Captain Atom Annual #2 (1988/1989)

Tags

Captain Atom, Carrie Spiegle, Cary Bates, Dan Raspler, Dennis O'Neill, Jack O'Lantern, Major Force, Modern Age Captain Atom, Paris Cullins, Pat Broderick, Queen Bee, Rocket Red #4, Sarge Steel, Sgt Jeffrey "Gunner" "Gos" Goslin, Shelley Eiber

“Bialya Bound”

Written by Cary Bates & Greg Weisman
Pencilled by Paris Cullins
Inks by Bob Smith
Colors by Shelley Eiber
Letters by Carrie Spiegle
Edited by Denny O’Neil & Dan Raspler

It seems kind of a shame that the main story in a Captain Atom annual wasn’t drawn by Pat Broderick. But at least he shows up in the backup story. It has a beautiful cover by Paris Cullins who also did the interiors. He is one of my favorite artists so I’m relatively pleased with this so far.

The issue opens with a bunch of tourists swamping a travel agency and going on about how great Bialya is now. “Once an arid third world country,” it seems to have become some sort of vague paradise under the leadership of Queen Bee. This all happened following a media blackout and the world at large can only speculate about what transformed the little country.

Two tourists arrive in Bialya, Cameron Scott and Sarge Steel. Sarge Steel was a detective/spy character published by Charlton Comics during the 1960s. As he was published during the time of Charlton’s Action Heroes line of superheroes, and had loose ties to some, he is sometimes included with that group. He was purchased by DC Comics along with the other action heroes. Also arriving is Dmitri Pushkin, also known as Rocket Red #4, member of Justice League International.

• 

• 

• 

Dmitri is visiting the country as a semi-diplomat while Nate and Sarge Steel are being a bit more covert. Rocket Red isn’t hiding his identity at all but the other two are trying to blend in.

The first thing Nate takes notice of in the country is the abundance of video cameras. They are literally everywhere, with Queen Bee having eyes in all corners of her country. There are also posters everywhere stating “your Queen loves you,” and the people seem genuinely happy and not at all subjugated. Later, he interrogates a native who tells him how devoted to her country and her people Queen Bee really is. Why, she gave him a ride to town once when his car broke down and she fed his baby.

Nate thinks that so far this assignment is as exciting as watching paint dry. I’m right there with you, Adam.

Things start to come to a head that night. A team of high-tech mercenaries is attacking the palace at the same time Sarge Steel is breaking in and Rocket Red is paying a visit. Dmitri leaps into action against the mercs as Nate ducks into a phone booth to turn into Captain Atom (not realizing a camera is trained on him. Steel decks one of the mercs just before the Captain arrives on the scene. Just as he is about to mop these terrorists up, who should appear on the scene but good old Major Force?

I say that sarcastically, of course, as Major Force is my least favorite supporting character. We don’t actually see him take anyone out, as he is off-panel, but we do see his powers and we know he’s in this issue because it was announced on the opening splash page.

The people of Bialya are none-too-pleased to see Captain Atom, as the last time he was in the country (in Justice League International #17), he killed their resident super-hero “the Thunderer.” He flies off and Dmitri tries to exchange pleasantries with Steel (who ain’t having it). This is the 80s and nothing is more offensive to a red-blooded patriot like Sarge Steel than a dirty commie super-hero. Cheer up, Rocket Red. You don’t know it yet, but the Cold War is almost over.

Back at their top-secret lair, the six mercenary/terrorists are meeting with their boss, the former super-hero turned super-villain Jack O’ Lantern. He tells them Queen Bee is proud or them. So the whole thing was a set-up just to flush out what super-heroes may be in Bialya. After dismissing his men, he gleefully thinks to himself that Captain Atom is the “prime candidate” for the “next phase of the experiment.”

Queen Bee contacts Jack and is none-too-happy that he staged the fake raid. Had any Bialyan citizens been harmed, he would have been in for a world of hurt. She also informs him of her choice of subject for her experiment. She has chosen Cameron Scott, who she knows is Captain Atom. So she and Jack arrived at Nate as a test subject independent of each other.

Jack sends some sort of signal or energy wave or something to Nate’s room, and it hits just as Major Force creeps in through the window. But Captain Atom has been expecting his old frienemy and he throws the Major across the room. But it looks like Force hasn’t come to fight. Force makes himself comfortable on the bed and reveals he’s been in Bialya for weeks. It turns out the microwave surveillance system in the country blocks the Air Force’s monitoring equipment so he’s been off Eiling’s radar.

Major Force says he’s been having a semi-romantic relationship with Queen Bee, which makes Nate decide he’s had enough. He packs his bag, makes a rude hand gesture to the Major, and exits the hotel room. As his plane flies back to the states, he notices Rocket Red flying away from the country as well.

Nate isn’t home for long before an overwhelming urge to return to Bialya overcomes him. He cannot fight the urge and transforms into Captain Atom. As soon as he is over Bialyan airspace, their military fires on him (at Jack’s order). The Captain makes short work of the anti-aircraft guns and crashes into Queen Bee’s palace.

In the Queen’s bedroom, he is greeted by Jack on a video monitor, who seems to know an awful lot about Cap’s urge to return to the country. What I don’t get is if he wanted Captain Atom to return and drugged him so he would, why did he fire on him when he did? Anyway, he hits Nate with some knockout gas and it’s night-night Captain Atom.

This has always bugged me too. Captain Atom can survive in the vacuum of space for an undetermined length of time. How can simple knock out gas work for him? He clearly has super breath holding just like Superman. I guess I can chalk it up to him being out of his mind from whatever it was Jack did to him, but this plot device has never sit right with me.

When he awakens, Captain Atom is strapped into a high-tech dentists’ chair in Jack’s secret underground lair. Of course, Nate recognizes Jack as a member of the defunct Global Guardians, a one-time hero turned Queen Bee flunky. Jack reveals that because of his tampering with Nate’s brain, the hero had the un-fightable urge to return to Bialya (which is kind of obvious) and this mind control is also keeping him from ripping apart the chair he’s strapped to. Maybe that’s also why he couldn’t hold his breath. He also tells Nate that as long as he stays in Bialya, he’ll feel fine, but once he’s out of range of the mind-control technology, Nate will go through withdrawal pain so horrible he’ll be compelled to return.

Because of his unprovoked attack on the country, the citizens hate Captain Atom and want him out of the country. Jack reveals that the Queen will most likely banish him. This still doesn’t make sense. Nate would have been much more useful as a pawn who was loyal to the Queen. Jack ordering the military to attack him still doesn’t add up. Jack does reveal that he wants information from Atom, and if the Captain cooperates he may be able to stay. But it seems like once the mind control set in, Cap would have played ball anyway. It just doesn’t add up.

Back at the Queen’s bedchamber, Major Force is demanding to know where his “buddy” is being held. The palace security won’t tell him, so he starts matter-blasting folks. But Queen Bee calms him and tells him whatever he wants to know.

Back in the underground base, Nate is filling Jack’s head with lies. He’s passing off the Big Lie as his actual backstory, so maybe the mind-control technology isn’t really working so well after all. When the Queen shows up, he proudly reveals his progress, but Queen Bee knows the story Nate is spinning is a fabrication.

Captain Atom bursts out of the restraint chair and reveals that it was him focusing on his fake backstory that allowed him to beat the mind-control. How convenient. What if they had used it on Superman?

Jack goes for his magic lantern, but Nate blasts him out cold with quantum energy. He then burns Queen Bee’s copy of the Captain Atom Project files. The Queen then reveals her ace in the hole. When she quietly exclaims that Captain Atom is attempting to kidnap her, Major Force bursts through a wall and threatens to pound on him. And Major Force can take out Captain Atom. He is stronger and has comparable powers. We’ve seen Atom take a beating from Force before.

However, when Captain Atom says that he will fight Major Force until the country is nothing but rubble, Queen Bee jumps in and stops her lover. She can’t have the citizens of her beloved country caught in the crossfire of a quantum pissing match between the two. She allows Nate to walk free.

On his way out of the country, Captain Atom spots Sarge Steel and gives him a ride back to the U.S. And the story is over. Talk about an anti-climax. I’d forgive it if we’d gotten some pages of Cap and Force slugging it out, but space had to be left for the “Private Lives” story I guess. Also, what happens when Nate returns home? He’ll just have the urge to return again, right? Or can he get it out of his system like heroin?

This story wasn’t worthy of being an annual. I hate to say it about my beloved Captain Atom title, but it was really stupid. Cary and Greg phoned this one in. Paris Cullins and Bob Smith were the book’s saving grace. The art was a solid B but the story was an F. Overall, Captain Atom Annual #2 earned a D from me. The main story did, at least. I haven’t even touched the B-story yet.

“Reckoning Day” was by Cary Bates and Greg Weisman again. The art was by Pat Broderick and Michael Bair with colors by Shelley Eiber. Letterer was Carrie Spiegle and the story was editied by Dan Rasplar and Denny O’Neil.

The story opens with Nate’s friend “Gunner” Goslin getting ready for a date with Peggy Eiling. Peggy, of course, is General Wade Eiling’s stepdaughter and the biological daughter of Gunner’s best friend Nathaniel Adam. The two have kept their relationship a secret from Nate so far, as Gunner has known Peggy since she was in diapers and Gunner is afraid of how his old friend would react.

Just then, Captain Atom bursts though the wall of Gunner’s apartment with his angry eyes flaring. He has found out about Goz and Peggy, and he is not happy at all. Gunner tries to explain that neither he nor Peggy meant for this to happen, but Nate doesn’t care. He powers up to take Goz out with a quantum blast just as the phone starts ringing and wakes Goz up.

Ah yes, the old it-was-just-a-dream trope. We know it well. It is 11:30 am and Peggy is calling to find out where Goz is. The old codger has overslept. As he showers and dresses, Gunner cannot get dream-Nate’s words out of his head. The old coot is overcome with guilt.

He meets up with Peggy outside the nostalgia shop where Nate works. They go inside and introduce themselves to Starshine as “friends” of Cameron Scott. Since Peggy and Nate are roughly the same age, no one would buy them as a father and daughter, despite Nate’s white hair. Starshine reveals that Cameron never showed up for work, which is a thing he does often apparently.

Gunner is upset that they missed Nate because this was going to be the day they revealed their relationship to him. If I were Goz, I’d be relieved that I dodged that bullet for at least another 24 hours. But he’s worried because he has to sweat over it even longer. Peggy says her dad will take the news in stride. Goz has been in their “family” for years, and Nate can’t say anything about the age difference because Starshine is at least ten years his senior. Ah, poor stupid Peggy.

We are then dropped into what is obviously another dream. Nate, as Captain Atom, is flying his blindfolded best friend and daughter to an undisclosed location. This is obviously a dream because A) Peggy does not know that her father is Captain Atom, and B) Nate does not know that Goz knows he’s Captain Atom.

Dream Nate flies Dream Goz and Dream Peggy to the White House, where they meet the Reagans. Because it is 1988, Ronald Reagan is the president of the U.S. In both the real world and the DC universe. Ron and Nancy want to host Goz and Peggy’s wedding on the White House lawn. Goz responds to Reagan in the positive, but does so out loud.

He has fallen asleep in Peggy’s car as they are leaving Starshine’s shop. Man, Goz is old. The two kiss and drive away, ending the little story.

Yeah, I’m so glad we got those seven pages of nonsense instead of a more fleshed-out ending to the Bialya story. I don’t feel robbed at all. I remember the year of the “Private Lives” stories. Most of them seemed pretty boring but it was nice to see the other side of super-hero life. I appreciate the story, but at the point that the B-story so obviously takes something from the A-story, I get a little ticked off.

The art was beautiful. Really, no one has ever done Captain Atom justice like Pat Broderick. Definitely an A+. And the story, while short and unnecessary, was at least kind of compelling. A B+ that was well-earned. Overall, I give this little bonus an A, but still would have preferred it was just left in the pages of the regular series.

Advertisement

Captain Atom #22 (December 1988)

Tags

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.

Captain Atom #21 (November 1988)

Tags

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.

Silver and Gold Episode 14: The Man of Gold vs the Man of Steel!

Tags

Alan Gold, Augustin Mas, Bob Smith, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Carl Gafford, Cary Bates, Dan Jurgens, Dennis O'Neill, Dirk Davis, Duncan Andrews, Gene D'Angelo, General Eiling, Martin Allard, Mike DeCarlo, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Superman, The Cambodian, The Mongolian, Trixie Collins

Superman teaches Booster Gold a harsh lesson with his fists in Booster Gold (vol 1) #7 by Dan Jurgens, Mike DeCarlo, Gene D’Angelo, Augustin Mas, and Alan Gold. Captain Atom gets sucker-stabbed by the Cambodian while he’s chatting up Plastique in Captain Atom (DC, vol 1) #7 by Cary Bates, Pat Broderick, Bob Smith, Carl Gafford, Duncan Andrews, and Dennis O’Neil. And Roy and Jay are there to talk about it!

Music
Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Battle Without Honor or Humanity – Tomoyasu Hotei

Direct Link.

Also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Check out our tumblr for images from these issues.

Silver and Gold Episode 11: The Wreck of X-44

Tags

Captain Atom, Joe Gill, Silver & Gold, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

This Throwback Thursday, Vance and Jay discuss “The Wreck of X-44” from Space Adventures #36 by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko. We also touch on DC Universe: Rebirth and the possibility that Captain Atom might be God.

Music
Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Flying for Me – John Denver

Direct Link.

Also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Check out our Tumblr for images from this issue.

Silver and Gold Episode 03: Captain Atom… A True American Hero?

Tags

Batman, Blue Beetle, Bob Smith, Brian Mulroney, Captain Atom, Cary Bates, Dr. Megala, Firestorm, General Eiling, Jeffrey "Goz" Goslin, John Costanza, Martin Allard, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Ronald Reagan, Superman

In this episode of Silver & Gold, we discuss what I like to call “Captain Atom versus the French Canadian Separatists.” After a brief discussion about Captain Atom’s junk, we review Captain Atom (vol 1, DC) #2 by Cary Bates, Pat Broderick, Bob Smith, Carl Gafford, and John Costanza.

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

Music

Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Silver Threads and Golden Needles – The Springfields

Download this episode now on iTunes!

Direct Link.

Check out our tumblr page for images from this episode.

 

Captain Atom #12 (February 1988)

Tags

Augustin Mas, Bob Smith, Captain Atom, Cary Bates, Dr. Megala, General Eiling, Greg Weisman, Major Force, Martin Allard, Modern Age Captain Atom, Nansi Hoolahan, Pat Broderick, Randall Eiling/Randy Adam

“Sweet Dreams Major Force”

• Writers: Cary Bates & Greg Weisman
• Pencils:  Pat Broderick
• Inks:  Bob Smith
• Colors:  Nansi Hoolahan
• Letters:  Agustin Mas

What do you do when you create a super-hero so powerful he could give the God-like Superman a run for his money?  Who can you pit such a character against?  You can’t have him butting heads with other super-heroes all the time, can you?  No.  You create an all-new super-villain with comparable powers as a foil.  But first you try to pass him off as a super-hero.  And hope he never stuffs anyone’s dead girlfriend into a refrigerator.

It was November 3, 1987 that this issue was published (cover dated February 1988).  Captain Atom was no longer a freshman in the DC Universe.  It was the 38th appearance of the character since his reboot a year prior.  He’d made a name for himself in the pages of his own book and had played an essential role in Millennium.  Time for the Captain to face a new and deadly foe…

But not yet.  That’s still to come in Captain Atom Annual #1.  This issue is merely paving the way.

It begins in a lab.  A creature, referred to as “the Major,” is being monitored by General Eiling and Dr. Megala.  His temperature is 214 degrees Celsius and his weight is 505.46 pounds.  He is some distance away, being tracked from afar in a mobile lab.  Dr. Megala indicates that the Major is journeying through the quantum field, just as Nathaniel Adam did.  Nate’s arrival a year before was unexpected.  The Major, it seems, was expected.  The gear tracking him is all underground.  Eiling indicates that they are, indeed, prepared for “Major Force,” thanks to data they collected from Captain Atom’s trip through the quantum field.

Major Force materializes underground in the same molten stage Nate was in when he arrived.  Eiling wastes no time and hits the Major with Delta-9 gas, instantly incapacitating the Major.  Allard operates a winch to pull the Major to the surface.  He awakens just as they are lowering him into a truck, where he is hit with more gas and knocked out again.  Eiling showers Allard with praise, saying he knew he was the right man for the job.  It seems odd at first, but makes sense later on.

Allard’s mind wanders to a time when he was a child.  He was hiding in a closet in his home.  He opens the door slightly, obviously frightened.  All he can hear are “her” screams.

This scene parallels a memory Nate is having at the same time.  A young boy hiding in a closet; hiding from his father.  This young boy, though, is Randy Adam.  He is not hiding in fear.  He is playing hide-and-seek with his father, whom he calls “the greatest.”  This is the memory Nate’s mind is wandering over as he is being transported via helicopter to the Arctic headquarters of “Project Majestic.”

Nate (still using the name “Cameron Scott”) is paying a visit to his son Randy (aka Randall Eiling).  He hasn’t yet seen his son since he emerged from the quantum field with super powers.  He’s reconnected with his daughter Peggy but Randy considers his birth father a traitor and murderer.  As soon as he touches down and gets into the facility, he and his pilot see rushing soldiers and red flashing lights.  There is some kind of trouble in the field, where Randy currently is.

Back at Project Captain Atom, Lieutenant Allard, General Eiling, and Dr. Megala are overseeing the Major’s preparations.  While he is still in his “molten” stage, they are having microphones and cameras implanted within the Major’s (soon-to-be) metal skin.  He also has 63 Delta-9 micro-gas pellets implanted in his brow so he can be easily subdued.  Eiling isn’t taking any chances with this character.  He doesn’t want another Nate, disobeying orders left and right while being insubordinate.  He is also being implanted with an explosive in his neck, so that if becomes too unstable or dangerous they can literally blow his head off. Megala clearly doesn’t like it.  Allard clearly agrees with Eiling that the Major needs to remain under their constant control but still looks angry as he observes the operation.

Back at Project Majestic, the control room is abuzz.  They are tracking an unknown object and see that the Russians are tracking the same object.  Three Soviet tanks are headed for the object and it appears they will reach it before the Majestic team will.  Visibility in the blizzard outside is near zero.  When Nate’s pilot turns to address him, he discovers that Captain Scott has left the room.

Nate is out in the snow.  He “knows” someone who can help Randall Eilings team… the “silver guy.”  Randy, aboard a snow crawler called a “Locus,” determines that the object is broadcasting an energy signal into the sky at regular intervals.  It is clearly sending a signal to someone or something.  They find the object, which appears to be a small red probe of some kind.  It appears to be extra-terrestrial.

Captain Atom appears overhead, but doesn’t take any action at first.  He observes the American soldiers exiting their Locus and approaching the probe.  They are unaware that they are also being watched by a Soviet tank crew.  Eiling’s team does eventually spot the tank, but Eiling continues toward the probe.  Captain Atom admires his son’s “stones.”  Cap knows that the Soviets in general would want to avoid a confrontation, but the tank crew might not be so level-headed.  Also wary of starting an international incident, Cap burrows under the ice so he won’t be seen.  Cap melts the ice under the now two tanks on the scene and they sink.  One of the tank commanders calls for air support.

The probe has stopped broadcasting.  Eiling’s team have collected it and are hurrying toward the Locus when the Soviet plane arrives.  Their orders are simple.  If “Mother Russia” can’t have the probe, then no one can.  They open fire on the Majestic men, but Captain Atom absorbs the blast, hidden by cloud cover and the blizzard.  Randy thinks he sees something in the sky as he closes the hatch on the Locus.  The plane makes another pass, ready to fire its four remaining missiles.  Nate is seriously ticked off.  He does the “eye flare” thing as he retaliates.

Captain Atom blasts the plane, destroying it.  The pilot appears to be killed.  Super-heroes aren’t supposed to kill people, even Soviet soldiers.  What’s that about?  Superman wouldn’t have killed the pilot.

Back at Project Majestic’s base, Randy is clearly not impressed by Nate’s presence.  He refers to his father as “Captain Scott,” and shows him the respect he would to any officer that outranks him (Randy is a lieutenant).  Nate asks his son to not stand on ceremony with him as he is Randy’s father.  “Depends on your point of view, sir,” replies Randy.

Before walking out on Nate, Randy agrees to pass judgement on his father until Nate has a chance to “prove [his] side of things.”  But he also clearly has no interest in maintaining any sort of relationship with his father.  Randy is truly “General Eiling’s Man.”

The story then cuts back to Allard’s childhood memory.  He emerges from the darkened closet, terrified.  His mother has stopped screaming, but the “big man” is making sounds.  He watches in horror as the “big man” chokes his mother to death.  He doesn’t understand what he is seeing, but it will never go away.

The nightmare never ended for Allard.  The man who killed his mother was Clifford Zmeck, a former supply sergeant for the 601st Airborne, U.S. Air Force.  He was convicted of the rape and murder of Elaine Allard in 1969, sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole.  After the apparent death of Nathaniel Adam, a new test subject was needed.  Zmeck was not a volunteer like Nate.  Almost a year to the day, the experiment that gave Nate his powers was recreated with Zmeck. 200% more alien alloy was used on Zmeck but the result was the same.  He appeared to be killed.

Of course, he was transported to the future just like Nate.  And in the lab, as Zmeck’s body lays prone in the next room, General Eiling confronts Lieutenant Allard.  He tells Allard he has read Allard’s file.  He knows Martin’s motivation for being involved in the Captain Atom/Major Force Projects.  He says he understands why Allard’s finger is hovering over the button that will detonate the charge in the Major’s neck, and wouldn’t blame Allard if he did it.

General Eiling refers to Martin Allard as “the true son of my heart.”  He has a proposition for Allard.  Whether Martin accepts or not, Eiling promises him that when the time comes, Allard will be the one who ends Major Force’s life.

To be continued in Captain Atom Annual #1.

This was an important issue.  Nate finally comes face-to-face with his estranged son.  Major Force emerges from the quantum field.  We get Allard’s back story.  It is great except for one thing.  The violent imagery doesn’t seem entirely necessary.  Did we really have to see Zmeck kill Allard’s mom?  I don’t argue that the image was powerful, and it did leave an impression on my fifteen-year-old mind when I saw it.  I just think maybe Broderick could have cut the panel short at Zmeck’s wrists.  And what’s with Cap killing that Russian pilot?  I know he was trying to kill Randy, but there were dozens of ways Nate could have subdued the pilot without killing him.  This issue was just so violent.  I give the story a C but Broderick’s art an A.  I mean, violent or not, unnecessary or not, that was a mighty powerful image.

Captain Atom #8 (October 1987)

Tags

Babylon, Bob Smith, Captain Atom, Carl Gafford, Cary Bates, Dr. Megala, Duncan Andrews, General Eiling, Jeffrey "Goz" Goslin, Margaret Eiling/Peggy Adam, Modern Age Captain Atom, Pat Broderick, Plastique, Randall Eiling/Randy Adam, Ronald Reagan, The Cambodian

“Live or Let Die?”

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

The first thing to strike me about this book is the cover.  It is an homage to Michelangelo’s Pietà sculpture housed in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.  The statue depicts Mary holding Jesus after he has been crucified.  In this case it is Plastique holding Captain Atom after he has been cut open by the Cambodian.  This touches on a running theme with this incarnation of Captain Atom; he was raised Catholic.  That really comes in to play heavily about thirty issues down the line.  We’ll get there.

As this is a continuation from Captain Atom #7, we are treated with a quick refresher.  Cap is passed out after releasing a bunch of energy from his cut.  Plastique is standing over him, contemplating killing him.

Plastique refers to Captain Atom as the only man who has bested her in a fight.  Is she forgetting Firestorm?  Or does he not count because Ronnie Raymond is a teenager?  Probably she just has a very selective memory.

As she stands over Cap, savoring this moment when she will kill him, a group of armed Cambodians in red shirts and caps emerge from the jungle and approach the Samurai.  He comes to and orders his men to kill Plastique and Captain Atom.  They open fire, but Plastique quickly picks up Cap’s unconscious body and uses him as a shield.

Plastique kills the soldiers with her pink energy blast but the Cambodian is protected by his X-Ionized shield and armor.  She uses her blasts to topple a tree on top of the Cambodian, the picks up Captain Atom’s inert body and carries him deeper into the jungle.

Meanwhile, in General Eiling’s office, he and his stepson Randall are playing chess.  Randy wins just as his tearful sister Peggy bursts in and throws her jacket at the board.  She is upset that Randy and the General don’t care that Captain Scott (aka her father Nathaniel Adam) hasn’t been heard from.  Eiling tries to calm her, but she knows neither the General nor her brother give a damn about Nate.  Randy catches her in the hallway after she storms out and hands her a transcript of Nate’s trial.  He wants her to read it cover-to-cover to find out “exactly what kind of man Nathaniel Adam really was.”

Now, I may be reading too much into this, but Randy’s use of the word “was” seems to indicate – on some level – that he may think his father isn’t the criminal he always believed he was.  Like a part of him desperately wants to believe Nate has or can redeem himself.  I’m probably stretching here.  I really want to like Randy but Cary Bates isn’t making it easy.

Back in Cambodia, every time Plastique stops to rest she notices that Captain Atom’s condition seems to have worsened.  He’s feverish and his wound appears to be bubbling with what looks like lava.  She has no idea what to do for him.  Why does she care?  Perhaps she sees him as her only way out of the jungle.

She finds shelter in a cave just in time to miss a downpour.  She doesn’t think Captain Atom will live through the night.  She watches him sleep, wondering if there is anything she can do about his wound.  She finally decides to attempt using her own powers and cauterize the cut and burn away any infected tissue.  She does so, causing Captain Atom to sit up and scream in pain and revert to his human appearance.

Plastique recognizes Cameron Scott, but already suspected he was Captain Atom.  As he lays there, curled in the fetal position and naked, Plastique approaches him with her right hand charging with power.  She hates both Cameron Scott and Captain Atom.  Now would be a prime time to kill him, in his weakened human form.  She flashes back to a time after her last encounter with Cap.

She was being transferred from Belle Reve Prison in Louisiana to a maximum security prison in Ontario.  The transport was ambushed and Plastique was freed by her comrades, who then dissolve their relationship with her.  That is why she put her terrorist skills on the open market and how she came to be in Cambodia.

Nate awakens the next day, surprised to find himself with Plastique.  He is equally shocked when he realizes he is naked and that she knows his secret identity.  She outfits him with a stolen Cambodian uniform and they begin trekking through the jungle.  She explains that she kept him alive because she knows he is an expert on the Cambodian terrain (she learned this when watching his group and reading their lips).  As they hike along, Nate tells her she knows what he must do once he is strong enough to transform again.  While she doesn’t admire his directness, she is glad she kept him alive.  They make good time.

As they climb the Dangrek Mountains, Nate tells her they’ll be in Thailand soon.  Plastique then decides she will kill him.  But she loses her footing and slips, nearly falling over a cliff.  Nate catches her by the wrist and hangs on, halting her fall.  He can’t keep hold of her without transforming and she warns him this might rip open his wound.

Disregarding the consequences, he transforms and lifts her up.  The wound didn’t open.  Captain Atom says, apart from a little numbness, he feels fine.  He seems to be able to heal at a rapid rate (New power!).  Plastique decides it would not be prudent to kill him now, but will wait until they are out of Cambodia.  They continue hiking (But why?  Can’t he just fly them out now?).

Just as Plastique is preparing to attack, Captain Atom sees something behind her and pushes her to safety. It is the Samurai (the Cambodian), who narrowly misses taking Plastique’s head off.  Cap dropkicks him, but he regains his balance using his sword and amazing reflexes.  The Cambodian smacks Cap in the face with his shield.  He blasts back but the shield protects the warlord.  Plastique decides now would be a good time to head for Thailand.

Captain Atom jumps and narrowly misses being cut in half, but the Cambodian grabs his ankle and slams him to the ground, dazing Cap.  As the Cambodian prepares to slice Cap in half from the rear, Cap reaches back and blasts him in the face with two-fisted quantum fury.  The Cambodian goes down, but one of his soldiers emerges from the jungle and opens fire.  Plastique returns and takes the soldier out before he can hit Cap’s wound and reopen it.  The two hightail it to Thailand.

Back stateside, Eiling is receiving his third star from none other than President Reagan.  Babylon and Dr. Megala are in attendance as well, though they don’t seem pleased.

Megala and his assistant feel Eiling’s third star is not deserved.  Babylon notices that Randy and Peggy have ducked out of the ceremony early.

Randy is upset with his sister because she maintains her father’s innocence even after reading the transcript.  She says all it did was strengthen her belief that someone framed Nathaniel Adam.  She throws the report at her brother and storms away.

In a little Thai village, Nate meets up with Goz, who was waiting for his friend’s arrival.  Plastique blends in with the villagers, but not before Goz spots her.  Nate pretends he doesn’t see Plastique.  Goz isn’t buying this and disapproves but lets it go.  The two soldiers board a helicopter and fly away, watched by Plastique.

This was a fun (if wordy) issue.  Not a lot of action but what is there is splendid.  The Cambodian, with his X-Ionized sword and lightning-quick reflexes, is a worthy adversary for Captain Atom.  And I really like the vulnerability Cap showed (not that he had much choice; he was unconscious through most of the book).  And the stage has been set for a few interesting things to be resolved (Randy’s devotion to Eiling, Peggy’s devotion to Nate, and the uneasy alliance between Plastique and Captain Atom).  Cary Bates told a good tale and managed to make Plastique a lot less two-dimensional.  And Pat Broderick knocked it out of the park with the cover alone.  A+

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 #82 (September 1966)

Tags

Captain Atom, David Kaler, Frank McLaughlin, Jon D'Agostino, Judomaster, Nightshade, Rocke Mastroserio, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko, The Ghost

“Captain Atom Vs. the Ghost”

• Writer: David Kaler
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Rocke Mastroserio
• Letterer: Jon D’Agostino

The security of the whole free world was at stake!  Every agent of the United States was put on extra alert!  That’s how Captain Atom came to be allied with Nightshade, one of the most attractive spy smashers that our country has ever had!  Together this powerful pair find themselves confronting an almost impossible task of capturing a man who could disappear at will.  But how do you catch a ghost?

And so begins a new chapter in Captain Atom’s life.  He gains a new nemesis and a new friend in this issue.  Both of which would follow him into his new life at DC Comics twenty-one years down the road.

Captain Atom is called to the Pentagon, where he is briefed on the Ghost, a criminal that has been “causing havoc for private industry.”  They believe he will soon strike the government but don’t know where.  As “ghosts have no use for industrial secrets or classified information,” Cap suspects it is “an outer space being or a very clever man.”

Cap is informed he’ll be working with a female agent named Nightshade (that darling of darkness).  This will be her first mission.  She arrives, her black ponytail bouncing.  She wears a mini-skirt over black tights and a mask – clearly she is a super-hero – but her powers are not yet revealed.  She and Cap are given tickets to a party being held that night by “Alec Nois.”  The military believes a few of the Ghost’s agents will be there.

Meanwhile, “in another part of Washington,” the Ghost arrives in a darkened office and removes his mask.  Through flashbacks we learn his name is Alec and that he suffered hardships when he was growing up (girls didn’t like him because he was poor and boys didn’t like him because he was studious).  He built a teleportation device and used it to rob banks and the like.  His goal is “Operation Golden Ghost,” which he will execute once he has stolen the floor plans for Fort Knox.

Meanwhile, Allen Adam is readying himself for the party, thinking to himself that Nightshade will be more of a burden than on asset.  As Eve Eden (Nightshade) prepares herself for the party, she is thinking how great it will be to be teamed up with that hunky Captain Atom (1960s comic stories at their best here, folks).

Later, at the Alec Nois party, Adam is having trouble figuring out which of the guests could be the Ghost.  He is impressed by Nois’ wealth, though, wondering how Nois made his first million.  Then all heads turn to see Eve Eden arrive (she is a “jet-set” leader and a Senator’s daughter).

Alec flirts with Eve. Adam takes notice of how hot she is.  Cap doesn’t know Eve is Nightshade, Eve doesn’t know Adam is Captain Atom, and nobody suspects Alec is the Ghost.

Adam sees a waiter pass a message to a dude.  He follows the dude to another room, where he is on the phone arranging Ghost stuff.  Eve also saw the exchange and makes an excuse to break away from Alec, who also wanted to break away from Eve to do more Ghost stuff.

Eve follows the dude outside.  She changes into her Nightshade costume instantly (that must be her super power – super clothes changing).  She flips the guy and demands to know what the message said.  Just then, the Ghost materializes before her.  When she takes a swing at him, he vanishes and reappears a few feet away.  This is when Captain Atom joins the fight.  With the wave of his hand, the Ghost teleports Nightshade and Cap to another dimension.

Before long, the two are teleported back where they came from, but the Ghost is long gone.  Cap remembers overhearing the Ghost’s flunky mentioning “section 18.”  Nightshade tells him section 18 is a secret file and map room at the Pentagon.  Cap picks her up and they fly off.

The two heroes burst in on the Ghost in section 18 just as he has located the plans to Fort Knox.  He teleports the blueprints away, makes a stupid Beatles reference, and vanishes before Cap can get him.  He reappears before Nightshade and taunts her.  This goes on for a little bit.  The heroes can’t catch him.  Before he teleports out for good, he says, “I’m going to do what Goldfinger failed to do!  I’m going to steal the gold in Fort Knox!”  Man, this guy loves his pop culture references.

The two heroes return to the Nois house and change into their civvies.  Adam is shocked to learn Eve Eden is Nightshade.  Eve thinks Allen Adam is a hottie.  When Adam asks her why she does the super-hero thing, Eve dodges the question.  They return to the party.

The next morning, they make their report to their C.O.  The next morning?  What if the Ghost’s plan was to go straight from the Pentagon to Fort Knox?  Was it really necessary to return to that party and then report their findings the next day?  It was okay, though, because the Ghost didn’t act that night.

Back home, Alec “Ghost” Nois studies the blueprints.  He talks about getting a crew together for the job.

Adam and Eve (yes, I know) opt to drive to Fort Knox in their civvies, afraid their super-identities would draw too much attention (but Cap can turn invisible and really doesn’t even need Nightshade!).  They pass a suspicious truck on the road and think it might be tied in to the Ghost’s heist.

The Ghost receives word that everything is nearly in place for the heist.  He collects a “machine” that will help him with his heist, makes a Lincoln reference (sheesh), and teleports away.

Fort Knox is on high alert.  For some reason, Cap and Nightshade dropped their plans to approach stealthily.  They are in an Air Force helicopter in full costume when the Ghost arrives.  Cap jumps out and flies down.  Nightshade waits for the helicopter to land and then takes out four armed thugs in hand-to-hand combat.  So she’s a scrapper.

Inside, Cap uses is invisibility power to freak the Ghost out.  He snatches the Ghost’s machine out of his hands.  Still invisible, Cap socks the Ghost in the face and the Ghost goes down.  Figuring his teleportation power comes from his gloves, Cap sets out to remove them.  But the Ghost was only feigning unconsciousness.  He kicks Cap in the face.

As Cap is going down, he rips the glove he has clenched in his hand.  The exposed circuitry goes haywire and the Ghost is enveloped in a mass of orange energy.  Cap believes the Ghost is defeated for good, but Cap doesn’t realize he is in a comic book and nobody stays dead.

This issue also includes an article about Sumo wrestlers and a short two-page “educational” comic featuring Judomaster’s “favorite throws” by Frank McLaughlin.  Also a special announcement from Charlton that soon they will start printing fan letters in the pages of Captain Atom.

This one is pretty good.  I would have liked to have learned more about Nightshade.  When I was introduced to the character years later, she had the power to travel long distances quickly via black portals she generated and could cross dimensions.  Perhaps some of that will come into play here in the Charlton universe later on.  A solid effort by Ditko and Mastroserio; these guys make a great team.  I like the Ghost in spite of his weird references.  David Kaler told spun a fairly good yarn.  A well-done book but nothing too spectacular.  I give Captain Atom #82 a B+.

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