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Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom
Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom Volume 1
The original incarnation of the classic hero Doctor Solar - Man of the Atom springs to life in this newly remastered collection of classic stories from comic geniuses Paul S. Newman and Matt Murphy, reprinted for the first time in nearly thirty years. Fans of Russ Manning, Mac Raboy, or Alex Raymond will be delighted with artist Bob Fujitani's original depiction of this classic hero in all his radioactive glory. True fans of the golden age of sci-fi comics will not be disappointed with the newest addition to Dark Horse's line of classic science fiction titles.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 23, 2019
Back in the early ‘60’s, Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom was one of Dell Publishing’s (“Dude, it’s a Dell”) forays into superhero comics. Solar was a scientist, so there was less punching and more using his irradiated noggin to solve catastrophic doings.
This is during a time when atomic science was still kind of cool, as evidenced by the Atomic Energy Lab…
…and, boys and girls, if your extremities didn’t fall off from testing uranium samples in your bedroom, then, by golly, sexy too.
Dr. Solar worked in a nuclear facility that was the target of espionage from a sinister and shadowy figure, Nuro, who becomes Solar’s nemesis.
One unlucky scientist was sacrificed for plot continuity, but Solar managed to save the day.
The twist: he’s carrying around more radiation than a gazillion atomic bombs. Truth.
Okay, that’s a little bit of hyperbole, but he’s so hot you could roast a chicken off his forehead.
No heartbeat, no metabolism, no problem!
On the downside, no more Dungeons and Dragons or Magic the Gathering with the other nerd scientists or smexy times of any kind.
Fun Fact: Dr. Solar never ever takes off his sunglasses, which makes him look like an asshole, but it’s the perfect solution to my wife’s issue with misplacing her pair: never take the damned things off and you’ll never lose them.
And there’s poor Gail – the science babe. It doesn’t matter that she’s the intellectual equal to the men she’s working with, she’ll always be tripping into ongoing rockets on rails (heels too high?) …
…or mooning over Dr. Solar (cuz he’s dreamy and hot and wears sunglasses all the time!)…
What the hell are you talking about, lady? The dude’s in a lead-shielded room and he’s f**king green!!
…or getting kidnapped whilst shoe shopping…
…or being used as some sort of tool to lure or kill Dr. Solar.
So, get ready for some made up scientific solutions to some crazy-assed atomic problems.
Bottom line : As some of those comic book
Plus, the stories do move at a quicker pace than the over-talky superhero stuff of the day.
The cover art is swell too.
Is he all right? He’s f**king green!
April 6, 2018
Hanebüchen ist eine viel zu milde Bezeichnung für die so unglaublich abstrusen pseudo-"wissenschaftlichen" Phänomene, die Grundlage der Geschichten sind. Das gilt nicht nur für DOCTOR SOLAR, sondern für die meisten Superhelden- und SF-Comics der frühen 60er Jahre, ist hier aber wirklich besonders schlimm. Erstaunlich die Zugeständnisse, die man macht und sogar einräumt, dass eben diese Albernheiten zum speziellen Charme der Heftchen gehören, und so ganz unwahr ist das nicht.
Womit DOCTOR SOLAR wirklich punktet, ist die coole Artwork, die wie die Essenz des Silver Age anzusehen ist und vielen anderen Serien weit überlegen ist.
Marvels Hulk weist erstaunliche Parallelen zu DS auf, mehr, als man als Zufall annehmen möchte.
Womit DOCTOR SOLAR wirklich punktet, ist die coole Artwork, die wie die Essenz des Silver Age anzusehen ist und vielen anderen Serien weit überlegen ist.
Marvels Hulk weist erstaunliche Parallelen zu DS auf, mehr, als man als Zufall annehmen möchte.
July 21, 2011
Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom--the original atomic-age scientist superhero! Ahh… There is absolutely no excuse for an adult in the 21st century to be reading this stuff. Apart from beautiful covers by Richard M. Powers and George Wilson, the value here is almost entirely in the comic’s status as an artifact of mid-60s pop culture. The characters are thinner than the paper they appear on, the plot holes are frequent and substantial, continuity is shoddy, and the frequency with which the reader is required to “suspend disbelief” is almost dizzying. The art is very rough though occasionally inventive, and the blasts of garish color are, I admit, entertaining in themselves. Mainly, the Doctor Solar tales read like a comic book version of the adventure serials of early cinema--that is, like short, absurd rollercoaster rides. (The later Valliant revival was much, much more readable.)
August 31, 2014
Nice mix of out of date sci-fi ideas, 60's spy and super heroes as the writers wander around trying to figure out what this series is.
There is a nice balance of the hero has god-like powers and a limitation that doesn't feel clunky and forced.
Despite the casual sexism of the time, I like relationship between Gale and Doctor Solar. Yes, she is the damsel, but she seems competent at her job and she and Doctor Solar sound/feel like two people in a relationship.
Plus, the Solar suit is one of the all time great hero outfits. Great design.
Biggest gripe is the binding was so cheap that that spine had started to separate before I'd finished my first read of the book.
Guess I should have sprung for the hardcover.
There is a nice balance of the hero has god-like powers and a limitation that doesn't feel clunky and forced.
Despite the casual sexism of the time, I like relationship between Gale and Doctor Solar. Yes, she is the damsel, but she seems competent at her job and she and Doctor Solar sound/feel like two people in a relationship.
Plus, the Solar suit is one of the all time great hero outfits. Great design.
Biggest gripe is the binding was so cheap that that spine had started to separate before I'd finished my first read of the book.
Guess I should have sprung for the hardcover.
January 24, 2012
The writing is silly, but apt for the sixties. Funny science fiction ideas mixed with extistential dread for the new nuclear age. The art is nice, the coloring better and reprinted here on wonderful paper. Dark Horse has done wonderful work republishing classic titles and this is no exception.
August 11, 2018
Dr. Gail Sanders’ first day on the job at Atom Valley is also almost her last, as an experimental rocket goes off the rails. Fortunately, she is saved by her friend from college, Dr. Phillip Solar. He introduces her to her new colleagues, Dr. Clarkson (head of the lab), Dr. Bently (who works with Solar on the energy-to-matter project, and Dr. Rasp, who will be working with her on anti-gravity.
Unfortunately, Dr. Rasp’s real employer, the archcriminal known only as Nuro, isn’t interested in antigravity. He wants the energy-to-matter project, and directs Rasp to kill one of the project scientists to take their place. After a couple of failed attempts, Dr. Rasp succeeds in overloading an atomic pile, which results in a lethal dose of radiation within the lab, killing Dr. Bently…and doing something entirely other to Dr. Solar.
Through some freak of fate, Dr. Solar becomes a man of the atom, subsisting on radiation and himself radioactive to a dangerous degree. With Dr. Clarkson’s connivance, Dr. Solar is concealed within the lab, still technically alive, but working in secret and seeing no one. When Dr. Rasp makes another attempt to discover Solar’s secret, the man of the atom learns that he has incredible powers granted by his new radioactive form.
Doctor Solar was created in 1962 as the first original character for the Gold Key line of comic books from Western Publishing. The publisher had previously been partnered with Dell Comics, and doing almost all licensed adaptations of TV shows and movies. This influenced the look and feel of the series, especially in the early issues where the hero didn’t even wear a brightly colored costume.
Interestingly, Dr. Solar did wear dark glasses at all times, even indoors, and this was never explained or even remarked on by other characters. After his transformation, he had green skin whenever full up on radiation. Eventually, he learns how to appear human again, but must wear special clothing to damp his radioactivity so that he can mingle with mere mortals (and forget intimate contact!)
Western Publishing’s reputation for family-friendly comics was so strong that Gold Key was one of the few lines of comics that could be successfully distributed without submitting their work to the Comics Code Authority. This mostly showed itself in the fact that Nuro remains unpunished throughout the first seven issues reprinted in this volume.
Once Dr. Solar does get himself a distinctive costume, his superhero name is “Man of the Atom” (something that got dropped in later revivals of the character as it’s a bit clumsy.) In these issues he primarily deals with Nuro’s repeated attempts to steal the secrets of Atom Valley and natural disasters.
The good: Excellent art, especially the distinctive covers. Innovative use of the main character’s powers. The plots do a good job of establishing tension and making Dr. Solar seem not too overwhelming to be a sympathetic character.
The less good: Characterization is thin on the ground; we learn all we need to about the characters in the first story, and there’s no character development after that. Gail is a damsel in distress, and we almost never see her use her science skills (and never in a way that helps resolve the story’s central plotline.)
Nuro’s the kind of villain who sits in a chair in obscuring shadows and orders minions about; by the seventh issue, Dr. Solar still doesn’t even know who he is. As the hero’s control of his powers grows, the threats Nuro, a mere human being, can throw at him become much less threatening. This undercuts the menace considerably.
Also, the binding of this collection is fragile, and my copy has already fallen apart.
Primarily recommended to fans of the type of superhero who was created for television back in the day, as that’s what this series reminded me of most, and who like good art. Other superhero fans might want to check to see if the library has a copy they can read.
Unfortunately, Dr. Rasp’s real employer, the archcriminal known only as Nuro, isn’t interested in antigravity. He wants the energy-to-matter project, and directs Rasp to kill one of the project scientists to take their place. After a couple of failed attempts, Dr. Rasp succeeds in overloading an atomic pile, which results in a lethal dose of radiation within the lab, killing Dr. Bently…and doing something entirely other to Dr. Solar.
Through some freak of fate, Dr. Solar becomes a man of the atom, subsisting on radiation and himself radioactive to a dangerous degree. With Dr. Clarkson’s connivance, Dr. Solar is concealed within the lab, still technically alive, but working in secret and seeing no one. When Dr. Rasp makes another attempt to discover Solar’s secret, the man of the atom learns that he has incredible powers granted by his new radioactive form.
Doctor Solar was created in 1962 as the first original character for the Gold Key line of comic books from Western Publishing. The publisher had previously been partnered with Dell Comics, and doing almost all licensed adaptations of TV shows and movies. This influenced the look and feel of the series, especially in the early issues where the hero didn’t even wear a brightly colored costume.
Interestingly, Dr. Solar did wear dark glasses at all times, even indoors, and this was never explained or even remarked on by other characters. After his transformation, he had green skin whenever full up on radiation. Eventually, he learns how to appear human again, but must wear special clothing to damp his radioactivity so that he can mingle with mere mortals (and forget intimate contact!)
Western Publishing’s reputation for family-friendly comics was so strong that Gold Key was one of the few lines of comics that could be successfully distributed without submitting their work to the Comics Code Authority. This mostly showed itself in the fact that Nuro remains unpunished throughout the first seven issues reprinted in this volume.
Once Dr. Solar does get himself a distinctive costume, his superhero name is “Man of the Atom” (something that got dropped in later revivals of the character as it’s a bit clumsy.) In these issues he primarily deals with Nuro’s repeated attempts to steal the secrets of Atom Valley and natural disasters.
The good: Excellent art, especially the distinctive covers. Innovative use of the main character’s powers. The plots do a good job of establishing tension and making Dr. Solar seem not too overwhelming to be a sympathetic character.
The less good: Characterization is thin on the ground; we learn all we need to about the characters in the first story, and there’s no character development after that. Gail is a damsel in distress, and we almost never see her use her science skills (and never in a way that helps resolve the story’s central plotline.)
Nuro’s the kind of villain who sits in a chair in obscuring shadows and orders minions about; by the seventh issue, Dr. Solar still doesn’t even know who he is. As the hero’s control of his powers grows, the threats Nuro, a mere human being, can throw at him become much less threatening. This undercuts the menace considerably.
Also, the binding of this collection is fragile, and my copy has already fallen apart.
Primarily recommended to fans of the type of superhero who was created for television back in the day, as that’s what this series reminded me of most, and who like good art. Other superhero fans might want to check to see if the library has a copy they can read.
August 29, 2021
The nicest thing I can write about this graphic collection is that Mark Evanier's explanation of the Dell Comic/Western Printing split is the most concise and clearest I have seen. It is brilliant brief non-fiction, making something complicated easy to understand. I really wish I could say the same for the seven issues of DOCTOR SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM reprinted after Evanier's introduction. I dislike this comic so much that I don't want to waste a lot of my time or very many words explaining why, so we'll go with the most important reason I find it wholly unengaging. Writer Paul S. Newman, possibly constrained by editor Matt Murphy (I am not sure), opts for captions instead of though or word balloons to tell what ought to be the most tension filled part of each story. There is a world of difference between the caption "The power is cut endangering Solar's life" and the thought balloon, "No! The power has been cut! I have just seconds to live!" The caption is plodding. The thought balloon brings us into the character's inner life and we experience the terror he feels. Newman nearly always goes with the former and that leaves me cold. Given my contempt for the stories in this volume, I really should skip Volume 2 but I notice some thought and word balloons in crisis situations when I flip through. To be fair to this title, I ought to give that second volume a chance to show me if SOLAR is sometimes worth reading.
September 24, 2021
ditulis dalam era berbeda di mana semua hal yang ada dikonsep dan presentasikan berbeda, bahkan mungkin akan dianggap sederhana dalam kacamata masa kini.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2023
I have a sentimental link to these, for I actually owned one of these issues when I was a kid. As you might expect, they read better then, but it was still fun revisiting them.
November 6, 2025
Story: 3/5
Art: 4/5
Very fun early sci fi exploration into nuclear physics with a good ongoing mystery that kept me reading. Good drama.
Art: 4/5
Very fun early sci fi exploration into nuclear physics with a good ongoing mystery that kept me reading. Good drama.
May 5, 2016
Meet Doctor Solar, a nuclear scientist from Atom Valley who was empowered by a thermonuclear catastrophe. Soon afterwards, he finds out that he can control the radiation power into energy. Not only that, he can also change it into matter, vice versa. That's really power beyond any0ne's imagination. Doctor Solar is basically a walking nuclear power plant.
The stories are ridiculously silly. Especially the one where Nuro, Doctor Solar's nemesis, can control a meteor's path from as far away as Neptune using engineered magnetic field from Earth, just to kill Doctor Atom who lives in the same country as Nuro. What a mega-idiotic evil plan.
The stories are ridiculously silly. Especially the one where Nuro, Doctor Solar's nemesis, can control a meteor's path from as far away as Neptune using engineered magnetic field from Earth, just to kill Doctor Atom who lives in the same country as Nuro. What a mega-idiotic evil plan.
November 24, 2014
For me, Dr Solar has everything as long as I'm in the right mood. It's like reading vintage Batman, just not all there. I cringe when I think about Golden Age comics' faded out pulp color work, but this is brilliant with exceptional line work. It's Dr Solar that reminds me this era is truly classic. Oh yeah, the cover art is a total love-thing, in that you either love it or not.
January 11, 2015
Great fun from the early 1960's!
Love the art itself,and the covers as well.
Doctor Solar is so cool, he just fights crime in his shades and lab coat! (Though he does get a costume towards the end)
There is a Blofeld type villain who looms in the background as well.
Fun stuff and worth the time!
Love the art itself,and the covers as well.
Doctor Solar is so cool, he just fights crime in his shades and lab coat! (Though he does get a costume towards the end)
There is a Blofeld type villain who looms in the background as well.
Fun stuff and worth the time!
August 21, 2016
Pure science fiction cheese just like any film from the 1960's. Cheap one issue thrill stories where the good guy always wins. Fun, but predictable at times. It's cool to read over time for a little nostalgia.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews