Eclipse Monthly #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeEclipse Monthly #1 (August 1983) marks the debut of Cap'n Quick — a dimension-hopping, scientifically gifted young girl — making it the character's true first appearance in print. As the launch issue of Eclipse's transition from a black-and-white magazine format to a full-color standard-sized comic, it also signals a pivotal moment in the early-1980s ground-level movement, demonstrating that creator-owned anthologies could sustain genre diversity and production ambition outside the Marvel/DC mainstream. Every feature in the issue was creator-owned, placing the book firmly within Eclipse's broader campaign to normalize creator rights at a time when work-for-hire still dominated the industry.
In "The Bank Robbery," Mac Rey finds himself caught in a dangerous experiment when a group of robbers, drawn by a mysterious material from his lab, trigger a malfunction in his prototype suit. The resulting energy field not only traps him but awakens powers he never expected. Written and illustrated by Steve Ditko, with coloring by Denis McFarling and lettering by Ken Bruzenak, this issue features a striking cover by Marshall Rogers, Steve Ditko, B. C. Boyer, Trina Robbins, and Doug Wildey, all collaborating on the inks.
In "The Hide Butchers," Rio finds himself caught between duty and survival when he’s offered a presidential pardon in exchange for stopping railroad passengers from hunting buffalo—a deadly pastime that’s provoking tensions with Native tribes on the frontier. Written by an unnamed author and illustrated by an unnamed artist, the story unfolds with quiet tension, placing Rio in a moral crossfire where every choice carries weight.
In "The Beginning," Mac Rey finds himself in over his head when a break-in at his lab triggers a malfunction in his experimental suit, locking him in a high-energy field that awakens its full power. The story unfolds as Rey grapples with the sudden surge of ability, thrust into a situation far beyond his original design.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Eclipse Monthly grew directly out of Eclipse, the Magazine, a black-and-white bi-monthly that had run eight issues from May 1981 to January 1983; issue #1 of the Monthly was co-edited by Dean Mullaney and Cat Yronwode. The transition brought the anthology into full color and standard comic-book dimensions while preserving the signature policy of creator ownership for every strip. Marshall Rogers — best known for his acclaimed Batman run with Steve Englehart — took sole writing and art duties on the Cap'n Quick feature, evolving characters he had originally co-created with Englehart for the earlier magazine. The debut issue went on-sale July 19, 1983, according to Amazing Heroes #29, and ran 48 pages, a format maintained only through issue #3 before the page count was reduced.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Cap'n Quick (a young girl inventor whose modified sneakers transport her across dimensions), confirmed by Grand Comics Database and internationalhero.co.uk.
- Klonsbon the Foozle — Cap'n Quick's alien bird companion — appears here in a new story context; Klonsbon previously debuted in Eclipse, the Magazine #1 (1981) in the Englehart/Rogers story 'Slab,' so Eclipse Monthly #1 is NOT the character's first appearance.
- The Masked Man (B.C. Boyer's Spirit-influenced crime-fighter Dick Carstairs) continues from Eclipse, the Magazine #7–8; Eclipse Monthly #1 is his color debut but not his first appearance, which was November 1982.
- The Masked Man was the only feature to appear in all ten issues of Eclipse Monthly, and later graduated to its own ongoing series beginning December 1984.
- Issue co-edited by Dean Mullaney and Cat Yronwode; all features published under Eclipse's creator-ownership policy, meaning each creator retained rights to their characters.
- Five features appear in this debut issue: Cap'n Quick and a Foozle (Marshall Rogers), The Masked Man (B.C. Boyer), Rio (Doug Wildey), Dope/Trina Robbins' adaptation of Sax Rohmer's novel, and Static (Steve Ditko).
- Marshall Rogers both wrote and drew Cap'n Quick — a creative freedom he relished; Steve Englehart, the co-creator of the original Foozle concept, had renounced his rights to the character, leaving Rogers as sole owner.
- After four issues of Eclipse Monthly, the Cap'n Quick storyline moved to its own two-issue series (Cap'n Quick & a Foozle, 1984–1985), which remained unfinished at Rogers' death in 2007.
Cast · 3 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Charlton Action: Featuring "Static" #11 (1985), Rio #[nn] (1987), Rio #[nn] (1987), Steve Ditko's Static #[nn] (2000), Doug Wildey's Rio: The Complete Saga #[nn] (2012), Sax Rohmer's Dope #[nn] (2017)
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