Eclipso

ECLIPSO

Real Name: None

Class: God

Occupation: God of vengeance

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Dark Side of the Moon

First Appearance: House of Secrets I #61 (July-August, 1963)

Powers: Eclipo was tremendously strong, nearly invulnerable and could levitate. Most of his god-like powers were lost and transferred into the Heart of Darkness diamonds. When he holds one of these black diamonds to his eclipsed eye, it projects a chilling beam of black light that forms an impenetrable field. When held to his normal eye it fires powerful laser beams. Eclipso's powers were at their strongest while he resided on the moon. He could manifest himself on Earth only at night and only when summoned by a possessor of a black diamond. Eclipso was summoned by feelings of rage and revenge, and he manifests himself in two different ways. An aggressive personality type who summoned Eclipso was instantly transformed into an Eclipso version of him/herself, retaining their own abilities but also gaining those of Eclipso. A summoner who has a passive personality instead evoked a separate Eclipso, who takes on the characteristics of the individual's power fantasy. After Eclipso manifested himself in a person, contact with the black diamond is no longer necessary. Each Eclipso was compelled to satisfy the revenge fantasy of its host body before being free to pursue its own agenda. Eclipso's consciousness resided simultaneously in all existing versions of himself, and once he took hold of a person he remained a part of them until he chose to release them, or he came in contact with sunlight. Sunlight is Eclipso's primary weakness, it disintegrates his corporal form on contact.

History: (Superman II #216 (fb)) - The universe and the creator made Eclipso, a god who would seek vengeance as the Wrath of God and act as an agent of balance in the universe. Eclipso was flawed because he was not tethered to a human host, possessed people at will, and lacked human empathy.

(Spectre III #14 (fb)) - When the Earth was deemed fallen, the Presence had Eclipso flood the entire world, sparing only Noah and his family.

(Superman II #216 (fb)) - Eclipso was trapped in the Heart of Darkness, and the Spectre was created to replace him, a being that mixed justice with compassion.

Eclipso is the God of Vengeance, stripped of most of his power and banished from Earth some time in the distant past. This was accomplished by magically transforming Eclipso's physical essence into the Heart of Darkness, a huge black diamond which was then hidden in a tomb in the Upper Congo. In 1891 a thief stole the gem and took it to London, where a jeweler cut it into one thousand identical pieces. The smaller gems were sold individually, and scattered across the globe. Meanwhile, Eclipso's consciousness had been residing on the dark side of the moon, in a palace he built for himself at the bottom of a deep crater. The fractioning of the Heart of Darkness weakened the spell that banished him from Earth, and he gained the ability to possess those on Earth who inadvertently summoned him.

(Eclipso #7, 8)-In 1891 Godfrey Norton gives his wife Irene a pair of Heart of Darkness diamond earrings as a wedding anniversary gift. Later, at a ball, she sees the king of Bohemia. Overcome by rage, she become possessed by Eclipso and kills the king. Godfrey Norton contacts Sherlock Holmes, seeking to exorcise Eclipso from his wife. Eclipso in his spouse's body arrives, killing Norton. Watson, holding another one of the diamonds, becomes possessed, and upon seeing Holmes attacked, bludgeons the possessed Irene Norton. In a confrontation in a church, Watson is freed from Eclipso's possession and Irene dies. Shortly thereafter judge Pendleton receives one of the Heart of Darkness diamonds as a gift. Holding it, he remembers how his wife Josie was killed brutally, the murderer never caught. The vengeance begins as Pendleton becomes possessed by Eclipso. Pendleton destroys a prison, but the sun rises, turning him back to a human. He falls to his death.

(House of Secrets #61)-In recent times physicist Bruce Gordon was possessed by Eclipso. Gordon guessed that Eclipso was a manifestation of his dark side, and had no real understanding of the deity. For years Eclipso used Gordon so that he could war against Earth, coming into battle with Green Lantern II, the Metal Men, and the Justice League of America.

(JLA: Year One #2) - Eclipso agreed to destroy the JLA for Vandal Savage in exchange for more black diamonds. Eclipso teamed with Solomon Grundy, Thorn and Clayface II, and attacked the JLA at a press conference. In fighting among the villains led to their defeat.

(Swamp Thing II #46) - Eclipso was among the number of superhumans teleported to the Monitor’s satellite by Alexander Luthor, Jr., who explained his plan to make sure reality survived the Crisis.

(Phantom Stranger vol. 2 #1-4) - Eclipso was recruited by the Lords of Chaos to trigger a third and final World War, but was defeated by the Phantom Stranger.

(Starman I #43, 44) - Furious with Eclipso's failure, the Lords of Chaos hired bounty-hunter Lobo to kill him. Unwilling to risk a long battle, Eclipso simply faked his death to get Lobo away from him.

Eclipso is now focused on gathering the individual Heart of Darkness diamonds together and destroying them, thus ending his banishment from Earth. He also plots to blot out the sun, plunging Earth into a perpetual darkness where he could reign unopposed.

(Eclipso #16) -

(Eclipso Annual #1) - Linus Powell constructed a fusion reactor that functioned as a miniature sun using a black diamond given to him by Dr. Bruce Gordon, the arch-enemy of Eclipso. They both knew Eclipso would try to stop him from using a black diamond to generate light, but the location of the observatory in the middle of the Great Salt Lake was strategic; the water serving as a natural barrier that gave Powell time to disable Eclipso's possessed legions using a solar battery panel. Journalist Sidney Bateman covered Powell's work for Johnny Peril's Thrill Seekers. He demonstrated the nightly repulsion of Eclipso, but Eclipso witnessed the Space Parasite Angon commit a massacre on a highway, and convinced her to attack the observatory, saying they were working on a weapon to destroy her and her brethren. Angon slaughtered Bateman and Powell's crew, and Powell valiantly if pointlessly fought back. She was impressed, and fed from his spinal fluid, activating his metagene. Eclipso entered the facility and reclaimed his diamond, destroying the reactor, and causing a huge explosion. Powell was blasted clear, and woke up learning he'd been transformed into a crystalline form with power over light. Fellow Bloodline heroes Loose Cannon, Anima, Sparx, Edge, and Nightblade found him, and offered him the chance to join them and destroy the Space Parasites. Powell, or Prism as Sparx called him, was disorientated, and they fought until he came to his senses. The heroes, with the help of Johnny Peril, fought Angon, who'd been possessed by Eclipso, and Prism banished Eclipso by turning the light of his black diamond into sunlight. He decided to stay with his new friends and finish off the Parasites.

(Spectre III #15) - Kemal Saad, a former terrorist turned moderate leader of the Legion of Palestine was in Israel for peace talks, and the victims of his earlier terrorist attacks cried to Spectre. The Israeli superteam Hayoth were in charge of protecting Saad, and Eclipso, wanting to start a new Middle East conflict, had taken possession of Colonel Hacohen , who personally knew people killed by Saad. As Spectre tore through Hayoth Judith tried to protect Saad from Hacohen, but was shot and badly injured. Spectre disliked Eclipso taking vengeance from him, and Eclipso called him an usurper. Ramban and Spectre were able to force Eclipso back into Hacohen's black diamond. Ramban tied his life essence to Saad, and told Spectre that if he killed Saad he killed him as well, and the wrath of God finally backed off. Eclipso was unhappy that Spectre knew of his presence, but knew that the wrath of God was off-balance, and thought of ways to manipulate him.

(Spectre III #17, 18) - Spectre judged humans to be evil to the bone, but decided to fly to the moon to confront Eclipso, the heart of evil, before making up his mind. Eclipso reminded him that he was the first assigned by God to cast judgment on men, and agreed with Spectre; they were on the same side. Eclipso was able to possess Spectre. Phantom Stranger and his crew Demon, Dr. Fate and Zatanna were hoping that Spectre and Eclipso would destroy each other, or failing that be weakened enough for them to destroy the embodiments of wrath with the heart of darkness. Eclipso, now possessing Spectre's might, was able to shatter the heart of darkness, allowing him to walk the Earth unfettered. Madame Xanadu was taking a different tack, along with Ramban and Father Craemer she summoned the soul of Jim Corrigan, hoping to reach the Spectre's human side, and knowing he'd been unstable since his anchor Amy Beitermann died. Father Craemer reached out to Jim, and Corrigan realized that he was very tired of his responsibility, and that he wished the world was gone so he could go into eternity. Craemer convinced him that there were other good souls like Amy Bietterman, Jim, revitalized, took back control of the Spectre, and entrapped him in the Heart of Darkness. He destroyed Eclipso's moon palace, and turned the Heart of Darkness into dust.

(JSA #58) - When Alex Montez was battling the JSA he received scratches that broke the lines of his tattoos, allowing the true Eclipso full control over him. Eclipso made him kill Nemesis, but then Alex committed suicide by leaping off a building before Eclipso could force him to kill more people he cared about.

(Action Comics #826, Adventures of Superman #639, Superman II #216) - The black diamond housing Eclipso was taken from Kahndaq and Bruce Gordon traveled around the world looking for it. It ended up in Metropolis, where Eclipso possessed two people and had them act out their rage by committing suicide. The third person Eclipso possessed strapped a bomb to himself and exploded the Metropolis subway. Eclipso possessed Dr. Jeanine Tracey of S.T.A.R. Labs, stole a LexCorp battlesuit, and attacked Superman. He wanted to fill Superman with rage so he could posses him. Superman kept his cool and defeated Eclipso without anyone being harmed. Eclipso left Tracey and possessed Lois, taunting Superman that he was responsible for the deaths Eclipso caused. This made Superman angry enough for Eclipso to take control of him. Captain Marvel confronted the possessed Superman, and Eclipso tried to make Marvel angry, preferring his immortal form as a host. Marvel fought off Eclipso with his thunderbolts, playing off Superman's vulnerability to magic. Eclipso was willing to have Superman die in his quest to take Marvel, so the wizard Shazam summoned the Spectre, who returned Eclipso to the black diamond. The diamond sought a new host, and found one in Arkham Asylum, where Eclipso possessed Jean Loring.

(JSA #73-75) - Jean Loring/Eclipso went with the Spectre-Force to confront the Crimson Avenger, yet another magic-user. She attacked them with her mystic guns, but Eclipso shot her down with black light. Eclipso made it known that she wanted revenge on Black Adam, who used her power for his own sense of heroism when Alex Montez had Eclipso imprisoned in his body. The Spectre razed Khandaq despite the defense of Black Adam and the JSA. Spectre only stopped his attacks when Atom-Smasher told him he’d accept the Spectre’s judgment, and allowed the Spectre to stop his heart. Black Adam restarted his heart with his magic lightning, and the JSA took Atom back to America after warning Black Adam to stay far away from him in the future. Eclipso was satisfied she’d satisfactorily punished Adam, who was now completely alone without his brother-in-arms.

(Blood of the Demon #6, 7) - Jason decided to forever imprison Entrigan, and Spectre and Jean Loring/Eclipso saw it as an opportunity to take him out. Spectre told him he could restore his human form, but there would be a cost. Jason accepted and was restored to full-human form, but the centuries of sharing a body with Entrigan left his human form ancient and withered. With Demon in their control, Spectre and Eclipso tortured him and drained his magic until Harry Matthews used Merlin’s magic to restore the balance between the Demon and Jason.

Comments: Created by Bob Haney & Lee Elias

Eclipso received profiles in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #7 and Who’s Who In The DC Universe #13.

The Blue Beetle Scarab showed an image of the Jean Loring Eclipso's involvement in a battle in the near future between Spectre and Captain Marvel in DC Countdown #1.

Green Lantern III #147 showed an image of Eclipso when Green Lantern John Stewart talked to his therapist about his superhero career.

Eclipso had a cameo in Green Arrow III #5.

Thanks to Dagda79 for the summary of Eclipso #7 and 8.