[5] Eclipse published one of the first original graphic novels, and the first to be sold through the new "direct market" of comic-book stores,[6] Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy.

The profits earned to date were used to fund publication of McGregor's Detectives, Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green (with artist Marshall Rogers) and Steve Gerber's Stewart the Rat.

[3] In 1980, Mullaney moonlighted as co-editor of the brand-new hobbyist publication Comics Feature, produced by Hal Schuster's New Media Publishing, but left after a year to focus on Eclipse.

[8] Not wanting to limit the company to graphic novels alone, the brothers devised Eclipse, the Magazine, a 68-page bi-monthly black-and-white anthology title with a rotating group of creator-owned characters.

The title later introduced Steve Englehart's Coyote, Trina Robbins' adaptation of Sax Rohmer's Dope, McGregor and Colan's Ragamuffins (which Mullaney later described as "perhaps the finest thing we ever published") and B.C.

[12] 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.

This included Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer, Mr. Monster and Somerset Holmes, as well as a recently signed deal for the American rights to Quality Communications' acclaimed British anthology Warrior.

[17] 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.

The Warrior deal brought in Axel Pressbutton and 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.

[4] 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.

[18] Miracleman was originally one of three 75¢ books launched by Eclipse (along with The New Wave and the new-material Laser Eraser and Pressbutton) as part of a short-lived deal with a Finnish printer at the time they were the cheapest direct market full colour comics ever made.

Other new additions around this time were Timothy Truman's 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 and Pelleas and Melisandre under the Night Music banner.

Among these were so-called "micro-series", limited series of two bi-weekly or even weekly issues;[4] a line of 3-D stereoscopy books in collaboration with Ray Zone (including the official adaptation of Disney Michael Jackson vehicle Captain EO)[19] and – later – flexi disc records containing theme songs for titles.

[27] 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.

[28] 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.

The early political comics were the results of partnerships with activist groups like Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Citizen Soldier, and the Christic Institute.

In 1987, the company published the antiwar comic Real War Stories #1, edited by Joyce Brabner, with work by Mike W. Barr, Steve Bissette, Brian Bolland, Paul Mavrides, Dean Motter, Denny O'Neil and John Totleben (among others).

[34] The comic, by writers Alan Moore and Joyce Brabner and artist Bill Sienkiewicz, dealt in part with the Central Intelligence Agency's involvement in the Iran–Contra affair.

[55] The company's 1992 trading card set, True Crime by Max Allan Collins, George Hagenauer, Paul Lee, Valarie Jones, Peggy Collier and Jon Bright, covering both mafia and gang figures such as Al Capone and Hymie Weiss to more recent mass killers such as John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer, drew considerable controversy after an Eclipse press release was picked up by Entertainment Tonight, leading to accusations of sensationalism.

Reporting on the issue, comics industry magazine Amazing Heroes noted that Shel-Tone Publications' similar Bloody Visions set had attracted no such censure when released previously.

;[64] Dave Stevens struck a deal with Comico to serialise new Rocketeer material;[23] DNAgents and its spin-off Crossfire were abandoned when Mark Evanier took on work for DC Comics;[4] Ty Templeton abandoned Stig's Inferno soon after transferring it to Eclipse when he received offers to work on Booster Gold;[65] and Miracleman slowed to a point where the bi-monthly title shipped three issues between April 1988 and December 1989 due to artist John Totleben's health issues.

[66] While Airboy and Scout remained solid sellers for the company further attempts to expand into superhero comics, such as The New Wave, Kurt Busiek's The Liberty Project, Tim Truman's The Prowler and Chuck Dixon's Strike!

One source was Japan, where manga was produced in prodigious amounts; the success of imported anime such as Robotech and Voltron had showed a large potential market for such subject matter.

[76] Highlights from the relationship included Power Comics, a four-issue superhero title with art by Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland; Aces, a five-issue black-and-white anthology of serialized Jazz Age genre stories which were originally published in Europe; licensed James Bond material[77] in the form of the official adaptation of latest film Licence to Kill[78] and three issue mini-series James Bond: Permission to Die — the first James Bond comic book storyline not adapted from a previous work — both featuring art from Mike Grell; mini-series Steed and Mrs. Peel (based on television show The Avengers but renamed to avoid confusion with the highly prominent Marvel Comics series of that name) by Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson; and Eddie Campbell's The Complete Alec.

[82] Despite promotional stunts such as bespoke plastic bags for comics stores,[83] Total Eclipse was beset by delays and a commercial and critical failure, nixing any hopes of relaunching the likes of Strike!

Instead, comics output largely focused on literary adaptations, including J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit,[88] Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight[86] and several Clive Barker works,[89] either as mini-series, one shots or graphic novels.

Otherwise the company focused on collected editions, and only occasional titles – such as Truman's revisiting of pulp hero The Spider[90] or zeitgeist-tapping spoofs such as X-Farce[91] (a satire on Rob Liefeld's X-Force) and Loco vs. Pulverine[92] (based on Lobo and Wolverine)--made any impression on sales charts.

Finding his income suddenly increasing despite similar sales, Smith instigated an audit of Eclipse's finances, revealing the keeping of two sets of books to avoid paying the agreed royalties.