Man Of The Atom - Re-Post!
I know this is pretty much a re-post, but a pdf of Issue 22 has been added, so there!
Even though I enjoyed a pretty steady diet of Marvel and DC comics as a kid, I had a special place reserved in the reading pile (usually the bottom, to be read last) for the Gold Key hero titles. Maybe it was the painted covers, maybe it was the stories or art, but mostly it was the characters themselves. They were somehow... just - different.
My favorite Gold Key hero, after Magnus - Robot Fighter, has to be Doctor Solar - Man of the Atom.... I mean to say, can you think of another comic book even WORTHY of getting the artistic output of visionary Richard Powers on the cover?
Created by writer Paul S. Newman and Western editor Matt Murphy, with art by Bob Fujitani, Frank Bolle, Alden McWilliams and Ernie Colon, with amazing covers by Richard Powers (#1 & #2) and George Wilson.
The ol' doc was one of the few 60's heroes who blended science effortlessly with four color adventures.... OK, OK..... it's mostly psuedo-scientific, but hey - this was a comic book.
Dr Solar #11
The above issue is really interesting in that the ol' doc travels back in time to view his own origin, rather than the old flashback trick. Pretty cool, huh?
And sure, some of the later issues didn't have that "zing" the earlier ones did, but that art of Al McWilliams and Ernie Colon certainly made up for it in my mind!
A few points worth noting - first, he didn't wear that costume for any other reason that he gave off hard (read fatal) radiation, pure and simple. The symbol on his chest wasn't as much an emblem as a warning sign indicating "Stay Back - Danger Radiation!"
Dr Solar #20
Dr Solar #22
Dr Solar #24
And to close this re-post out, what I think is a really nice selection of the one pagers that made the book so special (and educational too!)
Even though I enjoyed a pretty steady diet of Marvel and DC comics as a kid, I had a special place reserved in the reading pile (usually the bottom, to be read last) for the Gold Key hero titles. Maybe it was the painted covers, maybe it was the stories or art, but mostly it was the characters themselves. They were somehow... just - different.
My favorite Gold Key hero, after Magnus - Robot Fighter, has to be Doctor Solar - Man of the Atom.... I mean to say, can you think of another comic book even WORTHY of getting the artistic output of visionary Richard Powers on the cover?
Created by writer Paul S. Newman and Western editor Matt Murphy, with art by Bob Fujitani, Frank Bolle, Alden McWilliams and Ernie Colon, with amazing covers by Richard Powers (#1 & #2) and George Wilson.
The ol' doc was one of the few 60's heroes who blended science effortlessly with four color adventures.... OK, OK..... it's mostly psuedo-scientific, but hey - this was a comic book.
Dr Solar #11
The above issue is really interesting in that the ol' doc travels back in time to view his own origin, rather than the old flashback trick. Pretty cool, huh?
And sure, some of the later issues didn't have that "zing" the earlier ones did, but that art of Al McWilliams and Ernie Colon certainly made up for it in my mind!
A few points worth noting - first, he didn't wear that costume for any other reason that he gave off hard (read fatal) radiation, pure and simple. The symbol on his chest wasn't as much an emblem as a warning sign indicating "Stay Back - Danger Radiation!"
Dr Solar #20
Dr Solar #22
Dr Solar #24
And to close this re-post out, what I think is a really nice selection of the one pagers that made the book so special (and educational too!)
posted by hyperdave at 7:37 PM
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