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I've been spending a lot of time in the 80s/90s comics recently. How about this time out we jump into the Longbox Junk time machine and head back a little further? How about a little trip back to the 1960s and the Silver Age of comics? That's right, folks! Buckle in because it's time for another Longbox Junk Retro Review!
Let's GOOOOOOOO!
Marvel Comics defined the Silver Age with classics like Spider-Man, Thor, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers. DC Comics held their own, but with more traditional and long-running titles such as Wonder Woman, Detective Comics, Action Comics, Justice League and The Brave and The Bold.
But Marvel and DC weren't the ONLY ones in the four color superhero game. There was Charlton with Captain Atom, The Question, and Blue Beetle. There was Archie Comics with The Fly, The Jaguar and The Shield. Tower Comics had T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. And Gold Key had Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom.
Gold Key was known more for their titles based on licensed properties. Doctor Solar was actually their first original character. . .and when the title first came out, it hit BIG. At one point, Doctor Solar was actually outselling Superman two to one!
Unfortunately, the popularity of the original series didn't last and only went to 27 issues. The hero was quietly forgotten until 1991 when Valiant Comics gained the license to Doctor Solar and he had a bit of a resurgence lasting through the early 90s.
After Valiant, Doctor Solar skipped around publishers a bit. Most recently landing at Dynamite Comics. The character remains popular, but has never managed to reach the heights of popularity he hit in the 1960s.
What we have here is an issue from right in the middle of Doctor Solar's highest popularity and success, 1965. So grab your paisley Nehru jacket because we're going back to the swingin' 60s for a look at Gold Key's Atomic Age superhero!
Ready? Let's do it!
DOCTOR SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM #12
Gold Key (1965)
COVER: George Wilson
THE COVER:
Now THAT'S a mighty fine comic book cover!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. . .issue for issue, Gold Key had some of the hands-down BEST comic covers that have ever hit the stand, and I'll defend that hill. Most of them were courtesy of the great George Wilson, and this is one of them.
Just LOOK at it! Such bold and bright colors just exploding off the page! This one is a real eye-catcher, no doubt about it. This is the kind of comic cover that just grabs the attention and makes you want to see what's inside. I would go so far as to say that (At least from what I've seen, and in MY humble opinion) this is one of Wilson's best.
Let's get inside!
THE STORIES:
We get one main story broken up into two parts, a short four page intermission story, and several one page bits and pieces. Not bad for twelve lousy cents! Let's take a look at them each in their own turn, shall we? WE SHALL!
THE MYSTERY OF THE VANISHING SILVER (Part 1)
SCRIPT: Dick Wood
PENCILS: Frank Bolle
INKS: Frank Bolle
THE STORY:
Hey! Remember when they used to make U.S. coins out of silver? That's what this whole story is based on. It's 1965 and silver is actually more valuable than gold at this point. We begin our tale at the U.S. Mint in Washington D.C.
Doctor Solar has been asked to help the Treasury Department try to solve a mystery. . .the silver supply is dwindling for some unknown reason. He is there to start the investigation by checking out the machinery and process at the mint.
Doctor Solar doesn't find anything wrong at the mint, and regroups with his friends (Dr. Clarkson and Gail) to ponder the situation. In the meantime, a mysterious millionaire begins buying up as much of the silver in the hands of U.S. citizens as he can, sending the nation into a silver-selling frenzy!
We, the reader, learn that "mankind's most evil genius", Nuro, is the money behind the frenzy and it's just the beginning of his nefarious secret plan!
Switching scenes to Arizona, we see Nuro's men attack a silver mine, showing that he is going beyond America's processed silver and grabbing unrefined ore as well! We also see more of Nuro's henchmen smelting down silver coins, jewelry, and other items into liquid and being poured into some sort of mold. IS THERE NO END TO THE MADNESS?
Switching scenes again, this time to an unnamed island in the South Pacific, we see the natives gathering molten silver from a volcano and pouring it over a mysterious idol.
We return to the U.S., where six luxury yachts dock at six different locations along the California coast. AH! YES! IT ALL BEGINS TO COME TOGETHER NOW! Well. . .not really.
As the six yachts leave their ports for an unknown destination, one of them collides with a tugboat. The tugboat captain reports the accident and a piece of wreckage is found with silver splinters in it, which attracts the attention of the government, who summon Doctor Solar to Santa Barbara.
Solar once again joins in on the investigation after being told about the mounting silver crisis threatening to damage the U.S. economy. They've managed to link the ship from Santa Barbara to five more yachts from California. Doctor Solar ponders how he's supposed to be in six different places at once. . .
To solve the problem of being able to investigate 6 different ships at once, Doctor Solar flies into outer space, and with a mighty atomic explosion, splits himself into six smaller versions of himself!
As the separate smaller versions of Doctor Solar use their atomic powers to infiltrate the mysterious yachts, we follow one of them onto the yacht from Santa Barbara that raised the government's suspicions.
Below deck, Solar discovers strange machinery and scrapes the hull, discovering the yacht's secret. . .it's made entirely of silver! This is how the silver has been getting outside the U.S. without anyone knowing!
As Solar ponders his discovery, the strange machinery comes to life. The bow of the yacht plunges into the ocean and Doctor Solar realizes that the yacht is actually a submarine!
DUN-DUN-DUN!
INTERMISSION TIME!
THE REVIEW:
The story gets off to a sort of slow start, with all sorts of seemingly-unrelated elements coming together to form a mystery. I guess with a whole double-sized comic to tell the tale, the writer can afford a bit more development. It's not a bad story so far, it's engaging in a way that a lot of other Silver Age superhero comics aren't. Compared to a 1960s Superman story, this ain't bad at all.
On the visual side, the art has a really nice style to it. Grounded and realistic in places (see the panels in the shipyard, above) and then getting a bit strange (in a cool way) in others (like where Solar splits himself, above). I like the mix of realism and light 60s psychedelia here.
Anyway, here's the intermission story.
FISH PEOPLE OF TOMORROW
SCRIPT: Dick Wood
PENCILS: Mel Crawford
INKS: Mel Crawford
THE STORY:
In this short four page intermission, one "Professor Harbinger" demonstrates the new technology of artificial oxygen-permeable membranes and describes how they might one day make it possible for mankind to live under the sea.
Unfortunately, mankind can't have nice things without making them awful.
Professor Harbinger predicts that, although things would start off great, being able to live under the sea would split humanity along "Land Dweller" and "Sea Dweller" lines, leading to war. . .because EVERYTHING humans do ends up in violence somehow.
In the end, Harbinger decides maybe being able to live under the sea might not be such a great idea.
THE REVIEW:
Hmmm. . .interesting. A story about how great new technology is, but at the same time saying it's bad. I mean, I guess this little four page piece is right about humans being really good at ruining everything they touch, but it just seems a little strange in execution. Oh well. . .back to the main story!
THE MYSTERY OF THE VANISHING SILVER (Part 2)
SCRIPT: Dick Wood
PENCILS: Frank Bolle
INKS: Frank Bolle
THE STORY:
Continuing directly on from before the intermission, we return to the mysterious island, where one of the nefarious Nuro's henchmen, Aral Uzbek, is observing a government scientific expedition investigating the strange flow of silver from the volcano.
Infuriated that his secret lair has been discovered, Nuro orders the operation to be shut down after the 6 ships still due to arrive have been processed.
Shortly afterward, the ships begin to arrive at the island. They ride a hidden conveyor belt inland, where Doctor Solar is amazed to see they are riding through a cavern toward a giant door with flames beyond. . .a volcano is being used as a huge smelter!
Nuro is melting down the entire ships, which are completely made out of silver! It all makes sense now! Well. . .sort of, anyway. In a Silver Age comic book sorta way.
As their ships fall into the smelter, the tiny separate versions of Doctor Solar begin to gather. Once they are all together, they can reform and ignite the volcano, ending Nuro's nefarious scheme! BUT THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!
One of the six Doctor Solar duplicates is missing! One of the boats hasn't arrived!
Solar realizes that, without the sixth part of himself, he can't reform! Panic begins to set in!
Meanwhile, miles away from the island, aboard the missing yacht, the part of Solar on board discovers that his atomic radiation has affected the ship's instruments. They are off course and behind schedule. Solar quickly fixes his mistake and the missing ship finally arrives at the island.
Now able to completely reform, Doctor Solar's parts rejoin and the hero, whole once again, begins to agitate the volcano. . .sending Nuro's henchmen and the natives running for safety when they realize the volcano is about to erupt!
A blast of atomic power causes the volcano to erupt with a cataclysmic explosion! Doctor Solar flies through the fiery debris skyward, unharmed. His work is done!
But there's still the matter of the government's silver shortage.
Doctor Solar spots a full cauldron of molten silver tumbling through the air, tossed out by the volcano's eruption. Quickly grabbing it before it spills, Solar uses his powers to put a heat shield around the cauldron so the silver won't solidify.
His work done at the island, Solar flies the cauldron of Silver to Washington D.C. It's not ALL the missing silver, but he reckons that anything is better than nothing.
When Solar arrives at the Washington mint with the cauldron of silver, the treasury agents are grateful, but there's a lot of questions. Solar recovered five million dollar's worth of silver, but where's the rest? What was the scheme? Who is behind it all?
Doctor Solar is forced to admit that the villain remains unknown and uncaptured, and that he hasn't completely pieced together the whole puzzle. . .BUT. . .Solar promises that the government will have his full cooperation and he WILL get to the bottom of things!
The End.
THE REVIEW:
There it is. Let's break it on down!
Let's be truthful here. A lot of Silver Age comics are silly. The Comics Code swatted the comic book industry HARD in the late 50s and they still had a heavy hand on the business in the 1960s. The result was that a lot of comic books at the time were just inoffensive, fluffy superhero fun. Kid stuff, mostly. And that's not entirely a bad thing. There's a lot of nostalgia for Silver Age superheroes for exactly that reason. They were just FUN. Nothing wrong with fun.
Doctor Solar seems to be one of the exceptions to the rule. It looks like it was aimed at a slightly older audience. Don't get me wrong, this isn't "adult" material by any means, but compared to a Superman comic of 1965, this was definitely quite a bit less fluffy than one would expect.
It's written with respect for more advanced readers and the story is a bit more complicated than "Why is Superman wearing this stupid hat? READ ON!" It's not some sort of literary masterpiece, but there seems to have been just a bit more effort put into the writing than I would usually expect for a Silver Age superhero comic.
It's not ALL good. The ending is extremely rushed and does fall into the usual Silver Age superhero silliness as it comes to a close (Solar flying a vat of molten silver to Washington D.C.), but other than that, this was a MUCH more tolerable read than a lot of other superhero comics I have from the same era.
I think the thing I liked best about this story is that, unlike other 60s superhero comics, the hero actually did NOT prevail. He didn't discover who the villain was, what their plan was, or where they were at. He rescues some of the silver, but not all of it. At the end of the story, Doctor Solar is sort of empty-handed. It's still a one and done self-contained story (like almost every 1960s superhero story), but the ending leaves room for future conflict with the unknown villain instead of wrapping everything up on the last page.
So the story was surprisingly good for a 1960s superhero comic. Let's talk about the art.
Like I said before the "intermission" above, the art in this comic is ALSO surprisingly good. Dell/Gold Key comics are a bit notorious for having the most outstanding covers, with stiff and aggressively average art underneath the comic rack eye candy. In my experience, Dell/Gold Key comic covers are sort of like pre-internet clickbait. Awesomeness promised, but average once you've bought in.
Once again, Doctor Solar seems to be an exception. The art in this comic has a very nice style. It's grounded and realistic, yet in places displaying a bit of signature 60s psychodelia. You can see this in the pages I've scanned above. I especially liked the fire effects. I'm not sure why I didn't post more of them, so here's a page I didn't post for a fine example of what I'm talking about. . .
CONCLUSION
If I had to sum this comic book up in ONE word, that word would be: Surprising.
I came in expecting typical Silver Age superhero silliness and got a story that, even though it's not a literary masterpiece, seems to have had a bit more effort put into it toward respecting older readers.
I expected the usual Dell/Gold Key awesome cover with uninspired art inside. What I got was an awesome cover and some extremely solid art with an interesting style contrasting realism and light psychedelia.
I can see WHY Doctor Solar was a hit when it first came out. It's different, plain and simple. It stands out. Readers used to silly Superman stories. . .and I'm not trying to pick on Superman, just the best example I can think of when it comes to typical Silver Age silliness. . .got something a little different with Doctor Solar.
I can certainly recommend Doctor Solar for comic fans who want something a little divergent from the stereotypical silly Silver Age superhero comics. The good news is that, even though this is a Silver Age superhero comic, it's not a DC or Marvel superhero comic, so you can find Doctor Solar at extremely nice prices, compared to a 1960s Batman or Spider-Man comic.
You're not going to find these in the bargain bin, but also not too far off. I got this issue for five bucks at an antique shop. I've never seen an issue of this series for more than ten bucks. And they're not that hard to find at all. I see these all the time. Dell/Gold Key comics are a GREAT way to get some Silver Age stuff in your collection on a Longbox Junkin' budget!
That's it for this bit of Longbox Junk. Thanks for coming in and spending a few minutes of your time in my little corner of the internet. I hope you had a good time and you'll like to come back for more. And so until next time, remember that comics are worth more than money!
