What happened to Dr Eclipse?

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drmirage
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What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by drmirage »

With all the Eclipse talk going on. What ever happened to Dr "Fred Bender" Eclipse.

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BugsySig
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by BugsySig »

He seems to be a derivative of Dr. Solar and therefore not VEI property. I believe the character appeared in some form in the recent Dynamite series.
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Chiclo
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by Chiclo »

Didn't Solar de-power him and leave him stranded in the desert?

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Sunlight on Snow
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

BugsySig wrote:He seems to be a derivative of Dr. Solar and therefore not VEI property. I believe the character appeared in some form in the recent Dynamite (sucks!) series.
Dr. Eclipse was first introduced by Valiant. Not sure how it could have become an original GK property in the 90s? :?

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BugsySig
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by BugsySig »

Sunlight on Snow wrote:
BugsySig wrote:He seems to be a derivative of Dr. Solar and therefore not VEI property. I believe the character appeared in some form in the recent Dynamite (sucks!) (sucks!) series.
Dr. Eclipse was first introduced by Valiant. Not sure how it could have become an original GK property in the 90s? :?
There are weird legal rules about these things. "Fred Bender" may be a VEI IP, but Dr. Eclipse as a "negative Solar" creates too much of a potential legal issue to use.

Like how Neil Gaiman created Angela and Medieval Spawn in the pages of Spawn and was able to win ownership of Angela. But he didn't have a shot at owning the derivative medieval version of a character already owned by someone else.
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Sunlight on Snow
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

BugsySig wrote:
Sunlight on Snow wrote:
BugsySig wrote:He seems to be a derivative of Dr. Solar and therefore not VEI property. I believe the character appeared in some form in the recent Dynamite (sucks!) (sucks!) (sucks!) series.
Dr. Eclipse was first introduced by Valiant. Not sure how it could have become an original GK property in the 90s? :?
There are weird legal rules about these things. "Fred Bender" may be a VEI IP, but Dr. Eclipse as a "negative Solar" creates too much of a potential legal issue to use.

Like how Neil Gaiman created Angela and Medieval Spawn in the pages of Spawn and was able to win ownership of Angela. But he didn't have a shot at owning the derivative medieval version of a character already owned by someone else.
I always believe neither Gaiman nor MacFarlane were granted full ownership in court because of the sheer absence of any written legal agreement thus they were simply given equal ownership (which of course was a win for Gaiman). Then, later on, MacFarlane granted Gaiman full ownership for Angela (possibly for getting full ownership of Medieval Spawn).

Not sure whether Spawn/Medieval Spawn is the same as Solar/Eclipse though?

Like you said legal rules are weird especially when not being directly involved.

If Valiant wanted to use Dr. Eclipse he would certainly need a brand new 100% Solar-free origin though.

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Daniel Jackson
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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by Daniel Jackson »

We've discussed this a few years back and never did get any concrete answers. I would imagine that VEI just doesn't need the legal headache it might cause though. The problems they had involving VIP in the beginning, have probably left a lasting impression.

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Re: What happened to Dr Eclipse?

Post by jmatt »

Chiclo wrote:Didn't Solar de-power him and leave him stranded in the desert?
That's my recollection. We apparently interpreted the question differently than was intended, methinks.


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