Category: Valiant Universe

By Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith & Bob Layton with Kathryn Bolinger (Valiant)
No ISBN

The 1990s were a grim period for comics creativity. In far too many places, the industry had become market-led by speculators, with spin-offs, fad-chasing, shiny gimmicks and multiple-covers events replacing innovation and good story-telling. One notable exception was a little outfit with some big names that clearly prized the merits of well-told stories illustrated by artists immune to the latest mis-proportioned, scratchy poseur style, and one with enough business sense to play the industry at its own game…

As Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter had made Marvel the most profitable, high-profile comics company in America, and following his departure, he used that savvy to pick up the rights to a series of characters with Silver-Age appeal and turn them into contemporary gold.

Western Publishing had been an industry player since the earliest days, mixing major licensed brands such as Disney titles, Star Trek and Loony Tunes with in-house original stars like Turok, Son of Stone, Space Family Robinson, Magnus, Robot Fighter and – in deference to the age of the nuclear hero –Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom.

With an agreement to revive some, any or all of these four-colour veterans, Shooter and co-conspirator Bob Layton came to a bold decision and opted to incorporate all those 1960s adventures into their refits: acutely aware that older fans don’t like having their childhood favourites bastardized, and that revivals need all the support they can get. Thus the old days were canonical: they did “happen ” and would impact the new material being created for a brasher, more critical audience.

Although the company launched with a classy and classic reinterpretation of Magnus, the lynchpin title for the new universe they were building was the only broadly super-heroic character in the bunch. They had big plans for Solar, Man of the Atom who was launched with an eye to exploiting all the new printing gimmicks of the era, but was cleverly rationalised and realistically rendered. However, that’s not what this book is about.

The thrust of the regular series followed comic fan/nuclear physicist Phil Seleski – designer of the new Muskogee fusion reactor – as he dealt with its imminent activation. Inserted into the first ten issues was a brief extra chapter by Shooter, Windsor-Smith & Layton describing that self-same Seleski as he came to accept the horrific nuclear meltdown he had caused and the incredible abilities it had given him. As the world went to atomic hell, Seleski – AKA Solar – believed he had found his one chance to put things right…

That sounds pretty vague – and it should – because the compiled 10 chapters that form Alpha and Omega are a prequel, an issue #0, designed to be read only after the initial story arc had introduced readers to Seleski’s new world. That it reads so well in isolation is a testament to the talents of all those involved, and in combination with accompanying collection Solar, Man of the Atom: Second Death the saga forms a high point in 1990s comics creation. I will not be happy until this epic is generally available again – in all formats – but until that happens, I’ll take any opportunity to convince you all to seek out both these outstanding epics of science-hero-super-fiction.

You should take my word for it and start hunting now: and just by way of a friendly tip: each insert culminated with a two-page spread comprising a segment of “the world’s largest comic panel”, and the treasured slipcase edition I’m reviewing includes a poster combining those spreads into a terrifyingly detailed depiction of the end of the event…

By the way: one of those aforementioned trendy gimmicks was black-on-black printing, and the slipcase edition replicates that technique for the case cover. If you find an edition as seen in our attached cover illo, that’s the actual front of the interior book. There should also be that great big poster too. It’s still worth having without the extras, but it’s not the complete package…

Seek and enjoy, fans…
© 1994 Voyager Communications and Western Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

By Jim Shooter, Don Perlin, Barry Windsor-Smith, Bob Layton & Tom Ryder (Valiant)
No ISBN:

Quarterly title Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 hit newsstands on June 28^th1962 sporting an October cover-date. My arithmetic isn’t good enough to decipher Gold Key’s arcane system but is advanced enough to realise that’s another 60^th Anniversary occurring right about now. Happy birthday, Doc!

During the market-led, gimmick-crazed frenzy of the 1990s, amongst the interminable spin-offs, fads, shiny multiple-cover events a new comics company revived some old characters and proved once more that good story-telling never goes out of fashion. As Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter had made Marvel the most profitable and high-profile they had ever been, and after his departure he used that writing skill and business acumen to transform some almost forgotten Silver-Age characters into contemporary gold.

Western Publishing had been a major player since comics’ earliest days, blending a huge tranche of licensed publications such as TV, movie and Disney titles; properties like Tarzan and The Lone Ranger with homegrown hits like Turok, Son of Stone and Space Family Robinson.

In the 1960s, during the second superhero boom, these original adventure titles expanded to include Brain Boy, M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War (created by Wally Wood), Magnus, Robot Fighter (by the incredible Russ Manning) and in deference to the atomic age of heroes, Nukla and the brilliantly lowkey but explosively high concept Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom. Despite supremely high quality and passionate fan-bases, they never captured the media spotlight of DC or Marvel’s costumed cut-ups. Western shut their comics division in 1984.

With an agreement to revive some, any or all of these four-colour veterans, Shooter and co-conspirator Bob Layton came to a bold decision and made those earlier adventures part-and-parcel of their refit: acutely aware that old fans don’t like having their childhood favourites bastardized, and that revivals need all the support they can get. Thus the old days were canonical: they “happened.”

Although the company launched with a classy reinterpretation of Magnus, the key title to the new universe they were building was the only broadly super-heroic character in the bunch, and they had big plans for him. Solar, Man of the Atom was launched with an eye to all the gimmicks of the era, but was cleverly realised and realistically drawn.

Second Death collects the first four issues of the revived Solar and follows brilliant nuclear physicist Phil Seleski, designer of the new Muskogee fusion reactor in the fraught days before it finally goes online. Faced with indifferent colleagues and inept superiors, pining for a woman who doesn’t seem to know he exists, Seleski is under a lot of pressure. So when he meets a god-like version of himself. he simply puts it down to stress-induced delusion…

Solar, the atomic god who was Seleski, is freshly arrived on Earth, and with his new sensibilities goes about meeting the kind of people and doing the kind of things his mortal self would never have dreamed of. As if godhood had made him finally appreciate humanity, Solar befriends bums, saves kids and fixes disasters like the heroes in the comic books he collected as a boy.

His energized matter and troubled soul even further divide into a hero and “villain”, but things take a truly bizarre turn when he falls foul of a genuine super-foe: discovering that the “normal” world is anything but, and that he is far from unique. The superhuman individuals employed and mentored in Toyo Harada’s Harbinger Foundation prove that the world has always been a fantastical place, and Solar’s belief that he has travelled back in time to prevent his own creation gives way to realisation that something even stranger has occurred…

This is a cool and knowing revision of the hallowed if not clichéd “atomic blast turns schmuck into hero” plot: brimming with sharp observation, plausible characters and frighteningly convincing pseudo-science. The understated but compelling art by hugely under-appreciated Don Perlin is a terrifying delight and adds even more shades of veracity to the mix, as do the colours of Kathryn Bolinger & Jorge Gonzãlez.

Moreover, the original comics had a special inserted component in the first 10 issues (by Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith & Layton) revealing the epic events that made Seleski into a god. Designed to be best read only after the initial story arc had introduced readers to Seleski’s new world, these were collected as Solar, Man of the Atom: Alpha and Omega. Together they combine to form one of the most impressive and cohesive superhero origin sagas ever concocted and one desperately in need of reprinting …if whoever currently controls the licensing rights to the stories could only get their act together…

Until then you can try hunting these down via your usual internet and comic retailers, and trust me, you should…
© 1994 Voyager Communications Inc. and Western Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.