Solar (comics)
Encyclopedia
Solar is an American fictional comic book
character. Originally known as Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, he first appeared in a comic book published by Gold Key Comics
in the 1960s. He has since appeared in other incarnations in books published by Valiant Comics
in the 1990s, and Dark Horse Comics
in the 2000s.
named Dr. Raymond Solar. He was exposed to a massive amount of radiation in an attempt to assist a fellow worker, Dr. Bentley. Bentley lost his life trying to avert an imminent meltdown due to sabotage of a nuclear power
facility by Dr. Rasp, agent of an evil mastermind named Nuro. Solar survived and soon discovered that he had powers to convert his human form into any kind of energy. Use of these powers depleted his "store" of energy which would require him to re-expose himself to radiation sources for replenishment. Using his new powers, he began searching for Nuro, who would clash with Solar many times. Nuro often used a robot "double" of himself called Orun in his schemes, and later transferred his mind into Orun, and was known as King Cybernoid.
Doctor Solar did not have a superhero
costume until the fifth issue of his comic. Furthermore, "Doctor Solar" was his 'real' or 'civilian' name. When he went into action, he was known as "The Man of the Atom". His costume was intended to shield others from his radiation. In addition, when he went used his powers, his skin turned green.
His original run lasted 27 issues, from October 1962
to April 1969
. In the early 1980s, the series was resumed with issue #28 and lasted four issues. Solar also appeared in an issue of another Gold Key title, Dr. Spektor
#14.
, and Magnus, Robot Fighter
, were licensed by Valiant Comics
, which planned to use the characters as part of Jim Shooter's
new superhero line. A number of changes were made to the character and his back-story
. The new version (now known simply as Solar) was a physicist
named Phil Seleski. Seleski was a fan of the Gold Key line, especially the adventures of Doctor Solar. One day, Seleski and his colleagues were testing a new type of fusion reactor. When an accidental breach threatened to decimate the entire area, Seleski rushed to shut down the reactor. He succeeded, but he was exposed to lethal doses of radiation in the process. Amazingly, the exposure did not kill him. Instead, it gave him an ability to manipulate energy. Seleski tried to use his powers for the good of mankind. He became determined to destroy the world's supply of nuclear weapons. The US government tried to stop him. Unfortunately, their efforts caused Seleski to lose control of his powers, which in turn caused Earth to fall into a giant black hole
.
Seleski was thrown several weeks back in time (or so he thought). The guilt over his role in destruction of his world caused him to split into two beings: Doctor Solar, who believed himself to be Seleski's childhood hero; and Phil Seleski, who retained all the memories of the original. Seleski sought to prevent an accident that gave him powers from taking place. His efforts were complicated by the presence of Doctor Solar, who was convinced that Seleski was a dangerous criminal. Eventually, Seleski managed to convince his alter-ego that they needed to work together. They fused with the past version of Seleski and prevented the accident. In the process, they discovered that Seleski's fusion reactor was actually a "wish machine" that allowed anyone within close proximity to change the universe in any way they saw fit. Before the original accident, Seleski wished that he could become his childhood superhero. As a result, the reactor simulated the events that gave the original Doctor Solar his powers. Seleski also found out that he did not travel to the past. After falling into a black hole, he tried to recreate his universe
. For the most part, he succeeded. However, there were several important differences, the most important of which was that Earth was now populated by a large number of super-powered beings.
The revelations inspired Seleski to take up the mantle of his childhood hero. He became known as Solar, Man of the Atom.
Solar went on to have many adventures, fighting a wide variety of threats, from Spider Aliens to malevolent Harbingers
to Mothergod
. He survived for many centuries. He blew himself up in an effort to stop the Spider Alien invasion of AD 4000.
, a video game company. When Acclaim Comics restarted all its properties from scratch, Solar's origin was left untouched. In a four-part limited series, it was revealed that the Acclaim Universe was an alternate Valiant Universe timeline that was accidentally created by Solar. He sought to erase the Acclaim Universe from existence, but was opposed by the Seleski twins, alternate versions of himself. He departed from the Acclaim Universe, leaving a portion of his powers to the Seleski twins.
During the "Unity 2000" crossover, Solar rallied heroes from VH-0 Universe to stop Acclaim Universe's Master Darque
from causing a multiverse-wide disaster. According to the series plot, the other heroes would eventually discover that Solar had his own malevolent agenda in mind. Since Unity 2000 wasn't published beyond issue 3, this never came to pass.
Even with some success in the comics, Acclaim suffered from too much debt due to major flops of its video games. In 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy and put its assets up for auction. The license for Solar lapsed, with the rights reverting to Random House
, which acquired Western Publishing
's properties in 2001.
to reprint the Gold Key issues in the form of a hardcover anthology series, similar to the DC Archive series, in 2007. In 2009 it was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Jim Shooter
, the founder of Valiant Comics
, would be working for Dark Horse Comics to develop new series based on the Gold Key characters, including Doctor Solar Man of The Atom, Mighty Samson
, Magnus, Robot Fighter
, and Turok
Son of Stone. Dark Horse published a new Solar series that ran eight issues, plus a preview issue. A trade paperback collection was released that collected the preview issue and #1-4 of the comic.
Volumes published
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
character. Originally known as Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, he first appeared in a comic book published by Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
in the 1960s. He has since appeared in other incarnations in books published by Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...
in the 1990s, and Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
in the 2000s.
Gold Key Comics
The original Doctor Solar was a physicistPhysicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
named Dr. Raymond Solar. He was exposed to a massive amount of radiation in an attempt to assist a fellow worker, Dr. Bentley. Bentley lost his life trying to avert an imminent meltdown due to sabotage of a nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
facility by Dr. Rasp, agent of an evil mastermind named Nuro. Solar survived and soon discovered that he had powers to convert his human form into any kind of energy. Use of these powers depleted his "store" of energy which would require him to re-expose himself to radiation sources for replenishment. Using his new powers, he began searching for Nuro, who would clash with Solar many times. Nuro often used a robot "double" of himself called Orun in his schemes, and later transferred his mind into Orun, and was known as King Cybernoid.
Doctor Solar did not have a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
costume until the fifth issue of his comic. Furthermore, "Doctor Solar" was his 'real' or 'civilian' name. When he went into action, he was known as "The Man of the Atom". His costume was intended to shield others from his radiation. In addition, when he went used his powers, his skin turned green.
His original run lasted 27 issues, from October 1962
1962 in comics
-January:*Amazing Fantasy #8 – Marvel Comics*Fantastic Four #2 - Marvel Comics*Journey into Mystery #76 - Marvel Comics*Kid Colt: Outlaw #102 - Marvel Comics...
to April 1969
1969 in comics
This is a list of comics-related events in 1969.- Year overall :* Paragon Publications established in Longwood, Florida, by Bill Black.* George Klein, long-time Superman inker, dies in his fifties from cirrhosis of the liver, six months after getting married.-February:* The Golden Age character...
. In the early 1980s, the series was resumed with issue #28 and lasted four issues. Solar also appeared in an issue of another Gold Key title, Dr. Spektor
Doctor Spektor
Doctor Spektor is a fictional comic book "occult detective" that appeared in Western Publishing's Gold Key Comics. Created by writer Donald Glut and artist Dan Spiegle, he first appeared in Mystery Comics Digest #5 -Publication history:...
#14.
Valiant Comics
In the early 1990s, Doctor Solar, TurokTurok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
, and Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional comic book superhero created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963, based primarily on Tarzan. Magnus first appeared in Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #1, published by Gold Key Comics in February 1963...
, were licensed by Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...
, which planned to use the characters as part of Jim Shooter's
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
new superhero line. A number of changes were made to the character and his back-story
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
. The new version (now known simply as Solar) was a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
named Phil Seleski. Seleski was a fan of the Gold Key line, especially the adventures of Doctor Solar. One day, Seleski and his colleagues were testing a new type of fusion reactor. When an accidental breach threatened to decimate the entire area, Seleski rushed to shut down the reactor. He succeeded, but he was exposed to lethal doses of radiation in the process. Amazingly, the exposure did not kill him. Instead, it gave him an ability to manipulate energy. Seleski tried to use his powers for the good of mankind. He became determined to destroy the world's supply of nuclear weapons. The US government tried to stop him. Unfortunately, their efforts caused Seleski to lose control of his powers, which in turn caused Earth to fall into a giant black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
.
Seleski was thrown several weeks back in time (or so he thought). The guilt over his role in destruction of his world caused him to split into two beings: Doctor Solar, who believed himself to be Seleski's childhood hero; and Phil Seleski, who retained all the memories of the original. Seleski sought to prevent an accident that gave him powers from taking place. His efforts were complicated by the presence of Doctor Solar, who was convinced that Seleski was a dangerous criminal. Eventually, Seleski managed to convince his alter-ego that they needed to work together. They fused with the past version of Seleski and prevented the accident. In the process, they discovered that Seleski's fusion reactor was actually a "wish machine" that allowed anyone within close proximity to change the universe in any way they saw fit. Before the original accident, Seleski wished that he could become his childhood superhero. As a result, the reactor simulated the events that gave the original Doctor Solar his powers. Seleski also found out that he did not travel to the past. After falling into a black hole, he tried to recreate his universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. For the most part, he succeeded. However, there were several important differences, the most important of which was that Earth was now populated by a large number of super-powered beings.
The revelations inspired Seleski to take up the mantle of his childhood hero. He became known as Solar, Man of the Atom.
Solar went on to have many adventures, fighting a wide variety of threats, from Spider Aliens to malevolent Harbingers
Harbingers (comics)
Harbingers are fictional characters with superhuman powers who appeared in every Valiant Comics title. Two different groups of Harbingers appeared in the comic book series Harbinger.- History :...
to Mothergod
Mothergod
Mothergod is a fictional character from Valiant Comics. She was exposed to the same energies that turned Phil Seleski into Solar, and she gained the same energy and matter manipulation powers...
. He survived for many centuries. He blew himself up in an effort to stop the Spider Alien invasion of AD 4000.
Graphic novels
- Alpha and Omega hardcover slipcase (March 1994) - Collects # 1–10 (back-up stories); written by Jim Shooter; art by Barry Windsor-Smith & Bob Layton
- Alpha and Omega trade paperback format edition (March 1994)
- Second Death trade paperback (September 1994) - Collects # 1–4 (lead stories); written by Jim Shooter; art by Don Perlin & Bob Layton
Acclaim Comics
In 1994, Valiant Comics was purchased by Acclaim EntertainmentAcclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
, a video game company. When Acclaim Comics restarted all its properties from scratch, Solar's origin was left untouched. In a four-part limited series, it was revealed that the Acclaim Universe was an alternate Valiant Universe timeline that was accidentally created by Solar. He sought to erase the Acclaim Universe from existence, but was opposed by the Seleski twins, alternate versions of himself. He departed from the Acclaim Universe, leaving a portion of his powers to the Seleski twins.
During the "Unity 2000" crossover, Solar rallied heroes from VH-0 Universe to stop Acclaim Universe's Master Darque
Master Darque
Master Darque is a fictional character, a Valiant Comics villain that first appeared in Shadowman #8 and later became a staple villain in both the Shadowman and Second Life of Dr. Mirage comic books...
from causing a multiverse-wide disaster. According to the series plot, the other heroes would eventually discover that Solar had his own malevolent agenda in mind. Since Unity 2000 wasn't published beyond issue 3, this never came to pass.
Even with some success in the comics, Acclaim suffered from too much debt due to major flops of its video games. In 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy and put its assets up for auction. The license for Solar lapsed, with the rights reverting to Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, which acquired Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
's properties in 2001.
Dark Horse Comics
Random House licensed Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
to reprint the Gold Key issues in the form of a hardcover anthology series, similar to the DC Archive series, in 2007. In 2009 it was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
, the founder of Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...
, would be working for Dark Horse Comics to develop new series based on the Gold Key characters, including Doctor Solar Man of The Atom, Mighty Samson
Mighty Samson
Mighty Samson was an original comic book series from Gold Key Comics. Similar to other post-apocalyptic titles like Kamandi, Atomic Knights or the like, it was set in the area around New York, now known as "N'Yark", in an Earth devastated by a nuclear war.Mighty Samson lasted 32 issues between...
, Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional comic book superhero created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963, based primarily on Tarzan. Magnus first appeared in Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #1, published by Gold Key Comics in February 1963...
, and Turok
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
Son of Stone. Dark Horse published a new Solar series that ran eight issues, plus a preview issue. A trade paperback collection was released that collected the preview issue and #1-4 of the comic.
Volumes published
- Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom ISBN 1-59307-285-6 (reprints #1–7)
- Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom ISBN 1-59307-327-5 (reprints #8–14)
- Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom ISBN 1-59307-374-7 (reprints #15–22)
- Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom ISBN 1-59307-825-0 (reprints #23–31, Occult Files of Dr. SpektorDoctor SpektorDoctor Spektor is a fictional comic book "occult detective" that appeared in Western Publishing's Gold Key Comics. Created by writer Donald Glut and artist Dan Spiegle, he first appeared in Mystery Comics Digest #5 -Publication history:...
#14) - Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom Volume 1 ISBN 1595826033 (reprints Free Comic Book Day: Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom/Magnus, Robot Fighter and issues #1 - 4 of the Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom series.)
External links
- VALIANT Comics message board
- VALIANT Days, VALIANT Nights - A Look Back at the Rise and Fall of VALIANT
- International Hero Gold Key Dr.Solar page
- International Hero Solar, Man of the Atom page
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia article on Doctor Solar
- Dial B for Blog- Secret Origins of Solar, parts 1 & 2
- Dial B for Blog- Secret Origins of Solar, parts 3 & 4
- Comic bookDB character page