By Kai Charles
Eclipse is a Top Cow/Image release originally conceived as a mini-series, that is now starting its second story arc.
The stories in Eclipse are set ten years after an environmental disaster called The Flare. Now humans exposed to sunlight instantly burn to death, unless they use protective gear.
One of the surviving communities after The Flare exist underground. In one of these communities, we meet Rose, a young girl recovering from a recent trauma. Rose was targeted by a madman, who was also immune to the sun’s rays. He is shot by Bax, one of those in authority in the underground, and now she is in search of answers about why she was a target.
A secondary subplot of this story has Bax, and crew headed out to stop some energy thieves only to find another man who is immune to the sun.
The Good:
The art in this issue is fantastic. The underground community and all its residents are rendered in beautiful shading, that reflects life underground. There is also a variety of underground residents that move through the different scenes; the art showcases the various clothing and physical attributes of all the residents.
This story is also new reader friendly. Character names and situations are easily related in the narrative, along with the events of the previous four issues. I was intrigued by the story and characters.
One Thing:
One thing that distracted me this issue was Rose’s wardrobe. Throughout the issue, she is wearing a short skirt well above the knees( she is a bit tall), a sleeveless hoodie and arm bands.
Yes, this does fit her age, and there is a reference to her having burned her previous clothes because they were “too nice,” but It didn’t make sense to me that in a world where the sun can kill you anyone would dress like she does. I guess you could chalk it up to teenage rebellion, but all I could think about is if there is a collapse anywhere underground she would be dead.
To be fair I haven’t read the previous issues, so I have no comparison to her previous wardrobe, and the story is taking place at night, but everyone else in the book is dressed for the current situations, they find themselves in with the exception of Rose. These things automatically stand out to me as a female reader, but it should be noted that Rose is not drawn for the male gaze, my mind just couldn’t get over her daily wardrobe in a world
A solid issue overall definitely intrigues me to give issue 6 a try.
Kai Charles is a Medical Professional, Jedi Hopeful, and Independent Book Reviewer at Fiction State of Mind. You can also find her on Twitter @yogikai, tweeting about all things relating to Books & Geek Culture Blog.
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