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.

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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 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 #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.

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #20 (July 2013)

Tags

Black Bison, Dan Jurgens, Firestorm, General Eiling, Hi-Fi Design, Jason Rusch, Killer Frost, Major Force, Multiplex, Norm Rapmund, Plastique, Professor Martin Stein, Ronnie Raymond, Superman, The Hyena, Travis Lanham, Typhoon

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

“Problems Multiplied Part Three”

• Writer: Dan Jurgens
• Pencils: Dan Jurgens
• Inks: Norm Rapmund
• Colors: Hi-Fi Design
• Letters: Travis Lanham
• Cover: Dan Jurgens & Ray McCarthy

I had not intended to review this book on this blog.  It is a Captain Atom blog, and the only reason I let myself get away with this whole “Firestorm Appreciation Month” was because each of the books I reviewed featured Captain Atom.  This book, this final issue of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man, does not feature Captain Atom at all.  But it does introduce Major Force into the New 52 continuity.  And based on the fact that Force is working with General Eiling, it is a safe assumption that the New 52 Major Force is somehow tied in with the New 52 Captain Atom.  So I decided to slap this issue up on my blog after all.  I think that maybe that was Dan Jurgens’ goal all along, to trick me into reviewing his book.

Okay, probably not.

Anyway, this issue opens up at the Continuum, where Eiling is monitoring a battle between Firestorm and his rogues (Hyena, Multiplex, Killer Frost, Black Bison, Typhoon, and Plastique) on a monitor.  This is a battle continuing from The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #19.  An aide tries to tell Eiling he has a visitor but the General is far too busy.

Jason Rusch’s dad and Ronnie Raymond’s sort-of girlfriend Tonya drag Firestorm’s semi-conscious body into an alleyway (Ronnie and Jason, for the uninitiated, are the two dudes who combine to form Firestorm).  The three are attacked by Hyena (which Tonya says is a werewolf – sort of a running gag with the character).  Hyena is about to rip Alvin Rusch to shreds when a mysterious newcomer grabs his arm and throws him against a lightpost.

It is none other than Major Force.  Regular Captain Atom readers know Major Force all too well.  An anti-hero of the worst kind, the modern age Major Force was created as part of the Captain Atom project in the 1960s. Unlike his predecessor Nathaniel Adam, Clifford Zmeck (Major Force) was guilty of the crime he had been accused of.  And with his new-found powers he became even worse.  Remember Green Lantern’s girlfriend Alex?

(DC Comics can have a thousand “New 52″s and keep bringing back Major Force but they can never erase the stink of this act.  Ron Marz had Major Force murder Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend Alex and then stuff her dead body in the refrigerator. This act prompted Gail Simone to compile a list of dead female comic book characters and a corresponding web site.)

Major Force tells the now-conscious Firestorm that Eiling sent him to help.  Firestorm doesn’t trust Eiling and Mr. Rusch warns the boys to be careful what they say to the government.  Killer Frost attacks with a blast of ice.  Back at the Continuum, General Eiling’s impatient visitor punches in a thick metal door.

Major Force tells Firestorm to go see about the hostage (Ronnie’s mom) while he takes on Killer Frost, Black Bison, and Multiplex.  Down on the dock, Plastique is holding Ronnie’s mom.  As Firestorm approaches, he is body slammed by a tidal wave generated by Typhoon.  But Ronnie is super pissed and one good punch sends Typhoon flying.

At the Continuum, Eiling’s guest turns out to be Superman (who is younger and brasher in the New 52), and Professor Martin Stein.  Stein says “there are plans for Firestorm that supercede any notion of his falling under your control.”

(In the previous, Post-Crisis Pre-New-52 continuity, Martin Stein was originally the other half of Firestorm, along with Ronnie Raymond.  In this current continuity, he was the brains behind the Firestorm Protocols that gave Ronnie and Jason their powers, as well as Jason’s friend.  He was believed to be dead.)

Jason and Ronnie are formulating a plan to take down Plastique when Alvin Rusch clocks the villain from behind with a board.  Firestorm and Major Force then take out the other rogues together – except for Multiplex, who manages to skip away.  Major Force leads Firestorm to his ride, a military vehicle of some sort.  Force asks Firestorm to pose for a picture, but the “camera” turns out to be some sort of neural shocker that knocks the boys both out.

They come to (as Firestorm) at the Continuum, where Eiling, Stein, Superman and Major Force are arguing.  Stein says he came out of hiding when he learned of the military’s plans for Firestorm, and sought the help of the Justice League.  Major Force tells Superman that the two of them have no authority there.  Superman flicks Major Force in the chest, sending him flying through a wall.

Firestorm and Superman leave together, with Superman offering Firestorm a position with the Justice League.

And that is the end of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man.  Beautifully drawn and inked by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund, the issue naturally left me wanting more.  The story was wrapped up far too quickly (but to be fair, Dan had to condense a whole storyline into just a couple of issues).  As much as I love Captain Atom and his universe, I think the New 52 could’ve done without Major Force.  His new costume is better than the old one, for sure.  But I never really was a fan of the character.  Taking into consideration the rush job on the story, I give this issue a B+.

That also wraps up Firestorm Appreciation Month at Splitting Atoms.  Thanks for joining me.  Thanks also to Luke Daab for the picture I used as an avatar this month, and a big huge thank you to The Irredeemable Shag for organizing and pulling off the social media event that was #FirestormFarewell.

FAN THE FLAME!

Captain Atom #2 (April 1987)

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

“Captain Atom… A True American Hero?”

• Writer: Cary Bates
• Pencils: Pat Broderick
• Inks: Bob Smith
• Colors: Carl Gafford
• Letters: John Costanza

This story opens with some of the world’s heroes in their respective cities thinking about this new upstart Captain Atom.  They have yet to formulate an opinion.  We see Batman in Gotham City, Superman in Metropolis, Firestorm in Pittsburgh, and Blue Beetle in Chicago.  Firestorm instantly has a chip on his shoulder, thinking Captain Atom is “nobody I couldn’t burn atomic circles around any day of the week!”  And Blue Beetle, “…out of the blue I get this weird feeling in my gut telling me I already know this guy from somewhere…”  That was a nice touch.  Blue Beetle and Captain Atom were both originally Charlton Comics characters.

We find Nate in a bar in Canada, dressed in a nice blue suit and trying to remember his cover name “Cameron Scott.”  He’s been sent on an undercover mission.  Meanwhile, the bar TV is airing a report on Captain Atom.  One of the patrons is pissed off about Cap while a female patron makes it clear she’d like to bed him.  A bar patron picks a fight, which is the code for his contact.  They go outside, where the contact (Phillipe) takes a club to Cap.  Adam is too quick and drops Phillipe.  The  female patron of the bar comes out and removes her wig, revealing she is Bette Sans Souci (a.k.a. Plastique), a terrorist with super powers.  She holds a gun on Cap, telling him she does not trust him.  Plastique drops a smoke bomb and rabbits.  She says she’ll see Cameron Scott again in 48 hours.

Cut to the base, where Megala and Eiling are going over the Captain Atom Project. The General does not trust Adam and Dr. Megala thinks Cap isn’t ready for the field yet.  He points out that Nate is twenty years behind everyone else.  The last panel on page 8 has a mistake (Eiling is saying Megala’s line and vice versa).

Back in Canada, Cap meets his government contact, reporting he has met Plastique.  He then goes back to his hotel to relax.  Phillipe calls him and sets a meeting.

Cut back to the base where Eiling and Megala are briefing their team on the progress of the project.  They are still in disagreement on how ready Captain Atom is.  Both the General and Megala are smoking.  It occurs to me that we rarely see General Eiling without a cigar.

Adam meets Plastique in a warehouse, where he is jumped by Phillipe and knocked out.  When he comes to, he is suspended from the ceiling, naked, with an explosive strapped to his body.  A video left by Plastique explains that once Cap begins to perspire, the bomb will go off and kill him.  Pretty clever and it would have worked if Cameron Scott/Nathaniel Adam wasn’t also Captain Atom.

Adam triggers his transformation into Captain Atom, detonating the bomb.  It was rigged to take down the whole warehouse and Cap isn’t able to absorb the entire blast.  He quickly gathers whatever intel he can and heads to his Toronto base of operations to deliver it.  Meanwhile, President Reagan is meeting with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Washington, DC.  There is a confusing bit at the bottom of page 13 where I think one of the panels is out of order.

Cameron Scott’s liaison officer walks in and it is none other than Sgt. Jeff Goslin, Nathaniel Adam’s old Air Force buddy.  The two of them talk briefly, and Nate wastes no time telling Gos who he really is and how he was blasted to the future (leaving out the metal skin and powers part).  Cap asks for help tracking down Peggy and Randy (of course Gos says he’ll help), and a tech comes in (interrupting Nate and Gos embracing each other) to say they’ve made sense of Plastique’s plans.

Plastique plans on blowing up the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.  As the team scrambles to action, Adam slips out, transforms into Captain Atom, and flies away.  Cap swoops into the parliament building, scooping up the terrorist inside who is wearing a bomb belt.  He throws the bomb aside and it detonates above the St. Lawrence River.  A quick interrogation of the terrorist reveals another bomb is set to go off at the Statue of Liberty in New York and that Plastique is also going to assassinate the U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister.

Cap makes it to New York in time to scoop the terrorist out of the statue, but not in time to save her.  Her belt goes off and she is killed over Ellis Island.  Meanwhile, Plastique is at the press conference with Reagan and Mulroney.  She spouts some rhetoric about allowing Quebec to secede from Canada, then opens fire on the two world leaders (missing, of course).  She holds off the Secret Service and explains to the gathered press and TV cameras that she has already taken out the Statue of Liberty and the Parliament Building.  Just as she is delivering the death blast to the two world leaders, Captain Atom bursts in and absorbs the explosion.  He then punches Plastique in the face, taking her out.

On the last page we cut back to Batman, Superman, Blue Beetle and Firestorm.  They are all thinking to themselves that it looks like Captain Atom really is one of the good guys.  All except Firestorm.  He’s still jealous of Cap and is pissed now that Atom is getting all this press for taking out Plastique, something he did himself not long ago (see The Fury of Firestorm: the Nuclear Man #36).  I don’t know why Firestorm is so jealous or why he instantly hates Captain Atom.  It really doesn’t make sense when you consider that Firestorm is actually two men, Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein.  Sure, I could see Raymond having some jealousy, but seems out of character for Stein.

Throughout this issue of Captain Atom, we see magazine covers with his silver face plastered on them.  They are: Timely, NewsWorld, Omna, and Today’s Life (obviously meant to represent Time, NewsWeek, Omni, and Life).  I found that a nice touch.  Cary Bates’ story is pretty good (although as a first outing, “Captain Atom Versus the French Canadian Separatists” seems a little weak) and sets up some stuff for later.  Plastique returns to plague Cap, as well as Firestorm.  Eventually he meets Batman, Superman, and Blue Beetle (Beetle has a major role in Captain Atom #20 and other later issues).  This issue is also well drawn.  I like Pat Broderick’s take on Firestorm in particular.  I give this issue an A.