Brave New World: Solar #46-50 

July-October 1995

Writer- Dan Jurgens

Art- Dick Giordano

Handling Solar in an interesting way is a very difficult concept. Once the Valiant Universe went past the limits of the original Dr. Solar (from Gold Key Comics c. 1950's) and expanded the idea to include Solar as a defining force in the comic book world, and in the process the ordinary became mundane.

How could you have a being with the powers of a god go after bank robbers? Or break up a crime ring? You simply cannot, in the grand scheme. And that's where the idea for Brave New World came in. Solar's first storyline Alpha & Omega transformed an ordinary man into a god and in the end it cost the world everything. "I play dice with the gods and everybody loses". As amazing as the Alpha & Omega story was, it was still a finite story. You could not turn it into a 50 issue series. You have to spin it off into a title, but the story itself must end at some point. This is probably the greatest problem with comics or even storytelling itself- the story must end.

So comic characters are defined by the story arcs they have. In that case, Solar was most fortunate to have both Alpha & Omega and Brave New World.

Why Am I Featuring This Story?

This is in my opinion one of the greatest Valiant stories ever told. It has hauntingly familiar tones and reminds me a lot of Watchmen. This article is very long, but it's the bare-bones story that still allows you to enjoy it fully.

Solar #46 (the first issue of Brave New World) was the first issue of Valiant's "Birthquake" when they condensed their titles and got a mess of new talent to make the same books, only better. In this case, with Dan Jurgens and Dick Giordano, they did a great job.

The Setup:

In its simplest form, Solar can do anything. He even created the reality of this comic book Universe! But he has no real purpose in it all. Deep guilt from his past actions combined with loneliness of being a supreme being have weighed down upon him. So enter the story:

Solar #46- "It isn't every day the Vice President of the United States gets assassinated" the Sentry thinks as he follows a trail that will hopefully catch the killer. He's spent the last two years knocking off celebs-  politicians, actors, musicians- anybody who's newsworthy. The Sentry finally catches up with the killer as irony would have it right in front of the Lightning Brigade Monument. They don't come any deadlier than Casket Jack- his deadly eyebeams can cut anybody down, and The Sentry has no special abilities like the others, so he has to compensate with his trusty .38. But Casket Jack is too much for the Sentry to handle and the Sentry is just seconds away from death when suddenly the impossible happens- a black figure with a radiation symbol on  his chest appears. "No more killing. I won't allow it" he calmly states. Casket Jack, who will not be undone unleashes full force his eye beams right on this stranger's face. Nothing. The stranger simply throws him away, then takes the badly beaten hero the Sentry to the hospital and disappears.

Another place. He's awakened by his hungry children clamoring for breakfast. He stumbles downstairs and   picks up the paper and - the Vice President was assassinated last night! And the killer Casket Jack was caught and the Sentry was saved by a "ghost-like being" who took him to the hospital. "Sounds like one of the specials" his wife says. "No", he replies, "there hasn't been a special who isn't registered with the government since WW II. This is someone new."

We find out the specials came into existence in the 1940's and formed the Lightning Brigade and practically won WW II singlehandedly. In the 60's they reformed as the American Brigade and helped stabilize the country. Now they're known as Flashpoint. It all makes sense too- all the money saved by h aving a super powered team as opposed to a large army or stockpile of weapons makes it all worth it.

These super powered heroes have been with us for 50 years, some retiring and being replaced by family, others  showing no sign of age. Oh well, it's off to work- the man Phil Seleski has a very important day today- today is the day his Edgewater nuclear power plant goes online.

Back at the hospital the Sentry has an important visitor- the President of the United States who was the original American Ace- part of the Lightning Brigade from WW II. He scolds the Sentry (who is a young boy who just recently inherited his job from his uncle who ended up in a wheelchair) for taking such risks as his life, but he realizes he did what had to be done. So on to new business: who is this mysterious guy? The President knows this is the fourth confirmed sighting in two years, and they have no clues as to who he is. This is an important concern to all- then Silver Sky appears and agrees with the President. She just transported into the hospital room to pick up her teammate the Sentry and take the President along for the ride to Flashpoint's base for further study of this mysterious person. So much for the President's security...

Back at Flashpoint. All the heroes are assembled.

 SilverSky- Ominous. She has great powers and is one of the veteran members.

Sin Buster- dons a long cape and uses a sword. He hates evil, but is possessed by a sense of right over wrong even more.

Grimace- Mechanically altered hero with hydraulic arms and legs. Very strong. Somewhat slow-witted. A good order taker.

Teletech- The technical expert.

The Wire- The youngster in the bunch- scarcely 18 himself- he can scan people's minds and follows the leadership of the older members.

Urban Assault Commando- the veteran in the group and original members from the Lightning Brigade. Formerly known as Ultramax, and probably the toughest of the bunch. A real duker.

Luna- A woman with many mysterious powers who controls her own sub universe and can take people there.

The President- The former member American Ace and current President of the United States.

The team agree the only way to track this mysterious stranger is to conduct a telepathic probe using the Wire as a medium and amplifying his powers to search the entire planet. They use the radiation symbol as something to search for. So on with the probe. Wire is wired up and starts looking. The world is a big place, but he quickly gets scattered images relating to the symbol. Then it hits him and he realizes what he's looking for "It's him- -! HIM! GOD!"

Solar #47

"He knows! - The god senses my presence!" Next thing you know, the stranger shows up! He wants only to be left alone and didn't like the telepathic probe that brought them to his attention. Next thing you know, Flashpoint is stomping on him. As they work together as a team, Wire decides to use his power to get deeper into this god's mind and form an inseparable link and know everything. Bam- Wire is in and sees flashes of a past life, a man in a red suit with a radiation logo on his chest, a planet, all muddled up. The stranger gets pissed off and finally strikes out at them all to leave him alone. The team is knocked unconscious and the hero disappears.

Silver Sky, the President, the wounded Sentry and the retired Sentry  (his uncle) all teleport to the Oval Office of the White House. As they go over these new events, the President admits a secret he's kept all this time. Back in WW II, American Ace got in way over his head. Badly wounded, he was about to be killed when the same stranger appeared and with a wave of his hand the Nazis disappeared. Then he somehow extracted the bullets and healed the wounds on American Ace, then disappeared. But- this couldn't be the same man...

 Flashpoint come to later and they discuss what happened. Sin Buster takes a stand. If he is god, than we should acknowledge this and worship him, if he's an impostor, we should kill him. He was always too extreme for Flashpoint, so he grabs Grimace and Wire and tries again to find him. Wire saw in the being's mind Seleski, so off to Phil Seleski's house. As they bust through a wall in this suburban house they demand "You are the one...the one who knows how to find god! Take us to him...NOW!"

Solar #48

Seleski knows nothing about this, but Sin Buster is too extreme to think otherwise. With no care to civil rights, he kidnaps Seleski and warns his family to leave them be. In the Flashpoint van the trio sit Seleski down and Wire conducts a mind-skim. Seleski has been protesting all along he knows nothing and he's just a normal man. Amazingly the same memories of marriage and family are in his mind as well, but nothing concrete. Sin buster, totally immersed in this, demands Wire go all the way in, even though there will be little left of the man in the end. Enter the mysterious man in person. "This man has done you no harm. Leave him be" he calmly says as he rips the van to shreds with a thought.

Back at the White House the President turns on the TV and sees the battle live on TV. This is not the press he wanted... A recently escaped Casket Jack watches it as well and finally figures out how to get even with American Ace for beating his father Icebox so many years ago...and Flashpoint watches as well and rushes to the scene.

In frustration, Sin Buster throws his mighty sword right at the stranger's face. Me simply absorbs it withoutmoving. Wire tries again to get into his mind, but he is severally harmed for doing this. Enter Flashpoint. Silver Sky transports the whole group to her own domain to fight it out or resolve it without any innocent people getting hurt. There is no escape from her domain. But Seleski is there as well and since he has nothing to do with it, the stranger allows him to go home. Impossible- there is no escape...

Back at the White House. Security detected an intruder, but it's too late. The intruder appears to be the stranger and he vaporizes the President and his family right on closed circuit TV. This is Casket Jack's revenge for his father, and they'll never suspect it was him who did it. "And thus endeth the incredible life and reign of the stalwart American Ace".

The stranger frees himself along with the Sentry and meet up with Seleski at his secret base on top of a mountain. Finally the truth must come out. The stranger is Solar, and Solar is Phil Seleski.

Solar #49

The stranger is Seleski from another world. He set up this base to sit back and watch world events by TV. But things have gotten way out of hand- they were not supposed to know about his existence. Very well then. He'll tell us. He turns off the TVs and starts...

The fallout from the death of the President may be too much for the people to handle. Riots and fires are breaking out all over the country. Urban Assault Commando (formerly known as Ultramax) has to take matters into his own hands. He uses the Constitution to enact a law that gives him the power of the President in times of crisis. He has taken control.

This world we are in is not the real one, the stranger tells us. In the one he is from he has had his problems in the past so at one point he decided to leave Earth and wander a bit. One day he found himself slipping in the timestream and ended up and the beginning of time. There he found a planet similar to how the young Earth would be in its infancy. So he watched it grow over billions of years, helping to shape it in critical moments so it would mirror the Earth he came from. But he added something. In the 1920's he added something to the gene pool that makes superheroes. He will sit back and watch this world's heroes battle evil and watch Phil Seleski live a normal life and somehow in the process heal himself of the past grief and guilty he has. But wait- something is wrong...

All over TV live from Flashpoint. It's Ultramax. We have seen this stranger assassinate the President and watch the insanity that followed. He must be stopped. I am using my authority to run this country and this stranger must be dealt with. Permanently. In 3 seconds, a nuclear assault will be made on him ending his threat forever. "No—!" BOOM.

Solar #50

 The Flashpoint team arrives at the location, but strangely, there is no radiation at all. None. We learn that last second, Silver Sky teleported in and teleported out with the Sentry and Seleski, leaving the stranger to take the nuclear warhead full blast. But something strange happened. The stranger absorbed the explosion and all the radiation- from a nuclear detonation! Flashpoint is way out of its league and they are finally starting to realize it!

Impossibly- the stranger shows up to meet the team. This time he's ready for an attack. Wire tries to enter his mind. Never again. He permanently blinds Wire, crippling him. Luna throws the blackness of her dimension at  him, he dissipates it. Finally, Sin Buster charges him in the name of the true God. The stranger reminds him he knows everything- including the 17 people he killed before he became Sin Buster in an attempt to make up for his sins and drops him. Ultramax, the most powerful attacks relentlessly. While he's doing this. Teletech designed an energy dispersal unit to destroy the stranger. He calls on Seleski to activate it to end the threat. but Seleski refuses and Sin Buster kills him and activates it himself. The stranger moves last second and Ultramax dies not knowing what hit him. Now what??? Flashpoint has done everything it possibly could to kill this stranger and nothing. And in the process an innocent person was killed.

  The stranger lands. Flashpoint knows they're all dead with a blink of an eye. Instead, the strander picks up Seleski's body and disappears with him.

The heroes, shamed, embarrissed and finally humbled, wonder what is next for them and their world.

"Suddenly I realize what we've just lost. More than an innocent life- more than a legendary hero and President. We've lost our innocence- our shield of public  faith and invincibility. As Solar disappears, I know we'll never see him again. I also know a drastic change is coming. We blew it. In the name of catching an enemy, Flashpoint detonated a nuclear warhead- and murdered. We're as bad, as abusive as the enemies we hunt down. A brave new world is dawning- and I don't think it will be very kind to us"

Solar takes Seleski's body back to his family. His wife is mad at him for his husband's death, so he shows him he's Phil Seleski from another world. "Will this bring him back?" she asks? Sadly, no.

Solar realizes this has healed him. Watching a world develop, guiding it along the way, and watching Phil Seleski live a full, but short life has made him better. He's over the guilt. And goes home.

---Man- what a great story. It shows a story from beginning to end. It shows you what a group of people would do to keep their beliefs. It shows you the error in their actions in the long run. There is a lot of little details I left out that just need a comic book read to absorb, so if you ever see these books GET THEM or if you have them, they deserve to be re-read.