Doc Samson and 4 Famous Co-Stars

 I'd like to be a fly on the wall for this therapy session.  Hopefully they all find some inner peace.  

Doc Samson first met Batman in one of my very first covers, an MS Paint effort from the first few days of the blog...

Doctor Strange Vs. Eclipso

 

I had previously featured a battle between these two as one of the back up stories in STF #2400, but I thought that this was a match up that was worthy of its own issue.  Doctor Stephen Strange is familiar with having to stave off his own darker side - The end of his last cinematic outing left him doing just that, after all - hopefully it will not be too many years before we see that plot point resolved.

Cloak & Dagger Vs. Eclipso

 

I can see Eclipso taking an interest in these two young crimefighters, as they represent darkness and light that work together.  He would probably get a twisted thrill out of attempting to corrupt one or the other, to break up their effective alliance.  Let's hope their personal bonds are enough to overcome his machinations.

Cloak and Dagger first encountered Eclipso in STF #3498...

Hellboy Vs. Eclipso

 

I was interested to read that Ron Perlman say that, despite now being in his 70's, he is willing to do one more movie to finish out his Hellboy trilogy if the studios want to make it and if Guillermo Del Toro is ready to direct.  I'm guessing this would ignore the ill-received reboot from a few years ago.  I know I'd be interested, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for Universal Pictures or whoever has the rights today to greenlight the project. I'd definitely want Liz to return as well, but Selma Blair has her own medical issues these days, I don't know how much acting she still does.  Still, I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, I like the first two Hellboy movies quite a bit.

Nightwing and Cloak & Dagger

 

The second season of Stargirl started out a little slowly, but finished off strong.  I was especially impressed with how well realized Eclipso was, both visually and how he was utilized as a season-long menace.  It definitely seemed like the show's budget may have been trimmed from the first season to the second, but Eclipso's sequences were always done well.  The post credits scene featuring a popular Infinity Inc. character showing up was cool too, and suggests interesting possibilities for Season Three.

Galactus and Eclipso

 

Usually the final step in creating these covers is for me to step back, look at the image and then try to come up with some captions, dialogue or a title that will give an idea as to what the story inside might be about.  Every once in a while, I feel that the image alone is enough to suggest the contents without any other additional information.  This is one of those cases - I couldn't think of anything that I would add to this cover that would do anything besides clutter it up.

Elongated Man and Moon Knight (Vs. Eclipso)

I've had a few requests for Moon Knight to face off against Eclipso, including Blog Patron Bob Greenwade, and I figured that I'd throw that conflict into the middle of STF's greatest fighting team.  I imagine that the events of this issue will have repercussions down the line.

This is the Fifth appearance of the MK/EM team - They faced an angry underworld in STF #2831,  Psycho Pirate turned them against each other in STF #2732, Ralph came to the rescue in STF #2518, and they first started working together in STF #2169...

Mr. Fantastic Vs. Eclipso

Eclipso is another one of those great DC villains in that he works well as an antagonist for just about any character that you pit him against.  Heck, he even works when he is battling himself, as his Bruce Gordon side tries to hold back the evil that he has within.  I'm surprised that we have not seen a live action version in one form or another yet.

Fantastic Four Vs. Secret Society of Super-Villains (and more!)

There's something about groups of bad guys banding together that always appealed to me.  It would probably be impractical for them, but the infighting while trying to work with one another to defeat the heroes usually made for a cool story.  Maybe it strikes a chord with me because I loved seeing The Legion of Doom on Super Friends, I'm not sure.  Marvel's Acts of Vengeance crossover, in which the villains swapped heroes to gain advantage was also a favorite of mine.