Captain Atom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publication information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher | Original: Charlton Comics Current: DC Comics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Allen Space Adventures #33 (March 1960) Nathaniel Captain Atom vol. 3 #1 (March 1987) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Allen Joe Gill (writer) Steve Ditko (artist) Nathaniel Cary Bates (writer) Pat Broderick (artist) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In-story information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Nathaniel Christopher "Nate" Adams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team affiliations | (Both) United States Air Force (Nathaniel) Justice League International L.A.W. Justice League Extreme Justice Justice League Europe Justice League Task Force United States Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Partnerships | (Nathaniel) Nightshade Plastique Forerunner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable aliases | (Nathaniel) Cameron Scott, Monarch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abilities | (Allen)
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Captain Atom is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books, initially owned by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. [1] All possess some form of energy-manipulating abilities.
Captain Atom has appeared in several animated television and film adaptations of Justice League and other DC storylines since the mid-2000s. Chris Cox, Michael T. Weiss, and Brian Bloom, among others, have voiced the character in animation.
Captain Atom was created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Space Adventures #33 (March 1960). [2] Captain Atom was initially created for Charlton Comics, but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for DC's post- Crisis continuity. [3] In 2011, DC Comics relaunched its superhero comics and rewrote the histories of some characters from scratch, including Captain Atom, giving him a new origin, appearance and slightly altered powers. Captain Atom was the character inspiration for Doctor Manhattan, who was featured in the miniseries (and later live-action film adaptation) Watchmen , which would be connected to the DC Universe in the miniseries Doomsday Clock. [4] [5] [6]
Throughout the years, the character has been featured in several moderate-to-short-lived eponymous series, and has been a member of several different versions of DC's flagship superhero team, the Justice League. In all incarnations, the character initially served for the military. In the Charlton Comics continuity, he was a scientist named Allen Adam and gained his abilities by accident when he was seemingly "atomized" and then reformed himself as an atomic-powered being. In both DC Comics incarnations, he is an Air Force pilot named Nathaniel Adam, who was a test subject in a scientific experiment who seemingly disintegrated in the process, only to reappear later as the super-powered Captain Atom. [7] Over the years, DC has attempted to reinvent the character several times. For a period, the character assumed the mantle of the supervillain Monarch, and in 2005 DC attempted to retell the Captain Atom story with an entirely new character, Breach, who was subsequently discarded. In the new continuity following DC's 2011 relaunch, Captain Atom has never been a member of the Justice League and the team views him with distrust; his character origin and abilities were also revised.
The Charlton Comics version of Captain Atom was Allen Adam, a rocket technician who gains powers after his special experimental rocket explodes. [8]
Captain Atom was first published in a series of short stories in the anthology series Space Adventures #33–40 (March 1960 – June 1961) and #42 (October 1961). Charlton began reprinting his short adventures in the anthology Strange Suspense Stories beginning with issue #75 (June 1965), renaming the title Captain Atom with issue #78 (December 1965) and giving the hero full-length stories and supervillain antagonists such as Dr. Spectro (previous stories involved Cold War anti-Communist missions or dealing with aliens). Captain Atom later teamed with the superhero Nightshade, with whom he shared a mutual attraction. The superhero Blue Beetle starred in the initial back-up feature, later replaced by a Nightshade back-up series.
DC Comics acquired Captain Atom, among other characters, following the bankruptcy of Charlton Comics. In Crisis on Infinite Earths , the Charlton characters are revealed to originate from Earth-Four and are integrated into DC's continuity.
A new Post-Crisis version of the character was introduced in March 1987 with the launch of a monthly comic written by Cary Bates (long-time writer of The Flash and Superman ), co-written by Greg Weisman and drawn by Pat Broderick. [9]
This modern captain's name is established as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer and Vietnam War veteran. Adam is framed for a crime and experimented on to avoid execution and receive a pardon. He gains metallic skin and vast nuclear powers, but is transported decades into the future and presumed dead. [7] [10]
After Adam resurfaces, General Wade Eiling blackmails him into serving the government as the superhero Captain Atom. Atom separates from the government, joins the Justice League, and briefly marries Plastique. [11]
Captain Atom was intended to be the villain Monarch in the Armageddon 2001 event. However, after this information was leaked, DC changed Monarch's identity to Hank Hall last-minute. [12] [13]
In the Superman/Batman story arc "Public Enemies", Captain Atom is seemingly killed while stopping a kryptonite meteor. He is transported to the WildStorm universe and presumed dead.
In Infinite Crisis, Captain Atom returns when Superboy-Prime punctures Breach, who wields similar energy-manipulating abilities. The end of Armageddon has him reappear in the devastated Blüdhaven. A year later, Captain Atom is revealed to be contained inside Blüdhaven and used to administer radiation treatments to metahumans. He later escapes and kills Major Force. [14]
In Countdown to Final Crisis , Captain Atom assumes the Monarch name and battles heroes throughout the multiverse. [7] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
During a fight against Superman-Prime, Atom's suit is damaged, releasing a chain reaction that destroys Earth-51. [20] It is later revealed that the Monitor Solomon attacked Atom in Blüdhaven, rupturing his skin and facilitating his transformation into Monarch. [21]
During Jimmy Olsen's investigation about Project 7734, the secret black-op commanded by Sam Lane to fight extraterrestrial menaces on Earth (including Kryptonians), it is discovered that an amnesiac and brainwashed Captain Atom is now one of the prized possessions of Sam Lane. [22] [23] [24] [25]
In Justice League: Generation Lost , Captain Atom is among the heroes tasked with hunting down Maxwell Lord. [26] [27] [28]
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Captain Atom is reintroduced with altered powers, appearance and origin. This version was never framed and participated in the experiment that gave him powers voluntarily. [29] [30] [31] [32] During a fight with Dr. Megala, who has taken control of Firestorm's body, Atom is forced to absorb a massive amount of energy, which disperses his molecules across the timestream. One of these pieces becomes a separate entity named Nathaniel Adym and joins the Science Police in the 31st century. [33] [34] [35]
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Captain Atom (Nathaniel Adam) lost control of his powers and caused a devastating accident in this six-issue series set in 2012. Needing to contain his unstable abilities, he went into Dr. Megala's Subterranean Suppression Dome but seemingly exploded. [36] The world believed Nathaniel Adam was killed in a blast; However, Adam took a subatomic trip through time and ended up without powers, 20 years in the past. [37] It is revealed that the quantum blowback sent him back in time to 1994 as a normal man. Adam's wound distorted after being shot during an attempted car robbery, and his body was encased in liquid metal. [38] As a result of the time stream correcting itself, he was thrown back to 2017. [38]
Captain Atom's body is coated in the alien metal Dilustel, which enables him to generate vast amounts of nuclear energy and makes him virtually immortal. Atom's skin is highly durable and can only be damaged by the X-Ionizer, a device designed to cut through it. [39] [40] Cracking or rupturing his skin causes Atom to leak radiation at an uncontrollable rate, to which he runs the risk of atomic detonation.
In addition to his superhuman abilities, Nathaniel Adam is also an experienced United States Air Force pilot. He is especially skilled in combat piloting, is trained in military weaponry, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat, and speaks multiple languages, including Russian. [41] [42] Adam also has strong survival instincts derived from his experiences during the Vietnam War.
His former drastically altered New 52 powers are a being whose atoms are constantly splitting and then reforming just as quickly, releasing massive amounts of energy. This surplus of power can be manipulated in a number of ways such as flight and the ability to transmute physical matter. Captain Atom has been seen to transform lava into snow by willing it and has been able to remove cancer from a human being. He can also absorb massive amounts of energy.
Captain Atom's abilities are largely nuclear in nature and involve tapping into the strong nuclear force, the energy that binds protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Excessive or intense use of his abilities has resulted in Captain Atom temporarily losing his own molecular stability. It is not yet known if he will be able to conquer this weakness with practice.
As an energy-based life form, Captain Atom's senses operate on different levels than a normal person. He is able to sense and perceive radio signals, cell phone signals and other similar transmissions. He can also see the energy of certain molecules, such as when he notes the energy signature of the Flash and remarks that his molecules seem to be sparking with fire or lightning. [32] He also does not need air, food or water to survive.
Captain Atom has his own enemies:
The Allen Adam and Nathaniel Adam incarnations of Captain Atom appear as character summons in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure . [57]
Captain Atom appears in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic. He joins Batman's Insurgency to combat Superman's growing Regime before being mortally wounded by Wonder Woman while retrieving an enhancement pill from the Fortress of Solitude. Captain Atom then drags Superman to the atmosphere in an attempt to kill him, with the resulting explosion leaving the former dead and Wonder Woman comatose.
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
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Action Heroes Archive Volume 1 | Space Adventures (vol. 2) #33-42, Captain Atom (vol. 1) #78-82 | November 2004 | 978-1401203023 |
Action Heroes Archive Volume 2 | Captain Atom (vol. 1) #83–89, Charlton Bullseye #1–2, 5, Mysterious Suspense #1, Blue Beetle (vol. 5) #1-5 | May 2007 | 978-1401213466 |
Captain Atom: Armageddon | Captain Atom: Armageddon #1-9 | November 2006 | 978-1401211066 |
Captain Atom Vol. 1: Evolution | Captain Atom (vol. 4) #1–6 | December 2012 | 978-1401237158 |
Captain Atom Vol. 2: Genesis | Captain Atom (vol. 4) #0, 7-12 | August 2013 | 978-1401240998 |
Captain Atom: The Rise and Fall of Captain Atom | Captain Atom: The Rise and Fall of Captain Atom #1-6 | January 2018 | 978-1401274177 |
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