Silver and Gold Episode 08: The Little Wanderer

Tags

Captain Atom, Gunner, Joe Gill, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

It is Throwback Thursday again with FKAjason and Vance discussing “The Little Wanderer,” a story by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko that first appeared in Space Adventures #35 (1960, Charlton Comics). Captain Atom helps (sort of) his friend Gunner and his narcoleptic son. Cap flies around, blasts space birds, and generally confounds the readers with questions like, “Why?” or “How?” and “Did somebody say donuts?”

 

Music
Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Speak to Me/Breath – Pink Floyd
The Wanderer – Dion

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Silver and Gold Episode 04: Introducing Captain Atom

Tags

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

Wait, haven’t we already introduced Captain Atom. Well, yes and no. Call this episode of SNGPOD our “throwback Thursday” episode. I have a special guest on and we talk about the origin of the “original” Silver Age Captain Atom from Space Adventures #33. The story (written by Joe Gill with art by the legendary Steve Ditko) is titled “Introducing Captain Atom,” and it, well, introduces Captain Atom.

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

Music
Heart of Gold – The Roy Clark Method
Silver – Echo and the Bunnymen

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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.

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 #84 (January 1967)

Tags

Abby Ladd, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Captain Atom, David Kaler, Gunner, Herb Field, Iron Arms, Professor Koste, Rocke Mastroserio, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

“After the Fall, a New Beginning”

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

Picking up where Captain Atom#83 left off, Professor Koste takes Cap to his secret mountain lair.  Restraining Captain Atom, Koste breaks into worldwide television signals and unmasks the hero on air.  Koste demands a ten million dollar ransom for Cap, whom he does not recognize as Allen Adam because of Cap’s white hair.

The public is split on the issue, with some saying Cap isn’t worth the ten million dollars worth of gold that Koste has demanded.  The government decides to pay, though, saying that “project rebirth” is worth the cost.  The folks running Project Rebirth say the “formula” is ready and they are just waiting for “his return.”  Jesus?  No, most likely Captain Atom, whom Koste has locked in a cell he can’t escape without his powers.

Cap discovers that some of his power has returned.  He is super-strong again, so he throws open the cell door.  He fiddles with the lock so his captors will think he picked it and is still powerless, and takes off down a corridor.  He doesn’t get far before he is set upon by Iron Arms, a bald dude with “power-pack generated arms.”

Cap plays weak and Iron Arms returns him to his captors.  Iron Arms refers to Cap as “the famous Captain A.” This, coupled with the public’s reaction to Cap being unmasked, seems to clear up once and for all the question of Cap’s anonymity.  Clearly he is a public super-hero.

Koste locks Cap in a cage suspended over a pit before leaving with Iron Arms.  Cap escapes down the pit to the water below.  He swims through the underground waterway and surfaces at a nearby lake.  Returning to his base, an airman (Gunner?  hard to tell) informs him the ransom has been paid.

Frustrated, Captain Atom flies off to intercept the payment, but Koste has already collected.  He is planning to destroy the remotely-operated helicopter that delivered the money.  Koste learns that Cap has escaped and figures he’s dead at the bottom of the pit.  They see him approach the helicopter on a monitor and detonate the chopper when he gets close.  Koste and Iron Arms realize that Cap has his powers and knows where they are and will come for the ransom gold.  They plan to use it to buy equipment to make more power packs like the one Iron Arms sports.

Back at the base, Cap is accosted by Abby Ladd, a reporter with a Washington newspaper.  Cap tells Gunner he has no time for reporters and Abby gives the Captain a tongue-lashing.  Basically she calls him out for being a big heap of failure.

Atom and Gunner head into a lab where they’ve been working on a liquid metal formula.  Cap hopes that by using it he can lead a normal life (“I can go to the beach and not be a menace to everyone there,” he thinks).  Gunner says it will be sprayed on to Cap’s body, is invisible, and absolutely radiation-proof.  Captain Allen Adam strips to his undies and gets sprayed.  The metal (which they just said was invisible) comes in different colors, specified by Adam.  They even spray his logo on his chest.

Heaps of time pass and there is no change in his radiation output.  Adam figures it is just another failure, and with his dwindling powers and bad public image, he figures he’s done being Captain Atom.  Abby shows up and reminds him of what a failure he is.  Cap decides that, failure or not, he’s still obligated to bring Koste and Iron Arms to justice.  When he grabs his old uniform and begins to make the change into Captain Atom, he finds that his new uniform emerges on his body.  The power he expended to change is what finally charged up the new suit.
He discovers he emits no radiation, even when he switches back to his “regular” clothes.  He kisses Abby for prompting him to make the change, which angers her even more.  This lady really hates Captain Atom.  Cap then heads back to Koste’s secret base.

The idiots are still there.  Captain Atom starts socking bad guys left and right.  He knocks Iron Arms down with one punch.  Koste uses a special power-draining weapon in Cap, who destroys it but as a result suffers a great loss of power.  Iron Arms takes advantage of this and begins pummeling Cap with his iron arms.  The two fight to a near standstill before Cap, severely weakened, gets in one last good punch that puts Iron Arms down for good.

With all the baddies out cold (Koste was knocked out when Cap took out his power draining machine), Atom radios the base to send an extraction team.  He disarms Iron Arms.

Adam finds that the public has more or less forgiven his failures after he brought in Koste and Iron Arms.  Abby Ladd, seen at some swanky function, is still pissed off at the good Captain for all his failures and stealing a kiss from her.  She says that Captain Adam, at the same function, is “a much better man” than Captain Atom.

This issue also features the “Captain’s Column” letter page (mostly folks gushing over the new Blue Beetle) and a Blue Beetle backup story by Dick Giordano, Steve Ditko, and Gary Friedrich but I won’t be reviewing it for this Captain Atom blog.

Captain Atom #84 is great.  One of my favorites.  Finally Cap is feeling more like a legitimate super-hero rather than a super-powered spy.  The costume is colorful and nice, but I think I preferred the original yellow one with the cowl.  This issue was well-written (if you overlook Abby’s truly puzzling hatred for Cap [she’s like Captain Atom’s own personal J. Jonah Jameson] and the ridiculously-named “Iron Arms”) and beautifully drawn to boot.  It looks like Ditko and Mastroserio poured a lot of love into this one.  I give it an A.

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

Captain Atom #83 (November 1966)

Tags

Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, David Kaler, Gunner, Iron Arms, Professor Koste, Rocke Mastroserio, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

“Finally Falls the Mighty”

• Scripted:  David Kaler
• Plot & Pencils:  Steve Ditko
• Inks:  Rocke Mastroserio

Captain Adam and Gunner are at an exhibit of Air Force technology.  Also in attendance is Professor Koste, a man that Adam had dismissed as a security risk.  Koste uses what looks like a red iPhone to summon a bunch of green-clad thugs, who come crashing into the exhibit.  Before they have a chance to cause any real trouble, Captain Atom appears to put a stop to their shenanigans.

*

The civilians watching the fight recognize Captain Atom.  He rescues a group of them when one of the thugs shoots down a rocket display.

*

The thugs run off and Captain Atom realizes he has a rip in his costume.  He has Gunner move the adoring crowd away.  They notice he is glowing.  One particularly forward-thinking reporter snaps a picture of Cap’s glowing armpit.  Meanwhile, Professor Koste takes advantage of the distraction to steal some equipment.

*

Captain Atom flies back to the base to get a spare uniform (maybe the blue one from Space Adventures #33).  His costume is blue in the story that makes the papers immediately; headlines read, “HERO IS RADIOACTIVE MENACE: Air Force Super-Hero is a Threat to the Public.”  Word spreads fast and soon Captain Atom is taking a call from the president (Lyndon Johnson).  He’s concerned about the Air Force’s public image.  Oh, and the spare uniform is yellow.  Captain Atom flies off to meet with Professor Max Lipat, an old co-worker of Koste’s.

*

Koste meets up with Lipat ahead of Captain Atom.  Leaving Lipat under guard, Koste disguises himself as Lipat to gain access to a nearby Air Force base and top secret project.  Before meeting with “Lipat,” Captain Atom inspects the base’s reactor.  Koste sabotages the reactor, the meltdown of which will “blow the whole state off the Earth.”

*

Just getting to the reactor weakens Cap.  When he arrives, he attempts to absorb the excess radiation and convert it into a harmless state.  Cap pushes his body to the limit trying to convert the radiation.  He passes out just as the reactor shuts down.  Koste calls his men to the base.

*

When Cap awakens and finds Koste and his men on the base, he springs to action.  He finds his powers have diminished.  He can’t pass through a wall.  He barely manages to pull himself out of a wall when he is set upon by a group of Koste’s men.  Even without his super-strength, he manages to hold his own – at first.  The bad guys have numbers on their side and they knock Cap out cold.  Koste orders them to take Cap to his hovercraft.

*

Meanwhile, miles away, a strange man with metal arms is demonstrating his power and vowing to make a trip to visit Koste.

*

So, Captain Atom is finally defeated.  And a new villain (or hero) is on the horizon.  This is the first time a Captain Atom story was “to be continued.”  It didn’t really have to be, though.  Not a lot happened in this issue.  The big changes happen in Captain Atom #84.

*

I give this one a C+.  It is all just setting up the next issue.  The big deal with this issue is the back-up story, Steve Ditko and Gary Friedrich’s re-imagining of the Blue Beetle.  This is the first appearance of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, later a property of DC Comics (just like Captain Atom and Nightshade).

*

Also this is the first issue of Captain Atom to feature fan letters.  Most of them applauded Captain Atom #82 and Nightshade, but not everyone was happy.  To the right is evidence of the early stages in the evolution of The Internet Troll.

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

Captain Atom #81 (July 1966)

Tags

Captain Atom, Doctor Spectro, Gunner, Joe Gill, Rocke Mastroserio, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

“The Five Faces of Doctor Spectro”

• Writer:  Joe Gill
• Pencils:  Steve Ditko
• Inks:  Rocke Mastroserio

The story opens “somewhere on the outskirts of a major city.”  Captain Adam and Gunner are sifting through the equipment left behind by Doctor Spectro.  Cap hopes to find something that will benefit man, as Spectro had been working on a new way to fight diseases before he became a side-show performer and later criminal.  After feeling the effects of Spectro’s light beams, Cap is convinced the doctor was on to something.

Meanwhile, the disembodied spirit of Doctor Spectro positions itself just right in the atmosphere and is hit by five simultaneous bolts of lighting.  The result is the birth of five mini-Spectros, each sporting a different colored costume.  They quickly learn that each one of them has a single light power.  The tiny Spectros begin collecting satellites and space junk to form a secret orbital headquarters.

Back on the surface, Captain Atom is beating down some neo-Nazis who want to rule the world.  Afterwards, while on a coffee-and-doughnut break (no kidding), Adam gets a call from his bosses.  There have been reports of “little men” raiding defense stations and stealing valuable equipment.  The little men fit Cap’s description of Doctor Spectro.  Adam puts the coffee and doughnuts down and flies back to the base to check in with Gunner.

I love the way Steve Ditko draws Captain Atom flying.  The movement of his body is very Spider-Man-esque.  Ditko has a talent for drawing people doing these fantastic things but making it look natural.

A nearby radio operator informs Cap and Gunner that the imps were spotted at the science center at Cape May.  I’m guessing this is Cape May, New Jersey.  Wherever it is, Cap wings it there in a hurry.  The mini Spectros are in a lab looking for a safe, which they find hidden within a desk.  Red Spectro heats up the door of the metal safe with his red beam after which Blue Spectro freezes it with his blue beam, making the door brittle, and it crumbles away.  They are carrying off a box marked “SECRET DANGER” when Captain Atom bursts in.

The two Spectros combine their heat and ice powers, which knocks out Cap.  They grab the box and run off.  When Cap comes to, he realizes the two Spectros were aspects of the original man.

The next night, the Green, Yellow, and Purple Spectros leave the space station on a foraging mission.  They hope to encounter Captain Atom to give him a taste of their powers.  While the other two are foraging (on a military base maybe?) the Purple Spectro stands watch at the gate.  He is approached by a little girl on crutches who mistakes him for a magical elf.  Purple Spectro pities the girl and uses his power (an  orange beam?) to heal her.  He echoes what Captain Atom said earlier about his powers being used to heal the sick.  He says he is still an enemy of mankind “because of the rest of me.”

Inside, Captain Atom shows up to take down the Green and Yellow Spectros.  They also shoot orange beams, which incapacitate the “man of molecular mastery.”

Captain Atom isn’t out for long.  He puts up a shield to protect himself from the radiation Spectro is flinging about (but, earlier issues established Cap could withstand this sort of attack… here he says that without the shield he would melt).  Yellow and Green lead Cap outside where they will outnumber him 3 to 1.

Outside, Purple Spectro is worried his cohorts will use the little girl (Kathy) as a hostage.  He leads her away to safety and then takes on Captain Atom.  His inner monologue indicates he wants to merge all the Spectros back into one with Purple in control.  He uses his beam (now blue) on Cap, which takes away the hero’s anger temporarily, making him not want to fight.  Purple Spectro escapes (presumably with Yellow and Green close behind).

Once Cap breaks the “spell” Purple Spectro put on him, he talks to Kathy.  She tells him how the dwarf cured her.  Cap realizes there is some good in Spectro, but he still has to take the evil genius down.

After taking Kathy home, Cap’s commanding officer tells him to put the Spectro case on hold.  Turns out several satellites have stopped operating and he needs Captain Atom to investigate.

Up in the space station, the Spectros have constructed a machine that should merge them back into one.  The other Spectros look forward to fighting Captain Atom once they are whole, but the Purple Spectro is hoping that his “evil side will vanish like Hyde did.”

Back on the surface, Kathy’s parents are having her checked out by a doctor.  The doctor says he has reconstructed Spectro’s machine but doesn’t know how to make it work.

In the upper atmosphere, Captain Atom comes across an unusual cloud formation.  He finds it is concealing Spectro’s space station.  The Spectros spot him before he spots them.  Yellow wants to use his heat beam (so the Spectros do each have multiple beams).  Purple convinces him to use his anger beam while Purple uses his happiness beam to confuse Cap.  When they strike, Captain Atom sees it coming and erects a screen (an emotion screen? New power!).

Cap punches Red and Yellow out.  The remaining Spectros overpower him and knock him to the ground.  Purple hits him with a sickness beam hoping Cap will pass out from the pain.  The Purple Spectro (mis-colored orange in the panel to the right) believes that once they are merged together, he can turn himself over to Cap and begin working on his theories and help people.

Captain Atom breaks free but is overpowered by the imps.  Purple Spectro manages to knock Cap out cold.  While he is out, the Spectros activate their machine and begin to merge together.  Cap awakens and tries to stop the machine by hurling a fireball at it (new power!)  The fireball actually seems to help the process and the one true Doctor Spectro is flung from the resulting explosion.

Cap turns Spectro over to the police, but it seems there is a lingering effect of the whole fiasco.  Doctor Spectro appears to have five separate personalities and doesn’t seem to realize he has been reformed into one person.

This issue also includes a short comic about UFOs and one about jiu jitsu as well as a strange editorial article entitled “The Strong Man.”  It is nice to see Captain Atom doing traditional super-hero stuff and fighting a recurring villain.  Doctor Spectro would be seen only one more time, in Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 before the character was revised in the 1987 Captain Atom series.  The art in this issue is beautiful, Ditko was a master.  The story was pretty good if hoaky in places.  Definitely an A.  I love Captain Adam relaxing over coffee and doughnuts.

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

Note:  Throughout this review, I have used the words “dwarf” and “imp” and the like.  I realize, as a fairly well-educated 21st century man, that these terms can be offensive to little people.  I only used them in the context that this comic book from 1966 used them.  I do not condone the use of the words, which some may find offensive.  They are used to point out how preposterous comic book dialogue could be (and sometimes still is).  I am a firm believer in equal rights and suggest all Splitting Atoms readers check out the Coalition for Dwarf Advocacy, a non-profit charity formed in 2006 to advocate for the full rights and benefits of individuals with short stature (dwarfs), and their families within the public and private sectors of society.

Captain Atom #80 (April 1966)

Tags

Captain Atom, Gunner, Joe Gill, Rocke Mastroserio, Silver Age Captain Atom, Steve Ditko

“Death Knell of the World!”

• Writer: Joe Gill
• Pencils: Steve Ditko
• Inks: Rocke Mastroserio

“What happens ‘when worlds collide?’  It looked like all of the people of Earth would soon know, for a mysterious planetoid from the interstellar regions beyond our solar system was bearing down on Earth… on a collision course.  Captain Adam, U.S. Air Force knew that the planetoid must be stopped… or a world would die!  He also knew that one man could possibly hope to save Earth from a horrible fate… Captain Atom, atom-powered super being.  But the task seemed impossible even for Captain Atom’s awesome powers…”

And with that, the bar is set pretty high with Captain Atom #80.
This story opens with a space capsule returning to Earth but something has gone wrong.  The fuel system is jammed and the astronaut is trapped in orbit.  Back in the control room on Earth, the crew is panicking.  One of them is, of course, Captain Adam.  He leaves the control room and transforms into Captain Atom.

Cap quickly flies up to the failing spacecraft.  The control room folks urge the astronaut to “give her one more try.”  Cap grabs the ship and steadies it.  The ground crew cheer and the astronaut is left thinking he saw something out the window.  So Cap is still working in secret?  Didn’t the last issue establish him as a well-known hero?  Why is he still keeping a low profile?

Upon landing back at Cape Kennedy, Gunner tells Adam that General “Eining” is looking for him.  This is a character we’ve not yet seen but it is probably no accident that in the 1980s Captain Atom series for DC, there is a very prominent character named General “Eiling.”

The general tells Adam that the president wants an account of how he became Captain Atom.  So what do we get? Yet another retelling of Cap’s origin.  I guess Gill thought folks forgot it in the four months since the last retelling.  Perhaps he just had space to fill.  He does state that “the existence of Captain Atom is one of the nation’s most closely kept secrets!  Only a few of the key men are aware of the fact that America has a top-secret weapon in a man called Captain Atom.”  This really bugs me.  I realize that continuity wasn’t always a big deal in comic books of the 60s but come on!  Enough with the secret-not-secret super hero thing already.

Gunner barges in on Adam as he is dictating his report and tells him the president needs Captain Atom at the observatory at Mount Palomar. The Palomar Observatory is located in north San Diego County, California. According to their website, it is “a world-class center of astronomical research that is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology.  The observatory is home to five telescopes that are nightly used for a wide variety of astronomical research programs.”

It takes Cap six minutes to fly from Florida to San Diego, where he meets up with a scientist fellow.  The scientist has Adam look through a telescope, where he sees a rogue moon out past Pluto that will crash into Earth in exactly two days.  Seconds later, Captain Atom is in outer space, flying towards the rogue moon.  His plan is to land on the surface and detonate himself like an atomic warhead.  However, he quickly learns that the moon is artificial.  Within it is a “vast alien civilization.”

The first person Cap comes upon – humanoid in appearance – is Celest.  Cap quickly says he means no harm, but Celest’s bodyguard – an elderly fellow named Valdar – runs to her aid brandishing some sort of gun.  Captain Atom becomes cocky and quite rude, calling Valdar “Santa Claus” before disintegrating his gun.  He asks to see their leader, who happens to walk into the room at that moment, and he is Celest’s father.

The leader is Drako, and is well aware that his world is going to collide with Earth, but tells Cap they don’t have the power to stop it.  Atom says he’ll use his own power, but Drako warns that “the pressure of stopping our world, or even shifting its course, would upset the entire gravitational compensation apparatus of our manufactured planet!  In short , all of my people would be crushed to death!”

Drako says he can build a gravitational motivator but he lacks the materials to build it.  Captain Atom offers to gather the materials.  Before he sets off, Valdar warns Cap that Drako is a despot, but a capable scientist.  Valdar says the motivator will most likely work, but warns Cap not to trust the leader.

Cap sets out to gather the things Drako needs.  Meanwhile, word has gotten out on Earth about their predicament.  Gunner looks to the heavens and says Captain Atom is their only hope.

Just before Cap heads out for the final piece for Drako’s motivator, a tearful Celest stops him and warns him not to trust her father.

Once the motivator is complete, Cap steps inside to power it up.  It does stop the rogue world, resulting in parties in the streets back on Earth.  But it turns out the motivator doubles as a holding cell.  Cap can’t leave and he can’t use his full power (as it will kill the people on the rogue world).

Celest jumps into the motivator, which kills her but frees Captain Atom.  Drako is distraught over being the creator of the thing that killed his daughter.  Valdar steps in as the new leader.  Cap heads back to Earth, saying to himself, “Only if men abandon selfish personal desires and work for the common good can there be peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.”

Not bad.  Ditko and Mastroserio’s art is beautiful and we gets lots of space scenes.  The story is pretty good, but I could’ve done without the retelling of Cap’s origin.  Still, I give Captain Atom #80 an A.

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