Captain Atom | |
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Cover of DC Comics Present: Captain Atom 1 (December 2011 DC Comics). Art by CAFU.
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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 | |
Alter ego | Allen Adam Nathaniel Christopher Adam |
Team affiliations |
(Allen) United States Air Force (Nathaniel) Justice League L.A.W. |
Partnerships |
(Nathaniel) Nightshade Plastique Forerunner |
Notable aliases |
(Nathaniel) Cameron Scott, Monarch |
Abilities |
(Allen) Superhuman strength, flight, energy blasts, minor atomic transmutation, and huge atomic absorption (Nathaniel) See: Powers and abilities |
Captain Atom | |
Cover for Captain Atom, vol. 3 #1. Art by Pat Broderick. | |
Series publication information | |
Publisher |
(Vol 2) Charlton Comics Vol 3 & 4) DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | |
Publication date |
(Vol 2) December 1965 – December 1967 (Vol 3) March 1987 – September 1991 (DC Vol 4) September 2011 – September 2012 |
Number of issues |
Vol 2 12 Vol 3 57, 2 Annuals Vol 4 12 plus 0 issue |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) |
Vol 2 Joe Gill Vol 3 Cary Bates, Greg Weisman Vol 4 J.T. Krul |
Artist(s) |
Vol 4 Freddie Williams II |
Penciller(s) |
Vol 2 Steve Ditko Vol 3 Pat Broderick, Rafael Kayanan |
Captain Atom is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Captain Atom has existed in three basic incarnations.
The character was created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, and 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 2011, DC Comics relaunched its superhero comics and restarted the histories of some characters from scratch, including Captain Atom, giving him a new origin, appearance and slightly altered powers. The character of Captain Atom was the inspiration for the character Doctor Manhattan who was featured in the miniseries (and later live-action film adaptation) Watchmen.
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 Justice League. In all incarnations, the character initially worked 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 somehow reformed his body, now existing as an atomic-powered being. In both DC Comics incarnations, he is Air Force pilot Nathaniel Adam who was used as a test subject in a scientific experiment and wound up seemingly disintegrated in the process, only to reappear later as Captain Atom, now blessed with superhuman abilities. Over the years, DC has attempted to reinvent the character a number of 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.