Eclipse #1
Image Comics
Written by: Zack Kaplan
Art by: Giovanni Timpano
The story takes place in a sun scorched New York City, a solar flare from the sun has wiped out billions of people on planet Earth. The harsh living conditions during the daytime make it so that law enforcement have enacted martial law, a curfew is in place to ensure people are not outside during the daytime. Certain people are allowed to go out in the daylight having to wear Icemen Suits to keep them cool. Our story begins as we see someone is able to get his hands on a suit to use it to bring another person out into the daylight to let the sun kill him, which is tantamount to murder. The lead protagonist, David Baxter is tracked down at his home by Mr. Everly who also works for Solarity Inc. and tells him that they need him David, now. David is being tasked to train the other employees on how to use the Iceman Suits, as Ken Corning, the North Iceman Team Foreman is missing and so is his suit. They think maybe he killed Samuel Van Gorn, and fled.
Zack Kaplan’s writing is well executed for the majority of the book. The dialogue between the book’s lead protagonist Mr. David Baxter and Mr. Everly is pretty decent, however Kaplan does not give either one a backstory to educate readers about them nor does he elaborate on what organization to which David Baxter belongs. The person in charge at Solarity Inc., seems to be Brandt, but two other people are introduced: General Counsel Robert Snyder and Brandt’s brother Wallace. The three together have enlisted the two to help find Brandt’s daughter Rose. If the book was being turned into a movie and it was 1985, I could see Sylvester Stallone playing the part of David Baxter and Bill Paxton playing Mr. Everly.
Giovanni Timpano’s artwork in this debut series is a contrasting strain of ugly and amazing with how little detail he gives on the opening pages among others to how much detail he gives to scenes such as those in the locker room and the amount of detail he gives to David’s facial features on pages 15. There is definitely no consistency with the artwork throughout the book except for graininess and shading. Some of Timpano’s artwork looks as if he was in a rush to complete the panel. Maybe all art on each panel doesn’t deserve the same amount of detail, I do not know, I am not an artist, but I think shadows should all be going the same direction if there are 10 light poles on a street with shadows and their shadows go one way and a statue’s shadow in the middle of said light poles goes another.
I enjoyed most of the writing and the main character reminded me of a several actors. The book was hampered by the artwork. It did not complement the writing well enough for me. I think the Solar Flare premise works and adds to the story-line throughout the book as it is an omnipresent antagonist itself. Characters need backgrounds so readers can get to know them. The book had a very good ending that makes me want to read the next issue. I really wanted to give this book a higher score but the book’s artwork just prevented me from enjoying it as much as I wanted too.