Eclipse Monthly was a full color comics anthology title published from 1983 to 1984 by Eclipse Comics. It was a successor to the company's previous anthology title Eclipse.

Eclipse Monthly
The cover to Eclipse Monthly #7, with art by Marshall Rogers.
Publication information
PublisherEclipse Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
Publication dateAugust 1983 - July 1984
No. of issues10
Editor(s)Dean Mullaney
Cat Yronwode

Publishing history

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Unlike its predecessor, Eclipse Monthly had the same page format as a standard US comic, albeit consisting of 52 pages per issue; each edition was priced at US$2.00, a large price for a regular title at the time. It was also in full colour, and creators again retained ownership of their creations featured in the magazine. Three features - B.C. Boyer's The Masked Man, Ragamuffins by Don McGregor and Gene Colan and Trina Robbins' adaptation of Sax Rohmer's novel Dope - continued from Eclipse. New additions included Steve Ditko's Static and Doug Wildey's Western Rio. Eclipse Monthly largely had a stable line-up, with most features recurring; however, from #4 it dropped to 36 pages and a $1.50 cover price, with the number of features reduced accordingly.[1]

After the title finished, The Masked Man would graduate to its own regular title.[2]

Reception

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At Major Spoilers, Matthew Peterson enjoyed the anthology, especially the stories with the Masked Man.[3] Reviewing the final issue of the title, R.A. Jones of Amazing Heroes was unimpressed by Jetta; while he praised Wildey's art for Rio and Boyer's script for The Masked Man he was largely negative about the anthology, and was unsurprised it was ending. Jones speculated that the high cost of the format was a reason behind the book's cancellation.[4]

Features

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Issue Date Contents
1 August 1983
2 September 1983
3 October 1983
4 January 1984
5 February 1984
6 March 1984
7 April 1984
8 May 1984
9 June 1984
  • Steel, Stealth & Magic (script by Wendi Lee, Sandy Saidak and Tom Saidak; art by Steve Masseroni)
  • Rio (script and art by Doug Wildey)
  • The Masked Man (script and art by B.C. Boyer)
10 July 1984
  • Jetta (script and art by Wayne Truman)
  • Rio (script and art by Doug Wildey)
  • The Masked Man (script and art by B.C. Boyer)

References

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  1. ^ Bob Hughes (June 1, 1988). "Enlarging the Penumbra". Amazing Heroes. No. 142. Fantagraphics Books.
  2. ^ Eric Yarber (January 15, 1985). "Who is that Masked Man?". Amazing Heroes. No. 63. Redbeard, Inc.
  3. ^ Peterson, Matthew (March 1, 2015). "Retro Review: Eclipse Monthly #8 (May 1984) - Major Spoilers". Major Spoilers.
  4. ^ R.A. Jones (February 1, 1985). "Comics in Review". Amazing Heroes. No. 64. Redbeard, Inc.
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