10 Facts About Eclipse Comics

1.

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s.

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2.

Eclipse Comics published one of the first original graphic novels, and the first to be sold through the new "direct market" of comic-book stores, Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy.

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3.

McGregor went on to write two additional early graphic novels for Eclipse Comics, each set in contemporary New York City and starring interracial-buddy private eyes Ted Denning and Bob Rainier: Detectives, Inc : A Remembrance of Threatening Green, with artist Marshall Rogers, and Detectives, Inc : A Terror Of Dying Dreams, with artist Gene Colan, who would become a frequent collaborator.

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4.

Creators whose early work appears in Eclipse Comics publications include Chuck Austen, Donna Barr, Dan Brereton, Chuck Dixon, James Hudnall, Scott McCloud, Peter Milligan, Tim Truman, and Chris Ware.

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5.

Veterans published by Eclipse Comics include Steve Englehart, Don McGregor, Gene Colan, and Mark Evanier.

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6.

In February 1986, Eclipse Comics lost most of its back-issue stock in a catastrophic Guerneville flood, which submerged the company's offices.

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7.

In 1988 Eclipse created a new division, Eclipse International, as it partnered with the British independent publisher Acme Press to distribute Acme's comics in the American market.

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8.

Eclipse Comics distributed Acme's two-issue anthology Point Blank, which promoted itself as "The Best of European Strip Art".

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9.

In 1988, in partnership with Viz Communications and Studio Proteus, Eclipse Comics published some of the earliest English-translated Japanese manga, such as Area 88, Mai, the Psychic Girl, and The Legend of Kamui.

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10.

Eclipse Comics's last publication was its Spring 1993 catalog, which was a complete bibliography of its publications.

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