Captain Atom #85 (March 1967)

Tags

Abby Ladd, Alec Rois, Blue Beetle, Bronze Age Captain Atom, David Kaler, Gary Friedrich, Herb Field, Jewlee, Lewis Coll, Nightshade, Punch, Rocke Mastroserio, Steve Ditko

“Strings of Punch and Jewlee”

• Writer: David Kaler
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Rocke Mastroserio
• Letters: Herb Field

This issue marks Captain Atom’s seventh birthday and his twenty-seventh published adventure (including his story in Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt #53 and excluding the reprints in Strange Suspense Stories).

It begins on a golf course.  Two men come upon a pretty blond woman teeing off.  She knocks her ball into the rough, and the older of the two men (identified as “Professor Bolt”) goes in after the ball.  Next to the ball he finds a ruby.  As he picks it up to examine it, a wire shoots out of the trees and ties itself around his wrist.  An electrical charge shoots down the wire and stuns Professor Bolt.

The wire is being manipulated by a flying man dressed as a jester.  The woman calls him “Punch” and uses the ruby to hypnotise Professor Bolt into submission.  As Punch takes the professor to his car, the woman sets off to hypnotize the other man.

Later that day, in Washington, news reaches Captain Allen Adam of the missing scientists.  He is at Alec Rois’ house, enjoying the pool with Eve Eden (Nightshade).  Neither of them is aware that their friend Alec is actually the Ghost (from Captain Atom #82).  Adam is trying to get Eve to reveal more of herself to him when a massive gem appears out of nowhere and encloses Rois within it.  It explodes and appears to vanish, knocking the heroes out cold.

Apropos of nothing, there’s a cool ad for Charlton comics on the next page.

Upon recovering, Captain Atom and Nightshade report to the Pentagon.  Their chief believes they were hypnotized.  Although he wants to send them both looking for Rois, Captain Atom has to report in for some tests.  Nightshade is sent to the Long Island golf course where Bolt was taken.

Meanwhile, in their secret lair (on Coney Island), Punch and Jewlee reveal how they came about their powers in a sloppy bit of exposition.

They were “cheap carny crooks” who came across a mysterious chest on the beach.  In the chest they found pixie boots that gave the wearer the ability to fly (which Punch wears) and special “hypno-gems,” complete with a mind-recording device that explained how they are used.  They use their newfound powers to purchase an old carnival and build a cool lab within it.  They have been kidnapping scientists and recording their “brains” for unknown reasons.  They set out for upstate New York in search of another scientist, Lewis Coll.

Coincidentally, Professor Coll has been running a barrage of tests on Captain Atom all day.  Feeling weak from the workout, Cap drinks a tranquilizing draught that will make it easier for Coll to measure the radiation he emits.  Unfortunately, it is while Atom is in his weakened state that Punch and Jewlee burst into the lab.  Punch gets Cap with the electric cables while his partner puts Coll under her spell.

I would like to point out that in this panel the spelling of Jewlee’s name is different.  I know it is a nitpicky little detail, but it stood out. When the characters appear in later comics the spelling is “Jewelee.”

Cap tries to use his communicator belt but Punch stops him.  Punch and Jewlee steal Coll’s helicopter and fly away with Coll and Captain Atom under their influence.  Cap was able to send a repeating signal from his belt which directs Nightshade to Coney Island.

When Captain Atom regains some strength and takes a swing at Punch, Punch hits him with a burst of electricity.  Cap is thrown in with Rois, who is now only feigning the symptoms of being under Jewlee’s spell.  Alec isn’t happy to see the meddling Captain Atom.  It is because of Cap that the Ghost’s teleportation circuitry on Alec’s arm can no longer be removed.  Captain Atom begins to come around.

Skulking around the old carnival on Coney Island, Nightshade sees Punch and follows him.  Her super power is finally revealed – she can become a shadow.

Punch and Jewlee have Captain Atom hooked up to the brain recording device.  They reveal that their plan is to sell all the scientific secrets they have stolen to the highest bidder.  Nightshade steps out of her shadow and attacks Jewlee.  Cap bursts out of the machine and goes after Punch.  Rois takes advantage of the distraction to teleport some of the duo’s equipment to his own lab.

Steve Ditko at his finest

Captain Atom gets the upperhand and yanks away Punch’s electric lines.  Cap follows Punch into one of the carnival rides (the Tunnel of Love), punches him again, and takes the villain back to his lair.  Nightshade, who has beaten Jewlee, is busying herself restoring the memories of the kidnapped scientists.  But Jewlee regains consciousness and makes a break for it.  Alec Rois realizes he can stop her but does not.  Jewlee escapes.

In the last panel, Punch is plotting revenge on Captain Atom and Nightshade from his prison cell, as are Jewlee (on the lam), the Ghost (Alec Rois), and Abby Ladd, the reporter who wants to expose Captain Atom as a fraud.

The letters page of this issue mostly applauds Steve Ditko, his work on Captain Atom, and especially the backup Blue Beetle stories.  However, John Angell of Winston-Salem, NC (hey I used to live there!) thinks the new Captain Atom is a stinker, unoriginal and stupid.  He challenges Charlton to rise above the sort of storytelling DC Comics resorts to (funny, considering where Captain Atom ended up after Charlton).

This issue also includes another Blue Beetle backup by Gary Friedrich and Steve Ditko.  At this point I think the character deserves his own title, but that’s still a few years down the road for him (there was a brief Blue Beetle series from Charlton but it only ran five issues).

The storytelling of “Strings of Punch and Jewlee” leave much to be desired.  The clumsy exposition only served to make the two major villains more two-dimensional.  I like that Alec is Allen and Eve’s friend while neither the heroes nor the villain are aware of their enemy’s secret identity.  But one thing I hate is sloppy continuity (Alec Rois was Alec Nois when we first met him).  The artwork is superb, Ditko and Mastroserio are a good team.  It is this issue’s saving grace.  I give Captain Atom #85 a C+.

This “universe” was absorbed into DC Comics’ Multiverse when the Charlton characters were purchased by DC.  This universe became Earth-4.

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Captain Atom #6 (August 1987)

Tags

Bob Smith, Captain Atom, Carl Gafford, Cary Bates, Doctor Spectro, Duncan Andrews, General Eiling, Martin Allard, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Theresa Delgado

“A Piece of the Lie”

• Writer: Cary Bates
• Pencils: Pat Broderick
• Inks: Bob Smith
• Colors: Carl Gafford
• Letters: Duncan Andrews

The story opens with a man wearing a heavy raincoat, ridiculously large red sunglasses, and a fedora with the brim pulled down over his face walking down the street in Tampa, Florida with his hands in his pockets.  A passer-by thinks he must be a flasher, as it is too warm on a cloudless day to warrant such a getup.  A homeless man in the gutter asks the raincoated man if he can spare some change.  The fedora man removes his coat and hands it to the homeless man.  And so we get our first look at the new Doctor Spectro.

His costume is vastly different from the Silver Age Dr. Spectro.  It appears to be a black leotard with a pattern of red, yellow, and blue circles all over it.  Spectro appears to transform into a giant, red, three-headed demon.  The homeless man runs.  Two security guards who are making a payroll delivery see not a demon but a grey muscle-bound monster that bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain incredible Marvel character.  The monster snatches the bags of cash the two men were carrying.

A cab driver who is relating this story to the police (along with the homeless man and the two security guys) says he saw a giant green snake carrying the two bags of cash.  He fled, and the snake stole his cab.  A school bus narrowly misses hitting the cab, ending up on its side in the street.  All of the witnesses claim that Doctor Spectro said he was back in business.  But the police have no files on Spectro because he didn’t exist.  He was part of Captain Atom’s fake backstory.  One of the cops holds out an issue of National Penetrator (ew) with Captain Atom on the cover.

Cut to General Eiling briefing Theresa Delgado.  He reminds her (and us) of the intricacies of “The Lie” (The Captain Atom Project), which is good because this is the sixth issue and we may have forgotten all about it.  They know Dr. Spectro was made up by them, and Delgado vows to get to the bottom of who this clown is.  She thinks the appearance of Dr. Spectro lends credibility to Cap’s back story.  Eiling sees him as a potential threat – that Spectro must know Cap’s story is made up.

As Delgado leaves, Allard calls Eiling and says he has a call from someone who “claims to know the truth about Dr. Spectro.”

Meanwhile, Captain Atom is meeting sick kids in a hospital, explaining how his powers work.
It turns out these kids were on the school bus that Spectro caused to wreck.  Captain Atom clearly feels guilty, saying to a doctor that he is responsible for what happened to those kids “in more ways than you can imagine.”

Two days later, Eiling shows up in an isolated section of forest in northeast Colorado.  Alone in a Jeep, he is meeting with the mysterious caller.  He is soon joined by a holographic projection of Dr. Spectro.  He wants money from Eiling and says he’ll stop with the Spectro nonsense if the government pays up.  Besides, he says, he really doesn’t want to face Captain Atom for real.  Eiling drops the “first payment” and drives away, leaving the hologram behind.

As he is driving away, Eiling’s Jeep is picked up by Captain Atom and deposited on a mountain peak.  Cap demands answers regarding Spectro.  Eiling lies and says the whole thing was staged, and that the kids on the bus was a stupid mistake.  Cap isn’t buying it and says as much.  As he drops Eiling’s Jeep back on the road, the General is warning Captain Atom not to investigate the matter further.

Captain Atom shows up at a Florida police impound where Spectro’s getaway cab is being searched.  The car has been cleaned but the investigator found a trace of mud on the fender that has been sent to the lab for analysis.  They are able to narrow down the location of the mud to a place in north Florida called Breezy Point.

We cut to Tom Emory, laying in a bed full of cash and dreaming of beautiful women.  He is awakened by an angry, shouting Captain Atom outside of his house.  Atom warns Spectro if he doesn’t give up, their first fight will be Spectro’s last.  Spectro suits up and flies away on a flying motorbike contraption (the Rainbow Raider’s flyer).  Captain Atom chases him, and they are filmed by two documentary filmmakers who happen to be in the area.

Cap quickly realizes he’s been duped and has been chasing a hologram.  When the real Spectro emerges from the house, Atom gives chase.  Spectro tries to scare Cap with images of aliens but Captain Atom us undeterred.

The ensuing fight takes place off-panel.  Back in his office, reading the newspaper article about Spectro’s capture, Eiling is on the phone with Delgado.  He tells her that despite Cap going against orders and taking down Spectro, it has been a p.r. win for the Captain Atom Project.

In prison, various inmates begin attacking Tom Emory.  They appear to have been hired by Eiling to do so.  Tom thinks they’re the Rainbow Raider’s loyal flunkies and asks Captain Atom to help him.  As a result, Cap addresses the prisoners in the yard.  He turns up the heat, and has the whole pissed-off-eye-flare thing going on.  He tells those gathered that Emory is under his protection and hopes the inmates don’t give him a reason to come back.  Emory walks away with a smug expression and Captain Atom flies home, pissed off that he has been drawn further into “the lie.”

Nothing too special about this issue.  I liked Captain Atom visiting sick kids in the hospital.  Dr. Spectro with his illusions is a lot less threatening than the original Charlton Dr. Spectro.  I like how, despite his best efforts, Cap gets pulled further and further into the lie.  I particularly like the way Pat Broderick worked in the Incredible Hulk!  Overall a B+ book.