SOLARR
Real Name: Silas King
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: None;
formerly Emissaries of Evil (Cobalt Man, Eel/Leopold Stryke, Egghead, Porcupine/Alex Gentry, Power Man/Erik Josten, Rhino, Swordsman/Jacques Duquesne)
Affiliations: Animax (Blake Shiel), Azazel, Brimstone Love, Electro (Maxwell Dillon), Emplate (Marius St. Croix), Fatale, Guardian Life Insurance Company (see comments), Havok (Alex Summers), Infectia (Josephine), Infestation, Klaw, Krona, Nuklo, Phantazia (Eileen Harsaw), Madelyne Pryor, Reaper (Pantu Hurageb), Snot, Zero (Kenji Uedo)
Enemies: Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Mantis, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman/Jacques Duquesne, Thor, Vision), Bres, Daredevil (Matthew Murdock), Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Defenders (Dr. Strange/Stephen Strange, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Nighthawk, Power Man/Luke Cage, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde), Flight (Groundhog, Saint Elmo, Smart Alec, Snowbird, Stitch, Wolverine), Goblin Queen-91240 (Madelyne Pryor), Goliath (Bill Foster), Guardsman (Michael O'Brien), Harry, Kris Keating, Orchis, Project: PEGASUS (including Henri Sorel), Quasar, "Peepers" Scanlon, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Superman, Thing, Wundarr
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Bright Giant (name used by Hulk)
Base of Operations: Limbo Embassy, New York City;
formerly Krakoa;
formerly Mobile;
formerly Carson City, Nevada (place of birth)
First Appearance: Captain America I#160 (April, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Solarr had the mutant power to absorb heat from the sun and to redirect it as powerful heat-energy, which he generally projected from his hands. Solarr's power blasts could reach a heat of 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Solarr could not use his powers effectively when cut off from sunlight. He could emit bright light blasts, float and fly on heatwaves, melt metal into slag, create fiery images of himself, and set things, including flesh, on fire. Solarr briefly utilized a mento-transmitter for teleportation, and had technology to use his powers at night.
Height: 6'
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Reddish Brown
History: (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Silas King was a latent mutant whose powers had not awakened, even when he reached adulthood.
(Captain America I#160 (fb)) - While driving from New York City to Los Angeles, Silas King's van broke down and he walked through the desert for days, living off muddy water and cactus fruits. When he finally reached civilization, somehow still alive, he was taken to the hospital, where he learned that he'd somehow absorbed the powers of the sun. He soon decided to costume himself as a villain and commit robberies. He came up with the codename Solarr.
(Captain America I#160) - Solarr burst into the New York Stock Exchange, startling the patrons. He demanded all their money, melting the teller's bars with a touch. When the police arrived, he set them on fire, an act which drained most of his power. He then burned through the wall and headed outside, where he could absorb more power from the sun, also releasing a mighty burst that killed many and melted all else in its path. Captain America attacked, with new super-strength, and Solarr discovered that the hero's shield was resistant to his blasts. Solarr melted the sidewalk under Captain America, who rolled aside and knocked Solarr through a window. Solarr, weakened, fired another heat blast and then ran for the outdoors again, but Captain America stopped Solarr, then used his shield to trigger a fire hydrant which doused Solarr, defeating him.
(Alpha Flight Special II#1) - Solarr joined up with Eel (Stryke), Porcupine (Gentry), Power Man (Josten), Swordsman (Duquesne), and Rhino in working for super-criminal Egghead, who called his team his Emissaries of Evil. The villains gathered in Canada, where Egghead threatened to launch a nuclear warhead at New York City unless the government was signed over to him. Soon an early version of Alpha Flight (Groundhog, Saint Elmo, Smart Alec, Snowbird, Stitch, Wolverine) arrived and defeated the Emissaries; Solarr briefly battled Saint Elmo, who later sacrificed his life to stop the bomb.
(Avengers I#126) - Posing as Rudyardian ambassador Ronald Pershing, Klaw, who wore a fake hand, a disguise, and carried a briefcase with his power source inside, approached the Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mantis, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne), Thor, Vision) for aid against Klaw and Solarr, who he purported were terrorizing their government. When they arrived in Rudyarda, Klaw spoke through a a giant sound construct of himself, and trapped several of the Avengers and himself, as the ambassador, in a sound bubble. Klaw, through his sound construct, demanded vengeance on the Rudyardian government and diplomatic immunity once the battle was over, and ordered Black Panther to cede control of Wakanda over to Klaw, and threatened that if his demands weren't met, Solarr would kill their hostages one at a time. To show the truth of this, Solarr shot Klaw's ambassador form, and Klaw feigned 'near death', though he held on to his briefcase. His point made, Klaw dissipated his giant form. With their teammates still trapped in Klaw's bubble, Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor moved to find Klaw, but were attacked by sound-panthers. Black Panther finally deduced the truth and attacked 'Pershing.' He destroyed Klaw's power source, and Klaw and Solarr were soon defeated.
(Defenders I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Solarr was teleported out of jail by Egghead, who offered Solarr payment for serving in the new team the Emissaries of Evil. Egghead gave Solarr equipment so he could use his powers at night, and with a mento-transmitter, so that he could return to the space station headquarters at will. Egghead also recruited Rhino, and sent the two to retrieve the precious Star of Capistan from the Defenders.
(Defenders I#42) - Solarr formed a giant fiery version of himself and hit Nighthawk with a blast of solar energy. He tried to intimidate Power Man and Hulk into giving up the Star, but they tried to fight instead. Solarr melted the concrete around Power Man's feet. Dr. Strange, during an attack, admitted no knowledge of the Star while Solarr turned his solar energy on Strange. Solarr parried with Valkyrie until he realized the Defenders didn't have the Star, so he and Rhino returned to the space-station. Egghead put them in a torturous time-stasis tube for ten hours to punish them.
(Defenders I#43) - After being released, Solarr and Rhino watched as Cobalt Man failed to stop the Defenders. Egghead sent them after Dr. Strange, though Solarr and Rhino thought of killing Egghead first. Solarr and Rhino burst through the hotel only to find Red Rajah (secretly Dr. Strange) who swiftly defeated Solarr by destroying the amplifier that allowed Solarr to use his powers at night.
(Defenders I#44) - Solarr and Rhino were arrested.
(Marvel Two-In-One I#57) - After being held in Project: PEGASUS, in a cell designed to counteract his powers, Solarr discovered his cell was open after the kinetic-energy absorbing Wundarr walked past. Solarr tried to attack Wundarr ineffectually, then tried to find an ally to escape with, and considered Electro (who had broken bones) and Nuklo (who Solarr considered too immature. Solarr burst into Klaw's cell and found Klaw's sonic blaster. Disgusted, he tossed it against the wall, and Klaw's solid sound body solidified. Solarr and Klaw took a car to escape, on their way temporarily blinding Quasar and derailing a car containing Quasar, Goliath (Bill Foster), Thing, and other PEGASUS employees. Their own car was soon derailed by Thing, however, and Quasar quickly defeated Solarr in battle. Thing and Goliath then defeated Klaw.
(Marvel Two-In-One I#58) - Solarr was soon returned to his cell.
(Dazzler#9) - Solarr sat in his cell at Project: PEGASUS while Quasar gave Dazzler a tour of the facility.
(Marvel Team-Up I#123 (fb) - BTS) - After escaping from Project: PEGASUS, Solarr spent months honing his powers. He was hired by the mob to kill "Peepers" Scanlon.
(Marvel Team-Up I#123) - Solarr attacked the hospital and laughed as blind lawyer Matt Murdock attacked him, easily knocking him aside before Spider-Man attacked, followed by Daredevil (Murdock's heroic identity). They fought through the hospital until Daredevil hit Solarr with foam from a fire extinguisher, leaving Solarr to rush outside for a recharge from the sun. Solarr tricked the heroes by creating a fiery image of himself, and then fired blasts with them across the city. After the sun went down, Solarr's powers begin to wane, even more after Spider-Man doused him in water. Spider-Man then knocked Solarr unconscious.
(Captain America I#291 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past Solarr took out a life insurance policy from the Guardian Life Insurance Company.
(Power Man and Iron Fist I#113) - After being locked up in a cell across from Electro at Project: PEGASUS, Solarr escaped from his cell during a power outage caused by the powerful Bres. Solarr came across the corpse of one of the guards, Harry, and he fried the corpse to make sure it was dead. The corpse rose, however (powered by Bres) and slew Solarr, whose body was found by Guardsman (Michael O'Brien) soon.
(Captain America I#427 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Dead Ringer obtained a piece of Solarr's tissue.
In the form of Solarr, Dead Ringer staged a fight with Super-Patriot (posing as Captain America).
(JLA/Avengers#4) - Solarr was among the villains pulled forth from time and space by Krona to guard his stronghold from an onslaught by the Avengers and the JLA. Alongside Radioactive Man he fought against Superman.
(Dark X-Men II#1/2 (fb) - BTS) - Solarr was among the many villainous mutants who accepted amnesty in the newly established sovereign mutant nation Krakoa.
(X-Men Unlimited III#20 - BTS) - At an unrevealed point in time, the Warden of superhuman prison the Dungeon acquired a genetic sample of Solarr which he later used amongst other samples to become the Human Adaptoid. While invading Krakoa, the Human Adaptoid activated Solarr's powers along with those of Arclight, Basilisk, Sunstroke and others to combat Juggernaut and Deadpool.
(Dark X-Men II#1/2 (fb) - BTS) - As time went on Solarr lost his trust in the ability to control himself, feeling he needed to be somewhere that burned. Learning the newly founded Limbo Embassy in New York was welcoming mutants, Solarr sought amnesty.
(Dark X-Men II#1/2 (fb)) - In an interview with Havok he explained his reasonings for seeking amnesty, his request was granted. Other mutants whose request were accepted included Fatale, Infectia, Phantazia and several others.
(Dark X-Men II#4) - When Orchis broke into the Limbo Embassy with Goblin Queen-91240, Solarr (with Snot, Infestation, and Brimstone Love) were shocked. Solarr shot fire at the Queen, but she absorbed it and fired it back, killing Solarr horribly.
Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, and Frank McLaughlin.
In Captain America I#291 Solarr's real name was seen on a list of the Guardian Life Insurance Company. It is unknwon at which point during his criminal career he bought this policy, but it was pretty sure during his life of crime because he wasn't the only super villain that company dealt with (see Tumbler or Tumbler's brother Michael, the second Tumbler).
--Markus Raymond
I have a comment to make about Solarr, specifically his appearance in Alpha Flight Special#1. In my opinion, the appearance of Solarr and Swordsman together in this story relegate it to "What If?" status.
Solarr's first appearance was in Captain America I#160, cover-dated April 1973. Swordsman re-applied for membership in the Avengers in Avengers I#114, cover-dated August 1973, a mere four months later. In that story, the Swordsman stated that he had tired of his life of crime and spent a year running from country to country, drinking himself into a stupor, until he met Mantis who convinced him to get his act together and try to rejoin the Avengers. It's highly unlikely that Solarr could have gotten out of jail and hooked up with Egghead while Swordsman was still actively pursuing a life of crime.
I haven't read Captain America I#160 in awhile, but I don't see why this story couldn't have taken place b/t the flashback when Solarr got his powers and the main story.
Or perhaps Solarr broke out of jail the same day he was put it, and perhaps Egghead tracked Swordsman to a foreign bar and recruited him, temporarily breaking his drunken streak.
You have to bend things slightly for most ret-con stories, but this story is definitely not a What If? story. If it seems impossible then there are just events/circumstances we don't know about. For all we know, it was a Swordsman robot or someone impersonating him.
Any number of possibilities.
Of course, that's just one problem in chronologically placing the Alpha Flight story. Another is the notion that a Canadian police officer would not have heard of the Fantastic Four by the time characters like Solarr or even the Rhino were around; when it was clear that the FF were world-famous as early as Fantastic Four I#7.
That fits into "hard to believe" but not anywhere near impossible.
--Dale Roberts
Solarr has Handbook entries in OHotMU I#10 and Deluxe Edition#12.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Solarr
has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Defenders: Strange Heroes, Solarr entry (main image)
Captain America I#160, p12, pan1 (origin)
Captain America I#160, p13, pan1 (first appearance)
Marvel Two-In-One I#57, p15, pan2 (fighting Quasar)
Dark X-Men II#1, p4, pan1 (at the Limbo Embassy)
Appearances:
Captain America I#160 (April, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Frank McLaughlin (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#126 (August, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), Bob Brown (penciler), Dave Cockrum (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Defenders I#42-44 (December, 1976-February, 1977) - Gerry Conway (writer), Keith Giffen (penciler), Klaus Johnson (inker), Gerry Conway (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One I#57 (November, 1979) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), George Perez (writer), Gene Day (penciler), Roger Stern (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One I#58 (December, 1979) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), George Perez (penciler), Gene Day (artist), Roger Stern (editor)
Dazzler#9 (November, 1981) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Frank Springer (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#123 (November, 1982) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Kerry Gammill (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#10 (October, 1983) - various writers, Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#291 (March, 1984) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#113 (January, 1985) - Jim Owsley (writer), Greg LeRocque (penciler), Jerry Acerno (inker), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Alpha Flight Special Edition I#1 (1992) - Scott Lobdell & Simon Furman (writers), Pat Broderick (penciler), Bruce Patterson (inker), Rob Tokar (editor)
Captain America I#427 (May, 1994) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave Hoover (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
JLA/Avengers#4 (February, 2004) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Perez (artist), Tom Brevoort & Dan Raspler (editors)
X-Men Unlimited III#20 (January, 2022) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Matt Horak (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Dark X-Men II#1/1 (October, 2023) - Steve Foxe (writer), Jonas Scharf (pencils, inks), Lauren Amaro, Jordan D. White (editors)
Dark X-Men II#1/2 (October, 2023) - Steve Foxe (writer), Nelson Daniel (pencils, inks), Lauren Amaro, Jordan D. White (editors)
Dark X-Men II#4 (January, 2024) - Steve Foxe (writer), Jonas Scharf (artist), Jordan White (editor)
First Posted: 02/17/2007
Last updated: 12/26/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com