Eclipso

Eclipso
Eclipso possessing Gordon as seen in Countdown to Mystery #4 (February 2008) Art by Stephen Jorge Segovia
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	House of Secrets #61 (August 1963)
Created by	Bob Haney (writer) Lee Elias (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Lladiz Galid
Partnerships	Mordru Obsidian
Notable aliases	Prince of Darkness, Vengeance Demon, The Lord of the No-Man's Land Between Light and Darkness
Abilities	Spirit possession, Immortality, Energy-vision, Energy blasts, Superhuman strength, Superhuman speed, Superhuman stamina, Invulnerability, Flight, Weather modification, Divine Siphoning, Nigh Omnipotence, Mass/Remote Possession, Darkside Release, Corruption Inducement, Possession Transformation

Eclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre. Eclipso first appeared in House of Secrets #61 (August 1963) and was created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias.

Originally, Eclipso was written as a generic villain with average superpowers, who would routinely enact an elaborate plot to fulfill his hedonistic motivations. However, the Darkness Within miniseries modified the character to be an evil and megalomaniacal entity. Eclipso's character laments the power he once had as a spirit of divine vengeance. Eclipso would frequently seek to possess beings of incredible power like Superman, Lar Gand, and Captain Marvel to achieve his ends.

Eclipso's early comics debut is tied to his first modern host, Bruce Gordon (named after Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon as an in-joke), a scientist specializing in solar energy. While in the jungle to view a solar eclipse, Gordon was attacked by a tribal sorcerer named Mophir. Before plunging to his death off a cliff, Mophir wounded Gordon with a black diamond. Afterwards, Gordon would be transformed into the villainous Eclipso whenever an eclipse occurred. A blue-gray or purple circle would cover the rightmost two-thirds of his face, resembling a partial eclipse. Gordon would experience many Jekyll-and-Hyde transformations and misadventures in House of Secrets. During this period, Eclipso was portrayed as a conventional villain, possessing super strength, partial invulnerability, and eye blasts (aided by his black diamond). It was later retconned that any type of eclipse could summon Eclipso: lunar, solar, or even an object blocking out a light source. This was countered with a simple means of banishing him again: any bright flash of light would turn him back into Bruce Gordon.