Editing Eclipse Comics (section)

===Expansion===
[[File:Cat Yronwode and Dean Mullaney (1117251059).jpg|240px|thumb|Catherine Yronwode and Dean Mullaney at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con]]
While Jan Mullaney remained based in New York to handle the economic side of the business, Dean Mullaney focused on the role of publisher and Yronwode that of editor-in-chief for Eclipse's growing number of titles, and the pair briefly relocated to [[Columbia, Missouri]].<ref name=TE3DM/> After meeting [[Mark Evanier]] and [[Will Meugniot]] Eclipse published their first [[superhero]] regular series, ''[[The DNAgents]]''. It was joined by ''[[Eclipse Monthly]]'', a colour successor to ''Eclipse, the Magazine'' that continued ''Static'', ''Dope'' and ''Masked Man'' as well as introducing further characters. ''Ms. Tree'' was spun off into its own title, while Yronwode rediscovered [[Will Eisner]]'s lost 1948 story ''[[John Law (comics)|John Law]]'', which was published for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia|url=http://www.toonopedia.com/johnlaw.htm |title=John Law}}</ref><ref name=AH142ETP/> After the stopover in Missouri, Dean Mullaney and Yronwode established Eclipse's main offices in the small town of [[Guerneville, California|Guerneville]] in July 1983.<ref name=TE3DM>{{cite comic|title=Total Eclipse|issue=#3|date=November 1988|story=In Chicago Even Beans Do It!|writer=[[Dean Mullaney|Mullaney, Dean]]|publisher=Eclipse Comics}}</ref> In October 1984 Jan Mullaney opted to discontinue his involvement in order to focus on his music career, leaving his brother as sole publisher and Yronwode officially promoted to editor-in-chief.<ref name=AH142ETP/> Eclipse's advertising copy flagged their stance on creator ownership,<ref name=AH062EA>{{cite magazine|date=January 1, 1985|title=This guy is totally bored with comics! ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics|Redbeard, Inc]]|number=62/1985 Preview Issue}}</ref> the maturity of the material<ref name=AH066EA>{{cite magazine|date=March 1, 1985|title=I grew up! ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics|Redbeard, Inc]]|number=66}}</ref> and the individuality of the output<ref name=AH067EA>{{cite magazine|date=March 15, 1985|title=The Eclipse Formula ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics]]|number=67}}</ref>

Increased output included [[Scott McCloud]]'s ''[[Zot!]]'' (which the writer-artist originally submitted through the mail) and [[Doug Moench]]'s ''[[Aztec Ace]]''.<ref name=TE3DM/> Yronwode effectively became the face of the company, continuing to write her influential ''Fit to Print'' comic in ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' and from late 1984 penning the ''Penumbra'' column printed in most Eclipse titles; it had previously been named ''Notes from Surf City'' in reference to the 1963 [[Jan and Dean]] [[Surf City (song)|song]], an in-joke between the similarly named Mullaney brothers.<ref name=AH142ETP/> During this time her name was professionally rendered as "cat ⊕ yronwode" in ''CBG'' and Eclipse material, though other publishers were less exhaustive. The comic market experienced a downturn in 1984 due to a crowded market but Eclipse were successful enough to weather it; when rival [[Pacific Comics]] folded, Mullaney was able to arrange purchasing their titles. This included [[Dave Stevens]]' ''[[The Rocketeer (character)|The Rocketeer]]'', ''[[Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster|Mr. Monster]]'' and ''[[Somerset Holmes]]'', as well as a recently signed deal for the American rights to [[Quality Communications]]' acclaimed British anthology ''[[Warrior (comics)|Warrior]]''. They also set up the Independent Comics Group to publish two issues of the anthology ''[[Twisted Tales]]'', while Fred Burke also joined the company in 1984. Burke subsequently edited and wrote numerous titles for Eclipse.<ref name=TE4DM>{{cite comic|title=Total Eclipse|issue=#4|date=January 1989|story=California, Here I Come!|writer=[[Dean Mullaney|Mullaney, Dean]]|publisher=Eclipse Comics}}</ref>

The inherited deal with Quality was fortuitously timed; [[Alan Moore]] had recently taken over writing ''[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]'' for [[DC Comics]], triggering the so-called [[British Invasion (comics)|British invasion]]. The ''Warrior'' deal brought in ''[[Axel Pressbutton]]'' and ''[[Warrior (comics)#The Spiral Path|The Spiral Path]]'', which were coloured by Eclipse and printed in limited series, as well as taking over [[Peter Milligan]]'s ''Strange Days'' anthology, starring [[Johnny Nemo]].<ref name=AH142ETP/> The deal also included the acclaimed revival of ''[[Marvelman]]'' written by Moore, though legal issues – resulting in the book being retitled ''[[Miracleman]]'' – had to be resolved before Eclipse could run the title.<ref name=sergi>{{cite book|last=Sergi |first=Joe |title=The Law for Comic Book Creators |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers| date=2015 |isbn=9780786473601}}</ref> ''Miracleman'' was originally one of three 75¢ books launched by Eclipse (along with ''[[The New Wave (comics)|The New Wave]]'' and the new-material ''Laser Eraser and Pressbutton'') as part of a short-lived deal with a [[Finland|Finnish]] printer at the time they were the cheapest [[direct market]] full colour comics ever made. However, the results of the printing were severely lacking and the price soon became unviable, with Eclipse reverting the books to their standard 95¢ bracket after the initial printing contract expired. After the ''Warrior'' material ran out Moore continued the series at Eclipse. Other new additions around this time were [[Timothy Truman]]'s ''[[Scout (comics)|Scout]]'', [[Larry Marder]]'s ''[[Tales of the Beanworld]]'' and ''[[Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters]]'', [[Don Chin]]'s spoof of the already-parodic ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', while Russell continued his adaptations with comic versions of the operas ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'' and ''[[Pelléas and Mélisande|Pelleas and Melisandre]]'' under the ''[[Night Music (comic)|Night Music]]'' banner. Eclipse also produced a series of Murray Ward's indexes to various DC titles, continuing from his deal with Pacific; to avoid the complication of Eclipse's logo appearing on books featuring another publisher's intellectual property, these were published via a sub-label named the Independent Comic Group.<ref name=AH142ETP/>

Eclipse attempted to innovate with new publishing models for comics. Among these were so-called "micro-series", limited series of two bi-weekly or even weekly issues;<ref name=AH142ETP/> a line of 3-D [[stereoscopy]] books in collaboration with [[Ray Zone]] (including the official adaptation of [[Disney]] [[Michael Jackson]] vehicle ''[[Captain EO]]'')<ref name=AH1583DI>{{cite magazine|date=February 1, 1989|title=An Index to 3-D Comics|author=Valentino|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=158}}</ref> and – later – [[flexi disc]] records containing [[Theme music|theme songs]] for titles. By this point, Eclipse was selling around half a million comics a month, and was the third largest comics publisher after [[Marvel Comics]] and [[DC Comics]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Overstreet Comic Book Marketplace Yearbook 2015-2016| first=Robert M. | last= Overstreet| author-link=Robert Overstreet| publisher= Gemstone Publishing |year=2015| isbn= 978-1603601801|page= 77}}</ref>

====Flooding====
Eclipse suffered a major setback on February 14, 1986, when the [[Russian River (California)|Russian River]] flooded after heavy rainfall. Eclipse's offices were swamped; the water reached the second floor of their building, as well as Mullaney and Yronwode's homes.<ref name=AH090NF/> Mullaney recalled that Yronwode had to be rescued from her office by a [[Red Cross]] canoe;<ref name=TE5DM/> while he was able to save much of the original artwork in the offices by moving it up to the third floor<ref name=AH090NF>{{cite magazine|date=March 1, 1986|title=Newsflashes|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=90}}</ref> It destroyed the company's inventory of back issues,<ref name=TE5DM/> as well as colour separations for planned reprints of ''Zot!'' and Yronwode's notes for a non-fiction book about Steve Ditko.<ref name=AH147TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=August 15, 1988|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=147}}</ref> The subject was covered in ''Fit to Print'' and ''Penumbra'' columns.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.luckymojo.com/vishantiprolepsis.html |title=The Lesser Book of the Vishanti: A Companion to the Dr. Strange Comic Books |last1=Yronwode |first1=Catherine |last2=Nagasiva |first2=Nagasiva |year=2002 |publisher=LuckyMojo.com |access-date=September 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913190726/http://www.luckymojo.com/vishantiprolepsis.html |archive-date=September 13, 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The events were alluded to in a tongue-in-cheek framing sequence Yronwode wrote for ''Miracleman'' #8.<ref>{{Cite comic|writer=[[Cat Yronwode|Yronwode]]|artist=[[Chuck Austen|Beckum, Chuck]]|story=''(untitled framing sequence)''|title=[[Miracleman]]|issue=#8|date=June 1986| publisher=Eclipse Comics}}</ref> The damage caused was estimated at $200,000.<ref name=AH099NEU>{{cite magazine|date=July 15, 1986|title=New Eclipse Universe|author=[[John Lustig]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=99}}</ref>

Despite the material and financial losses, in July 1986 the company launched its first regular bi-weekly title, ''[[Airboy]]''. A revival of a defunct [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[aviator]] hero originally published by [[Hillman Periodicals]] between 1942 and 1953, the series was written by the prolific [[Chuck Dixon]]. The title initially had another unusual format, being a 16-page 50¢ full-colour title initially.<ref name=AH090NF/> While this was eventually dropped, ''Airboy'' was a critical and commercial success for Eclipse, and several spin-off titles followed. Superhero series ''The New Wave'' also launched using the bi-weekly model before becoming a standard monthly.<ref name=AH103NL>{{cite magazine|date=September 1, 1986|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=103}}</ref> To deal with the increasing output both Burke and Letita Glozer (Yronwode's half-sister) were added to the full-time editorial staff, while [[Beau Smith]] joined as Sales Manager.<ref name=TE5DM>{{cite comic|title=Total Eclipse|issue=#5|date=April 1989|story=Ten Years Later|writer=[[Dean Mullaney|Mullaney, Dean]]|publisher=Eclipse Comics}}</ref>

To avoid further flooding the company also relocated to [[Forestville, California|Forestville]] in [[Sonoma County, California]].<ref name=AH116TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=May 1, 1987|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=116}}</ref> In July 1987, Yronwode used her ''Fit to Print'' column to announce her forthcoming marriage to Dean Mullaney, set to take place on August 15 in Forestville; readers were encouraged to write in to receive invitations.<ref name=AH120TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=July 1, 1987|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=*[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=120}}</ref>