he somehow rises to the top of the ladder in the criminal underworld in Keith’s city. I hope to see more of that journey, and of course, Keith’s. What interests me in particular about Keith is what kind of training he undergoes (if any), to pursue his career in crime-fighting. I’m also interested to see if his sigil (that of an eclipse), has any actual significance (I’m pretty certain it does)! Also, we’re not really sure if Keith is actually superhuman and has powers of some sort.
From a writing perspective, you can see the writers are tightening things up. Everything’s better and more cohesive. Crumbs are deftly placed to create questions for the reader, making you want to know more. My only complaint is that in this issue, we’re hopping between three different points of time. While this serves the purpose of the story, and was easy to follow for the most part, it was a bit confusing at times. Regardless, the choice of such a narrative style is simultaneously Eclipse’s biggest strength and weakness. It’s like piecing together parts of a puzzle, you can see most of the picture, and in your mind, you’ll jump to conclusions. Some may be predictable, but others I imagine, will be far from it, and that’s what really excites me about this comic.
The only thing holding Eclipse back is the art work. I voiced similar concerns with the first issue regarding character’s faces. The first few panels of this issue are beautifully drawn. I love the design and colors of the protagonist’s costume and some of the covers are astounding. Color-wise, the comic is quite good (mad props to the colorist, Jessica Jimerson). But when you get past the first few pages of this issue, the art work is bad. I hate to say that, as I imagine drawing a comic is an incredibly hard thing to do. But some of the drawings in the latter half of this book don’t even look like they’re from the same artist. It really kills the rest of the issue. And that’s sad because there’s so much potential with Eclipse.
I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately, so I may be coming down pretty hard on Eclipse. But that’s not the intent. The thing with comic books is that they rely on good writing, great coloring, and good art to really stand out. Miss any of those elements, and a comic falls short. Eclipse has all of those essential things, but it stumbles in the art department. But that doesn’t mean Eclipse #2 isn’t a good book.
It’s greatest strength is in the writing. You can really tell that Trevor and Scott have tapped on their own real-life experiences and injected it into the comics. I hope to see more of that, as it will help make the characters more relatable and blend fantasy with reality. To me, those are the most interesting stories. The ones that could just maybe happen.
That being said, the team is working on the third issue as I write this. They have a new artist, and his work looks really impressive. Trevor (co-creator and writer) was kind enough to show me some of the panels for the third issue and they look really good. This excites me, because Eclipse gets so much right. The colors are beautiful, the protagonist and villain are interesting, and I imagine the inevitable clash between the two is going to be quite exciting.
Though this issue has it’s shortcomings, I’m interested in seeing where the story goes. And for that alone, it’s worth picking up. So do yourself a favor and support an indy comic. I think there’s some serious surprises around the corner!
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