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. All possess some form of energy-manipulating abilities, usually relating to nuclear fission and atomic power.
Originally created by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko during the Silver Age of Comic Books to occupy a Superman-like role in Charlton Comics' line-up, the character became part of the DC Universe in 1985 after DC's purchase of Charlton in 1983. The character's similarities to Superman led to DC making numerous attempts to find a distinctive niche for the character within its own stories. As a result, he has played varied roles in the DC Universe, many short-lived, including a period as the supervillain Monarch and the attempted reboot series Breach. Notably, DC's decision not to give Alan Moore permission to use the character in his critically and commercially successful Watchmen (1986) series led to the creation of the popular character Doctor Manhattan. Modern depictions of Captain Atom have instead emphasised, rather than de-emphasise, his similarities to Manhattan.
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, Craig Boot, among others, have voiced the character in animation.
Publication history Captain Atom was created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Space Adventures #33 (March 1960). Captain Atom was initially created for Charlton Comics, but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for DC's post-Crisis continuity. 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 inspiration for Doctor Manhattan, who was featured in the miniseries Watchmen, which would be connected to the DC Universe in the miniseries Doomsday Clock."Alan Moore Interview – Comic Book Artist #9" — An interview with Alan Moore. Retrieved 14 April 2006."Watchmen – Introduction" — An overview of the plot and characters in Watchmen. Retrieved 12 March 2006.
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. 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.
Fictional character biography Charlton Comics (Silver Age)
The Charlton Comics version of Captain Atom was Allen Adam. The character's origin had Adam working as a technician in a special experimental rocket when it accidentally launched with him trapped inside. Adam was atomized when the rocket exploded while entering the upper atmosphere. However, he gained superpowers that allowed him to reform his body safely on the ground. Adam was outfitted in a red and yellow costume that was designed to shield people from his radiation. When he powered up, his hair became silvery-white.
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.
While primarily referred to as Allen Adam in stories, the fanzine title Charlton Bullseye, published in cooperation with Charlton Comics, gives the character's name as N. Christopher Adam. A later issue of a showcase comic book series published by Charlton also by the name of Charlton Bullseye gave the character's name as John Adam.
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 profile for the Charlton version of the character in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe identifies him as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, building off the name listed in Charlton Bullseye, which would go on to become the name of the post-Crisis version of the character.
DC Comics (Post-Crisis) A new Post-Crisis version of the character was introduced in March 1987 with the launch of a monthly comic, written by Cary Bates and Greg Weisman and drawn by Pat Broderick.Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 229: "March debuted the new Captain Atom in his first DC series, by writer Cary Bates and penciler Pat Broderick".
This modern captain's name is established as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer and Vietnam War veteran. Adam had been framed for a crime and was, under military justice, condemned to death; this taking place under the purview of Colonel Wade Eiling in the year 1968. As an alternative to execution, Adam was "asked" to participate in 'Project: Captain Atom', a military experiment with a slim chance of survival. He agreed to this in exchange for a pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by placing Adam within the metal craft and then exploding an atomic weapon under it. The weapon went off and Adam was seemingly disintegrated. Eighteen years later, Adam suddenly reappeared. The alien metal, now bonded around his body, afforded him incredible abilities far beyond that of a mere mortal. Bonded with the metal, Nathaniel Adam now had powers that resulted from the metal's ability to tap into the "Quantum Field".
Flung into the year 1986, Adam becomes literally a "man out of time". Wade Eiling is now a military general and the second husband of Adam's now-deceased wife Angela. Everyone had assumed that Nathaniel Adam died the day of the experiment, so his presidential pardon was never issued and the current government refused to acknowledge the previous pardon. Seizing the opportunity at hand, Eiling uses the outstanding murder/treason charges against Adam to blackmail him into acting as a military-controlled, government-sanctioned superhero codenamed Captain Atom. Early conflicts involve him coming to terms with the lost time he missed with his now grown children, the death of his wife, her marriage to Eiling, and the overall ramifications of his newly acquired powers. Later, he learns that Project Atom, a secret government funded group that used new experimental machines to harness powerful energies had repeated the same process and created the supervillain Major Force.
Captain Atom joins the Justice League at the request of the U.S. government, eventually serving as leader of Justice League Europe. During his career, he has a brief romance with Catherine Cobert, develops a friendly rivalry with Firestorm, and becomes involved with and eventually marries Plastique.
Later in 2003, writer Jeph Loeb returns 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 sacrifices his life to save Superman and Earth by piloting a starship to destroy a kryptonite meteor. It is later revealed that Atom had been transported to the WildStorm universe.
Monarch 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, where he is used to administer radiation treatments. Atom later escapes from Blüdhaven and kills Major Force. After being fitted with an updated version of the Monarch armor 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 is left of Blüdhaven. He remains missing until Kyle Rayner, then known as Ion, discovers him in the Bleed, a place between dimensions.Ion #10
Countdown In Countdown to Final Crisis, Captain Atom assumes the Monarch name and battles heroes throughout the multiverse. In the series Countdown: Arena, Monarch lures his 51 alternate universe counterparts to murder them and absorb their power.
During a fight against Superman-Prime, Atom's suit is damaged, releasing a chain reaction that destroys Earth-51.Countdown to Final Crisis #13 (January 2008) It is later revealed that the Monitor Solomon attacked Atom in Blüdhaven, rupturing his skin and facilitating his transformation into Monarch.Countdown to Final Crisis #8 (March 2008)
Project 7734 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 in his possession.Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen Special #2 (2009)
Generation Lost Captain Atom appears as one of the central characters in Justice League: Generation Lost, a maxi-series that takes place during the wider Brightest Day event. At the start of the series, Captain Atom is recruited as part of a massive group of superheroes tasked with hunting down Maxwell Lord, who had murdered Ted Kord. During an encounter with Lord at the Justice League's former New York headquarters, Captain Atom is rendered unconscious alongside Fire, Ice, and Booster Gold. The former Justice League members awake to discover that Lord has used his mental abilities to erase his existence from the minds of every single human on the planet, save for those present at the embassy.Justice League: Generation Lost #1 (May 2010)
During a battle against the new OMAC known as OMAC Prime, Captain Atom allows OMAC Prime to absorb his energy, before reabsorbing the energy and overloading his powers, resulting in him being thrown into the time stream once again. Before being transported through time, Captain Atom threatens to pull Maxwell Lord into the time stream as well unless he undoes the global mindwipe of his existence. Lord complies and restores everyone's memories of him before Captain Atom is pulled away to a time and space unknown.Justice League: Generation Lost #24 (April 2011)
The New 52