Captain Atom #2 (December 2011)

Tags

Captain Atom, Dr. Megala, Freddie E. Williams II, J. T. Krul, José Villarrubia, Mikey Parker, New 52 Captain Atom, Ranita Carter, Rob Leigh, Scott Alexander, Stanley Lau

“Rebuilding Blocks”

• Writer:  J.T. Krul
• Pencils & Inks:  Freddie E. Williams II
• Colors:  José Villarrubia
• Letters:  Rob Leigh
• Cover Artist:  Stanley Lau

This issue came out on October 19, 2011.  When we last saw the New 52 Captain Atom (excluding his cameo in Justice League International #1), he had been torn apart while trying to extinguish a volcano.  As he was melting down, he thought to himself, “If this is the end, at least I died doing some good for once.”  A news reporter covering the story says that Cap vanished right after he put out the mysterious Manhattan Volcano.  She suggests he has disappeared because he is hiding something.  Meanwhile, Cap begins to reconstitute his body in a nearby river (the East River maybe?).

This is not a new power for Cap.  The first time he used it was in his original origin story way back in 1960 (by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko).  The Modern Age Captainm Atom never used this power (and most likely didn’t have it) but Dr. Manhattan did.  Like the Silver Age Captain Atom, it was the first trick he learned (and he said as much to Ozymandius in Watchmen #12).  While it is an interesting power, it is a bit problematic.  It means that the New 52 Cap is really indestructible.  Godlike.  Or, as my stepson is fond of saying, “OP” (over-powered).  And Cap doesn’t have a Kryptonite weakness like Superman.  What would it take to defeat him?

This is the fundamental problem with Captain Atom.  He’s just too powerful.  Impossible to defeat with no end of powers.  Who could possibly challenge him?  After the Bronze Age, when the DC Universe was first rebooted in 1985, from which the Modern Age Cap was born, he was less powerful than his earlier incarnation.  He worked better as a character.  He didn’t lose touch with his humanity as Dr. Manhattan did.  Captain Atom works best when he is not indestructable.  At least, that’s my opinion.  Anyway, Cap resurrects himself.

Cap is briefly pleased that he saved Manhattan from the Volcano, but is soon bombarded by a “strange new energy pattern” pounding his brain.  His mind is beset by images and text gleaned from the internet, some of them about himself and not very flattering.  He hurries to the Continuum, where he begs Ranita Carter to “make it stop.”  Megala quickly submerges Cap in “superfluid” (your guess is as good as mine) which appears to calm him.

When Ranita remarks that Cap is lucky to have Megala, the doctor reveals that he feels responsible for Cap’s “current state.”  He’s surprised Cap confides in him at all.  He quickly tells Ranita of how Captain Atom came to be.

Unlike the previous, Nathaniel Adam (The Modern Age Cap), this fellow was a volunteer and not a convicted murderer (although that Nate was innocent – but that’s another story).  Though the project did not kill Nathaniel, it did change him forever.  Touched by Cap’s struggle, Ranita reaches out to him.  Her boyfriend Scott Alexander then bursts into the lab, angry with Ranita.  Cap tells Scott to relax and Scott tells Cap to stay away from Ranita.  Scott says Cap should be under quarantine and mentions that the Justice League “didn’t want him.”

Cap leaves the Continuum and flies about “reading” the internet images he can see in the air around him.  He is his own wifi hot-spot.  He comes across a message (email?) from a kid dying from cancer who is begging Cap to help him.  Making himself invisible (just like the original Captain Atom!), Cap enters the boy’s room at the hospital.  He learns the boy (Mikey) has a brain tumor that is more or less inoperable.  Shrinking himself to a microscopic level, Captain Atom enters Mikey’s body to attack the tumor.

A drug the doctors inject into Mikey mistake Captain Atom for a foreign object (which he is, to be fair) and attack him.  Cap dispatches the attacking drug and focuses his efforts on the tumor he has found.  We are treated with a really stunning splash page.

This is Freddie E. Williams II and José Villarrubia at their absolute best.  And I’m not a huge fan of Williams’ work on this title.  This is a truly beautiful work of art.

Mikey awakens as Captain Atom leaves his body.  The tumor was destroyed.  Mikey is certain that it wasn’t a miracle drug that saved him.  He asked Captain Atom for help and Captain Atom saved him.  He’ll live a long, healthy, normal life (cue ominous foreshadowing music here).  Cap, happy that he has done something non-destructive for once, flies away from the hospital room.

Meanwhile, in a dirty city alleyway, a man goes to chase fighting dogs away from his door.  He is shocked to discover that one of the dogs has a human face on his back. It is the face of the rat guy from the last issue (cue even more ominous foreshadowing music here).

I like this issue a whole lot.  It has a lot of nods to the Silver Age Captain Atom (rebuilding his body atom by atom, healing a sick child, becoming invisible and shrinking) and the Bronze Age Captain Atom (public mistrust of the hero).  This is a good amalgamation of the Silver/Bronze Age Cap and the Modern Age Cap with a bit of Dr. Manhattan thrown in.  Though very short (what’s that about anyway?), the story was well-told and compelling.  And the art in this one was stunning.  Upon rereading this series, I’m slowly warming up to Freddie Williams.  This issue deserves an A.

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

Advertisement

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #15 (February 2013)

Tags

Captain Adym, Captain Atom, Dan Jurgens, Dataxen, Dr. Megala, Firestorm, General Eiling, Hi-Fi Design, New 52 Captain Atom, Ray McCarthy, Scott Alexander, Taylor Esposito

“Takeover, Part Three”

• Writer: Dan Jurgens
• Pencils: Dan Jurgens
• Inks: Ray McCarthy
• Colors: Hi-Fi Design
• Letters: Taylor Esposito

This story opens on Jason Rusch (half of the New 52 Firestorm) waking up in a black void.  He is in the Firestorm matrix, and should be able to see whatever Firestorm sees.  The last thing he remembers is Firestorm being pulled inside the Dataxen robot in The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #14.  Jason calls out to Ronnie Raymond, who controls the Firestorm body, then realizes he is not alone.  Ronnie is in the matrix with him.  The boys quickly realize a third party is controlling Firestorm.

It is Dr. Megala who has taken over Firestorm.  Ever since he was briefly freed from his wheelchair in Captain Atom#12, he has longed for more power.

Back at the Continuum, Dr. Megala’s team isn’t sure what he hopes to gain from this takeover.  Scott Alexander says, “He’s spent years imprisoned in a wheelchair.  For him, this is about freedom.”  Which is pretty much what I just said, but maybe most Firestorm readers didn’t follow the Captain Atom series (and shame on them).

Megalastorm flies to South Dakota and changes the faces on Mt. Rushmore to Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and himself.  Inside Firestorm’s head, Jason figures there must be a way for him and Ronnie to push Megala out.

Back at the destroyed lab (from the previous issue), General Eiling is having a discussion with Captain Atom.  He refers to Cap as Nathaniel Adam and reminds him (or the reader) that Cap’s atoms are constantly splitting and reassembling, that he can cause and cure cancer, and that “we’re supposed to trust that you’ll always be benevolent and kind?”

Captain Atom says he was far away but the multiple Firestorms and their activities drew him back (see The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1-12).  With the news that Mt. Rushmore has been defaced and now includes Dr. Megala, Captain Atom realizes Firestorm is now under Megala’s control.

Meanwhile, Qurac launches a nuclear missile.  Megalastorm turns it into a giant Rubik’s Cube while Ronnie desperately tries to get Megala’s attention.

Out in the Pacific, aboard the American aircraft carrier Independence, a Quraci loyalist sets off an IED.  Eiling realizes it is payback and orders the instant response flight group to “find Firestorm and do whatever it takes to remove him as a threat.  Permanently.”

Back at the Continuum, Scott is surprised by the sudden appearance of Captain Atom.  He finds Megala’s inert body and says he knows what must be done.  He instantly zaps himself to Megalastorm’s location over Bikini Atoll.  He smacks Megalastorm and  has a brief discussion with him.  He actually lectures Megala.  He tells Megala that he will become the monster he was afraid Cap would become.  Megalastorm is not pleased.

Megalastorm trash talks Nate as he blasts him.  Inside his heads, the boys can feel Firestorm firing off a tremendous amount of energy.  Megala believes he’s killed Atom, but Cap reappears behind him and reaches through his chest.  Nate reckons that, like himself, Megala has trouble maintaining his form while under a great deal of stress.

Megalastorm goes nearly critical, creating a tsunami that almost capsizes the Independence.  At this point, Ronnie and Jason manage to make contact.  Megala does his best to ignore them, and contacts the Continuum.  His cohorts send the Dataxen droid out to assist Megalastorm against Captain Atom.

Megalastorm blasts Cap with enough power to obliterate a city.  Nate says no one man should have that much power.  He says when he realized that about himself, he left the planet.  The boys feel Megala’s hold weaken further as Cap blasts Megalastorm again.

Megalastorm shrugs the blast off.  He and Captain Atom both charge up and then begin to fly toward each other at top speed.  At this point, the boys pull Megala’s conscience into the Firestorm matrix.  Back at the Continuum, his body begins to seize.  Scott tries to pull him back into his body as Ronnie decks the old man.  This leaves Megala’s body comatose.  Ronnie takes control of Firestorm.

Firestorm calls out to Captain Atom, convincing him Megala is gone.  But Cap has built up too much speed and can’t pull up in time.  He crashes into Firestorm.  When they collide, Cap absorbs as much of the energy as he can.  It is too much for him to handle.  He begins to break up.

Fragments of Cap spread out across the time stream as he comes apart.  He appears to be disintegrating across time and space.  One shard of his body finds itself in 31st century Metropolis, where is seems to take the form of a man.

Back in the present, Firestorm passes out and plummets into the ocean.

I absolutely love Dan Jurgens.  I enjoyed his run(s) on Booster Gold and Superman.  He is a great artist and everything I read that he’s written is thoroughly enjoyable.  This is no exception.  I’m bummed that Captain Atom was essentially killed off in this issue, but I know how comics work and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him.  Dan was taking Firestorm in a whole new direction, and it would have been awesome to see where he went next, but five issues after this, the series was cancelled.  I give this one a B+.