Captain Atom #22 (December 1988)

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Amanda Waller, Bob Smith, Carrie Spiegle, Cary Bates, Dan Raspler, Dennis O'Neill, General Eiling, Greg Weisman, Martin Allard, Max Lord, Nightshade, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Shelley Eiber

“Captain Atom Goes to War”

Written by Cary Bates & Greg Weisman ° Pencils by Pat Broderick ° Inks by Bob Smith ° Letterer: Carrie Spiegle ° Colors by Shelley Eiber ° Editors: Denny O’Neil & Dan Raspler

Well, Nate has gone off the rails in some Central American country (we never learned where he actually was last issue). He has taken the law into his own hands in an attempt to stop a civil war and created an embarrassment for his own country. Meanwhile, Wade Eiling pays a visit to Amanda Waller to find out who authorized her to send Nightshade out after Captain Atom. Waller politely shows the General the door.

Down south, Nate is melting choppers left and right but sparing the operators. He’s only after the weapons. It seems a military man like him would realize there’s always more weapons. Burn them all and people will just use their hands, Nate.

En route, Nightshade (Eve) is being briefed by Waller and thinking to herself she would have jumped at this opportunity regardless. Seems Eve is still carrying a torch for Adam. Back in New York, a frustrated Maxwell Lord fields multiple calls about his rogue Justice Leaguer. Nate, meanwhile, continues to melt tanks and piss everybody off.

Back at the base camp, Nate tries to convince his fellow soldiers that maybe what Captain Atom is doing is right but they won’t hear it. How have they not out two and two together? This white haired pinko shows up in X country the same time Captain Atom shows up and starts melting helicopters and they can’t see they are the same guy? While sitting watch for the night, Cap is knocked out and dragged off by Plastique. The next morning his fellow soldiers are none too concerned as they break camp and move on.

When he wakes up, Nate finds Bette has fitted him with a special collar. If he tries to change into Captain Atom, the explosive will take his head off. She’s also unbuttoned his shirt, but that was really just for her.

In an effort to try and convince Plastique they can make a difference, Nate leads her to a pit where he has melted the government’s and the rebel’s stolen arsenals. Bette did not realize he had been disarming both sides. Back home, Eiling and Allard have realized the same thing. Wade says Nate is in for a rude awakening.

Back down south, Nate asks Bette if she’ll give him give days to sort this war out. But whatever will they do for those give days?

Sly old Nate seduced Bette in an attempt to lift the key to the collar off of her. But she’s too quick for him and ends up pinning him down. Just then darkness falls, but it isn’t a natural darkness. Nightshade has arrived. Realizing there is no way to fight her in the dark (Eve’s turf), Plastique unlocks the collar and Captain Atom brings in the light.

The women begin to scrap, but Nate interferes. He says he’s out to stop all conflict in the country, not just the war but also between Eve and Bette. But before anyone can do any real damage, the trip smells something burning and discover a nearby village in flames. Without their weapons, the soldiers have resorted to using torches. As Adam and Eve watch the locals have at each other with whatever they can get their hands on, Bette slips away.

Nate finally realizes there is no way he can stop this war. He gathers up Nightshade and they fly home.

Overall, I liked this little two-parter. This is the kind of stuff Captain Atom was getting into in his Charlton days, so it was only fitting Nightshade was along for the ride. Only, in those days, he would have solved the problem and not accepted defeat. But this ain’t your grandpa’s Captain Atom. A well-crafted story and great art. Broderick and Smith are a dream team. A.

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Captain Atom #21 (November 1988)

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Amanda Waller, Carrie Spiegle, Cary Bates, Dr. Megala, General Eiling, Greg Weisman, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Shelley Eiber, Steve Mitchell

Written by Cary Bates & Greg Weisman ° Pencils by Pat Broderick ° Inks by Steve Mitchell ° Colors by Shelley Eiber ° Letterer: Carrie Spiegle ° Editors: Denny O’Neil & Dan Raspler

“The Captain’s Word is Law!”

On the opening splash page, someone is using their super powers to cut out ads seeking mercenaries from Soldier For Hire. Mostly likely our sad sack Nate Adam who only has one skill – killing for the government. And since he quit that gig, business has been bad. There is a nice shout-out to Sergeant Rock on his table, though. Who knew Captain Atom liked comics?

We cut to Nate and Sally leaving a Grateful Dead concert. Nate is schooling her on the hip new lingo the kids are using these days. Who knew Nate was a Deadhead? No surprise that his new sugar mama is, though. Sally is stressed that Nate is taking a mysterious sudden vacation, not telling him where he’s going, and leaving her to run the store herself. Nate, or “Cameron” as she knows him, won’t say a thing about the trip.

Later, Nate meets up with a shady character on a boat calling himself the “ancient mariner.” He presents his team with a slide show of a third-world country in peril. The rebels have tanks and heavy firepower. One of the satellite images reveal a young soldier in peril to be the son of the Mariner. The mission is to find the son, Billy, dead or alive.

The three men he’s hired for this job are Witman Halsy, Dwight Crane, and of course Cameron Scott. They have all been researched by the Mariner and are considered experts. No one is aware that Scott is a super-hero.

Later, suited up and flying over an unnamed Communist country, they are informed that they are just above the spot where the boy was last seen. His name is now Dwayne and not Billy. The three men parachute into the jungle. By dawn, they are on patrol and Nate already doesn’t like Halsy (now spelled Halsey). They find the kid’s jeep, which looks like it was flipped by a landmine. Nate thinks it is eerily familiar…

They gather the body and go back to camp. While waiting the four days for their pickup, they get to know the rebels. They help to train them. They get word of an enemy tank in the area and decide to go on the offensive. Halsey is in command. They take the tank and one prisoner.

Halsey proceeds to torture the prisoner for information. This does not sit well with Nate. He washes off his face but he cannot wash off his guilt. He tries to console himself by thinking that both sides resort to torture to get what they want. And Halsey is successful, but the prisoner is killed in the process.

With Halsey in command, they attack the enemy base at an old abandoned gas station. They end up pinned down behind a truck. They fight back, and Nate is hit by a stray bullet. His wound is pronounced as just a graze, but he is out cold when the gas station goes up and a lone rebel walks out.

When Nate comes to, he discovers that he has been captured by Russian speaking militants who appear to be in cahoots with none other than his old “friend” Plastique.

Nate is disgusted that she is still selling her powers to the highest bidder, but recognizes that he is doing the same thing. However, he assures her that he is Cameron Scott on this mission and not Captain Atom. Bette ain’t buying it. They have a heart-to-heart. in spite of the fact that he is a hero and she is a villain, the last time they met she saved Captain Atom’s life. So there is a small amount of trust between them. Also she knows who he really is.

The two of them activate their power and begin to scrap Nate says he will do whatever he’s in his power to help these people, and Bette says she has a job to do and she wants to get paid. Nate has had it with both sides and decides it is time for him to take charge.

One thing Nate does not know is that there are witnesses to this altercation. a helicopter crew is filming the whole thing. He takes out Plastique, but when he goes after the military equipment it is witnessed by General Eiling. Megala is worried about what this will do to his super secret government project and insists that the military sends someone down to subdue Captain Atom. The General asks who he had in mind. Cut to Amanda Waller (of the Suicide Squad), demanding that Nightshade be sent after Cap.

This was a fine issue. It’s setting up quite the throwdown between Nate’s former girlfriend and his jungle hookup. I like to see where this is going. The artwork is capable, not Pat at his finest but certainly not Pat at his worst. Also I like to see Nate doing military stuff sometimes and not always super-heroing. I give the issue an A.

The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #2 (April 2017)

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Cary Bates, Greg Weisman, Ivan Nunes, Jim Chadwick, Kristy Quinn, Post-Rebirth Captain Atom, Saida Temofonte, Will Conrad

“Past Imperfect”

• Writer: Cary Bates
• Co-Plotter: Greg Weisman
• Pencils & Inks: Will Conrad
• Colors: Ivan Nunes
• Letters: Saida Temofonte
• Editor: Kristy Quinn
• Group Editor: Jim Chadwick

Roy “Charlemagne” Cleary and FKAjason return to review “A Future Lost” from Booster Gold (vol 1) #14 by Dan Jurgens, Mike DeCarlo, John Costanza, Gene D’Angelo, and Barbara Randall. Booster’s in the future and on the run from the cops.

Then we review “Past Imperfect” from The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom (vol 1) #2 by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman, Will Conrad, Ivan Nunes, Saida Temofonte, Kristy Quinn, and Jim Chadwick. Lost in time, Captain Atom tries to make a new life for himself with disastrous results.

Guest Stars: Rip Hunter, Dr. Soo, Broderick, Goldstar

Gold Watch: The month Booster Gold #14 was published, Booster also appeared in The New Teen Titans #29.

Remember to use the hashtag #SNGPOD when commenting on social media!

Follow us on Twitter! (@SNGPOD4779)

Music
Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Walk Like an Egyptian – The Bangles
Bad and Boujee ft Lil Uzi Vert – Migos
This Time Imperfect – AFI

Click here to play episode 25!

Captain Atom #19 (September 1988)

Tags

Bob Smith, Captain Atom, Cary Bates, Greg Weisman, Helen Vesik, Jeffrey "Goz" Goslin, Margaret Eiling/Peggy Adam, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Shelly Eiber, Starshine Stone

“Life After the Dead”

• Writers: Cary Bates & Greg Weisman
• Pencils: Pat Broderick
• Inks: Bob Smith
• Colors: Shelley Eiber
• Letters: Helen Vesik

This issue of Captain Atom was published June 7, 1988. It opens with a stunning drawing by Broderick & Smith of Captain Atom flying over Washington, DC, reflecting on the Washington Monument. His inner monologue reads, “Every time I fly past the Washington Monument I can’t help remembering the civil rights movement… and the 200,000 people who marched here back in ’63.  Hard to believe a whole generation has come and gone since the turbulent times of the Sixties. Those were the days, my friends…”

I like these little reminders that Nate is displaced from time. It is the thing that most sets him apart from other versions of Captain Atom. I also like his dangerously-close-to-a-mullet new hairdo. Since he’s quit the military, Nate has grown his hair out. With his new ‘do, he’d look right at home in 1976. Like his hair is slowly catching up with the times.

Nate calls on Starshine Stone, the proprietor of Mellow Yellows. He met her in Captain Atom #16 when he sold her a keychain. This time he’s selling her a leather peace medallion signed and dated by Dr. Timothy Leary. Starshine is quite impressed and offers Nate $200 for the item. Nate asks her for a job, which she gives him but warns she can’t pay as well as the Air Force.

Their quaint conversation about 1960s sitcoms is interrupted by a bedraggled homeless-looking guy entering the shop. He’s Mitch, Starshine’s ex-husband. With him are two thugs in suits who inform Starshine that Mitch owes them $600 (for cocaine he has used without paying for, apparently) and Mitch told them Starshine would pay. Starshine says she will not pay for Mitch’s drugs and Nate asks the men to leave. The bigger thug begins to draw a gun.

Nate smashes open a lava lamp and throws the contents in the larger thug’s face. It burns him, naturally (lava lamops don’t really have lava inside – that would be impossible – but they do have super hot wax inside). Nate drop kicks the other thug as he draws his weapon and throws them both out of the store. He turns to deal with Mitch but Starshine stops him. She says basically Mitch is her cross to bear.

Starshine refuses to give Mitch money as she knows he will just spend it on more drugs. She kicks him out of the store and locks up for the day.

Later, Nate and Peggy are jogging with Gos huffing and puffing behind them, trying to keep up. Peggy is warning her dad to take it easy with Starshine. He might freak her out with his trippy 1960s knowledge. Also, while he is physically ten years younger than Starshine, Nate is actually 20 years older (because of his quantum boost through time). Nate says the age difference doesn’t matter and runs on ahead of his daughter and friend, who are now holding hands. Wake up, Nate!

Let me just point out right here that I do not have a problem with May-December romances or interracial relationships. This is a sticky subject that comes up in the pages of Captain Atom later on. Fan reaction to Peggy and Goz’s relationship was dissapointing to say the least. Nate himself struggles with some backward notions when he discovers the truth. No, the thing that bugs me (and makes me say “Wake up, Nate,” is the fact that Goz is Peggy’s godfather and Nate’s best friend. While I personally think my own daughter Tabby is free to date whomever she wishes, if she were to date my best friend Roy, I may have to kill him. You don’t date your best friend’s daughter.

Later, Nate is walking Starshine home while she reminisces about how she and Mitch met and how good their relationship had once been. I’m not entirely sure Nate was listening though. When she says, “See you tomorrow at the store, Cameron,” he thinks to himself, “Tomorrow at the store. I’ll ask her tomorrow at the store.” Nate’s thinking with the wrong head.

Was that crass?

Nate hears Starshine scream and charges into her house. Mitch has broken in, and collapsed in a pool of his own sick. While Nate calls an ambulance, Starshine blames herself for not heloping Mitch earlier. When the paramedics haul Mitch away, Starshine asks for alone time and runs into her house. Nate is left on the sidewalk, withthe two goons from earlier watching him. They plan to come back later to get their money from Starshine and hope Nate is still around so they can get another crack at him. Nate sees them and glares but does not yet go all Captain Atom.

That evening, when the two crooks do try to break in, Cap shows up and melts their guns. He flies them high above the city and demands information. Nate wants to go after the big boss. They quickly give him an address and he dumps them into a nearby dumpster.

At the aforementioned address, the boss is on the phones making plans for a deal, completely unaware that Captain Atom is listening outside his window.

Captain Atom bursts in and gives “Ramone” the angry-sparky-eyes. Later, in a dark downtown alleyway, a car approaches an overcoated, fedora-wearing, briefcase-carrying figure. The men in the car identify him as Ramone. They are fellow gangmembers sent to shoot Ramone down because he “talks too much.” They open fire on the man and reach for the briefcase.

Of course, it isn’t Ramone. It is Captain Atom. And he didn’t get gunned down. Because he’s Captain Atom. When they discover the briefcase is empty, Cap blasts their guns out of their hands before grabbing the ringleader and flying off with him.

At 4:30 the next morning, fifteen miles south of the Florida Keys, Captain Atom witnesses a plane dropping off a shipment of drugs to a nearby fishing boat. He sinks the boat and heads after the plane. He’s hoping the plane will lead him to “the last link in the pipeline.” He follows the plane to an island where poppies are being grown and harvested.

Captain Atom begins burning the poppy fields. The cartel opens fire and launches missiles at the hero. Of course, they fail. Cap destroys all their equipment, confident that he’s brought these particular bad guys to their knees.

Later, Starshine is remembering when Mitch proposed to her at an outdoor music festival. It was a good memory of a good time but the reality of the present creeps in. Mitchell has died. Starshine slips a peace symbol momento into the corpse’s hand and buries her face in Nate’s shoulder.

“Captain Atom Versus the South American Drug Lords” was a fine story. I like to see him taking down common thugs and criminals instead of always slugging it out with super-villains. Cary and Greg told a concise, solid story with some hints at subplots hat will come up later. Pat and Bob did some great work, particularly when Cap was burning the poppy fields. My one complaint was that Captain Atom looked a little awkward when he was hovering outside Ramone’s window. That aside, I give this issue an A.

Captain Atom next appears in Animal Man (vol 1) #1.

(All characters and images belong to DC Comics and I am not making any profit off this blog.)

Captain Atom and Power Girl by Kaitlyn Van Dorn

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Captain Atom, Kaitlyn Van Dorn, Modern Age Captain Atom, Power Girl

Kaitlyn Van Dorn is an artist from Texas that works for Gateway Gaming.  Her DeviantArt gallery has a lot of JLI inspired artwork, including this great Captain Atom/Power Girl/Power Girl’s cat portrait.  Cap looks worried, but I’m pretty sure the cat’s claws aren’t X-ionized or anything.