Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom (1962) Gold Key/Western Publishing

Solar is an American comic book superhero created by writer Paul S. Newman, editor Matt Murphy, and artist Bob Fujitani. The character first appeared in Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 in 1962 by Gold Key Comics and has since appeared in other incarnations in books published by Valiant Comics in the 1990s, Dark Horse Comics in the 2000s, and Dynamite Entertainment in the 2010s. 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. 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. 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, rectangular word balloons and no black holding line around each panel. 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.