Editing Eclipse Comics (section)

===Decline and closure===
After the failure of ''Total Eclipse'', Eclipse largely discontinued superhero comics bar the ongoing ''Zot!'' (which ended in 1991<ref name=AH187NL>{{cite magazine|date=January 1991|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=187}}</ref>) and ''Miracleman''. Instead, comics output largely focused on literary adaptations, including [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]'',<ref name=AH170HB>{{cite magazine|date=August 1, 1989|title=The Hobbit|author=Ed Sample|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=170/Preview Special 9}}</ref> [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonflight (novel)|Dragonflight]]''<ref name=AH174NL/> and several [[Clive Barker]] works,<ref name=AH193NL>{{cite magazine|date=August 1991|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=193}}</ref> either as mini-series, one shots or graphic novels. Otherwise the company focused on collected editions, and only occasional titles – such as Truman's revisiting of pulp hero ''[[Spider (pulp fiction)|The Spider]]''<ref name=AH192NL>{{cite magazine|date=July 1991|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=192}}</ref> or zeitgeist-tapping spoofs such as ''X-Farce''<ref name=AH199NL>{{cite magazine|date=January 1992|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=199}}</ref> (a satire on [[Rob Liefeld]]'s ''[[X-Force]]'') and ''Loco vs. Pulverine''<ref name=AH203NL>{{cite magazine|date=July 1992|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=203}}</ref> (based on [[Lobo (DC Comics)|Lobo]] and [[Wolverine (character)|Wolverine]])--made any impression on sales charts. Several titles, such as a new ''Aztec Ace'' mini-series and several titles under the Eclipse F/X horror label, were announced but failed to reach publication.<ref name="AH196NL"/>

By 1991 Eclipse typically held around 1% of the market and had been definitively overtaken by [[Malibu Comics|Malibu]], [[Valiant Comics|Valiant]] and [[Image Comics|Image]]. Having always done most of their business with comic stores rather than larger retailers, Eclipse were one of many small publishers adversely affected by the post-speculator boom contraction of the [[direct market#1990s|direct market]], and by a problematic contract with the book publisher [[HarperCollins]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher= "The Beat" (column), [[Publishers Weekly]] |first=Heidi|last= MacDonald|title = Mullaney on Eclipse|date= March 30, 2007|url=http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/03/30/mullaney-on-eclipse/#comments|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070507121435/http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/03/30/mullaney-on-eclipse/#comments|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2007}}</ref>

====Bankruptcy====
Problems were exacerbated when Mullaney and Yronwode underwent a messy divorce during 1993;<ref>{{cite journal|title=Newswatch: Business News: Eclipse Copes with Divorce and Back Debt|journal= [[The Comics Journal]]| number= 165 |date=January 1994|page= 12}}</ref> Yronwode later claimed that Mullaney began behaving erratically and emptying Eclipse accounts.<ref name=KCY>{{cite book |last=Khoury |first=George |author-link=George Khoury (author)|date=2001 |title=Kimota! The Miracleman Companion |url= |location= |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |page= |isbn=9781605490274|chapter=Miracleman and the Days of Eclipse}}</ref> The company was left so low on resources that, despite receiving completed versions of ''Miracleman'' #25 and spin-off ''Miracleman Triumphant'' #1, no printer would extend them credit to print the comics.<ref name=KNG/> Eclipse's last publication was its Spring 1993 catalog, which was a complete bibliography of its publications, and it ceased business in 1994<ref>{{cite journal|title=Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown|journal= The Comics Journal| number= 172|date= November 1994|pages= 13–18}}</ref> before finally filing for bankruptcy in 1995.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Newswatch: Eclipse Files for Bankruptcy|journal= The Comics Journal| number= 174 |date=February 1995|page=25}}</ref>

====Assets====
The company's intellectual property rights were later acquired by [[Todd McFarlane]] for a total of $25,000.<ref>{{cite journal|title=McFarlane Buys Eclipse Assets at Auction|journal= The Comics Journal| number= 185 | date= March 1996|pages= 14–15}}</ref> Due to most of the company's titles being creator-owned this largely consisted of the ''Airboy'' characters and trademarks for some of the anthology titles; at the time McFarlane and others involved believed it also included a two-third share in ''Miracleman''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2004/02/last-legal-post-for-long-time.asp |title=Neil Gaiman's Journal: Last Legal Post for a long time |publisher=Journal.neilgaiman.com |date=2004-02-25 |access-date=2013-10-15}}</ref> Eventually it was discovered that Quality Communications, and thus Eclipse, had never correctly licensed the characters from creator [[Mick Anglo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22203 |title=CCI: Cup O Joe – Marvelman at Marvel |website=Comic Book Resources |date=2009-07-24 |access-date=2013-10-15}}</ref>