Solar, Man of the Atom #31

This is an issue where the cover says it all. You don't have to be familiar with the character of Solar, Man of the Atom, to know that the hero did a very wrong thing by bringing one of his captive arch enemies home for the holidays. Despite not knowing anything about the characters, the cover provides the needed backdrop and what occurs inside is just icing on the cake. 

The real fun is Solar having to drag his arch-enemy with him everywhere he goes. The hero and his live-in girlfriend, Gayle were supposed to catch a plane from LA to the Midwest to attend a mutual friend's holiday party. But with Solar's nemesis captured and there not being a proper facility to hold him, the baddie is going to the party as well.

This plot made for some very hilarious situations. I don't think I've ever encountered a story where Batman had to host an event as Bruce Wayne at his home while keeping the Penguin from getting out into the general populace. Yet, that's what happens here literally in this story and I got a massive kick out of it.

Issue #31 was written by Kevin Vanhook (Red Tornado). Vanhook did a great job crafting a story that a fan of holiday comics, like myself, could enjoy just as well as an established fan of Solar, Man of the Atom. There's just enough back story to keep the newbies from getting lost and just enough holiday cheer to keep die hard fans from proclaiming 'Bah, Humbug!' This story was interesting enough that if I was to ever come across a few issues of this 1990-96 series from Valiant, I'd gladly add them to my collection for a read. I'd most definitely be interested in the first dozen or so issues.

The artwork was pretty good for early 90s superhero books. The heroes aren't over-stacked with muscles like what was to be expected from publishers like Image and Marvel during this time. Plus, Peter Grau's (Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger) pencils were exceptionally clean.

Holiday oozes out of every panel and a great story with perhaps unintentionally hilarious results occur in this book that for someone like myself who isn't familiar with the character and his universe, really made me feel welcome and festive.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.