Alien Worlds #8
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAlien Worlds #8 (November 1984) is a transitional milestone in the history of Eclipse Comics: it was the first issue of the long-running Pacific Comics sci-fi anthology to bear the Eclipse imprint, arriving directly on the heels of Pacific's bankruptcy. Beyond its own anthology content, the issue functioned as a showcase for three Eclipse character launches happening simultaneously — The Masked Man, Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster, and Axel Pressbutton — each advertised in its pages, making it a snapshot of Eclipse at a pivotal creative moment. The roster of interior artists including Al Williamson underscores the high craft talent Eclipse was assembling during the direct-market boom of the early Copper Age.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Alien Worlds had run eight issues under Pacific Comics from December 1982 before Pacific's financial collapse forced the title into Eclipse's hands; Eclipse published two final issues to complete the run, with #8 dated November 1984 and #9 following in January 1985. The series had been edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell, with Jones writing nearly all stories — a notable exception in issue #8 being Jan Strnad's 'Stoney End.' The cover for this final stretch of issues was provided by John Pound, while interior contributors included Al Williamson, Ken Steacy, Paul Rivoche, and Rand Holmes. Eclipse simultaneously used the issue to promote its own emerging line, placing house advertisements for several debut titles.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published November 1984 by Eclipse Comics, continuing numbering from the Pacific Comics run; it was Eclipse's first issue of the title and the penultimate issue of the series overall.
- Pacific Comics' bankruptcy directly precipitated the publisher transition: Eclipse acquired and completed several Pacific titles, with Alien Worlds #8 being the first Eclipse-imprinted installment.
- Interior stories include work by writer William F. Nolan and artist Al Williamson ('…And Miles To Go Before I Sleep'), writer Jan Strnad (one of the rare non-Jones-written stories in the series, titled 'Stoney End'), and writer/artists Ken Steacy and Paul Rivoche.
- The cover was illustrated by John Pound.
- The issue contains in-house promotional ads for three Eclipse character properties debuting concurrently: The Masked Man (B.C. Boyer's Spirit-influenced crime-fighter, whose own series launched December 1984), Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster (Michael T. Gilbert's horror-comedy character, whose Pacific debut in Vanguard Illustrated #7 had just occurred in July 1984), and Axel Pressbutton #1 (Steve Moore's British cyborg mercenary, whose Eclipse reprint mini-series also launched November 1984).
- Axel Pressbutton, advertised in the back pages, was a British creation by Steve Moore (writing as 'Pedro Henry') and Alan Moore ('Curt Vile'), originally introduced in the rock magazine Dark Star in 1979–80 and later developed in Warrior magazine before Eclipse repackaged the material for American readers.
- Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster was Michael T. Gilbert's revival of a Golden Age Canadian comics character originally created by Fred Kelly, who appeared as Mr. Monster in Triumph Comics #31 (1946) and Super-Duper Comics #3 (1947); Gilbert trademarked and heavily reworked the character into a horror/humor hybrid.
- The Masked Man had been running in Eclipse anthology titles since Eclipse #7 (November 1982), and per contemporary letters pages was the most popular feature in Eclipse's anthology line before graduating to a standalone 12-issue series.
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