Captain Atom
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 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, 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. 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.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, a rocket technician who gains powers after his special experimental rocket explodes.Captain Atom was first published in a series of short stories in the anthology series Space Adventures #33–40 and #42. Charlton began reprinting his short adventures in the anthology Strange Suspense Stories beginning with issue #75, renaming the title Captain Atom with issue #78 and giving the hero full-length stories and supervillain antagonists such as Dr. Spectro. 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.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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.Countdown
In Countdown to Final Crisis, Captain Atom assumes the Monarch name and battles heroes throughout the multiverse.During a fight against Superman-Prime, Atom's suit is damaged, releasing a chain reaction that destroys Earth-51. It is later revealed that the Monitor Solomon attacked Atom in Blüdhaven, rupturing his skin and facilitating his transformation into Monarch.
Project 7734
During Jimmy Olsen's investigation about Project 7734, the secret black-op commanded by Sam Lane to fight extraterrestrial menaces on Earth, it is discovered that an amnesiac and brainwashed Captain Atom is in his possession.Generation Lost
In Justice League: Generation Lost, Captain Atom is among the heroes tasked with hunting down Maxwell Lord.''The New 52''
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. During a fight with Dr. Megala, who has taken control of Firestorm's body, Atom absorbs 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.''DC Rebirth: The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom''
Captain Atom 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. 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. 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. As a result of the time stream correcting itself, he was thrown back to 2017.DC All In
In Absolute Power, Captain Atom loses his powers to Amanda Waller's Amazo army. Atom and Atom use him to test a device that can retrieve powers and restore them to the correct superhero. This leads to Adam's powers returning at full strength, along with those of other "Atom Project" subjects. In the series Jenny Sparks, the titular character works with the Justice League in an attempt to stop Captain Atom after he starts to think of himself as a god, using his powers to heal diseases for some while coldly killing others at his whim. The revised depiction is heavily influenced by Doctor Manhattan.In Jenny Sparks #5, Atom's original DC Comics backstory is confirmed as canon. A willing army recruit famed for making "unheard of" numbers of kills, Adam was arrested for "brutal" behaviours in the jungle in 1968. To avoid hanging, he participated in an experiment to test whether a recovered alien ship could withstand a nuclear attack. The molten ship appeared to kill Adam, but he reappeared decades later as Captain Atom - true to form, he promptly enlisted again in the U.S. army and later the Justice League, where "no one gave him much thought" and he was viewed as "generic". More recently, he checked himself into a mental hospital, before leaving with a god complex. After being captured by Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom and having his powers partially drained in the "We are Yesterday" crossover story, Captain Atom is saved by Ryan Choi and has an epiphany that he should use his powers once again to do good.