Eclipse Volume 1
The Eclipse series, Book 1 - 4
Zack Kaplan, illustrated by Giovanni Timpano
Image Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
Themes: Dystopias, Religious Themes, Urban Tales
****
Description
Ten years ago, when sunlight turned deadly, firefighter David Baxton became a hero when he rescued the mayor of New York City... at the cost of loved ones. Now a bitter man, he finds himself drawn again into the lives of the wealthy when someone starts using sunlight as a murder weapon in a series of gruesome attacks. What seems like simple fanaticism becomes something much more complicated, something that might lead humanity back into daylight again - or see its last sparks extinguished.
Review
Many dystopian tales take place in shadowy, gritty settings, but this one takes it a step further, when the very light of day melts flesh almost instantly. Humanity adapts, but something vital was clearly lost, something that may never be regained, and men like Baxton feel it all the more acutely. It's a harsh, unique take on the future and extreme climate change, and it works fairly well. The characters can sometimes be tough to tell apart, especially in bulky "iceman" suits (required to navigate in daylight), with some of the plot threads about politics feeling a bit tangled, but all in all it's a decent story that rarely drags. It wraps up with a sense of character progress, even if there are (naturally) several unresolved arcs for future volumes to deal with.