Captain Atom

Captain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 (March 1960). Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for DC’s post-Crisis continuity.

In both incarnations, the character was a military official (scientist Allen Adam in the Charlton version, Air Force pilot Nathaniel Adam in the DC version), who was caught in a scientific experiment and “atomized”. He was able to reform his body, and found that he had acquired superhuman strength and endurance, the ability to fly, and to project energy blasts.

Throughout the years, the character has been featured in several moderate-to-short lived eponymous series, and has been a member of DC’s all-star Justice League.

Charlton Comics (Silver Age)


The Charlton Comics version of Captain Atom was Allen Adam. The character's origin had Adam working in a special experimental rocket when it accidentally launched with him trapped inside. Entering the upper atmosphere, the rocket exploded and Adam was atomized. However, he somehow gained superpowers that included the ability to reform his body safely on the ground. He was outfitted in a red and yellow costume that apparently acted to shield people from his nuclear powers. When he "powered up", his hair changed to silver-white. Later, in his own title, he replaced this costume with a liquid-metal outfit that was under his skin, and transformed when he powered up. Captain Atom's powers were similar to such other nuclear-powered superheroes as Gold Key's Doctor Solar and Dell Comics' Nukla. 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 #75 (June 1965), renaming the title Captain Atom with #78 (Dec. 1965) and giving the hero full-length stories and supervillain antagonists (previous stories involved Cold War anti-Communist missions or dealing with aliens). Captain Atom later teamed with the superhero Nightshade. The superhero Blue Beetle starred in the initial backup feature, later replaced by a Nightshade backup series.

Captain Atom was canceled with issue #89 (Dec. 1967). In 1975, the unfinished Ditko art for issue #90 was inked by John Byrne and published in the first two issues of the official Charlton fanzine, Charlton Bullseye, as the 10-page "Showdown In Sunuria" (writer: Jon G. Michels) and the 11-page "Two Against Sunuria" (writer: Roger Stern). Captain Atom next appeared in issue #7 (May 1982) of the new-talent showcase comic also called Charlton Bullseye, in a story by writer Benjamin Smith and artist/co-writer Dan Reed, which for some reason returned him to his original red-yellow outfit. The character's last pre-DC appearance was in AC Comics' one-shot Americomics Special #1 (Aug. 1983), in a story teaming the Charlton "Action Heroes" Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Nightshade, and The Question as the Sentinels of Justice. This last story had originally been done for Charlton before the company folded.

The actual Charlton characters made their re-appearance in the DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, which introduced Earth-Four as the native reality of Captain Atom on which he had had all his Charlton era adventures. By the series end, Earth-Four (and the Charlton characters) was incorporated into the Post-Crisis DC Universe. The last appearance of this Charlton-era Captain Atom was in DC Comics Presents #90 (February 1986).

DC Comics (Post-Crisis)


A new, post-Crisis version of the character was introduced in 1986 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.

This modern captain's name was established as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer of the Vietnam War era. Adam had been framed for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death under the watch of Col. Wade Eiling in 1968. As an alternative to execution, he was invited to participate in a military experiment with little chance of survival, in exchange for a presidential pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by exploding a super nuclear bomb under it. Adam survived as the metal melted into his body and the excess energy threw him forward in time 18 years (not incidentally, this coating with alien metal gave the revised character a full-body silvered metal look distinctly different from his previous incarnations). While leading Extreme Justice, Captain Atom came across another version of Monarch, this one claiming to be the real Nathaniel Adam. Later in 1999, he was a member of the poorly-received all-Charlton-character group L.A.W. In 2003, he again teamed up with several former members of the Justice League as the "Super Buddies" in the humorous limited series Formerly Known as the Justice League. Around this time, various stories reintroduced Atom's conflict between his role in the superhero community and his responsibilities as a government agent.

At some point, Atom's marriage to Plastique appears to have ended in separation or divorce. Apart from a brief mention of her at the beginning of L.A.W., the marriage appears to be forgotten. Plastique has reappeared in 2006 as a villainess again, undoing her reformation into a heroine. A later confirmation is brought in by the Captain Atom: Armageddon miniseries in which, after falling in love with Angela Spica of the Authority, Captain Atom reminisces about his short marriage with Plastique, and attributes their divorce to their irreconcilable views about world and politics, since Nathaniel, even in his spousal life, couldn't stop being a loyal soldier of the U.S.A., and Plastique couldn't simply put aside her life as a terrorist.

Later in 2003, writer Jeph Loeb returned Captain Atom to his roots as he went back to work for the government, this time for President Lex Luthor in the first story arc of the Superman/Batman series. Atom seemingly sacrificed his life to save Superman and Earth by piloting a starship to destroy a kryptonite meteor, but as it had previously been established that this type of accident could not kill him, he soon returned to life and to the background of the DC Universe. In a 2005 issue of Superman/Batman it was made clear that Captain Atom survived the collision with the kryptonite meteor, but after absorbing massive amounts of radiation and becoming a super villain described as a "Kryptonite Man"; the radiation was siphoned out of Captain Atom by a device made by Hiro Okamura (the new Toyman) which returned Captain Atom to his usual self (if somewhat confused).

"Armageddon" and WorldStorm
In 2005/2006, Captain Atom appeared in a nine-part limited series entitled Captain Atom: Armageddon under DC's Wildstorm imprint. Captain Atom's sacrifice in Superman/Batman sent him to the WildStorm universe for the duration of the series. In this title, he wore the yellow/red outfit seen in the Kingdom Come limited series.

At the moment of his apparent death, Captain Atom experienced a time-shift coinciding with his 2005 appearance in Superman/Batman, resulting in his arrival in the Wildstorm Universe. He quickly gets into a fight with an overzealous Mister Majestic and the fight ended with Majestic soundly defeated. Seeing the frightened reactions of onlookers, and puzzling over his own altered appearance, he realizes that he has somehow become trapped on an alternate Earth, one where superheroes are feared by the general populace. Mistaken by the local super-heroes as the force destined to destroy their universe, he was in fact an instrument used ultimately by Nikola Hanssen, new host for half the essence of the Void, to reclaim her whole power (partially lodged in his own body, and cause of his altered appearance) and use it to trigger the reboot of the WildStorm universe, in the WorldStorm event.

Captain Atom was returned to the DC Universe in Infinite Crisis #7 when Superboy-Prime punctured his Earth-Eight counterpart Breach. Confusingly, the end of Armageddon has him reappear in the devastated Blüdhaven. One Year Later, Captain Atom is revealed to be contained inside Blüdhaven and used to administer radiation treatments to metahumans. Apparently Void, able to finally let him go home, was unable to ensure his safety, and multiple damages on his radiation-shielding skin had left him comatose and unable to keep down his body radiations to safe levels; this forced the Atomic Knights to keep him constantly contained. In 2008's Countdown #8, it is learned that these ruptures were caused as part of a greater plan by Solomon the Monitor, in his plans to "recreate the Monarch" as part of a larger scheme to force the assimilation of the other Monitors.

After being fitted with an updated version of the Monarch armor (Armageddon 2001) to contain his radiation, the Captain awakens. Seeming to be mentally unstable, he breaks free, apparently kills the rampaging Major Force, and then releases a vast amount of energy, obliterating what was left of Blüdhaven. He remains missing until Kyle Rayner, then known as Ion, discovers him in The Bleed, a place between dimensions. The Captain indicates that he is traveling through The Bleed in order to operate outside the gaze of the Monitors. He discusses his time in the Wildstorm Universe, and his desire to visit other alternate worlds.

Countdown
Monarch appears in the last panel of Countdown #45. He appears to be observing Forerunner. Countdown #44 bears a cover by Ed Benes with the Monarch armor. , as in the same issue Monarch manages to sway Forerunner to his side, turning her against the Monitors. Monarch argues that the Monitors are genocidal overlords who must be defeated; however, the Monitors assert that Monarch is a supervillain whose plan is to cause a Multiversal war which will leave him the ruler of the unified Earth remaining in its wake. Monarch creates an army of footsoldiers, including the Extremists of Earth-8, the JL-Axis of Earth-10 and the Crime Society of Earth-3, and disposes of Forerunner when he reveals his plans for a multiversal arena tournament.

The 4-issue miniseries Countdown: Arena features Monarch battling alternate versions of characters throughout the Multiverse to compile the strike team for his new Multiverse army, Monarch is now paranoid, and unwilling to share details of his past to his "subordinates", the Red Son Superman and Liberty Files Batman are able to discern that under the Monarch armor lies another Captain Atom, so they employ his other counterparts: Breach (Tim Zanetti) and Quantum-Storm (Ronnie Raymond) to assemble an army of Captain Atoms from the different dimensions to fight back. In the Arena storyline's conclusion, Monarch reveals that Breach is his brainwashed accomplice and he has lured his 51 counterparts into his presence in order to murder them and absorb their power. With his team of Eve of Shadows (Earth-13), Vampire Batman (Earth-43), Ray "the Ray" Palmer (Earth-6), the monstrous Scarab (Earth-26), Hal Jordan Jr. (Earth-12), Starwoman (Earth-7), Johnny Quick (Earth-3), Wonder Woman (Earth-34) Red Son Superman (Earth-30) and himself - the sum power of 52 Captain Atoms - Monarch believes he is ready to confront the Monitors, and does so, finally launching his war on Earth-51 against the exposed Monitors.

In a protracted fight against Superman-Prime, his suit is damaged, releasing a chain reaction that apparently destroys the entire universe of Earth-51 aside from its Monitor.

Powers and abilities

 * Captain Atom's Dilustel skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate theoretically infinite amounts of energy, the amount of which he can use is, of course, limited by his will power. If Atom absorbs too much energy at once, he is sent hurling through time. Depending on the type of energy absorbed, he either goes forward or backward in time.  This energy can be used for flight (which is generally faster than the speed of sound in Earth's atmosphere and up to half-light speed in the vacuum of space), super strength (shown at times to be on par with Martian Manhunter), self sustenance and life support allowing him to live and even speak in space, fire and control energy of any form.  He commonly manipulates his energy into force field bubbles, or explosive 'bombs', but the most common form is a simple blast.
 * Over the years, Captain Atom has become an expert at his energy manipulation and he can fire from any point on his body, although he usually uses his hands for ease of aiming. He can fire in multiple directions at once or from every point of his body at once. Several times he has "detonated", releasing a massive amount of energy at once, destroying objects within a certain radius. On more than one occasion, he has used his ability to manipulate all forms of energy to prevent a foe using their own powers, such as the Ray and Firestorm.
 * Captain Atom can also create matter in the same manner he creates energy. Originally, he needed a pair of gloves invented by Blue Beetle to do so, but he later learned to do so without them.  In the same way, he learned to access weak force energy.  With focus and effort, Captain Atom can increase any of his abilities to match the amount of will power he uses to gain it.
 * As of Captain Atom: Armageddon #4, Captain Atom has demonstrated minor atomic transmutation powers, as he was able to turn both Maul and Engineer back to their human forms. This power can be used instinctively or through concentration.  He has also shown the ability to telepathically interface with computer networks in addition to those listed above.
 * In Captain Atom: Armageddon #7, Captain Atom has shown time-traveling capabilities without quantum jumping. Captain Atom states that through concentration, he can briefly travel ahead in time ("about a week or so").  The process is exhausting and the period he can interact in the future appears to be limited to a few minutes before he returns to the present.
 * Recently, writers and editors have introduced a radioactive aspect of Captain Atom's physical makeup. This seems to contradict the quantum nature of Atom's powers as originally introduced as he didn't emit radiation when his skin was cut open.
 * Towards the end of his series' run, Captain Atom was speculated as being an Elemental (Quantum Elemental) along with Swamp Thing (Earth), Red Tornado (Air), Firestorm (Fire), and Naiad (Water).
 * In addition to his superhuman abilities, Nathaniel Adam is also an experienced United States Air Force pilot. It is notable that he is one of the few superheroes with a "Captain" appellation that corresponds to a military rank he has actually held. He is especially skilled in combat piloting and is also trained in military weaponry, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat. Adam also has strong survival instincts derived from his experiences during the Vietnam War.

Dilustel
Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin", is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in Project Atom, and on later subjects like Major Force and Bombshell. Nathaniel is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even partially armored he is able to access the Quantum Field. The metal is almost totally indestructible, resistant to various degrees of damage from energy, physical, heat, lasers, etc. Only X-Ionizer technology can cut the metal because that is what the Captain Atom Project used to remove the Silver Shield's skin. The katana wielded by the "Cambodian" that once sliced through Atom's side was also X-Ionized. The magical guns of the Crimson Avenger were able to crack his skin. Breaking through it causes Captain Atom to Quantum Jump as if he had absorbed too much energy.

X-Ionizer
The X-Ionizer is a molecular hardening technology invented by Doctor Heinrich Megala of Project Atom, introduced in the Cary Bates run of the DC Comics published Captain Atom. Because of the highly invulnerable nature of the alien metal discovered, the scientists needed some way to cut it in order to perform experiments. Doctor Heinrich Megala of Project Atom developed a device that would make the molecular lattices of an object knit together in such a way that it became superdense and compact, in effect, making the object nearly indestructible. Also, any edge on an X-Ionized object would attain the sharpness of a monofilament edge, enabling the object to cut finer and cleaner that the most advanced blade or laser. Once transformed, the object would then be able to cut through virtually any material, including the Dilustel (quantum metal) skin of the Silver Shield which was used to empower Captain Atom, Major Force, and Bombshell. A mercenary known as the Cambodian wore a suit of X-Ionized armor, and uses an X-ionized katana to cut through Captain Atom's skin in Captain Atom #7.

Dr. Manhattan
The rights to Captain Atom and most other Charlton characters were purchased by DC Comics in the early 1980s. Originally, these Charlton characters were to be reintroduced in writer Alan Moore's limited series Watchmen; however, this was deemed to render the characters unusable for future stories, and characters inspired by the Charlton originals were used instead. Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen resembles Captain Atom in that Dr. Manhattan has similar, but greater, powers, and like Captain Atom, gained those powers through a similar scientific mishap.

Breach
In 2004, DC launched an ongoing series called Breach. The series was originally planned as a revamp of the Captain Atom concept, but was subsequently reconceived as a completely new character. The 2005 series Infinite Crisis would indicate that Breach would have been a native of Earth-Eight if the Multiverse continued to exist after Crisis on Infinite Earths as his world's counterpart to Captain Atom. The 2007 series Countdown: Arena at first suggests that a new Breach was created on the Earth-8 of the new Multiverse, although whether this indeed happened is called into question when the Breach featured in the mini-series is revealed to be the same mainstream Breach featured in the eponymous limited series. Breach was killed when he was absorbed into Monarch in the last issue of Countdown: Arena.

52 Multiverse
In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-4". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-4, including Captain Atom and the other Charlton characters. The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, the Captain Atom is visually similar to Charlton's original version of the character. Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-4.

2007's Countdown: Arena featured Captain Atoms from alternate universes. The combatants of the series are introduced as a new Breach of Earth-8, a Ronnie Raymond/Nathaniel Adam fusion called "Quantum-Storm" from Earth-37, and another from Earth-38 who rules over his Atomic Knights. Additionally, issue #1 introduces a "Brigadier Atom" from Earth-13 married to Nightshade, and in Countdown: Arena #3, Breach gathers together a group of alternate Captain Atoms, including Earth-13's Brigadier, the Captain Atom as depicted in the graphic novel Kingdom Come (Earth-22), and a Captain in a red/silver variant of the Monarch's costume, the classic Charlton Comics Atom (Earth-4), and a Hulked out variant from an unknown Earth. Several more variants are shown in Countdown: Arena #4, including a President Atom, a robot called Quantum Mechanix, Kid Quantum of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Captain Adamma, Quantum Boy, an anthropomorphised wolf version, a Soviet Atom from Earth-30, a Doctor Manhattan-lookalike, an energy based-Atom who makes calculations during his attacks, and a giant-sized actual Atom. Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D depicts a Captain Allen Adam from Earth-4, a cross between the original Charlton version and Dr. Manhattan.

Other storylines and Elseworlds
An alternate future Captain Atom is featured prominently in the 1991 series Armageddon 2001. A tragedy drives him insane and he uses his powers in vengeance. Unfortunately, it also triggers a chain of events which brings Monarch to the present 'time'.

Captain Atom appears briefly in flashback sequences of Alex Ross and Mark Waid's 1996 graphic novel Kingdom Come, printed under DC Comics' "Elseworlds" imprint. His death at the hands of the villain Parasite, and the irradiation of Kansas this caused, was what made Superman return to action and sets the events of the story into motion. His outfit in this comic was a combination of his original Charlton uniform and his later DC costume. The Kingdom Come universe established and created Waid and Ross would later be introduced to DC canon in the form of Earth-22. The Silver Age Captain Atom appears in the sequel The Kingdom: Planet Krypton #1 as one of the "ghosts" in the empty "Planet Krypton" restaurant.

February 1988 would introduce the character of Major Force, a villainous parallel and foil of Captain Atom who receives a treatment similar to the one which gives Nathaniel Adam his abilities. The character would go on to become an ongoing antagonist for Captain Atom. The 2006 Teen Titans One Year Later storyline would introduce a new character called Bombshell, a teenage girl patterned on Captain Atom and given a similar origin story and abilities. The character would eventually turn out to be a villain and an eventual member of the supervillain team "Titans East". Further storylines being introduced show her becoming a member in good standing of the current incarnation of Teen Titans.

In other media


The character appeared in the animated television series, Justice League Unlimited. In that series, his premise is closer to that of Wildfire of the Legion of Super Heroes, in that Atom is a disembodied mass of sentient energy contained in a special suit. He serves as a mildly antagonistic political foil for Green Arrow in much the same way the Silver Age Hawkman did in the comics; that is, they pursue bickering conflict between the military officer and the former peace activist, although this type of conflict has not been developed since the pair made peace in their first mission together.

In later episodes, Captain Atom is seen fulfilling the role of an all-around powerhouse with severely conflicted loyalties; examples of this role include controlling a nuclear reactor ("Task Force X"), then later being coerced into fighting Superman by his superiors in the U.S. Air Force, who at the time were acting on instructions from Project Cadmus ("Question Authority"). In his first appearance ("Initiation") he was voiced by CSIs George Eads while his later appearances were voiced by Chris Cox. The JLU version of the character speaks with a slight Texas accent, and his true identity is "Captain Nathaniel Adams".

Captain Atom is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.

Collections

 * Captain Atom: Armageddon (by Will Pfeifer and Giuseppe Camuncoli, Wildstorm, 192 pages, November 2006, ISBN 1-4012-1106-2)
 * Action Heroes Archive Volume 1 reprints the Captain Atom stories from "Space Adventures" and "Captain Atom" issues #78-82 (ISBN 1-4012-0302-7).