My three favorite Eclipse titles are (alphabetically) Airboy, Miracleman and Scout. I didn't start reading any of them from the very beginning, but Airboy was the only one I collected entirely ex post facto. I bought the entire run all at once at a quarter sale, 12 and a half bucks well spent, and I did actually read them. Problem is, I crammed them into my eyeballs so fast I didn't retain many of the details, only a vague memory that I liked them. That's been 30 years ago now, well past time that I read them again at my leisure.
The thing about Eclipse Comics is that they were averse to no genre. According to Airboy writer Chuck Dixon: "Horror, science fiction, funny animals, detectives, good girl art, adventure, westerns and mixes of all of the above were grist for their mill. The only proviso was that the material not be stale re-treads. there had to be a twist in the tale, a fresh hook or an unusual outlook. The house style was no style. Wild and wooly was the only rule. They published avant garde material but it was without pretension or posing." About Airboy, Dixon said: "He was the perfect fit for Eclipse... The series was preposterous, funky, sexy, weird and violent with strong horror undertones and the strangest cast of villains ever to appear in a comic book. In other words, it was practically an amalgam of what made Eclipse special."
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In March of 2017, about his plans for Airboy after #50, Chuck Dixon wrote: "I recall that a four-part story was planned in which an amnesiac David Nelson regains consciousness out in the African veldt. He comes into conflict with another faux Golden Age character featured in a back-up story in Strike! The White Lion is a kind of pro-apartheid Tarzan and Airboy must recall his flying skills in order to defeat the bad guy and free a tribe from bondage in an outlaw diamond mine. In a sub-plot, the rest of the Air-fighters go looking across the world for their lost friend. Their search for him eventually brings him to Misery, setting up the next arc. That's all I have, folks."
Then, in 2019, much to my surprise and delight, Airboy #51, by Chuck Dixon, hit the stands. The story was very much as described above, except for a few things. First, Airboy wasn't amnesiac; second, I didn't get the inpression that White Lion was por-apartheid; and third, the story was wrapped up in a single issue. It would have made a good ending to the story, except for those three words at the end: "To be continued!!!"
Then, in 2022, came Airboy #52, and the reason for the title "Generations" became clear. #51 was set in 1989, but #52 was set in the present day and featured the son of Airboy and Valkyrie, Davy Nelson IV. The first part of this story bridges the gap between 1989 and 2022 and tells the tale of the second Airboy's last mission with the Air Fighters (circa 2002-2004, I reckon). All of the Air Fighters except Valkyrie (who did not fgo one the mission) the robotic Iron Ace were killed in airboy's final battle against Misery. A year or so later, Valkyrie flies off seeking revenge and never returns. When young Davy turns 18, he inherits Nelson Aviation and becomes the third Airboy. Two new supporting cast members are introduced, joining Robert Britain (the Iron Ace) who is still around. This hearkens back to the beginning of Eclipse's Airboy series and is a good move because, although Sky wolf and Hirohota et al could have conceivable still been active in the mid to late '80s, they would have been getting quite long in the tooth by the 21st century.
Again, this issue would have been another good ending to the series if not for those three niggling little words. By this point I ahve pretty much given up on seeing #53... unless this series is on a tri-annual schedule, in which case we can expect a new issue in 2025.
Prior to the Airboy's revival by It's Alive! (who?), Image Comics launched a reboot of sorts in 2015.
Worlds and minds explode in a brand-new series! When acclaimed comics author JAMES ROBINSON is hired to write a reboot of the 1940s action hero Airboy, he's reluctant to do yet another Golden Age reboot. Just what the hell has happened to his career-?! His marriage?! His life?! Hey, it's nothing that a drink can't fix. It's after one such night of debauchery with artist GREG HINKLE that the project really comes into its own. Quite literally. Because Airboy himself appears to set the two depraved comic book creators on the straight and narrow. But is the task too much for our hero?
That sounded kind of "meta" to me at the time (although James Robinson's name has cachet with me), it didn't appeal to me and I didn't read it. Did I err? Has anyone here read it? Can you steer me toward it (or further away from it)?
I've picked up the random Eclipse Airboy from time to time in back issue boxes, and I've enjoted them all. I've just never taken a deep dive into it.
Jeff, I did try the Image revival. I made it through about 1, maybe 2 issues. I thought it was pretty bad.
Yeah, like I said, it didn't look like something that would appeal to me. Thanks for the feedback!
Over the weekend I found a copy of Image's Airboy #1 at Half Price Books, so I bought it. My LCS has the collection on the shelf, sealed (for good reason), and I used the one I bought at HPB as a "sampler" to decide whether or not to buy the collection. I will say that this version of Airboy is probably the most graphic comic I have seen short of Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss or alan Moore's Lost Girls. (Yes, I realize there are more graphic available, it's just that tend not to read that sort of thing.) Here is what some industry pros had to say about it:
I honestly don't know what I think of it. It is certainly not an "Airboy" comic per se. ("Airboy" himself doesn't appear until the last page splash.)
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