Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 – 31 (1962)

Solar was created in 1962 by writer Paul S. Newman and editor Matt Murphy, with illustrations from artist Bob Fujitani, for the Silver Age comic book publisher Gold Key, a new company formed by Western Publishing who, earlier that year, had ended its business arrangement with Dell Comics.[2] The character premiered in issue #1 of Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom in Summer 1962 (cover date October 1962) in the first batch of comics released by Gold Key, with Solar being Gold Key's first original character.

Though Gold Key did not have as large a distribution network as Dell Comics, their comics stood out on the newsstand shelves because of their cover art and their 12 cent price, a bargain when contrasted with the 15 cent price on Dell's books. Early issues of Solar out sold Superman two to one. The first two issues of Solar appeared with cover paintings by Richard M. Powers; after the second issue the cover paintings were done by George Wilson.[4] The interior artwork in the first few issues also had unique features: the superhero, Dr. Solar, did not have a costume until the fifth issue,[2] rectangular word balloons and no black holding line around each panel.[4] Following the practice of Dell Comics, and thanks to Western Publishing's reputation of publishing other child-friendly books, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom was able to be distributed without the Comics Code Authority symbol. The original creative team of writer Paul S. Newman and artist Bob Fujitani lasted until issue #5 when Frank Bolle took over the art work. With the exception of issue #7 written by Otto Binder, Newman wrote the comic book until issue #10, when Dick Wood took over for the remainder of the series. Other artists who contributed included: Mel Crawford, Win Mortimer, Alden McWilliams (issues #20-23), Ernie Colón (issues #24-26), José Delbo (issue #27).[2]

The popularity of this original series peaked in 1965.[5] With a price increase to 15 cents with issue #25 in 1968, and a general decline in sales in the comic book industry in the late-1960s, Gold Key cancelled the series in 1969 with issue #27.[2] In one of Gold Key's few cross-overs, Doctor Solar re-appeared in the 1975 comic book The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #14.[1] In the early-1980s, with another industry contraction, Gold Key withdrew from distribution to newsstands and began publishing comics under the Whitman Comics imprint. These were distributed to retail stores (e.g. department stores, toy stores, specialty comic book stores) in poly-bagged packages of three comic books.[2] For this purpose, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom was restarted at #28 (cover date April 1981) with Roger McKenzie writing and Dan Spiegle drawing. This initiative was short-lived and the series was cancelled again after only four issues.