DC: The New Frontier #5 (September 2004)

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Ace Morgan, Captain Atom, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Stewart, Earth-21 Captain Atom, Flash, Green Arrow, Jared K. Fletcher, Martian Manhunter, New Frontier, Superman, Wonder Woman

This 2004 series, created by Darwyn Cooke, was supposedly influenced by other DC series such as Kingdom Come, The Golden Age, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight Returns.  Like The Golden Age, New Frontier takes place primarily in the 1950s, and depicts the Golden Age superheroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) meeting Silver Age characters (Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter). It was intended to bridge the gap from the end of the Golden Age to the beginning of the Silver Age in the DC Universe.

The mini-series takes place on Earth-21 in DC’s multiverse.  Captain Atom does not appear in this series and doesn’t appear to exist in this continuity.  However, in Book 5 we are introduced to Nathaniel Adam, an Air Force Captain working out of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

It seems that on Earth-21, Nate is just an Air Force career man with no super powers.

He butts heads with Green Arrow, who seems incapable of getting along with other heroes no matter what continuity he exists in.

Just when it looks like Green Arrow and Captain Adam are about to come to blows, Superman intervenes and nips that crap in the bud.

Superman gives a rousing speech about destiny and fighting oppression and persecution.

Martian Manhunter shows up, and everyone’s attitude shifts almost instantly.  Guess old John Jones has been mucking about in peoples’ heads again.

The good cheer only lasts as long as Superman is fighting.  When the monster burns him and dumps him in the sea, everyone seems to be in despair.  Could be that in his own grief, Jones let go of his grip on their minds.

Captain Adam shows up in the pages if the next and final issue, but is more of a background character.  This particular issue contained his meatiest role.  He never does gain any super powers, but fights alongside the superheroes anyway.  Of course, Superman is not dead and in the next issue the heroes win and everyone lives (more or less) happily ever after.

DC: The New Frontier #5 was written, pencilled, and inked by Darwyn Cooke.  Colors were by Dave Stewart with letters by Jared K. Fletcher.

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Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes (June 2010)

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Adam Hughes, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Dr. Fate, Elongated Man, Fire, Flash, Gene D'Angelo, Ice, Josef Rubinstein, Martian Manhunter, Modern Age Captain Atom

I like Adam Hughes.  He’s one of the better artists to have worked on Justice League America.  He has an eye for bodies, particularly female bodies.  I liked his take on Captain Atom.  But, the cover of Justice League America #31 always bugged me.  And it is for a nitpicky little reason.  See, Captain Atom is on the cover.  But Cap isn’t in the book.  Now, he is part of the overall story arc, “The Teasdale Imperative,” but he wasn’t part of this issue, which is part one.  The cover was inked by Josef Rubinstein and colored by Gene D’Angelo. It was one of the many covers included in Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes.

On a semi-related note, Splitting Atoms is one year old today.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #21 (June 4, 2013)

Tags

Alejandro Sanchez, Batman, Black Lightning, Captain Atom, Catwoman, Cyborg, David Lopez, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Huntress, Injustice Captain Atom, Lex Luthor, Mico Suayan, Neil Googe, Robin, Santi Casas of Ikari Studio, Shazam, Superman, Tom Taylor, Wes Abbott, Wonder Woman

>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS<<<<<<<<<
(You’ve been warned)

“Chapter Twenty-One”

• Writer: Tom Taylor
• Artist: Neil Googe
• Colors: Alejandro Sanchez
• Letters: Wes Abbott
• Cover Artist: Mico Suayan, David Lopez, and Santi Casas of Ikari Studio

Captain Atom’s role in this amounts to a cameo.

The story opens with Hawkgirl in a foreign country capturing a dictator while he is riding in a convertible.  She swoops down and snatches him right out of his seat.  A short distance away, Batman and Catwoman are watching.  Via headset mic, Batman orders Captain Atom into action.  Cap swoops in and snatches the dictator out of Hawkgirl’s hands.

Hawkgirl is then shot out of the sky by Black Lightning and knocked out cold by Huntress.

In Mogadishu, Wonder Woman takes out a despotic general, killing him.  When one of the women witnessing this tells her another man will replace him and it will never stop, Wonder Woman forces the soldiers to drop their weapons and the women to pick them up.  She vows to return, telling them she will not leave them to this life, and that what happens now is up to them.  As she flies away, the women open fire on the now-unarmed soldiers.

She rejoins Flash, Green Lantern, Robin, Superman, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Shazam, and Lex Luthor up in the Watchtower (Luthor was recovered from the wreckage of Metropolis in Injustice: Gods Among Us #20.  He had been secreted to a secret bunker by a female speedster who was killed with the rest of the city.).  When Flash tells her Captain Atom took Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman suspects the U.S. Military.  Luthor says it was Batman, and he knows so because Batman wasn’t spotted at the scene.  He warns Superman that he needs more people and he knows how to get them.

In the Batcave, Batman tells Catwoman he only needs Hawkgirl for one week (Hawkgirl is in a holding cell in the cave).  When Catwoman warns that the Justice League will come looking for her, he assures her they won’t.  Back up in the Watchtower, just as Flash is barking at Luthor that they have to find her, Hawkgirl appears in the Watchtower.  Batman tells Catwoman her team-mates won’t even be looking for her.

I’m still majorly digging this story and jonesing to play this game.  No new video games are in my budget for now, sadly.  While I prefer Jeremy Raapack’s art over Neil Googe, Googe is good.  But Tom Taylor has me on the edge of my seat!  Injustice: Gods Among Us #21 is an A.