Charlton Bullseye #1 (1975)

Tags

Balor the Barbarian, Barb Weaver, Blue Beetle, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Charlton Bullseye, CPL Gang, Damara of Arcadia, David Kaler, Gunner, John Byrne, Jon G. Michels, Nicola Cuti, Nightshade, ROC-2000, Roger Stern, Steve Ditko, Sunurians, The Ghost

“Showdown in Sunuria”

• Writer: Jon G. Michels (also credited as “Soul & Inspiration” is Dave Kaler)
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: John Byrne
• Letters: John Byrne & Barb Weaver

At the close of the 1960s, Charlton’s superhero titles (including Captain Atom) had been cancelled, and licensed properties had become the company’s bread and butter; publishing comics featuring popular cartoon characters such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, luring several such titles away from Gold Key Comics. Charlton also published Bullwinkle and Rocky, based on Jay Ward Productions’ Rocky and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show.

Charton Bullseye was a fanzine published from 1975-76 by the CPL Gang highlighting Charlton Comics. It was a large format publication, with color covers on card stock and black & white interiors (although the first issue was black and white throughout). Charlton Bullseye published several previously unpublished Charlton superhero and adventure stories, along with articles on Charlton comics, news, reviews, pinups, and more.

The CPL Gang was a group of comics fans who published the fanzine Contemporary Pictorial Literature (CPL) in the mid-1970s. Founded by Roger Stern and Bob Layton, the CPL Gang included Roger Slifer, Duffy Vohland, and the young John Byrne, all of whom themselves became comics professionals by the tail-end of the 1970s.

CPL rapidly became a popular fan publication, and led to the CPL Gang forming an alliance with Charlton. They first got permission to publish a one-shot called Charlton Portfolio (actually CPL#9/10) in 1974 which included the unpublished sixth issue of Blue Beetle.

During the mid-1970s, both Marvel and DC were publishing in-house fan-zines publications, and Charlton wished to make a return to the superhero market, as well as establish a fan presence. The positive response to Charlton Portfolio led to the CPL Gang getting approval to publish a Charlton-focused fanzine, Charlton Bullseye. This in turn led to Charlton giving Layton and Stern access to unpublished material from their vaults by  Steve Ditko and many others. Much of this material made it into the five issues of Charlton Bullseye, including the continuation of the story dropped after Captain Atom #89.

When this comic was published, the United States was embroiled in the Watergate scandal.  The Rocky Horror Show opened on Broadway in March.  April brought us the Fall of Saigon and an end to the Vietnam War.  And the first Monster Truck, Bigfoot, was created by Bob Chandler (truly a great American milestone).

This is and the story in Charlton Bullseye #2 are the two last published Captain Atom stories drawn by Steve Ditko, the Captain’s creator, and the character had been absent from the spinner racks for eight years.  Before the story, we are treated with a quick refresher on the main players.

This is the first time the Ghost’s captors are referred to as “Sunurians” in print.  Also notable, Captain Adam’s name has changed from Allen Adam to N. Christopher Adam.  It isn’t indicated what the “N” stands for, although the Modern Age Captain Adam’s first name is established as “Nathaniel.”

In the mysterious land of the Sunurians (Sunuria?), the Ghost is pleading his case with the ruling council.  He wants to teleport Captain Atom to them because he has spent the past eight years idle and wants revenge.  This seems to contradict the ending of Captain Atom #89 in which the Sunurians were about to send the Ghost out to bring Cap to them.  Why did they decide to wait so long?

The High Priestess addresses the council and the Ghost.  She says if he fails in his attempt to defeat Captain Atom, it could mean his own doom.

Meanwhile, in New York, Captain Atom and Nightshade are fighting a giant robot.  As Nightshade goes after it in her gliding Nightshademobile, Cap enters the robot by becoming intangible and confronts the baddies inside who are operating it.  They draw weapons but lose sight of Cap when he bends light rays to become invisible (New power?  Invisibility isn’t new, but he’s never mentioned “bending light rays” before.).

Captain Atom throws the surrounding thugs around as Nightshade boards the robot.  She uses a “black light beam” to blind a goon.  As another thug reaches for the self-destruct button, Cap throws an atomic fireball at him.  No longer under the control of the men onboard, the robot pitches forward.  Nightshade hits her head and blacks out.  As Cap is radioing Gunner for emergency medical help, he and Nightshade vanish.

They reappear in Sunuria, surrounded by the Ghost and a few Sunurians.  Captain Atom runs away, leaving the unconscious Nightshade behind (bad form, Captain).  The Sunurians tell the Ghost that he must tend to the injured Nightshade before pursuing Captain Atom; it is their “warrior’s code.”  The Ghost agrees, knowing Cap can’t escape Sunuria.  They discover she has a hairline fracture of her skull, which they can heal.  However, if she suffered brain damage they cannot help her.  The Ghost thinks if that is the case, it would be kinder to let her die.  He still does not realize that she is his friend Eve Eden or that Atom is his friend Allen (er… N. Christopher I mean) Adam.

Meanwhile, N. Christopher Adam is flying around Sunuria, commenting that it looks like something dreamed up by H. Rider Haggard.  He sees evidence everywhere that the Sunurians worship the Ghost.  He is attacked by some Sunurians (women again; we’ve never seen a male Sunurian) but manages to evade them before having a thought that completely baffles me.

“Whoever runs this set-up must’ve been frightened by a Xerox machine.”  A Xerox machine was, in 1975 (and today) primarily a photocopier.  If the Sunurians are frightened by photocopiers, that would seem to indicate they are afraid of copies.  Which makes no sense because they are all blonde pony-tailed women (as if clones or copies of one woman).  If that is the case, wouldn’t they then love Xerox machines?  Or does he mean “fear them” in the way Christians are taught to “fear God?”

As Captain Atom flies off to find a place to hide (to conserve energy for the inevitable confrontation with the Ghost), the Ghost is having troubles of his own.  The high priestess shows up wanting to know why he isn’t fighting Captain Atom and is letting “her finest troops” take on the superhero.  Rather than point out that he is obeying the Sunurians’ own crazy “warrior’s code,” the Ghost takes offense to her referring to the soldiers as “her” troops.  He points out that he rules, and that they are his troops to do with as he pleases.  She agrees, begrudgingly.

Meanwhile, the Sunurians have found Cap’s hiding place.  He gets fed up with outrunning them and sets out to find the Ghost and Nightshade in earnest.  I can’t help but wonder why he left Nightshade behind in the first place.

Speaking of Nightshade, the Sunurians restore her with “healing rays.”  The Ghost drags her behind him, calling out to Captain Atom.  He threatens to kill her if Cap doesn’t surrender.  Rather than run the risk that the Ghost might be bluffing, Captain Atom comes up through the floor beneath him and socks him in the jaw.

It ends there.  I’m guessing they took a full-length story and chopped it in half to make room for “The Guardian Spiders” featuring Damara of Arcadia and Balor the Barbarian, “ROC-2000: A Family Album,” a Blue Beetle pin-up and an article about the hero, an interview with Nicola Cuti, and a couple other pin-ups and articles.

The artwork of this story, despite the lack of color, is absolutely beautiful.  John Byrne’s inks really compliment Steve Ditko’s pencils.  According to editors at Charlton, Ditko didn’t like to ink his own work.  I wonder what he thought of Byrne’s work.  As Ditko grants few interviews, we may never know.  I’d love to hear his thoughts on what became of Captain Atom after the character left his hands.  Perhaps I have some earnest Googling to do tonight.  Anyway, the story itself is passable.  It feels incomplete and a bit lopsided on its own.  I give it a C.  Add that to the A+ artwork and Charlton Bullseye #1 gets a B from me.

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 #7 (September 1987)

Tags

Bob Smith, Carl Gafford, Cary Bates, Duncan Andrews, General Eiling, General Hillary, Jeffrey "Goz" Goslin, Margaret Eiling/Peggy Adam, Martin Allard, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Randall Eiling/Randy Adam, Steve Trevor, The Cambodian, X-Ionizer

“The Cutting Edge”

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

This issue opens with Captain Cameron Scott in a flight simulator with Colonel Steve Trevor.  He is training for a mission so secret he knows nothing about it.  He chokes, causing the simulator to “crash.”  Trevor seems to have some confidence in Scott’s abilities, although Scott says he’s “no top gun.”

This bugs me because TOPGUN is the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, and Scott is in the Air Force, not the Navy.  I’m probably just splitting hairs here.  I’m sure Cary Bates figured it was an Air Force term because it is associated with pilots.  The Navy isn’t the first thing to leap to one’s mind when thinking of pilots.

Trevor refuses to give Scott any details about the mission.  He orders Scott to do eight more hours in the simulator.  Scott begins to wonder how his regular boss, General Eiling, will react to his being sent on a secret mission; does he know or will he consider Scott to be AWOL?

Of course, that is exactly what Eiling thought, as he reveals to Allard at the shooting range.  And he is highly ticked off that General Hillary tagged Scott for this mission “behind Eiling’s back.”  He’s afraid that Captain Atom’s secret identity will be compromised, but a quick phone call to the White House should get Scott off the mission.  And speaking of the White House, Allard has a communique from the oval office for Eiling.  Eiling has been promoted to a three star general, with a ceremony to be held the following Friday.  Eiling decides not to make that call to the president after all.  He doesn’t want Cameron Scott showing up to his three-star-general party.

*

Later, in Hillary’s office, Colonel Trevor and Captain Scott are finally being briefed.  He begins by pulling a paper airplane out of his briefcase.  He says it has been “treated” by an apparatus called the X-Ionizer.  The plane has a metallic sheen.  Tossing it toward a nearby metal filing cabinet, Hillary demonstrates that it can easily cut through any surface.

The problem is that the X-Ionizer was lost over Cambodia in 1969 when it was being transported to the West.  It was believed lost forever, destroyed in the plane crash.  However, over the past year, reports of X-Ionized objects have been turning up in Cambodia.  It has come into the possession of Ian Rydley, an ex-mercenary with “strong pro-West sentiments,” and he wants to hand it over to the United States.  To avoid setting off an international incident, Trevor and Scott are to fly stealth planes into Cambodia to pick up the device.  Scott was tagged because his file indicates he is an expert on Cambodian terrain.  From Scott’s perspective, it has not been that long since he has been in Cambodia, as Captain Nathaniel Adam.  Scott seems somewhat taken aback by the revelation that he must return to Cambodia, thinking “after all these years it has come back to haunt me.”

*

Later, strolling through a public park, Nate is telling Peggy and Goz horrible jokes.  This worries Peggy, because her mother told her Nate would always do that before a dangerous mission.  Goz says, “She’s on to us.”  Peggy just asks her father to promise he’ll come home.  Nate says he is coming back and that is a promise he will never break again.

*

45 hours and 7,800 miles later, two stealth planes streak towards the East, piloted by Captain Scott and Colonel Trevor.  With them is Goz and a Lieutenant Barker.  They spot three tails on their radar and lose them in some clouds.  They watch as three Russian MiGs pass them by.  17 hours later, they are in Cambodian air space and 25 hours later they are on the ground.  After all that time in those planes, their asses must have been really sore.

Nearby, a woman is watching the team.  She thinks to herself (in French) that the “younger man with the prematurely white hair” looks like an operative she left to die in Toronto several months back.  Reading Trevor’s lips, she discovers that it is, indeed, Captain Scott.  Careful readers will realize this woman is Plastique, whom Captain Atom tangled with once before.

*

After a six-mile trek through the jungle, Trevor’s team comes up Ian Rydley’s jeep.  It has been cut in half and Rydley is dying in the road.  He says, “s-spare… spare… spare,” before dying, which Barker thinks is his way of asking Trevor to kill him.  But he promptly dies anyway.  There is no sign of the X-Ionizer and Trevor remarks that the jeep was cut clean through, as if with a laser (get with the program, Trevor).  Before they have a chance to work it out, they hear loud explosions in the distance.

A kilometer or two away, Plastique is blasting someone, demanding the X-Ionizer.  Whomever he is drops the X-Ionizer but appears to been blown some distance away because of his blast-resistant shield.  Plastique indicates that she witnessed this stranger cutting the jeep in half. She goes over in her head her plans to sell the device to the Trike Corporation, unaware that an armored swordsman is approaching her from behind.

*

The team witnesses the swordsman taking a swing at Plastique, slicing her jaunty panama hat in two, narrowly missing taking her head off.  She drops the X-Ionizer.  As she blasts at the Samurai, Trevor and Barker retrieve the case.  It is empty.  Remembering Rydley’s dying words, he and Barker hoof it back to the jeep.

*

Witnessing the battle between Plastique and the mysterious Samurai from a different location, Goz loses track of Nate.  He realizes what his friend is off to do (Goslin knows Adam/Scott is Captain Atom, but Atom doesn’t know he knows).  Sure enough, Captain Atom launches into action.  Meanwhile, Trevor and Barker recover the real X-Ionizer from the “spare” tire on Rydley’s jeep.  Captain Atom stands between Plastique and the swordsman, lecturing her but not watching his back.  Much to his surprise, the Samurai swings his sword and manages to cut Atom’s metal skin.

Captain Atom punches the swordsman in the face before collapsing in a painful explosion.

And it is established right here that when the Modern Age Captain Atom’s shell is punctured, there is a release of energy.  It isn’t the power of a hundred (or even one) nuclear explosions.  It is big and it is bad but it isn’t end-of-the-world-bad.  That little bit of Captain Atom lore is retconned in later.

*

Meanwhile, Trevor and Barker have inexplicably made it back to the jets.  Barker promptly puts a gun to Colonel Trevor’s back.  He takes the X-Ionizer for “his government,” fully believing that between Plastique and “the Warlord,” Scott and Goslin are most likely dead.  He pulls the pin on a grenade and lobs it at Nate and Goz’s jet.  The stealth plane blows apart.

*

Barker explains that “his government” will use the X-Ionizer to create an unstoppable army of soldiers and machines.  He says they also want Steve Trevor, and orders the Colonel to board the remaining jet.  Barker doesn’t realize Trevor has surreptitiously grabbed a jagged piece of metal from the destroyed jet.  While Barker is trying to get Trevor onto the other plane, Trevor lashes out and cuts Barker’s throat.

*

Colonel Trevor comes upon an unconscious Goz in the jungle (most likely knocked out when Captain Atom exploded).  He awakens the Sergeant, who is not clear on what happened.  It is Goz who convinces Trevor to leave Captain Scott behind, knowing that they are all expendable and the retrieval of the X-Ionizer is the mission’s top priority.  He says Scott knows the terrain and is tougher than Trevor might think.

*

Back at the base, Peggy enters General Eiling’s office to find her brother Randy waiting there.  Their happy reunion is cut short when Randy says he is aware of Nathaniel Adam’s return and wants nothing to do with “the traitor.”  He says the only father who should matter to either of them is Eiling.  He says he hopes Cameron Scott/Nathaniel Adam never makes it back from his current mission.  Eiling seems extremely pleased at his stepson’s reaction.

*

Wow.  Very little Captain Atom in this issue of Captain Atom.  I like it.  It reminds me of the early Charlton days when Adam sometimes dabbled in espionage.  I also like the character of the Cambodian (although the Samurai is never referred to as such in this issue, he is later called “the Cambodian’).  Here’s a guy who can actually deal Cap some damage and does so without super powers.  I give this story an A.  And Broderick and Smith’s art is great.  Sometimes the book is a little light on the backgrounds, but I like Pat Broderick’s style when drawing the Captain.  I give the art an A, too.

*

It was upon reading this issue that I realized I have been spelling “Goz” wrong all along.  I have been writing it as “Gos,” clearly ignoring what Cary Bates wrote back in ’87.  I just thought I’d acknowledge that little mistake of mine.

Captain Atom #89 (December 1967)

Tags

13, A. Machine, Bronze Age Captain Atom, David Kaler, Faustus, Frank McLaughlin, Gunner, Nightshade, Steve Ditko, Sunurians, The Ghost

“Thirteen”

• Writer: David Kaler
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Frank McLaughlin
• Letters: A. Machine

This issue is a sad milestone for Captain Atom.  The first time the Captain was shelved, it was for three and a half years (from Space Adventures #42 to Strange Suspense Stories #75).  By the end of 1968, all of Charlton’s super-hero comics were cancelled, including Captain Atom.  This was the last issue published, and it had a cliffhanger ending.  The world did not get a resolution to the story for eight years, and Captain Atom didn’t get his own title again until 1987, twenty years after Captain Atom #89 was published.

The story opens at “a place hidden from the eyes of man,” what appears to be some sort of underwater complex.  The Ghost, installed as the ruler of this place, complains that he misses his old home and doing evil things.  His teleportation circuitry on his arm has been hidden, covered by skin.  He says if he could return home, he could resume his double life and even bring about the demise of Captain Atom.  The woman he is talking to reminds him that his teleportation device has been disabled so he is forced to stay in this place and rule these people.  The Ghost wonders who the original “Faceless One” was.

His female companion uses a rod-like device to pull up an image of Captain Atom on a viewscreen.  She and the Ghost see he is standing by a missile that the woman seems to recognize.  The blonde woman and the Ghost then meet with more women in a “council chamber.”  These women are the gold-wearing pigtail-having women who took the Ghost away in Captain Atom #86.  They agree that the Ghost must be allowed to return home in order to bring the missile back with him.

Back in Washington, just as Alec Rois (the Ghost) returns home, his butler hands him a package and a letter.  The letter is from the U.S. government, asking Rois to help them unlock the secrets of the missile.  The package contains a crystal ball, in which Alec sees the masked face of a man who calls himself “13.”  13 clearly knows Alec is the Ghost, and warns him not to interfere with his own plans to take the missile.

At a Texas NASA base, Captain Atom and Gunner are examining the missile when a warning message appears on the wall.  It reads, “I claim the missile for myself!  I will take it peacefully or fight for it!  Nothing can stop 13!”

Captain Atom warns Gunner to double the security and then heads out to find more info on 13.  He doesn’t go far when he meets the costumed man up in the clouds, joined by a flying black cat.  The cat, which 13 calls Faustus, warns his master to be wary of Cap.  13 conjures up some red scarves which begin to bind Captain Atom.  Cap turns up his heat and burns the scarves away.

13 throws silver coins at Cap, which stick to Atom’s body.  He then increases the weight of the coins to more than a ton each and Captain Atom plummets into the sea.  As he sinks, he begins to think his powers are useless against magic.  Cap manages to shake off the coins and then returns to base.  Gunner reports that no one showed up to take the missile but a letter came from Alec Rois.  Rois and his staff will be there that afternoon.  Watching through a crystal ball, 13 and Faustus look forward to giving Cap more hell but are wary of the Ghost arriving.

Within the hour, Rois arrives on base.  He and Captain Adam shake hands (they are old friends, each unaware that the other is their mortal enemy).  Adam warns Rois of 13’s attack and that the magician will probably make another attempt.

This is what bugs me about Alec Rois.  He knows Captain Adam and has been face-to-face with Captain Atom.  Aside from the similarity in the names being a dead giveaway, Captain Atom no longer wears a mask.  So, aside from different hair color, Atom is physically identical to Adam.  Like all it takes to hide your identity is to change your hair color or put on a pair of glasses.

After working for a bit, Alec says he is leaving his men to work while he rests.  This pleases Adam because it means he can switch back to Captain Atom to check things out.  Gunner promises to call Rois if anything turns up.

Alec returns to the lab as the Ghost and sets up a teleportation device to steal the missile.  But Captain Atom arrives and flings an atomic fireball at the Ghost.  Just as the Ghost is readying to teleport Cap out of there, Faustus and 13 appear.  13 makes flowers appear in the Ghost’s hands while Faustus conjures ropes out of nowhere to bind Captain Atom.

13 conjures up small animals and flings them at the Ghost while Cap continues to struggle to free himself.  He manages to break free and goes for 13, who vanishes before Cap can grab him.  Realizing he won’t be able to get his hands on Ghost or 13, Cap returns to the missile to guard it.

The Ghost whips out weapons from the Hidden Land, stinging strings and a force field box.  13 instructs Faustus to keep an eye on the Ghost with the crystal ball.

Back at the missile, the men have nearly cracked into it when their tools go wild operating on their own and a booming voice fills the chamber.  The voice of 13 warns the men that if they don’t stop trying to get in to the missile, they will have “bad luck.”  Captain Atom arrives, and gets the men to safety.  He remarks on how “spooky” the place is when 13 and Faustus pop up out of nowhere.

Just then the Ghost shows up wielding his stinging strings.  Captain Atom comes at the Ghost from behind, smashing him into a mirror.

Gunner tries to take 13 from behind but Faustus conjures a giant umbrella and he becomes trapped inside.  13 uses the Ghost’s stinging strings and force field to subdue the Ghost, Captain Atom, and Gunner.

13 builds some sort of machinery under the missile while Cap, Ghost, and Gunner are suspended helplessly in the force field.  It is a shrink ray, which 13 uses to shrink the missile to fit in the palm of his hand.  Faustus carelessly knocks over the force field generator, freeing Cap and Ghost.

Faustus puts the Ghost in a “sound bubble” that prevents him from using his teleportation device.  Just before Cap grabs 13, the magician twiddles his fingers and the missile vanishes.  Cap demands to know where it was sent.  13, Faustus, Cap, and Ghost suddenly find themselves outside, hovering in the sky above the base.

The Ghost begins to suspect this isn’t magic at all.  He thinks magic can’t create a sound bubble to hold him.  What on Earth does he base this on?

Back on the ground, 13 binds Cap in chains (which he easily breaks).  Cap flings an atomic fireball at 13, which the evildoer turns into a flower.  13 and Faustus fly away just as the Ghost breaks free of the sound bubble.  The Ghost teleports away as 13 and Faustus vanish.

13 and Faustus reappear in “the distant future.”  As 13 removes his mask and costume to reveal a bald white guy underneath, Faustus comments on how fun it was to use their future technology to make Cap think they were using magic.  Joined by other future people (all bald men), 13 chides Faustus, saying that “playing for the future of Earth” was not fun.

Lamenting the fact that they made Captain Atom look like a fool, 13 peeks in on Cap with his “crystal ball.”  He witnesses Cap taking a call from the president, in which the president reveals that 13 was a secret agent who was working for the government.  The missile was sent to a secret base to be destroyed.  It isn’t clear how much the president knows about the future bald dudes.

Back in the “hidden land,” the Ghost is fuming about his failure, blaming 13 and Faustus.  The golden-wearing pigtail ladies (they are the Sunurians, although they haven’t yet been revealed as such in the comics) tell him to go back and get Captain Atom.  They want Cap’s fate to be determined in Sunuria.

To be continued next issue!  Except, of course, there was no next issue.  Eventually the story was picked up in a fanzine called Charlton Bullseye.  Roger Stern and John Byrne got their hands on Steve Ditko’s pencil work and finished the story, but that wouldn’t be until 1975.  THe next time Captain Atom was seen was a brief cameo in another Charlton book, Ghost Manor, in 1974.

This issue looked good, certainly.  Ditko and McLaughlin were a good team.  Frank McLaughlin went on to work for both Marvel and DC Comics.  He inked Captain Marvel  and Captain America for Marvel, and had notable runs inking The Flash with Carmine Infantino, Wonder Woman with Gene Colan, and Green Arrow with Dan Jurgens.  He was a regular inker for Dick Dillin’s Justice League of America.  Still alive and kicking as of this writing, Frank’s last contribution to comics was inking again for Dick Dillin in DC Retroactive: JLA – The ’70s #1 in 2011.  I give the artwork of Captain Atom #89 an A+.

The story, however… Why do the Sunurians want the missile?  Why do the future baldies want the missile?  Who was the original “Faceless One?”  Why can cats from the future speak English?  Where was the missile found?  What was inside the missile?  Why can’t sound bubbles be conjured magically?  Too much of this just didn’t make any sense.  This D story brings the overall rating of this issue to a B in my book.

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

Captain Atom #88 (October 1967)

Tags

A. Machine, Bronze Age Captain Atom, David Kaler, Frank McLaughlin, Gunner, Nightshade, Steve Ditko

“Ravage of Ronthor”

• Writer:  David Kaler
• Pencils:  Steve Ditko
• Inks:  Frank McLaughlin
• Letters:  A. Machine

Eight million light years away, an alien spacecraft crashes on an alien world.  Giant insects emerge from the craft and begin attacking the alien world’s civilization.

Thousands of light years away (what happened to the millions?) on Earth, Captain Atom is reporting to a military base.  The besieged planet has sent an SOS and the American military is responding.  He is to pilot an experimental space craft that uses space warps rather than traditional rocket fuel.  Realizing that it has been thousands of years since the SOS was sent, the rocket was developed to actually “break the time continuum” so that Captain Atom can arrive just after the message was sent.  The craft will only work with Captain Atom supplying his own power.

Gunner asks Cap if someone else can pilot the ship; he is clearly worried for his friend’s safety.  Cap says it has to be him supplying the energy for the craft to work.  With luck he should be back within a week.

*

Eve Eden (Nightshade) calls Captain Atom, also worried about him.  She also asks him what she should do about Abby Ladd’s ongoing crusade to discredit Captain Atom and bed Captain Adam.  He has no good advice for her.

The rocket launches, using conventional fuel to escape Earth’s gravitational pull.  Once in space, Cap plugs into the controls and the ship vanishes into the time continuum.  It emerges above the planet in peril centuries in the past.

As soon as Cap exits his craft, it is set upon by the giant insects that have been ravaging the planet.  He rams into one but the thing’s exoskeleton is a thick armor he can’t penetrate.  Cap is at abit of a loss, as he has to conserve his energy for the return trip.  The creature begins to trap Captain Atom in a spider-web like substance but a well-aimed atomic fireball knocks the thing down.

Another creature attacks, stunning Cap with a blast of “x-rays,” then attempts to eat him.  He smashes the thing’s mouth (evidently killing it) then goes back into his spacecraft and collapses.  He awakes from an hours-long nap to see the nearby city in flames.  He quickly packs a bag and then begins to follow the radio signal that lead him to this planet in the first place.  The city appears deserted – even the sections not engulfed in flames.  A flying monster grabs him and he blasts it with the fire extinguisher he had packed.  It slows the creature down but doesn’t stop it.  Cap flings the monster away and it bursts into flames for no apparent reason.

Finally finding the source of the signal, Captain Atom is greeted by a voice on a PA system welcoming him to the planet Ronthor.  The voice says it scanned Cap and learned everything about him, including his language, and stored it in its computer systems.  The voice explains that the people of Ronthor were so technologically advanced that they had machines do everything for them and they grew bored.  They built huge rockets and left their home, leaving Ronthor as a “memorial to stifling perfection.”  The voice itself is a machine and it convinces Cap that the planet must be preserved so other species can learn from their mistakes.

*

Returning to his ship, Cap uses the chemicals in his lab to make an insecticide that will kill the attackers.  He blasts off into space with one of the creatures wrapped around his ship (the gigantic bug is killed in the take-off).  From space, Cap drops his chemical concoction onto the planet and it does the trick.  Commenting that this has been the weirdest thing he’s ever done, Captain Atom warps his ship back to Earth.  As he prepares his landing, Gunner notices another object on the radar, setting up the next adventure.

Cap was right, this was a pretty weird one.  It seemed a little pointless and Captain Atom’s sudden motivation to save this lifeless world was kind of baffling.  As a military man, he should have grabbed some Ronthor technology or something before he left.  As a story, Captain Atom versus space insects fell a little flat, especially when all he did to defeat them was spray some DDT (still better than that Fiery Icer fiasco, though).  But the artwork was beautiful.  Frank McLaughlin’s inks of Steve Ditko’s pencil work was outstanding, better than Rocke Mastroserio.  And I am a big Ditko/Mastroserio fan (the editor indicates on the letter page that Ditko “doesn’t want to ink Captain Atom”).  The A art and C story combine for an overall rating of B.  Not too bad.  There is also another Nightshade back-up story in this issue.

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

Captain Atom #87 (August 1967)

Tags

A. Machine, Abby Ladd, Bronze Age Captain Atom, David Kaler, Fiery Icer, Gunner, Nightshade, Rocke Mastroserio, Steve Ditko

“The Menace of the Fiery Icer”

• Writer: David Kaler
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Rocke Mastroserio
• Letters: A Machine

In my review of Captain Atom #86, I said I wanted a Cap solo adventure, not another team-up with Nightshade.  Well, I got my wish.  But Nightshade is still here, in a back-up story as Blue Beetle now has his own title (the series ran from June 1967 to November 1968 but was only five issues).

This issue begins with Allen Adam and his buddy Gunner stationed at a missile tracking station in the Caribbean.  They are taking a dip in the ocean after work when Adam spots a swimmer in trouble (being approached by sharks to be exact).  Adam leaps to the rescue, transforming into Captain Atom.

Captain Atom punches and kicks the sharks as Gunner swims the man to safety.  Yeah, that’s right.  Captain Atom punched a shark.  Who’s the badass now, Aquaman?

Meanwhile, a masked dude in red leading a group of green-clad masked dudes storms the missile base.  Turning a dial on his belt, the red guy blasts the MPs with heat, forcing them to drop their rifles before knocking them out with a blast of cold.  Then he starts blowing crap up by augmenting the temperatures he is blasting.

Captain Atom, still beating up sharks (quite unnecessarily at this point) hears the explosions.  He leaves the shark victim with Gunner and heads for the base, moaning about what a lousy vacation this has been.

Cap starts punching the guys in green.  An MP calls out a warning about the man in red.  “His powers of heat and cold are deadly!” is met with the retort, “Meet the Fiery Icer, boys!”

Okay, it was the 60s.  Comics were aimed at kids.  The name says his powers.  I must pack away my snide comments for now.  The Fiery Icer it is.  NOT a dumb name at all.  A name of POWER.  A name to be FEARED.  A name to be rubbed on sore muscles…

Captain Atom turns up his own heat to combat the ice from the Fiery Icer.  The men in green dive onto Cap, who dispatches them easily.  The Fiery Icer creates a steam effect allowing him and his men to escape undetected.

Searching for the villain and his goons, Cap sees a freighter off-shore.  He rightly assumes it must be where the Fiery Icer has hidden.  Spotting his approach on the radar, the Fiery Icer switches on his “magneto-beam” to draw Atom in closer.  Then blasting him with an “instafreeze beam,” and wrapping him in “freezing cell-belts,” the crooks manage to completely subdue Captain Atom.

For someone as powerful as he is supposed to be, Captain Atom sure does get subdued a lot.

The crooks drop their frozen bundle overboard to die at sea like “Professor Javits,” the man Cap and Gunner rescued from the sharks.  Sinking fast, Cap manages to melt the ice he was encased in but the belts are quickly freezing the water around him.  Resurfacing, he turns back into Captain Adam to conserve his strength.  

Adam spots the freighter but is quickly captured by the Fiery Icer’s goons.  He is taken to their headquarters on the shore and is thrown into a room with none other than Abby Ladd, the reporter who hates Captain Atom.  The Icer reveals that Ladd was searching for Javits when he captured her.

Adam feigns an escape attempt, taking a heat blast from Fiery and falling into the water nearby.  As Abby cries over the “dead” Allen Adam, Adam changes back into Captain Atom underwater.  Forgetting he has the power to become intangible, Atom searches for a way to get back in undetected.

Finding a generator, Atom tries something new and draws power off of it in an attempt to recharge himself.  It works (new power!) and power surges back through him.

He makes for a radio room, taking out the green-clad thugs as he goes.  Cap radios Gunner for backup, and begins searching the base for the Fiery Icer.  The Icer is about to freeze Abby Ladd to death when he gets news that Captain Atom is alive and busting up the place.

Catching up to Cap, the Icer encases him in ice again, but Atom breaks out easily.  The villain manages to knock Cap over and begins pouring ice and fire onto him.  But Captain Atom keeps bouncing back from the attacks.

As Gunner and a group of MPs storm the building, Captain Atom and the Fiery Icer continue to battle, destroying the building around them.  Just as the Icer is getting the upperhand, Captain Atom comes up swinging again and beats his enemy into unconsciousness.

Changing back into his uniform and into Allen Adam, Cap goes to free Abby Ladd.  He tells her he is alive thanks to Captain Atom, who has done a lot for this country and isn’t the glory hound poser she thinks he is.  Abby begins making dinner plans with Adam but Gunner rescues him by saying Eve and her Senator dad are waiting for him back at the base.

We never learned the Fiery Icer’s motivation.  Why did he attack the base?  What did Javits have to do with it?  What was Abby’s story about?  How did the Fiery Icer get his weapons?  Who was he?  I know I promised I’d start having more fun with these old comics, but this one was a sloppy mess.

However, despite his unfortunately stupid name, the Fiery Icer proved to be the most formidable adversary Captain Atom has faced yet.  He really gave Cap a run for his money.  And the Ditko/Mastroserio team has once again knocked it out of the park.  The images I’ve selected for this entry back that claim up.  The A+ art and the D story combine to give this issue a C.  It really could have been so much better.

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

On the letters page, a reader named Sean Cook in Eldorado, Kansas turns out to be sort of prophetic.  He suggests a team called THE CRIMEBUSTERS, featuring Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, Nightshade, Thunderbolt, and the Question.  In Watchmen #2 (written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, published in October 1986 – nearly twenty years after Captain Atom # 87), the superheroes of that era banded together to form THE CRIMEBUSTERS. The Watchmen Crimebusters were Dr. Manhattan (inspired by Captain Atom), Nite Owl (inspired by Blue Beetle), The Comedian (inspired by Peacemaker), Silk Spectre (inspired by Nightshade), Ozymandias (inspired by Thunderbolt), and Rorschach (inspired by The Question).  Coincidence?  Or did Moore and Gibbons see Sean Cook’s letter?

Captain Atom #86 (June 1967)

Tags

A. Machine, Abby Ladd, Blue Beetle, Bronze Age Captain Atom, David Kaler, Gary Friedrich, Nightshade, Rocke Mastroserio, Steve Ditko, Sunurians, The Ghost

“The Fury of the Faceless Foe”

• Writer: Steve Ditko & David Kaler
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Rocke Mastroserio
• Letters: A. Machine

Time: Noon, Place: Times Square, Occasion: The Return of the Ghost!

The Ghost appears briefly in Times Square, laughing maniacally and teleporting people away left and right and teleporting cars on top of each other.  When the police show up, he vanishes.  On the same day at the same time in New Haven, Nightshade (in her floating Nightshademobile) spots the Ghost running into a library.  She throws “ebony bombs” at him (these appear to be smoke bombs) but he dodges them easily.  He teleports away before she can get a grip on him.  Meanwhile, at the Pentagon (still noon on the same day), the Ghost appears in front of Captain Atom and Gunner.  As Cap lunges, the Ghost dissolves Captain Atom and reforms him further away.  He then teleports out before Cap can get the upper hand.

Back at the suburban home of the Ghost (aka Alec Rois), three men dressed as the Ghost teleport into his lab.  He has sent out hired goons, manipulating them from a distance.  He pays the flunkies and sends them away, saying he will have need of them in two days.  The Ghost then reveals (talking to himself, a staple of comic book villains) that he stole “ghost devices” from Punch and Jewelee when he was kidnapped by them (in Captain Atom #85).  Soon he will have amassed enough gold to destroy Captain Atom and Nightshade.

The next morning, back at the Pentagon, Captain Atom, Nightshade, and their boss seem unable to piece together that the three Ghosts were three different people.  Cap admits it was fate that defeated the Ghost last time, and they can only hope to get lucky again.  Abby Ladd bursts into the office to give Cap a tongue-lashing.  When Nightshade giggles, the “lady news hound” turns her fury onto Eve.  Ladd says if they don’t catch the Ghost soon, she’s going to have her father force Senator Eden to investigate their department (Senator Eden is Nightshade’s father).  Abby leaves them and Cap’s boss says not to worry about her.

That evening, the Ghost teleports aboard a half-sunken tanker off the coast of Cape May, surprising his men their.  He checks on his equipment, which includes a gold-making machine.  He then checks on a special force field he’s created that he plans to lure Cap and Nightshade into, saying it will be “the end of them.”

Thousands of miles away, a strange group of women appear to be watching the Ghost’s progress (referring to him as “the faceless one”).  They say he is their long-lost God.

As the days go by, the Ghost keeps appearing in random places, faces Captain Atom and Nightshade, then teleports out before committing any actual crime.  Their chief calls them into his office (I find it funny they never gave the Chief a name – in the Modern Age stories he would be General Eiling).  He tells them they’ve traced the Ghost’s unique radar signals to Cape May and sends them out to investigate.

Captain Atom and Nightshade split up.  He checks in with the nearby military base.  They are able to pinpoint the source of the signal the Ghost is using – the sunken tanker.  Cap radios Nightshade to meet him there.  He sneaks on board, but once again the Ghost is a step ahead.

Cap flings atomic fireballs at the Ghost to distract him before attempting to tackle his enemy.  The Ghost blasts Cap with some yellow electricity that seems to subdue him.  Nightshade jumps the Ghost from behind, but he slips away and she finds herself similarly subdued.  The force field holding them down is draining their power.

In true 1960s villain fashion, the Ghost then reveals his secret plan to the two prone heroes.  The force field draining their powers will also somehow drain gold out of the world’s oceans.  He leaves to start his evil (and baffling) plan.

Nightshade turns into a shadow and is able to slip free of the force field.  She turns the machine off, switching back to her regular form before Cap sees her as a shadow (why doesn’t she want him to know what her power is?).  Weakened but not defeated, Nightshade and Captain Atom set upon the Ghost and his goons.

When Cap grabs the Ghost’s wrist to prevent him from using his teleporter, the Ghost flings a brick at Captain Atom’s head.

Let me say that again.

The Ghost threw a brick at Captain Atom.

Look, don’t take my word for it.

Nightshade tries to stop the Ghost from teleporting Cap to Nowhereland but finds herself facing the same prospect.  As he raises his hands to banish the two heroes forever, something happens and the Ghost freezes.  But it isn’t just him.  Captain Atom and Nightshade are also frozen in place.  Just then, three women enter the room’; the women from earlier who called the Ghost “the Faceless One.”  One of them is armed with cables like the ones Punch used last issue.

The women return Captain Atom and Nightshade to the shore, and say they are taking the Ghost to “the Hidden Land.”  He seems cool with it, as long as the “hidden land” has gold.  Dude always has his eyes on the prize.  He is loaded into what looks like a submarine that quickly departs.

As soon as the paralysis fades, Captain Atom goes after the ship but all trace of it has vanished.  Once again, the Ghost has escaped.  His henchmen are rounded up, and Cap and Nightshade are left wondering if they’ve seen the last of the Ghost.

This was a nice issue.  It progressed an ongoing story and added a little more to an established villain.  I do have a complaint. I don’t dislike Nightshade; I’d like to learn more about her powers and why she’s keeping them secret.  But does a hero as powerful as Captain Atom even really need a partner?  How about another solo story?  It was nice to see Gunner hasn’t been forgotten, though.  Too bad “the Chief” is so two-dimensional he doesn’t even get a name.  It was an okay story, even if it is all setup for something more to come.  It is a B story with A art.  Let’s call it an A-.

The letter page has the usual applause for Steve Ditko, Captain Atom, and the Blue Beetle backup stories.  Two knuckleheads from Virginia and West Virginia hate Cap’s new costume so much they banned all Charlton comics.  They are most likely the reason why Charlton Comics eventually ended up going the way of the dodo.

There is also a Steve Ditko/Gary Friedrich Blue Beetle backup story.  It promises at the end that Beetle will soon be starring in his own title.

One interesting thing to note about this issue:  the letterer is credited as “A. Machine.”  Rather than having each issue hand-lettered, Charlton went with a typesetter.  Comic book lettering is and often-overlooked and forgotten form of art.  Those guys put in just as much work with what they do.  And they bring us great words like “splort”, “flunkel,” and “kapow!”

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