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Captain Atom (1986)
Captain Atom (1986-1991) #1
Enjoy this great comic from DC’s digital archive!
41 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1987
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Cary Bates
708 books13 followersCary Bates (born 1948) is an American comic book, animation, television and film writer. He is best known for his work on The Flash and Superman.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 27, 2022
Introduces us to Nathianel Adam, convicted terrorist who willingly undergoes an experiment as an alternative to execution.
The experiment involves alien metal and an atomic bomb. Something no human should be near.
Of course, there is an explosion and 18 years later, Captain Atom is born!
General Eiling, who hated Adam, married his wife before her death and desperately tries to be rid of the new Nate Adam.
Too bad the alien metal absorbs energy and is bonded to Adam which makes him very powerful.
The end sees Eiling make a deal with Adam (who is still considered a traitor?) and Capt. Atom becomes a not-so-secret government agent!
This was a long issue for a story that felt like it could’ve been told in a regular sized comic.
I did like the brief inclusion of a wife and children. I didn’t know Nate had a family.
The experiment involves alien metal and an atomic bomb. Something no human should be near.
Of course, there is an explosion and 18 years later, Captain Atom is born!
General Eiling, who hated Adam, married his wife before her death and desperately tries to be rid of the new Nate Adam.
Too bad the alien metal absorbs energy and is bonded to Adam which makes him very powerful.
The end sees Eiling make a deal with Adam (who is still considered a traitor?) and Capt. Atom becomes a not-so-secret government agent!
This was a long issue for a story that felt like it could’ve been told in a regular sized comic.
I did like the brief inclusion of a wife and children. I didn’t know Nate had a family.
January 1, 2023
I need to do a bit more research because it seems like Captain Atom was a brand new character introduced in the 80's. I grew up watching him in the Justice League cartoon but didn't know much about him otherwise.
I'm really interested to see how his origin arc goes.
I'm really interested to see how his origin arc goes.
December 5, 2024
Whenever I thought of captain atom I never really knew his origin, I just thought he was the military lap dog and poster boy that was ever the good soldier. But this comic blew me away, Nathaniel Adam has really gotten screwed by the government and it’s insane he is forced to put up with them.
The story of captain atom starts in 1968, as we are introduced to Nathaniel Adam. A soldier with a wife and two kids who is facing charges of treason. But he has an out. The US found an alien spacecraft with a super powerful defensive outer shell made of a mysterious metal, and they want to test it. He isn’t sure what he is signing on for but if he survives he gets his charge of treason thrown out the door. So while talking to him from a remote control room, the only thing the military hears from Nathaniel is his dark jokes…as they decide to blow up a therm-nuclear bomb around him while he is sitting in the alien spacecraft.
The year is now 1986. The metal was not able to fully handle the blast and the residual energy blasted Nathaniel into the future, in the process saving him and allowing him to keep his sense of humor…but taking everything else away from him. When he is found he manifested himself on top of an Air Force base looking like a blob of molten metal and energy. In the confusion he takes out a jet trying to take off and blasts a hero that went after him. It takes two rockets to finally knock him out, and when they get into a holding area the scientists of the base observe that his body is molding. Or to describe it better, his body is taking the metal formed around it and absorbing it into a more humanoid shape. At this point there are still major confusions about what this alien creature is and General Eiling is called for assessment. I didn’t mention this before but this general is the same in charge of project captain atom that blew Nathaniel to kingdom come. At this point the “molting” has resulted in Nathaniel looking humanoid, just with a body reflecting silver as the alien metal covers him. Once Nathaniel wakes back up and sees Eiling his first comment is realizing how old he looks. Once Eiling realizes what is happening he orders everyone out and total lockdown, only him and the creature. And this is really where Nathaniel starts to get screwed. Eiling makes no real effort to explain what has happened, as he probably couldn’t either way, instead he proceeds to start berating Nathaniel with information. Hey, welcome back here are all these historical figures that have died. Oh also your wife is dead. And once Eiling got him all riled up he closed the hatch down and sedated Nathaniel with nerve gas. Eiling’s next stop is to meet with Doctor Magala. He was also one of the primaries in charge of the captain atom project but is now completely wheelchair bound and reliant on robotic arms. Given little information Magala is able to make a lot of sense of what has already occurred, explains how Nathaniel was thrown into the future and the alien metal has fused with him, and how it’s also possible that he could learn to control the energy he emits. Eiling thanks him for the insight and then proceeds to order him dead, but Magala has friends of his own and won’t go down easy.
Meanwhile Eiling has a plan to deal with his Captain Atom problem as he secretly got a sedated Nathaniel out of the base and stored aboard the next spacecraft being sent into orbit. While Nathaniel is getting shot into space, a line assassin is attempting to inject Magala with poison, but Magala has a friend named Babylon who quickly takes down and turns the assassin’s weapon on himself. Meanwhile, Nathaniel has woken up to a familiar feeling, the G forces pushing against his body, as he immediately starts to realize his situation. Captain atom has really been thrown into a situation where he has to learn his powers on the fly. He is able to bust open the spaceship and go into free fall back to the earth. As he is falling he starts to accept that the landing may kill him, but then he realizes he isn’t falling but is able to flow…and fly all by himself! He doesn’t have to die at all, and his first stop is his old house!
But Nathaniel arrives in tragedy, as everything he knew and loved is gone. As he flew there he noticed it as well, everything was different, especially Doctor Magala who guessed that would be the first place Nathaniel would go to. The doctor makes him a promise, he will help find his family if Nathaniel comes with him to study his new powers and state of being. Now up at the doctor’s high tech forest facility the tests begin. They shoot him with bullets, fire, lasers, push his flight to the limit, measure his fighting prowess and discover his super strength, all while being spied on by government agencies reporting into Eiling. Eiling sees the potential and makes a call to the White House, and the next day raid the facility to capture Nathaniel. But another fun trick captain atom has learned is the full ability to control what his outer body looks like. He is able to shapeshift into anyone and then shed it off back to his base metal skin. This will be perfect for when he sees his wife again, and now that Eiling is there Nathaniel grabs him and flies them away and forces him to show where his wife is. Eiling is happy to oblige as he brings Nathaniel to her grave, as she now shares Eiling’s name! Not only did Eiling commit Nathaniel to the experiment that rocketed him through time and took his body, but he also got with his wife after he left. At this moment Eiling proposes Nathaniel, at this moment he is still a criminal and this administration is under no obligation to honor any promises from previous administrations, give me a break geez, but he now has a deal from the White House that can give him a pardon in exchange for using his powers in the service of his country. He will become the hero captain atom and serve the government in secret. They are even going to experiment with some laser dye to add some color to his skin. Phase two of captain atom has begun…
The story of captain atom starts in 1968, as we are introduced to Nathaniel Adam. A soldier with a wife and two kids who is facing charges of treason. But he has an out. The US found an alien spacecraft with a super powerful defensive outer shell made of a mysterious metal, and they want to test it. He isn’t sure what he is signing on for but if he survives he gets his charge of treason thrown out the door. So while talking to him from a remote control room, the only thing the military hears from Nathaniel is his dark jokes…as they decide to blow up a therm-nuclear bomb around him while he is sitting in the alien spacecraft.
The year is now 1986. The metal was not able to fully handle the blast and the residual energy blasted Nathaniel into the future, in the process saving him and allowing him to keep his sense of humor…but taking everything else away from him. When he is found he manifested himself on top of an Air Force base looking like a blob of molten metal and energy. In the confusion he takes out a jet trying to take off and blasts a hero that went after him. It takes two rockets to finally knock him out, and when they get into a holding area the scientists of the base observe that his body is molding. Or to describe it better, his body is taking the metal formed around it and absorbing it into a more humanoid shape. At this point there are still major confusions about what this alien creature is and General Eiling is called for assessment. I didn’t mention this before but this general is the same in charge of project captain atom that blew Nathaniel to kingdom come. At this point the “molting” has resulted in Nathaniel looking humanoid, just with a body reflecting silver as the alien metal covers him. Once Nathaniel wakes back up and sees Eiling his first comment is realizing how old he looks. Once Eiling realizes what is happening he orders everyone out and total lockdown, only him and the creature. And this is really where Nathaniel starts to get screwed. Eiling makes no real effort to explain what has happened, as he probably couldn’t either way, instead he proceeds to start berating Nathaniel with information. Hey, welcome back here are all these historical figures that have died. Oh also your wife is dead. And once Eiling got him all riled up he closed the hatch down and sedated Nathaniel with nerve gas. Eiling’s next stop is to meet with Doctor Magala. He was also one of the primaries in charge of the captain atom project but is now completely wheelchair bound and reliant on robotic arms. Given little information Magala is able to make a lot of sense of what has already occurred, explains how Nathaniel was thrown into the future and the alien metal has fused with him, and how it’s also possible that he could learn to control the energy he emits. Eiling thanks him for the insight and then proceeds to order him dead, but Magala has friends of his own and won’t go down easy.
Meanwhile Eiling has a plan to deal with his Captain Atom problem as he secretly got a sedated Nathaniel out of the base and stored aboard the next spacecraft being sent into orbit. While Nathaniel is getting shot into space, a line assassin is attempting to inject Magala with poison, but Magala has a friend named Babylon who quickly takes down and turns the assassin’s weapon on himself. Meanwhile, Nathaniel has woken up to a familiar feeling, the G forces pushing against his body, as he immediately starts to realize his situation. Captain atom has really been thrown into a situation where he has to learn his powers on the fly. He is able to bust open the spaceship and go into free fall back to the earth. As he is falling he starts to accept that the landing may kill him, but then he realizes he isn’t falling but is able to flow…and fly all by himself! He doesn’t have to die at all, and his first stop is his old house!
But Nathaniel arrives in tragedy, as everything he knew and loved is gone. As he flew there he noticed it as well, everything was different, especially Doctor Magala who guessed that would be the first place Nathaniel would go to. The doctor makes him a promise, he will help find his family if Nathaniel comes with him to study his new powers and state of being. Now up at the doctor’s high tech forest facility the tests begin. They shoot him with bullets, fire, lasers, push his flight to the limit, measure his fighting prowess and discover his super strength, all while being spied on by government agencies reporting into Eiling. Eiling sees the potential and makes a call to the White House, and the next day raid the facility to capture Nathaniel. But another fun trick captain atom has learned is the full ability to control what his outer body looks like. He is able to shapeshift into anyone and then shed it off back to his base metal skin. This will be perfect for when he sees his wife again, and now that Eiling is there Nathaniel grabs him and flies them away and forces him to show where his wife is. Eiling is happy to oblige as he brings Nathaniel to her grave, as she now shares Eiling’s name! Not only did Eiling commit Nathaniel to the experiment that rocketed him through time and took his body, but he also got with his wife after he left. At this moment Eiling proposes Nathaniel, at this moment he is still a criminal and this administration is under no obligation to honor any promises from previous administrations, give me a break geez, but he now has a deal from the White House that can give him a pardon in exchange for using his powers in the service of his country. He will become the hero captain atom and serve the government in secret. They are even going to experiment with some laser dye to add some color to his skin. Phase two of captain atom has begun…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2021
This comic was amazing! It had me sold right from the very first page! Adams’ personality, the discovery of his abilities, and the dark truth of his origin! Absolutely great and I cannot wait to read more!
October 25, 2025
4,5/5⭐ for the whole run
January 24, 2017
Captain Atom (1986-) #1 is a clever take on the origins of Captain Atom that sets up the character double agent status both with the Justice League and with the US Government! :D The plot moves along at a roller coaster pace with great art that illustrates this brilliantly and is full of humour, adventure, drama and action! :D Brilliant and highly recommended! :D
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews