Tag Archives: Lee Elias

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Showcase Presents Eclipso Vol. 1

Showcase Presents Eclipso Vol. 1

First Published: August 2009

Contents: Eclipso stories from House of Secrets #61 (July-August 1963) to #80 (September-October 1966)

Key Creator Credits: Bob Haney, Lee Elias, Alex Toth, Jack Sparling, and others

Key First Appearances: Dr. Bruce Gordon/Eclipso, Professor Simon Bennett, Mona Bennett, 

Overview: Dr. Bruce Gordon is examining a black diamond when a solar eclipse occurs. The filtered light from the eclipse hits the black diamond, and Gordon is changed into Eclipso. Eclipso is a typical 1960s DC villain, who wants to take over the world without the overly malicious violence. Eclipso can fire energy rays from his eyes via the black diamond, and seems to always have henchmen available for this latest plot. After some period of time following the eclipse, Eclipso reverts back to Gordon, and he is left trying to clean up the mess that Eclipso made.

Trying to help Gordon is his girlfriend, Mona Bennett, and her father, Professor Simon Bennett. They are aware of Gordon’s condition, and do their best to help him control the transformations, trying to protect him from the all-too-numerous eclipses that occur in the DC universe.

Towards the end of the run of these stories, Gordon/Eclipso teamed up with Mark Merlin/Prince Ra-Man, the co-tenant of House of Secrets with Eclipso.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: While this volume gives us the usual assortment of quirky Bob Haney stories, plus art from Alex Toth, I don’t know that this is a necessary volume. When this run ended, it was eight years before Eclipso surfaced again. He was used sporadically for 15 years as the villain of the month, until he became a major threat in the early 1990s. What we think of the character today has very little to do with the stories collected in this Showcase. If DC had collected more of Eclipso’s appearances beyond the House of Secrets run, this might have been a more interesting collection.

Footnotes: House of Secrets came to an end with issue #80 in 1966. Three years later, DC brought back the title, but now used as a horror anthology, picking up the numbering with issue #81.

If you like this volume, try: digging in the back issue bins to find the DC Annuals from 1992 to read Eclipso: The Darkness Within storyline. This has never been reprinted in a collection, so you will need to search for the individual issues. The series featured a beginning and ending bookend books, and then travelled across various DC titles of the time. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1 was unique, as the books shipped to comic book stores featured a plastic black diamond attached to the front cover. Of course, this led to damaged comics, the awkwardness of storing the comic, and the cheap glue that led to the diamond coming off of the cover. If you are looking to find the story, these are the annuals to track down: Action Comics Annual #4; Adventures of Superman Annual #4; Batman Annual #16; Deathstroke the Terminator Annual #1; The Demon Annual #1; Detective Comics Annual #5; The Flash Annual #5; Green Arrow Annual #5; Green Lantern Annual #1; Hawkworld Annual #3; Justice League America Annual #6; Justice League Europe Annual #3; L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #3; The New Titans Annual #8; Robin Annual #1; Superman Annual #4; Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #1; Valor #1; and Wonder Woman Annual #3.

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Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 2

Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 2

First Published: August 2006

Contents: Power Man #28 (December 1975) to #49 (February 1978); and Power Man Annual #1 (1976)

Key Creator Credits: Don McGregor, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, George Tuska, Sal Buscema, Lee Elias, Frank Robbins, Marie Severin, John Byrne, and others

Key First Appearances: Cockroach Hamilton, Goldbug

Story Continues From: Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 1 

Story Continues In: Essential Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 1

Overview: The Hero for Hire, Luke Cage, is back for more cash in the newest Essential volume. Let’s be honest here, being a super-hero is expensive work. Not all heroes get a stipend from the Stark Foundation or live off of the royalties from the patent for unstable molecules to be used to make uniforms. Paying rent, buying food, and replacing those yellow silk shirts torn up in battle adds up quick for a struggling hero. Of course, you have to charge a fee for your services.

Luke Cage remains a hero of the people, working out of his office above a Times Square movie theater. He fights a lot of run of the mill one-and-done villains created specifically for this title. Outside of a fight against Moses Magnum in Power Man Annual #1, his villains do not make many, if any, appearances in any other books.

As the book comes to an end, Cage finds a lot of familiar faces from his past coming back to confront him. Crossing paths with the kung-fu hero, Iron Fist, Luke Cage is finally able to clear his name, making him a free man for the first time in many years. The two agree that working together benefits both of them, and a new super-hero duo is formed. But like any other story, that is a tale to be continued….

What makes this Essential?: This book is a step up from the first volume, but not nearly as good as it will become with Essential Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 1, The second half of the book, under the direction of first Marv Wolfman and then Chris Claremont, starts to finally find it’s place focusing on an urban hero and not just an urban black hero. The art is serviceable, but not memorable by any means. If you are a fan of Luke Cage, this is worth the read. But I would not consider it essential to have in your collection.

Footnotes: Power Man #36 is a reprint of a story originally featured in Hero for Hire #12. The new cover for #36 is included in this Essential. 

Giant-Size Power Man #1 (1975) is a reprint collection of stories originally featured in Hero for Hire #14 to #16. The cover is included in this Essential.

Power Man #48 and #49 are also reprinted in Essential Iron Fist Vol. 1.

If you like this volume, try: the New Avengers books from the last decade. When Brian Michael Bendis relaunched the Avengers in the mid-2000s, he brought in a new line-up (Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and others) to fill the spots around Captain America and Iron Man. At that time, Luke Cage had become a peripheral character in the Marvel Universe, brought to an event to help fill out the background of a large super-hero crowd scene. Over the run of the New Avengers title, Luke Cage became one of the core members of this line-up, to a point where he became the team leader. New Avengers ruffled the feathers of a lot of long-time Avengers readers, but the non-traditional line-up allowed for some interesting storylines. This has been collected multiple times in trade paperbacks, hardcovers, and omnibus editions, so it should be easy to find these stories.