Solar Reflections - Man Of The Atom!

Dated October 1962 the debut issue of Doctor Solar hit the stands as the fledgling Gold Key brand was first trying to establish itself after the split from Dell. The talents at Western Publications were eager to try out their own stuff and adding a "superhero" seemed necessary for  a comics company. Under a lush and mysterious Richard Powers cover, this comic seemed to be what it was -- a strange blend of science fiction and superheroics, with less attention on the latter.

In the debut story "Doctor Solar's Secret", we meet Doctor Philip Solar, a nuclear physicist who works at Atomic Valley. There he is trapped inside a sabotaged nuclear pile and the radiation, which kills his colleague does not kill him, instead he finds himself changed and weirdly quickened by the radioactivity. His skin becomes a vivid green and he seems to be dead save that he isn't. The only person who knows his secret is Dr.Clarkson, his boss, who works with Solar to keep him alive by giving him access to radiation he needs. Ignorant of his true nature is Gail Sanders, a newly arrived and quite attractive scientist who is smitten with Solar. The man behind the sabotage is the mysterious Nuro, who will be the villain throughout the series.In the second story "An Atomic Inferno" the agent of Nuro runs afoul of Gail and stops her and destroy Atom Valley before she can reveal his secrets, but not before Solar can save the day. The agent pays for his failures.

Esteemed science fiction artist Richard Powers does the first two covers for the series run before George Wilson takes over. The artwork on the early issues is by Bob Fujitani and it is stellar, offering up the a nicely dramatic but still exceedingly real world for Solar to operate in. Frank Bolle became the regular artist with the sixth issue and his style is certainly in the spirit of Fujitani's but alas to my eye lacks some of the power. The ubiquitous Paul Newman writes the scripts for all the Solar comics, and Matt Murphy is given credit as co-writer.

In subsequent issues we get stories like "Remote-Controlled Traitor" which has Gail Sanders kidnapped by Nuro's agents and she becomes a saboteur before she is confronted and saved by Solar, and  "The Night of the Volcano" has Solar leaving the confines of his laboratory and rushing to save the region from a tremendous volcanic eruption which had been unwittingly triggered by experiments from Atom Valley itself. Eventually he visits undersea cities and confronts aliens other scientists with odd and sometimes villainous goals. Always the mysterious and malevolent Nuro is lurking behind the scenes,even sending a robot to infiltrate Blue Valley in one issue. 

These early stories have a specific science fiction feel to them, as the always staid and conservative Gold Key folks were really reluctant to tap the superhero vein, but rather wanted to market a character who was just a scientist with an unusual condition. They seemed to be designing for television shows rather than superhero comics. Of course they eventually relented and gave Doctor Solar a costume in the fourth issue, but the nature of the stories really didn't change all that much in these early issues. All the stories were written by the phenomenal Paul S. Newman save for the seventh which was written by Otto Binder.

Here are the covers for the first seven issues. 

More "Solar Reflections" to come next week.

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The Phantom - The Curse Of The Two-Headed Bull!

The Curse of the Two-Headed Bull is the final novel in the now long-ago series "The Story of the Phantom" from Avon Books starring Lee Falk's legendary comic strip creation. It sports a dynamic George Wilson cover and was written in 1975 by Carson Bingham from Lee Falk's and Sy Barry's "The Curse of the Sacred Image". 

This story begins in one of the settings which I detest about the Phantom -- the Isle of Eden. This is an  isolated island on which animals, predator and prey exist in harmony. I cannot imagine why Falk thought this was a good idea. It does suggest that the Phantom has some association with Jesus, but that's a lame idea. 

But while enjoying some time in this paradise the Phantom finds a man floating just off the shore. He rescues him and knows he a local fellow named Murph. Soon after being saved, he died. Then the Phantom gets a message that a sacred idol has been stolen. This idol is one of great importance and historical significance and the Ilongo tribe which lost it attaches all their good luck to its presence. Only a member of the tribe is allowed to touch it without calling down a curse, according to legend. One member of the tribe stole it, and the Phantom follows the trail to London. Sure, enough Diana Palmer tags along and sure enough she gets kidnapped by the perps to hold as leverage against the Phantom. We also see quite a bit of evidence that the curse of the idol just might be real. The scene shifts from London to a small kingdom of Suda-Kalara and Diana is made part of a harem. The Phantom is able to locate her and the idol, and his rescue is a bravura moment in the series. The idol is returned and the luck it brings returns. 

For whatever reason, this final installment of the Avon novel series proved to be a slog. I don't blame the book, but it is a bit more of a dense read than some of the breezy adventures which have come before. Still and all, it's a fascinating ending to a venerable series. I'm incredibly happy that Hermes saw fit to reprint these blasts from my past. It proves the Ghost Who Walks works in more mediums than just comics. 

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The Phantom - The Assassins!

The Assassins is the fourteenth installment of "The Story of the Phantom" and was written by Carson Bingham for a 1975 release. Under George Wilson cover filled with arcane images, this was adapted from "The Thuggees" by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy from way back in 1949. 

This one begins with wee a bit of humor when the Phantom finds a young woman dipping her toes in the waters around the Skull Cave and finds out that Guan has plotted to arrange for him to get a mate. This prompts the Ghost Who Walks to head to America to find his true love Diana Palmer who it turns out is flying to meet him. Her flight is hijacked by a baddie named Kali with the intention of kidnapping her and just as soon as the Phantom arrives, he's on the case of rescuing her from a murderous gang called "The Assassins", a remnant of the ancient Thuggee cult from the Middle East. She is taken to a remote island and held captive in an ancient Crusader castle. The attempts to collect a ransom for Diana are foiled by the Phantom, but just as soon as that happens a new wrinkle appears. 

Prince Tydore of Tydia and his daughter Naja are the next victims of the cult, and the Phantom tries to stop these predations in hopes of finding a clue to Diana's whereabouts. There is much hemming and hawing and a great deal of plotting by the assassins who we know by names such as Curly, Crewcut, and Pinhead. Eventually the Phanom takes Naja to the Skull Cave for her safety then he pretends to be the King and is mistakenly kidnapped by the villains and taken to the island where Diana is being held. But before he can rescue her, he must confront a deadly gorilla named Toto and survive the blades of a demonic idol.

The Phantom in this story is quite fallible, quite unlike his presentation in other stories. In fact, he makes so many mistakes in his tactics that I began to wonder if Diana was doomed myself. Nesting the one kidnap story inside the other created a pacing problem in the small novel in that we lose track of Diana's story for a very long time. And the "Assassins" for their part seem only capable of killing their own when captured. Often, they capture people when it seemed to me killing them would have been more prudent. I know that in a novel of this kind such random murder would be difficult to promote, but it does undermine the real nature of their threat. This is a swift breezy read, ideal for a single sitting But, it's low on the list of Avon novels to date.

There's one more to go when the Phantom must confront Lee Falk's own The Curse of the Two-Headed Bull in the final of Avon's "The Story of the Phantom" novels. 

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The Phantom - The Island Of Dogs!

The Island of Dogs is the thirteenth installment in the Avon Books series "The Story of the Phantom". It was originally published in 1975 and was written by Warren Shanahan. It's adapted from the Lee Falk and Sy Barry story from 1963 titled "The Mystery of the Island of the Dogs". It features an incredibly dynamic Geore Wilson cover. The Phantom look seriously dangerous. 

When a young couple are treated to the local lore about a remote island which once upon a time was filled with stray dogs and became literally a savage dog-eat-dog hell, they choose to trot along the beach and find a strange, electrified fence which warns of trespassing. They are then shot at, and this news finds its way to the Phantom who moves to take a hand. We meet an impulsive but capable young woman named Janice Helm who is liberated and just so happens to be the niece of the man who owns the island. She is attacked and the Phantom saves the day. When the Jungle Patrol takes a helicopter over the island and is shot at, the situation is elevated. Things really get hairy when Janice and Riggs, the young and alert Jungle Patrol officer take a boat out to the island. At the same time the Phantom makes a quiet incursion and discovers a deadly secret which threatens not just Bangalla but the whole world. 

This is a rare adventure novel which seems more interested in character than plot. We get extensive insights into the personalities of Janice Helm and later her uncle Matt Helm. (It's only now as I type this that I wonder if that name is an homage to the spy-fi hero played by Dean Martin.) The top nemesis is named Serge, and we find out a great deal about his past and his motivations for the plot which is uncovered on the Island of the Dogs. The Phantom for his part in this adventure is more of a mysterious figure, which adds to his power. 

I was fascinated by this one beyond its adventure which is pretty good. We seem to have an actual theme here about the way societies organize themselves. We are given a literal dog-eat-dog situation that metamorphizes into a larger threat which then becomes a problem for the civilized law enforcement. On top of that we have the Phantom's law which is that he enforces peace for the good of all. There are echoes of the Cuban Missile Crisis which brings to the fore all manner of political implications for the story. All in all, it's a fascinating little Phantom adventure. 

Next time the Phantom confronts The Assassins. 

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The Phantom - The Vampires And The Witch!

Avon's "The Story of the Phantom" twelve is titled The Vampires and the Witch and is based to some extent on the 1965 comic strip "The Hanta Witch" from 1965 and "The Things" from 1973 by Lee Falk and Sy Barry. The creator of the Phantom Falk returns to pen this novel. George Wilson produces quite an evocative cover for the novel, playing up themes of horror which was popular in the early 70's. 

We get the tales of two Phantoms in this one. To begin we learn of the eighth Phantom over three hundred and fifty years ago who travels to the European country of Koqania to battle the Hanta Witch. The chronicle is incomplete and so while it's obvious that the Phantom survived the encounter it's unclear how. For the modern Phantom, news reports of vampires in Koqania killing citizens provokes his interest and when a sensor in the Phantom's hideout in that region signals trespass, he heads to Koqania with Devil. He finds a country terrorized by the fear of fearsome and deadly vampires as well as sightings of the Hantas Witch. He also encounters several brutish fellows in law enforcement and otherwise who seek to stop his investigations. 

This story is strong in that it focuses on the Phantom the entire time. We experience the story as he does, and we encounter the mysteries as well. Falk presents us with a Phantom who runs into trouble and who even might have a hesitation or two as the story rolls along. While he's mighty, he's not inhuman, especially when the Hanta Witch, a hag who seemingly becomes a great beauty lures him into her clutches. There's no doubt this would've been this Phantom's last adventure if not for the assistance of Devil. 

The weakness of the story is that it tries to do a bit too much. Falk seems to be blending the two source stories into one and that adds complications as well as making the motivations a bit murky for the crimes. The ending drags more than a bit as the mysteries are resolved in a very chatty manner. We even get a third Phantom story tagged onto this main yarn when we learn about his encounter with the Gooley-Gooley Witch. It's great lore, but the narrative seems overburdened a bit. 

That said it was still full of grand Phantom action and I look forward to the next volume titled The Island of Dogs. 

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The Phantom - The Swamp Rats!

The Swamp Rats was written by the late Ron Goulart under the pseudonym "Frank Shawn" for Avon 's "The Story of the Phantom" series of novels in 1974 and was based on the comic strip of the same name from 1959. 

The Hermes edition also has an essay titled "With the Phantom Everything is Possible -- Except Boredom" by Francis Lacassin a lecturer at the Sorbonne. The essay was written in 1972 in connection with an exhibit which opened at the museum. It's a glowing analysis of Lee Falk's storytelling skills and compares him in many with Homer of all people. 

The set-up gets going pretty quickly when a train goes off the rails near a deadly swamp and prisoners aboard that train escape into what is called "The Great Swamp". Later reports of raids in towns alongside the swamp by a gang calling themselves "The Swamp Rats" bring the Phantom to the case. I was struck how efficiently the story begins, drawing the reader in quickly. 

The self-styled Swamp Rats have in their midst an older man whose daughter comes looking for him. It's one of the oldest gags in adventure yarns designed specifically to get a dame into the mix. She finds a great-white hunter type to lead her into the swamp, but he turns out to be less experienced than advertised. Another unfortunate hooks up with the Swamp Rats after he committed a crime out of desperation. Add to the mix to loyal members of the Jungle Patrol and you have a downright mob wandering the deadly swamp. The scenes switch quickly from group to group with the make-up of each changing constantly. The Phantom works tirelessly to try and keep everyone safe as he can and still bring the villains to justice. 

Next month we'll take a look at The Vampires and the Witch. I'm very much looking forward to this one. 

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The Phantom - The Goggle-Eyed Pirates!

The tenth entry in Avon's "The Story of the Phantom" novel series is The Goggle-Eyed Pirates by Ron Goulart as Frank S. Shawn from the original 1960's comic strip story by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy. The story was also adapted to comic book form by Bill Lignante in the fourth issue of Gold Key's The Phantom series. George Wilson supplies a fetching cover for this one, with the Phantom clutching a machine gun. 

The story is straight forward enough affair. Diana Palmer is aboard a luxury ship which is attacked by strangely garbed pirates wearing goggles and robes with other devices to make them seem taller. These items are tossed into the sea after the robberies and the pirates resume their roles as actual passengers of the ship. This is suspected almost immediately and even before the ship actually docks the Phantom gets aboard to check on Diana and begin his investigation. 

The pirates prove to be a devious lot and the Phantom is challenged in bringing them to justice. This is a solid adventure all the way through, albeit a brief one. Goulart is always able to keep a brisk pace in his stories and this yarn switches back and forth between three protagonists -- two Insurance Agents, Diana Palmer and the Phantom. The insurance agents named Bockman and Lumbard are well crafted enough for the purposes of the story. My only quibble with the tale is a moment when Lumbard performs a stunt which seemed a tad too dangerous to survive. 

There are no heavy themes in The Goggle-Eyed Pirates, unless it is a cautionary tale for rich folks to leave their valuables at home or in the bank when they are on a cruise. We meet a few folks who are part of the scheme unknowingly or only in tangential ways and that showcases how quickly anyone can be snared into a bit of larceny. 

Something that always comes across to me vividly in Goulart's stories is how potent a puncher the Phantom is. He drops villains with a hefty one-two or sometimes even just a powerful single blow. The reader can feel those punches. I'm always fascinated about the Phantom seems to bring out the best in the talents who work on his stories. 

Next time the Phantom takes on The Swamp Rats. 

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King Kong! Here's Red-Hot Excitement!

Now I'm not one thousand percent sure of that, but there's no doubt that getting my grubby little kiddie mitts on this Gold Key gem was part of what propelled me to become a comic book addict from that day to this. If you check out that date on the ad, you'll discover that this wonderful and memorable comic hit the newsstands on D-Day. And it just so happens D-Day is also my birthday. A better present for a young boy at that time is hard to imagine. 

The George Wilson cover has all the elements you expect of the epic clash, even if Kong is a tad bit leaner than you'd expect, and in the comic, a whole lot bluer. But since this was likely not only my first comic, but certainly my first contact with King Kong I didn't find the changes odd at all. And since it hit the stands on my birthday, I can only think the fellows at Gold Key were thinking of me. Because of the convoluted rights to the character of King Kong and the movie King Kong, this is based on the novel version of the story produced at the same time as the epic film. What prompted Gold Key in 1968 to bring out the comic is uncertain, but Toho was expressing interest in Kong and a cartoon show was debuting that same year. So as had periodically been the case since Kong's 1933 debut, interest was blooming again in the King of Skull Island.

So, sit back, keep the candy handy and along with me enjoy a different version of the epic journey to the magical and deadly Skull Island. If like me, you've visited before it will be welcoming back a good friend, or if this is your first trip to the island as imagined by writer Gary Poole, and Italian artists Giovanni Ticci and Alberto Giolitti it will be exploring a new but still oddly familiar territory. 

That was a treat -- a birthday present to me, myself, and I. And I see the makings of an annual tradition. Despite his precipitous plunge at the end, Kong Lives...in our imaginations! 

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