Comic Statues & Busts: Eclipso from DC Heroes Villains

Nearly 300 pages of classic super hero adventure are collected in this value-priced volume!

The adventures of the villainous Eclipso, one of the strangest DC Comics characters of the 1960s, are collected here for the first time. On an expedition in the south Pacific, scientist Bruce Gordon's dark side is unleashed after being exposed to a black diamond. Transformed into the powerful Eclipso by any event resembling an eclipse, he embarked on an evil rampage as his good side attempted to reassert control.

Back in the early '90s, I got myself wrapped up in DC's company crossover event "The Darkness Within", which established Eclipso as a major villain in the DC Universe. Thereafter, I'd grab any Eclipso appearances I could get my hands on, but I never got around to seeking out his earliest Silver Age adventures. Now I have SHOWCASE PRESENTS: ECLIPSO, and while the stories were not that impressive, I'm glad I got this affordable opportunity to find out more about the character and see just how differently he was originally portrayed.

Introduced in House of Secrets #61 (August 1963), Eclipso is the alter-ego of physicist Bruce Gordon. In a series of events that strains even the Silver Age's limits of credibility, Gordon is attacked by a tribal sorceror while visiting a Pacific island to view a solar eclipse. The sorceror scratches Gordon with a black diamond, and naturally, this causes him to transform into the evil Eclipso in the presence of any type of eclipse. His body contorts, his clothes change, and a shadow covers half of his face, resulting in one of the more bizarre comic characters I've ever seen. Once he reverts to his human form, Gordon and company must race to cure his condition before the change occurs again... and so it goes. It wouldn't be until years later that other writers would expand upon Eclipso's origin, revealing what he actually was - but that's a discussion best left for another trade paperback (hopefully).

This volume is one of a small selection of "budget Showcases", meaning it's half the page count of a regular Showcase (collecting stories from HoS # 61 - 80) and priced at ten bucks. Following this run, Eclipso had other appearances outside of HoS, but those are not collected here. As I said earlier, writer Bob Haney's stories are no great shakes, and the artwork by Lee Elias, Jack Sparling, and Bob Bailey, is adequate. The real highlight of this collection is the handful of issues penciled by master draftsman Alex Toth. His solid, high-contrast work brings some real style to the character - it's just a shame he didn't do more of these issues. Based on my interest in Eclipso, I had planned to write a more extensive review, but I guess this is really all that this volume needs. It's some of DC's more laughable Silver Age material, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Mattel produced this line of action figures based on the greatest heroes and villains from the DC Comics universe! Each figure is about 6 inch in height and features multiple points of articulation. Includes a collector button.

DC Universe Classics wave 12 (or you could call it the Darksied series) skewed a little more obscure than some past waves. They also have some updated packaging. We have here Eclipso a crazy sprit of wrath / revenge whose essence was bound to a dark gemstone because he was a bit too crazy.

For Kids:
He certainly is interesting looking and a fun toy but I doubt your average kid will know who he is or what he does.

For Adults:
Eclipso has a pretty unique look - somewhat elfish with a pointy hat and shoes and large pointed ears. His long chin and maniacal grin are very well done and he wears a large gold belt. One hand is sculpted pinching a black gem between the thumb and forefinger - it's a pretty specific pose but one that makes sense for this character.

His color scheme is also unique with blacks, purples, golds and blues. His face is ¾ blue with a sliver of flesh color on the left side - so as to look like a partially eclipsed moon. It's a somewhat off putting design - as I'm sure it is supposed to be. He's a pretty eye popping figure.

No surprises in articulation - he's got, cut neck, ball pin shoulders, pin elbows, cut wrists, ab crunch, cut waist, the universal hip joints, cut thighs, pin knees and ankles.

All the figures in this wave come with a little collector button, the kind you pin to your shirt, with little comic pictures loosely related to the figure. His only other accessory is his piece of Darksied.

He's a cool and obscure character.

The Collect and Connect, Darksied, is a welcome addition to all the Fourth World characters. He stands a fairly impressive 8 ½" tall. His craggy skin looks just a touch soft to me in comparison with an older (but smaller) version of the character I have but he still looks pretty good. There's good detail despite that and even the bottom of his feet contain all that Fourth World circuitry. He's just as articulated as his smaller counterparts and even has a couple of accessories. One, he's got a Mother Box he can hold in his hand and that also will attach to the back of his belt. Two, he has an interchangeable right hand, one in the regular blue glove posed to hold the Mother Box and an open menacing golden gloved hand covered in circuits and machinery. He's not as impressive as I'd like but still a very good figure who deserves 4 stars.

Since the beginning of time, Eclipso, the evil embodiment of God's wrath, has attempted to control the universe by possessing beings and feeding off their darkest desires.
In this collection, Eclipso returns, taking possession of the Atom's murderous ex-wife, Jean Loring, before striking out at the rest of the DC Universe. And when the demented entity sets its sights on former host Dr. Bruce Gordon, Eclipso's true plans for universal domination are revealed and only the Spectre can take him down!

Includes Superman, Eclipso, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, The Flash, & Green Lantern... Approx. 4 to 5" tall