Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom Volume 4

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom

by Paul S. Newman, Frank Bolle

After his debut in October of 1962, Doctor Solar swiftly rose to join Magnus, Robot Fighter as one of Gold Key's most popular original heroes. Stunning painted covers sucked in even the most casual comics reader, and the source of Solar's astounding powers - nuclear radiation - addressed one of the biggest fears of the day. While the character has been reinvented in the decades since, his adventures in this archive of Gold Key and Wilson comics completes the body of work that formed his foundation. This collection restores and reprints issues #23 through 31 of the original Doctor Solar comic book series - the revolutionary science-fiction adventure that gave birth to one of comics' most distinctive and beloved super heroes - for the first time in over 40 years. His guest appearance in The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #14 is also included, making this the biggest Doctor Solar volume of them all!

Genres: Comics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2007

Reviews

[Rex Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects issues 23 through 31 of the Dell series, along with a rare crossover issue where Dr. Solar meets with another Gold Key title, The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor. There is a nineteen year break in the series between issues 27 and 28. The reason for this was that in the 80s, Gold Key withdrew from distribution to newsstands and began publishing comics under the Whitman Comics imprint. These were distributed to retail stores in packages of three issues. Thus they began churning out a few more issues with the original creative team to shore up their ranks. There is a definite shift in the tone and action between issues 27 and 28 (as one would expect there to be), and these reflect the changing styles in the comic industry between the 60s and 80s. First there is more character development in the 80s issues. The 60s comic are all about action, action, action. A problem occurs, Dr. Solar needs to fix that problem, he does, end with a smile. In the latter issues he broods over his fate. That not needing to do basic human things like sleep and eat and emitting massive doses of radiation causes a strain in his relationship with other people. Thus his beautiful assistant pines for him, but he dare not return her love lest he accidentally hurt her. None of that was in the first 27 issues.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The grand finale of this series is decent, but uneven.

The final batch of Gold Key issues are all stories where the Man of the Atom fights his arch foe, Nuro (in his new robot body).
There's some decent sci-fi ideas, but you wish the writers had expanded the rogues gallery a bit.

Then we get the couple Whitman issues, which has different (but equally nice) art, lose Gail's boy genius nephew, add a couple robots to the supporting cast, and replace the 60's spy meets sci-fi vibe for more traditional super hero stories.
None of that is bad, it's just jarring.

The final issue, isn't even a Doctor Solar story, it's an issue of the Occult Files of Doctor Spektor.
The man of the atom guest stars.
This was weird, as the two comics are very different and their worlds don't mesh very well, and the story is used to resolve a big story of Doctor Spektors ( which I haven't read. Did Dark Horse do a Doctor Spektor Archives?) and fill us in on what's been going on with Solar since his series ended.
Very pretty art and I've always liked Spektor, but it's clunky and feels like a weak note to end the series on.

Still, a fun series and I'm glad to have gotten to read the whole thing.
This Archives can be pricey, but I've really enjoyed them and am looking forward to tracking down the other Gold Key heroes.