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.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic Gold Key pseudo-superhero!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom Volume 1 (Hardcover)
One year after Dell split with Western Printing, Gold Key(Western's new imprint) began creating some new characters,rather than just producing licensed properties as it had during its partnership with Dell. Doctor Solar and Magnus, Robot fighter were two of the best new creations. As a kid I always loved the George Wilson painted covers with amazing depictions of Dr. Solar, and was always disappointed by the interior illustrations as not living up to the expectations. Gold Key seemed embarrassed to do a straightforward superhero, and it seemed like you never got to see Dr. Solar in action in many panels in his cool uniform. Many years later I find he never even HAD a uniform untill the fifth issue! But time has allowed me to appreciate the wonderful "realistic" artwork of Bob Fugitani on the first five issues and Frank Bolle in six and seven.Both were longtime masters of nonsuperhero genres. This collection of the first seven issues holds up better than expected. Each issue had two 12 or13 page stories or chapters in one long expanding continuity. Gail Sanders is an interesting hotter-than-I-remembered love interest for Phillip Solar. The stories are a mixture of pseudoscience and espionage. Not great but not bad. Dr.Solar's tragic and alienating accident ( he's WAY radioactive and can be around people only for a short time) is barely touched on - only one story explores this theme. Stan Lee would have drenched him in pathos. His powers are a dizzying compendium of heat, radiation, magnetism, flight as a beam of light,with mystifying turns as green-skinned and normal hued ( does anyone around him notice this??).His weakness is that he can run dangerously low on energy when performing his feats. The uniform with Cyclops-like eyepiece was published the same month as X-men #1-Sept 1963. In a later issue he is referred to as an atomic mutant. Hmmm. Any way all of these quirks and flaws actually help to make these issues charmingly interesting. All in all a better trip down nostalgia lane than I would have predicted. If this character ever intrigued you pick up this edition-you may be pleasantly suprised too.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Original Man of the Atom Returns,
By
This review is from: Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom Volume 1 (Hardcover)
Like most people of my generation, I discovered Doctor Solar when he was revived, along with Magnus, Robot Fighter, by Valiant Comics in the early 1990s. And I did read that series for a little while, but right when the whole company was on the down-turn. But, I was excited to learn that the original "Doctor Solar" series from Gold Key was being reprinted by Dark Horse.First, it's worth pointing out that the original Doctor Solar and his Valiant counter-part are very different. Magnus was simply picked up where the Gold Key series left off (although there was a different slant on the nature of "evil" robots). Solar, however, was rebooted completely. Indeed, the original Doctor Solar was treated as a comic book (a la the Flash). His Valiant counter-part was a fan, who received his powers in a similar accident, and then went somewhat crazy. The origin was pretty confusing. Returning to the book in question. I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as the "Magnus" hardcover. While Bob Fukjitani and Frank Bolle were both excellent artists, they never quite got to the heights of Russ Manning. Another problem is that the character never quite seem as strongly developed as Magnus was. Doctor Phillip Solar (his first name is never used in this volume)is involved in a nuclear accident, his whole body is rebuilt at an atomic level, making him a "man of the atom", allowing him great power. He then spends the next several issues, handling various menaces while trying to keep his new powers under wraps (literally, as long term exposure to him would be fatal). The central villain is the mysterious Nuro, whose face is never seen. This is one of the strengths of this volume: Nuro deduces Solar's existence only about issue four, whereas Solar doesn't even consider that there is a maestro of the events in the series until issue seven. It makes for an interesting relationship. Solar was in many ways different from other out-and-out super-heroes of the time. For example, Solar doesn't get his famous red costume until issue five. The only reason he does is because he begins to get the vague inkling that he is being targeted, and so he needs a means to distract Nuro. Up to that point, he simply solved problems covertly. However, there are some obvious similarities to the comic book characters of the time. Most of the characters of the Marvel Universe got their super-powers as a result of radioactive events. Indeed, there are some interesting similarities to Marvel's own Hulk. Both characters get their powers after the actions of sabateurs, and whenever Solar goes into action, his skin turns green. "Doctor Solar" is fun, if not the best the Silver Age of comics has to offer. I am looking forward to further volumes in this series.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Where's the effort?,
By Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom Volume 1 (Hardcover)
I support the favorable reviews of the material contained in DOCTOR SOLAR: MAN OF THE ATOM VOLUME 1. These are some great stories; however, I question Dark Horse's need to charge fifty dollars for a reprint of this quality. Similarly-priced "archive editions" from other companies are shrinkwrapped, have recolored artwork, and use a thicker, flat-finish paper that enhances the line and color. Dark Horse's reprints are not shrinkwrapped, frequently leading to scuffed or damaged dust jackets on brand new copies I've seen. Also, the art appears to be scanned directly from the original comics and printed on glossy paper - as a result, it's blurry and dull. Printing of this quality may work with a less-expensive trade edition (see the Gold Key Star Trek reprints from Checker Books), but if Dark Horse seriously wants to compete with the other publishers in the archive arena, they really need to step it up. The quality of this book is embarrassing and doesn't justify the price. Buying these Dark Horse archives at a discount is the ONLY way you'll get your money's worth.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
