My Valiant (Solar) Story

[Sharpcode]

I didn't have much of a comics collection growing up in the 80s-early 90s, but I did have about 10 Transformers issues, well read, a gifted Gold Spiderman #1 autographed by Todd Macfarlane (you know the one with all the webs, that probably is nowhere near as rare as I felt it was as a kid), got heavy into the whole Death of Superman arc, with all it's spinoffs (had them all collected in a binder, not realizing how common they were), and then my brother gave me some comics he had finished with (he had tons, and would go to comic shops and come back with a dozen or so new issues in the brown paper bags). I had no income as a kid, so clearly wasn't spending on comics.

The ones he gave me turned out to be Solar, Man of the Atom, issues 1 to about 20. At some point I had gotten the red glasses that made certain colors, like red seem to jump out of the page. I had read and reread those issues a lot growing up, and then became an adult, and moved into my own house and they wound up in a box in the garage, since I didn't have some huge important collection. Then "superstorm" Sandy came and 95% of my childhood collections of things were ruined. I had gotten back into trading cards with friends, seeking autographs for sports, and then non-sports sketch cards which I thought were cool because of their 1-of-a-kind nature, and went to a few card shows, then comics shows.

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what that comic was that I had collected as a kid... the one with the RED suit (no, not Flash, not Deadpool), until we randomly met an ex-Valiant employee (who shared some colorful stories of what it was like to work with some people) who knew it was Solar. An upcoming show in my state and I started to think, I should start a collection of those. I did some research and discovered the Gold Key issues, and thought, there's not too many issues, I could make a complete Solar collection. And I could show my boys what those look like with the glasses that make them "pop".

Little did I know that what seemed like a relatively easy project would turn into a (to date) 366 line spreadsheet tracking what I have / haven't gotten over the past month. I am now unfortunately aware of variants from overseas (which I'm saying are firmly out of scope for this project!), but I've been able to include some original artwork (an uncolored Solar sheet, and 2 pages not including Solar from Secrets of the Valiant Universe that have their artwork approval sheets from Valiant, and cello sheets with text bubbles), and plenty of autographed issues. I intend for it to be complete as far as guest appearances, so I've picked up all of Unity, The Chaos Effect, Doctor Spektor #14, even The Valiant Reader and trying to work on the Valiant Voice issues, since Solar makes plenty of appearances. I enjoy that the completion seems achievable, but do hope new stories are released by a future publisher. As far as I can see, the current license holder, Dynamite Entertainment has stopped their new story run at 12 issues (with an infuriating number of variants, which I haven't reconciled whether or not to get, but let's face it, the collectors' itch is a strong one).

[magnusr]

Doctor Spektor #14 ... the collectors' itch is a strong one.

Hi and welcome. You sound like the same kind of collector as I am. Wanted to give you a pointer, though I can't remember the exakt reference right now. There is one or two more Spektors with Solar appearances. More of cameos though. At least I remember one where a person in a Dr Solar costume was drawn into the story. Sorry to be se vague, can't seem to find the book right now.

/Magnus

[greg]

Doctor Spektor #14 ... the collectors' itch is a strong one.

Hi and welcome. You sound like the same kind of collector as I am. Wanted to give you a pointer, though I can't remember the exakt reference right now. There is one or two more Spektors with Solar appearances. More of cameos though. At least I remember one where a person in a Dr Solar costume was drawn into the story. Sorry to be se vague, can't seem to find the book right now.

/Magnus

Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #23 has a one panel cameo of Dr. Solar in the story, but there's also a full page about Dr. Solar written like a "case file" (including his history) with Adam Spektor as the author.

[magnusr]

Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #23 has a one panel cameo of Dr. Solar in the story, but there's also a full page about Dr. Solar written like a "case file" (including his history) with Adam Spektor as the author.

That's it. One can always count on Greg for the facts. Thanks.

/Magnus

[greg]

Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #23 has a one panel cameo of Dr. Solar in the story, but there's also a full page about Dr. Solar written like a "case file" (including his history) with Adam Spektor as the author.

That's it. One can always count on Greg for the facts. Thanks.

/Magnus

I probably bought one because you told me about it. My notes show I picked up a graded copy in 2005.

[Sharpcode]

Doctor Spektor #14 ... the collectors' itch is a strong one.

Hi and welcome. You sound like the same kind of collector as I am. Wanted to give you a pointer, though I can't remember the exakt reference right now. There is one or two more Spektors with Solar appearances. More of cameos though. At least I remember one where a person in a Dr Solar costume was drawn into the story. Sorry to be se vague, can't seem to find the book right now.

/Magnus

Wow -- that's great to know! Thanks so much to both you and Greg for the pointers! I'll have to see if I can figure out / get those as well! It's amazing how what I thought was such a simple contained project has ballooned! I wanted to see what I could grab at reasonable prices before a big comic show in NJ on November 5th. Hoping to make some deals, but I don't know how reasonable Gold Key books are now. A friend told me now there's a fair amount of interest in them, so they're drying up.

I found a very sketchy (read: shady popup adds) site that has gold key scans; does anyone know of a legitimate site to buy the Gold Key books or the Valiant books in bulk (and not awfully DRM-locked as I've read in other threads about Git editions)?

[Sharpcode]

For any future readers who may want this information, according to Wikipedia (so... take that with a grain of salt), the crossovers are (emphasis mine):

"Don Glut had Dr. Spektor crossover with several of his other Gold Key characters such as Tragg and Dagar. Tragg and Lorn make cameo appearances in issue #19. Ostellon, Master of the Living Bones (from Dagar the Invincible #1), appears in issue #7; issue #15 concludes a story begun in Dagar #13, and Durak from Dagar appears in #16. Doctor Solar appears in several issues (#14, #18, #23), and Gold Key's the Owl appears in #22. "

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Spektor

[magnusr]

Doctor Solar appears in several issues (#14, #18, #23)

Actually I gotta check which ones I don't have.

/Magnus

EDIT, I found my copy of #18, that's the one I remembered with only a person dressed in a Solar costume.

[grendeljd]

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your particular collection - that’s awesome, man! In recent years I have become obsessed to a very similar degree with an old Marvel imprint from the late 80’s; the ‘New Universe’. Just when I think I’ve found literally *everything* that was ever made (including random promo materials), I end up discovering something new… and I took the plunge into tracking down many foreign language editions of them too (still missing plenty of those).

Welcome to the board!

[lorddunlow]

Always love to find fellow Solar fans. Welcome to the boards!

[Sharpcode]

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your particular collection - that’s awesome, man! In recent years I have become obsessed to a very similar degree with an old Marvel imprint from the late 80’s; the ‘New Universe’. Just when I think I’ve found literally *everything* that was ever made (including random promo materials), I end up discovering something new… and I took the plunge into tracking down many foreign language editions of them too (still missing plenty of those).

Welcome to the board!

That's where I'm at, but I did draw the line at the foreign versions. I've gotten some original art, a couple issues of Valiant Zombies, and a truly insane (and frustratingly incomplete) collection of variant issues of Dynamite's run of Solar. I was lucky enough to find a high quality version of Gold Key Solar #1 at a local show, and asked for a price -- before he answered, my brother-in-law says "noone else will buy that; noone else knows what that is," and he drops the price to something I couldn't refuse. It was a shame how few Valiant books were in the show, mostly in unsorted boxes that made it difficult to navigate.

What I thought was a small collection is now breaking into its third box (thanks Deathmate Gold/Silver/Pink/Green etc. Variants!)

[Sharpcode]

Always love to find fellow Solar fans. Welcome to the boards!

Thanks! I don't suppose a truly comprehensive list exists of just all Solar appearances? I may have to create it if not, and see if people on here can find where I've screwed up / missed things (I'm sure I have!).