The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #6 (August 2017)

Tags

Anna Dittman, Cary Bates, Dr. Megala, General Eiling, Genji Sato, Greg Weisman, Ivan Nunes, Jim Chadwick, Kristy Quinn, Post-Rebirth Captain Atom, Saida Temofonte, Ultramax, Will Conrad

“Mission Creep”

• Writers: Cary Bates, Greg Weisman
• Pencils & Inks: Will Conrad
• Colors: Ivan Nunes
• Letters: Saida Temofonte
• Editors: Jim Chadwick, Kristy Quinn
• Cover Artist: Anna Dittmann

Time to rip off the band-aid and dive into the last issue of this mini-series. At first I put off covering this one because I wanted to see where Captain Atom went next (nowhere as it turned out). Then I just kind of forgot about it. For about four years. If you want to hear my initial thoughts on the issue, listen to this episode of my podcast. For the purposes of this blog, I will not relisten to the episode and do this fresh. Is that cool with all my reader?

This story opens with Mr. Thrane approaching an abandoned car in a desolate valley in 2008. There he finds a dossier and a video message from Eiling. Thrane’s target is Flip Kovic, a terrorist-for-hire that the US government hasn’t had any luck taking down. Eiling reports Kovic is somewhere in the United States before doing a quick and awkward Liam Neeson impression.

Eiling gives Thrane the number of a third party who is brokering a deal with Kovic and informs him half his fee has been transferred to his Cayman Island account. As Thrane strolls away from the vehicle it explodes.

In present day (2017), Captain Atom is at Eiling’s house warning him that Thrane now has a kill list and Eiling is on it. When they were fighting in the quantum field, Atom and Thrane merged minds and Nate saw Eiling hiring the killer in 2008. He tells the General to cut the crap and be straight. Eiling finally comes clean and says he hired Max Thrane to take out Kovic, which he did by feeding the man to alligators in the Everglades. He says he is the one who flipped on Thrane. Atom pulls a Batman and leaves the General in mid-sentence while his back is turned.

The next morning, Nate is at his wife’s grave. He tells her he has met his son Genji and understands why he hates his deadbeat disappearing dad. We then cut to a news report where the broadcaster states that if he really wants the public to accept him, Captain Atom needs to bring in Ultramax.

Ultramax has sent Captain Atom and General Eiling an ultimatum. Present themselves to him or he kills Genji, whom he has kidnapped. Turns out Max learned some secrets himself when he and Nate merged minds. He wants Nate and Eiling alone at dawn in the same valley from 2008. If anyone else shows up, Max will kill Genji.

Megala and Eiling think they might have a chance against Ultramax with the special ammo they’ve developed, lead-lined explosive uranium bullets. Apparently they were created to take down Nate in his previously unstable form.

The next morning, Cap and Eiling arrive at the meeting point. Max releases Genji as Atom releases Eiling. As they pass each other, Eiling whispers to the kid to watch for his signal. He whips out his gun and tires as Captain Atom swoops in and flies his son to safety. Of course the special ammo doesn’t work. It just pisses Max off.

Captain Atom flies in and deflects Ultramax’s attack. Max says after he killed the General he was going to come after Atom and Genji anyway. Nate unleashes quantum hell on Max while protecting Eiling from Max’s attack.

Eiking tells Nate to leave him and save his son. Nate wasn’t born yesterday though. He has figured out what Project Resurgence is and why the military was keeping close tabs on Genji and keeping Nate away from his son.

Reflecting Ultramax’s power back at him knocks the psycho out. Genji comes out of hiding and joins Eiling and Nate. Genji shakes Captain Atom’s hand before Nate gathers up Max and flies him to seek medical attention.

Very early the next morning, Megala meets with Eiling back at the base. According to their surveillance, Genji actually absorbed a bit of Max’s power, which should have killed him. It looks like Genji just might actually be a Captain Atom Junior.

• 

Back at his wife’s grave, Nate gets a final message from his whistle blower. It is, of course, Dr. Megala. He doesn’t tip Nate off about Genji’s possible powers though. The issue and mini-series ends with the Justice League in the Watchtower viewing a news report stating that the public now has trust in Captain Atom.

• 

As of this writing, it has been about four years since this book was published. The next time we saw a Captain Atom, he was back in his old silver skin with boots and gloves. His old ’80s look. He did not join the Justice League, and we never learned what became of his son. If we ever get another series written by this team, I’m sure all these questions will be answered.

I absolutely love this book. I think the writing was excellent, and it was some of the best art in a Captain Atom series I have ever seen. No offense intended to the legendary Pat Broderick. I give this book and the series a solid A.

Edit: After I wrote this, I listened to the episode of my podcast where I discussed this issue. Apparently at the time I was not impressed at all with this one. I have no idea why my opinion changed over the course of the last four years.

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

Tags

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

“Past Imperfect”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow us on Twitter! (@SNGPOD4779)

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

Click here to play episode 25!

The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #1 (March 2017)

Tags

Captain Atom, Cary Bates, Cyborg, Dr. Megala, Gabriel Hardman, General Eiling, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Greg Weisman, Ivan Nunes, Jason Badower, Jim Chadwick, Jordan Boyd, Kristy Quinn, New 52 Captain Atom, Saida Temofonte, Superman, Will Conrad

“Blowback”

• Writer: Cary Bates
• Co-Plotter: Greg Weisman
• Pencils/Inks: Will Conrad
• Colors: Ivan Nunes
• Letters: Saida Temofonte
• Cover Artist: Jason Badower
• Variant Cover Artists: Gabriel Hardman & Jordan Boyd
• Editor: Kristy Quinn
• Group Editor: Jim Chadwick

This issue opens at the Continuum, beneath Kansas City, on December 19, 2012 at 8:38 central time. The New 52 Captain Atom is seated on a chair inside a dome, demanding that Dr. Megala tell him how many people he killed today. Megala, speaking via intercom from a control room, tells Nathaniel that they don’t yet know how many casualties there were. The destructive power of Atom’s quantum flare-ups exceeded Megala’s projections. Even the intervention of the Justice League couldn’t control the damage. General Eiling, standing in the control room with Megala, says that he can spin the story so the Justice League takes part of the blame.

Captain Atom is being held in what Eiling refers to as a subterranean suppression dome, which Megala says should be equipped to handle whatever comes next. Nate worries what will happen to the world around him when he can no longer control the power him. Eiling tells Cap to stow the stinkin-thinkin and pull himself together. Atom doesn’t pay Eiling any mind as he goes on to say that he knows he cannot hold on to his last shreds of humanity. He says his good-byes to Megala, saying he’ll miss the doctor. But Eiling? Not so much.

Captain Atom begins to surge with energy. He tells Megala he’ll see him on the other side, and he explodes with energy.

Wow. Right out of the gate some powerful stuff. Something has obviously gone down and Nathaniel Adam has lost all hope. He has basically committed suicide in front of Megala and Eiling. And although this is clearly the New 52 Captain Atom, these aren’t the New 52 Megala and Eiling. Megala is in a wheelchair, but his body isn’t bent and he doesn’t have the Popeye look. It is unclear if this is supposed to be the Megala who went crazy and took over Firestorm’s body but he doesn’t look like him. Nor does he look like the post-Crisis Megala either. That Megala could not use his arms or legs and his chair served as a life-support system, kind of like Davros from Doctor Who.

This could possibly be the New 52 Eiling, though. He is an African-American again, but seems much younger. And slightly less douchey. The post-Crisis Eiling raised Nate’s kids as his own, but it seems as if this Cap has no kids. If he did, he probably wouldn’t have killed himself.

Twenty three minutes prior to Nate’s meltdown, Captain Atom is flying over the Pacific Ocean, heading back to the Continuum. He is speaking to Megala via an internal nano-com array that has been injected into Nate’s body. Megala tells him he’s detected a minor glitch in the last nano-diagnostic. The rate at which Cap’s atoms are splitting and reforming has elevated slightly. Megala tells him to hurry back so they can assess this new development, but Atom refuses. He’s spotted a cruise ship that’s about to be capsized by a mega wave. Megala sends for Eiling as Cap attempts to change the water around the ship into a jello-like mass. However, Captain Atom’s powers appear to be fizzling out. Cap compensates by pouring on more power.

His efforts pay off and as soon as the gelatinous mass steadies the ship Atom flies away quickly. As Eiling bitches about Nate’s inability to follow orders, there is a spike in Cap’s “quantum fever.” There is a flare-up, similar to the one he killed himself with a few pages back, and Eiling tells Nate to get back to the Continuum as quickly as possible. He wants Captain Atom contained in the suppression dome. Nate tries to make it back, but the increasing flare-ups slow him down.

Just then, three Justice Leaguers show up on the scene, drawn to Cap’s flare-ups that they detected from their Watchtower. Cap explains to Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and Cyborg that he urgently needs to get to Kansas, but the Leaguers won’t let him fly over populated areas. Megala taps into Cyborg’s tech and transmits a hologram of himself explaining the situation.

Captain Atom tells Superman he can get him to the Continuum quickly and Green Lantern and Cyborg say they can help contain Cap in the meantime. Just as Nate begins to flare up again, Superman grabs him and heads for Kansas. Green Lantern encloses Atom in a protective bubble while Cyborg just says encouraging things like, “Your ring’s kicking quantum ass!”

Just as they are over Kansas, Hal apologizes as he loses control of his construct. Captain Atom flares again, and the Leaguers do what they can to protect the innocent lives down below. However, as we see the scale of the destruction, it seems unlikely that many lives were saved.

Captain Atom staggers into the dome, crawls to the chair, and demands that Megala tell him how many people he killed. This is where we came in.

Nate appears to be dead. His chair was melted and there is no sign of him. Megala says that even though he isn’t a religious man, he hopes Nathaniel Adam will find peace in the afterlife. Eiling can’t get past the loss of a military asset long enough to consider the passing of the human inside. But, as we see up on the surface in the ruins of Kansas City, our hero may not be dead after all.

A naked man lies in the rubble with no blue skin. A newspaper nearby indicates the current year is 1994. To be continued…

This was awesome. Will Conrad’s art is beautiful. Of course I’m going to love Bates and Weisman, and I’m super excited about what comes next. If it goes the way I think it is going to go, I’m going to be a very happy Nathaniel Adam fan. This is the best Captain Atom I’ve seen in recent memory. A for story and A for art. I’m hoping this is the beginning of something big and long-lasting for Captain Atom.

Convergence: Blue Beetle #2 (July 2015)

Tags

Andromeda, Apparition, Blue Beagle, Blue Beetle, Brainiac 5, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Captain Atom, Catspaw, Chameleon, Chip Kidd, Colossal Boy, Computo, Cosmic Boy, Dave McCaig, Dick Giordano, Element Lad, Ferro, George Pérez, Inferno, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Saida Temofonte, Saturn Girl, Scott Lobdell, Sensor, Spark, Star Boy, The Question, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, Yishan Li

“Legion of Doom!”

• Writer:  Scott Lobdell
• Pencils & Inks:  Yishan Li
• Colors:  Dave McCaig
• Letters:  Saida Temofonte
• Cover Artists:  Chip Kidd, George Pérez, Dick Giordano

>>>SPOILERS<<<

>>>SPOILERS<<<

>>>SPOILERS<<<

>>>SPOILERS<<<

>>>SPOILERS<<<

>>>SPOILERS<<<

(You’ve been warned.)

So this is the exciting conclusion to the Earth-4 heroes’ Convergence adventure.  It was better that Cap’s last “battle” in Convergence: Justice League International #2.  This time around he was a little more than just a punching bag.  And I really like the dynamic between Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom.  I would totally read an Earth-4 series with these three as the primary characters.

This issue opens with a quick reintroduction of the characters.  And I immediately have something to pick at.

Captain Atom is identified as “Nathaniel Adams.” Now, the Charlton Captain Atom’s name was Allen Adam, but I didn’t so much mind the retconning of him to Nathaniel.  After all, the Nathaniel Adam version of the character was my favorite.  But “Adams?”  It was revealed in the last issue that his last name was “Adam!”  See the panel below from Convergence: Blue Beetle #1:

I would love to be DC Comics’ “Captain Atom Fact Checker.”  Heck, I’d do it for free.  I enjoyed this issue and would really like to see more, but that was a little sloppy.  I know it could be worse.  These things happen.  The superhero Breach was once referred to as “Major Adams” (he was originally conceived as a reboot of Captain Atom).

On a downtown Hub City rooftop, the Legion of Super-Heroes descends from the sky to meet with Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom.  The three Hub City heroes climb atop Beetle’s Bug to meet with them.  The Legionnaires do not come out swinging though.  Cosmic Boy introduces them politely and asks which of the three is their leader.

After naming himself leader, Blue Beetle demands that the Legion surrender.  Cosmic Boy declines, saying he has no fear that the three Hub City heroes can take the Legionnaires.

Beetle electrifies the hull of the Bug to slow down the Legion while he, Cap and the Question jump inside.  Onboard, Tracy reveals that she has hacked into the Legion’s flight rings and has gathered tons of data on them.  Cap says he’s uncomfortable with a civilian like Ted Kord having this kind of tech but the Question shuts him up.

The Bug lurches, knocking them all off their feet.  Colossal Boy has grown to the size of one of the neighboring buildings and is shaking the ship.  Andromeda tries to stop him, but the Bug vanishes from Colossal Boy’s hands, teleporting about a mile away to another rooftop.  Their arrival is observed by a stray dog.

I’m wondering, did Blue Beetle always have this advanced tech?  I know he’s supposed to be super smart, but I don’t recall his ship teleporting. And if he had the technology to teleport objects, why did he even need the Bug?

Beetle tells his partners to keep the Legionnaires of his back for six minutes while he cooks something up.

The Legionnaires continue to search Hub City for its three heroes.  They seem split on the task at hand.  No one really wants a fight, but Telos has warned them that the losers’ cities will be destroyed and to not fight is to lose.  Brainiac 5 is confident the Legion can take on the other heroes.  He says only Captain Atom has real “powers,” and he is essentially raw energy.  Of course, Brainiac is wrong, and soon learns it when Cap blinds the Legion with some sort of light blast (new power?) and plows into them.

Cap blasts Cosmic Boy with a burst of energy.  Andromeda goes after Cap, but is knocked back by Chameleon (who seems to be bouncing off buildings for some reason).  Invisible Kid takes Cap from behind and grabs him as Ferro and Star Boy swoop in.

Back on the Bug, Beetle is reading up on a group of Legionnaires, hoping he has found the right ones for his plan.  Tracy tries to shoo away the stray dog (who has now boarded the ship), but Beetle decides to adopt him.

The Question takes on Brainiac 5 (no longer blinded) and seems to defeat him with a riddle.  Karate Kid asks the Question what he’s done to Brainiac.  I wonder, am I the only one who sees a missed opportunity here?  Karate Kid ends up fighting Earth-4 Charlton characters, but Judomaster is not among them?  How coold would that have been?  I mean, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

And just what the heck did the Question do to Brainiac 5?

Saturn Girl, Sensor, and Computo board the Bug.  Their Legion flight rings led them to Beetle’s hiding place.  Beetle tells them he needs the three of them for his plan.  They say it is crazy, but is it crazy enough to work?

Outside, Cap is facing off against Cosmic Boy, Andromeda, and Colossal Boy.  It looks as if this battle will soon be over for Captain Atom.

Just then, Hub City is hit by an earthquake.  In a matter of seconds the city is decimated.  All the heroes are seriously bummed out by this unexpected turn of events.

The Hub City heroes and the Legionnaires board the Bug, where they make a shocking discovery.  Looking outside the Bug’s windows, Hub City appears standing tall and suffering no damage.  Beetle reveals that he, Saturn Girl, Sensor, and Computo used their powers to make Hub City appear destroyed to the outside world.  This way Telos thinks he got his winner and the heroes can focus on teaming up to defeat him.

I really enjoyed this comic.  After the let-down of Convergence: Justice League International #2, I was not expecting much from this issue.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only did Captain Atom have a nice juicy role, but Blue Beetle got to show off his brains.  And the Question was there.

Okay, so the Question didn’t do much, but I like seeing him in action with Cap and Beetle.

I liked this story. It was clever and cute (particularly Blue Beagle).  And I really like Yishan Li’s style.  I wish this was an ongoing series.  I give this issue an A.

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

Convergence: Blue Beetle #1 (June 2015)

Tags

Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Captain Atom, Chip Kidd, David McCaig, Dick Giordano, Doctor Spectro, George Pérez, Nightshade, Saida Temofonte, Scott Lobdell, The Ghost, The Madmen, The Question, Yishan Li

“Convergence”

• Writer:  Scott Lobdell
• Pencils & Inks:  Yishan Li
• Colors: David McCaig
• Letters: Saida Temofonte
• Cover Artists:  George Perez, Dick Giordano, Chip Kidd

>>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<<

(You’ve been warned.)

This is what I’ve been waiting for.  The Bronze Age (and “original”) Captain Atom returns in this Convergence tie-in.  Cameos aside, this version of Cap hasn’t seen this much action since Americomics Special: Sentinels of Justice #1 in 1983 (yes, Cap was a prominent character in Multiversity: Pax Americana #1, but he was not sporting the white hair, red tights, and silver arms designed by Steve Ditko in 1967).  And even this Captain Atom isn’t exactly the Bronze Age Cap (but close enough).  While I thoroughly enjoyed his return to the printed page, I’m wondering why this issue was a Blue Beetle and not called something else (Sentinels of Justice, perhaps).  Blue Beetle isn’t really the focus of the book.  There’s as much Captain Atom and the Question in this as there is Blue Beetle.  But that minor complaint does not make me enjoy this issue any less.  I was happy with it from start to finish and am extremely pleased to see Captain Atom in any form.

The issue opens with WHUB News reporter Vic Sage (aka the Question) reporting on a terrorist attack on the already-besieged Hub City.  One of the many cities domed and cut off by Telos, Hub City is at the mercy of the Madmen.  The Madmen – armed to the teeth – are facing off against the National Guard (led by Captain Nathaniel Adam).

Okay, so Irritating Minutia Point #1: This version of Captain Atom’s real name is Allen Atom, not Nathaniel Adam.  But they are essentially the same dude so I’ll let that one slide.

The Madmen open fire so Captain Adam’s men retaliate in kind.  However, they’ve brought some more heavy weapons than the Madmen.

Vic sends his crew to upload the story and approaches Captain Adam in the aftermath of the destruction.  The Madmen appear to have all been killed.  Donning his Question mask, Vic says he’s not pleased with Adam’s handling of the Madmen situation, but that isn’t what he wants to talk about.  He tells Adam that Ted Kord requires his help.  The two part ways, with Adam not very thrilled at the prospect of hanging out with Ted.

Later, in the rooftop lab of Ted Kord at the top of Kord Industries headquarters, Ted’s assistant Tracy questions Ted about his latest “nothing burger” invention and his need to put a door in the roof of the building.  Captain Adam enters (with his side-arm drawn!?!?!?) and Ted accosts him at once about the attack on the Madmen.

Ted reveals his new invention may free Hub City from the dome and wants Nate’s approval to try.  Thinking back on the pile of dead Madmen, Nate says he has no objection.  Ted pulls a lever and the machine fires a pink blast at the dome.  It appears to not even scratch the surface.  Ted collapses, sure he’s failed, but Tracy tells him to take a look at Nate.

Captain Atom has returned to full power.  As the two heroes bicker over whether or not Ted should be allowed to suit up as Blue Beetle, Cap notices a bunch of swirly colors in the sky.  Figuring he knows what this means, Captain Atom flies off to investigate.

Irritating Minutia Point #2:  There is clearly a door in the ceiling of the room they’re in.  Tracy questioned Ted about it earlier and Ted shot a pink ray at the dome through it.  Why did Cap burst through a wall to exit the room?  Is he just being an ass?  I do like that Yishan Li drew the little sparkles around Cap, though.  Haven’t seen those in a while.

Above the streets of Hub City, Cap finds Dr. Spectro blasting the dome with his colorful rays.  Cap automatically (and wrongly, of course) assumes Spectro is behind the dome and demands answers.  The two are interrupted by the bizarre appearance out of thin air of a costumed individual neither of them recognize.

It is Booster Gold, who does not exist in the Hub City Earth (Earth-4 for those of you keeping score).  Cap assumes Booster is in league with Spectro and gives him an atomic blast.  Blue Beetle, now in costume, hurries to the fight and arrives just as Booster fades away.  This scene has played out before.  We saw it from Booster’s perspective in Booster Gold: Futures End #1 in November 2014.

As soon as Booster vanishes, Cap loses his powers.  He drops from the sky and Blue Beetle scrambles to catch him.  Neither of them are concerned about Dr. Spectro, who also loses his powers and drops out of the sky.  The Question appears on the rooftop with them, but neither Blue Beetle or Captain Adam are interested in what he has to say.

Thinking Hub City is falling victim to an earthquake, the three heroes jump off the roof onto Beetle’s Bug (piloted by Tracy).  The building they were on transforms into Telo, who tells them they must fight the heroes of the other captive cities.  The dome drops, resulting in Captain Atom’s powers returning again.

The dome drops and the heroes brace themselves for what comes next (in Convergence: Blue Beetle #2).  To be continued.

We are treated with a brief history of the Charlton characters of Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and the Question.

Yishan Li is a capable artist, perhaps not my favorite but by no means bad.  I give his art an A.  Scott Lobdell, I feel, did the best he could with what he had (basically this is just setting up the big fight with the Legionnaires next issue) so I give this issue an A for writing as well.

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