Solar, Man of the Atom #1 stands alone as just a damn good read. Paraphrasing the movie "
Superbad", reading Solar, Man of the Atom #1 for the first time was like the first time I heard the Beatles.
Jim Shooter (Father of the Valiant Universe) ever-so-elequently incorporated
comic book mythology with a new take on the character that was both simple and SO complex that you can't help but enjoy the first ten issues of this entire series.
The cohesiveness of the entire Valiant mythology only adds to the coolness of the entire Valiant series as a whole - with every issue a piece to a puzzle that fans can follow throughout Valiant history.
I've always considered the difference between Valiant and Image back in the day like this:
IMAGE COMICS was ART first, STORY second.
VALIANT COMICS was STORY first, ART second.
And I love that. The artwork doesn't distract you from the story, and if you take the time to read the first couple issues, you'll be impressed.