Welcome to Unifying VALIANT, our celebration of the 25-year anniversary of VALIANT’s companywide crossover ‘Unity”. A precursor to the now omnipresent annual comic event, ‘Unity” and VALIANT changed the face of the comic industry in the early ‘90’s. In each entry we’ll be focusing on one the company’s storylines until culminating at the “Unity” event. Follow along as we dig deep and rediscover what made VALIANT the innovative and revolutionary company it was.
This week we’re reviewing “Magnus, Robot Fighter” #0, ‘Emancipator,’ & “Solar, Man of the Atom” #0, ‘Alpha & Omega.’
It’s Place within VALIANT:
Both characters, Solar, Man of the Atom & Magnus, Robot Fighter, were the cornerstones of the fledgling VALIANT Universe. The characters make up two of the three intellectual properties that Jim Shooter had originally licensed from Western Publishing, the other being Turok, Son of Stone. Their importance during this initial 3-year run is paramount to VALIANT. It was Shooter’s love for them, particularly Magnus, which drew him to the properties in the first place. Interestingly, in a departure from general mainstream comic norms neither character had a tried and true origin within the first issue of their VALIANT run.
Issue #0 of “Solar” features the reintroduction of the title character in ‘Alpha & Omega.’ The character, originally created by writer Paul S. Newman and editor Matt Murphy for Gold Key, had premiered in October 1962. That series, labelled “Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom” ran for 27 issues and experienced a modicum of success. While the comic did reach a moderate level of popularity, its 7-year production run was plagued with constant shifts in creative teams, particularly on the artistic side. By the time its price had been increased for issue #25 the comic industry as a whole was in a downward trend, and as such the series only saw two more issues.
For Solar’s origin, the ‘Alpha & Omega’ storyline runs through the first ten issues of the character’s run. The storyline, printed in small 6-page inserts within each comic, began in “Solar” #1 and concluded in “Solar” #10. This story was later reprinted as “Solar” #0 and released in April 1994.
Magnus’ origin has a similarly non-traditional element. Instead of a proper retelling, the basis of the character is told through a retelling of his creator’s origin, the robot 1-A. As such, when we first see the character he is already established within his universe. This preserves the character’s true origin, which was published in February 1963 by creator, writer and artist Russ Manning. This original series ran for 46 issues and was rather popular. After Manning’s departure following issue 21, the comic consisted predominantly of reprints. With no new material and a downturn of sci-fi influenced stories in the 1970’s, the comic came to its eventual end.
With no true origin, issue #0 of “Magnus” featured a standalone story in ‘Emancipator.’ While his origin would be retold in issue #1, issue #0 acts more as a primer for the character and his world. In order to obtain the #0 issue, you would have had to cut out coupons included in “Magnus” #1 – #8. Given the relatively low print runs from these issues, the number of people who were able to redeem the coupons is slightly less than 9,500. In addition to these, VALIANT also provided dealers with a #0 issue for every 10 “Magnus” #1 issues they had previously ordered. This brings the total number of “Magnus” #0 issues produced to around 18,300. Each of the “sendaway” issues is distinctive to its “dealer” version by the inclusion of a Magnus trading card by Barry Windsor-Smith. The issue additionally includes a small intro by Jim Shooter, labelled ‘To Begin a Universe.’ Here Shooter explains that this story was in fact the first one created at VALIANT, establishing the tradition of creating an issue #0 for each of the various series.
“Solar, Man of the Atom” #0 ‘Alpha & Omega:’ Phil Seleski stares out his window as an incredible flash shines through his curtains. Instantly he knows. The fusion generator he helped create has exploded; dooming him, the entire city and possibly North America. Arriving at the plant he’s told that there’s nothing they can do. Content with death, Phil rushes into the core. As his skin sizzles with radiation he finds the faulty component, releasing it as his body is engulfed burning him to a husk. Miraculously though, the radiation levels begin to instantly dissipate. When the safety crews enter they find that Phil is still alive. Wrapped up like a mummy, Phil’s body has no skin left. Suddenly he awakens and in a rush shreds off the bandages, revealing a perfectly healed body inside. Shocked by this the doctors taking care of him isolate Phil to run tests. Quickly Phil shows that he has acquired a unique set of abilities, from producing incredible heat, teleportation and absorbing the radiation like he did during the accident. His isolation though causes him anxiety. In his lowliness he reaches out to Gayle, one of the doctor’s, and they begin to have a formal relationship. Phil’s love for Gayle is whole, and he invites her to share in what it is to be one with the universe. The proposal though is too much for Gayle and she shies away. Another doctor, Dr. Erica Pierce, takes Phil up on his intriguing invitation. As he transports her into living energy the sensation is too much, and she pushes back, terrified by what the experience has shown about her true self. When she returns to Earth Dr. Pierce realizes she’s been gone for eight days. Frightened by his power, she vows to stop Phil. After three months apart, Phil cannot take being apart from Gayle anymore and calls her. Having been monitoring Gayle, Dr. Pierce and a cadre of soldiers quickly track and engage Phil. Using weapons Dr. Pierce had devised after her experience with Phil they are able to weaken him, bringing him to the verge of death. Sensing this Phil escapes, recharging his body by absorbing a nuclear power plant and then the sun from a distant galaxy. When he returns to Earth to reunite with Gayle, their bliss is short lived. Phil has absorbed far too much energy and in an instant he loses control and creates a black hole, annihilating Gayle and then the world. “Magnus Robot Fighter” #0 ‘Emancipator:’ High above North Am a group of freewill robots approach Central Rob. With reckless abandon they cause their ship to come crashing through the main window of the building. Once inside the robots fight their way through the station. One robot in particular, D-15, takes great joy from the battle as he brutally attacks a doctor that comes to stop them. At the tail end of the beating though, Magnus comes flying in from above. Crashing into the robot gang he quickly destroys the majority, then rips off D-15’s arm. Meanwhile, their leader O-1X, retrieves an artifact that had been their objective. Collecting his injured comrade, O-1X and D-15 are able to barely escape Magnus’ grasp. After a short night out on the town, Magnus leaves his girlfriend Leeja with her father Senator Clane after it is revealed that the artifact that had been stolen earlier was a portion of T1’s brain, the first freewill robot. When he arrives to his underwater base, Magnus finds another group of rogue robots led by O-1X there. He is similarly able to destroy the majority, but O-1X is again able to escape. Searching through his home Magnus finds his adoptive robot father, 1-A, had been beaten by the rogue gang and they had taken another artifact, another portion of T1’s brain. The next morning, still reeling from the prior day’s encounters, Magnus joins the robot engineers at Central Rob. As they survey the plant they discover what they feel is the cause of the freewill robots defections. One, presumably freewill robot, has been causing micro-fluctuations at the energy station where the power for all robots is dispersed from. These fluctuations are somehow the source of a robots ability to achieve consciousness. As the engineers remove the offending robot all the surrounding freewill robots, which had been hiding their consciousness, turn to attack. Magnus, as usual, makes quick work of the robots, even taking down a massive construction bot. At the end of the battle though, Dr. Giardino, the doctor that had been beaten the day before, fills Magnus in on the gravity of the situation. Based on her calculations nearly 10 million robots could have achieved consciousness. Review: “Solar, Man of the Atom” #0 – The ‘Alpha & Omega’ storyline from Solar provides a wonderful backstory that easily transitions into the series’ first storyline. There’s very little from the ‘Alpha & Omega’ arc that one can find fault in. It’s pacing is neither slow nor fast paced, taking full advantage of the story’s natural 6-page breaks. The character dialogues and interactions flow quite well, creating an organic tension that rings true for the characters. The only individual’s decisions that feel a tad reckless and those of Dr. Pierce. Yet, as the storyline evolves, one can see that even this holds true to her character. Plus, while Phil and Gayle’s romance feels rushed at best, it never comes across as unconvincing. Overall Shooter’s writing is delightful and perfectly paced to take advantage of Barry Windsor-Smith’s polished art. Windsor-Smith’s art is ultimately the true star of this issue. There are so many occasions where he shows his mastery. His subtle moments bridge the comic’s pages, such as showing a “normal” Phil, to the soft plainness that Dr. Pierce characterizes as her persona. He then brings an electric charge to the page when filling out the main action sequences. One cannot help but remember the searing images that were Phil’s burnt husk of a body, nor Gayle’s torso being ripped from the inside out. Even the last panel in the story, the self-proclaimed “largest panel ever,” is a thing of beauty. When Phil Seleski caused a black hole that swallowed the Earth, Barry Windsor-Smith captured it as if he was there. “Magnus Robot Fighter” #0 – Issue #0 of Magnus does a wonderful job of establishing numerous plot points and characters that would be used in the upcoming issues. Unfortunately this is the issue’s main downfall. Unlike the story told in “Solar” #0, which gave the colorful backstory to the creation of the title character but ultimately was not required reading, issue #0 of “Magnus” has a number of details that tie directly into the ‘Steel Nation’ storyline from issues #1-4. One could have easily picked up “Solar” #1-4 and never read his origin in issue #0 to no ill effect. This is not the case with Magnus. While the majority of the storyline would still flow through unfettered, certain aspects can only be resolved with issue #0. Story points like the beating of Dr. Giardino by D-15, the severing of D-15’s arm by Magnus and the backstory of Magnus destroying the original freewill robot T1 are recurring if not integral parts to the ‘Steel Nation’ storyline. To not allow readers a fluid experience because of a marketing gimmick seems short sighted at the least. From a technical aspect issue #0 of “Magnus” very much holds up to its billing as the first issue produced. While Shooter’s writing is still probably his best from the VALIANT line and Paris Cullins’s pencil work is beautifully detailed, neither has the polish or brilliance that we experience in the upcoming issues. The story flows beautifully from scene to scene, however there is a certain crispness to the dialogue that has yet to be established. This is most evident in Magnus’ interactions with Leeja, which feel far more organic in the coming issues. A similar trend holds true with the artwork, with Leeja probably being the biggest sufferer in relation to the pencils. While Cullins’s depiction of Leeja is beautiful, her portrayal by Art Nichols starting in issue #1 are nothing short of breathtaking. Her appearance in issue #0, while still undeniably attractive, lacks that extra sparkle. On a more positive note our first introduction to Magnus is a magnificent splash page which single handedly shows us his strength and iron like fists, while portraying the sheer terror that his presence can cast upon the robotic populace. It is a true thing of beauty. Additionally, Cullins’s cover for issue #0 is a wall-art worthy piece. This especially dynamic rendition of our titular hero has gone down as the quintessential image of Magnus from his VALIANT run. Coming up Next: We jump right in to VALIANT’s heavy hitter, Solar. Be sure to check out Solar, Man of the Atom #1-4 ‘Second Death’ and join us in our continuing celebration of VALIANT and ‘Unity’.
Storyline Summary:
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Publication dates: September 1991 – June 1992
Written by Jim Shooter
Penciled by Barry Windsor-Smith
Inked by Bob Layton
Colored by Janet Jackson
Lettered by Jade Moede
Publication date: 1992
Written by Jim Shooter
Penciled by Paris Cullins
Inked by Bob Layton
Colored by Janet Jackson
Lettered by Jade Moede
