Where to begin with Captain Atom? He’s a character that could be easily overlooked and under-utilized, and often is, but when he’s in the right hands, can be truly awesome. Are these the right hands to make his advertised fall and rise a worthwhile read? Let’s find out, with minor spoilers.
Written by Cary Bates and Greg Weisman
Illustrated by Will Conrad“Blowback” part one! Captain Atom hasn’t been seen or heard from in years – and even if you think you know what happened to him… you’re wrong! But you’re not alone. To this day, no one on Earth – not even the other superheroes – has an inkling of the missing Captain Atom’s true fate. At last, the truth is about to be revealed in a saga that transcends not only the meaning of life and death, but the limits of time and space.
It’s nice of the solicit to acknowledge that Captain Atom has been MIA for quite some time, and more importantly, it makes that absence key to the comic. Far too often do comics leave characters to the wayside for ages, only to have them show up when someone remembers they exist and just go “Yeah, I was off fighting my own villains off to the side. I’ve totally been around.” Instead, it takes his lack of appearances and runs with it, giving us a story behind his vanishing and building up to his return.
So, what did cause him to disappear? Well, this is Captain Atom we’re talking about, so it’s safe to assume it involves a big explosion. In fact, it begins looking over the damage from an explosion coming from his “quantum flare-ups.”
Yet we still get some nice character moments, as CA’s primary concern isn’t what he’s going to do or what this means for him, but the damage he might have unleashed and any lives it might have taken. His own potential demise he’s far more accepting of, with a bit of an existential crisis and PTSD mixed in for good measure.
The same scene introduces us to his supporting cast, and in their conversation we can gleam plenty about everyone, their connections to each other, and how exactly Captain Atom feels about them. Of course, that last part is delivered quite plainly in a line saying (and I paraphrase) “Doc, you I’m going to miss. You, General, not so much.”
Technically the story starts “in media res,” though, so it backs up so that we can see the incidents that lead to the final meltdown. This, too, has an important character moment when we see Captain Atom use his powers to save the day; even with weakening powers, he pushes himself to protect people in danger, and the dialogue shows both how he stands in the public’s eye and how it affects him. It blends the exposition with the action well enough, serving as a good character moment.
However, early dialogue also speaks of superheroes failing to contain his powers, and it looks as though it’s leading into yet another moment where heroes end up fighting each other because it’s easier to throw punches than to talk things out like reasonable human beings.
To my surprise and delight, it averts that and actually has the characters properly explain things and work together to solve the problem as quickly as possible. As a result, the comic and all the characters are better for it; even though we know things will go wrong, there’s still tension as they race against the clock.
When things do go wrong, the comic looks excellent. The bright red beams from the explosion illuminate the screen, contrasted with the green light of Green Lantern’s ring or the Cyborg’s blue lasers. The resulting damage looks horrific, with burnt down buildings still smoldering in the waste, and overcast skies to match.
Before then, the artwork is still more than passable. The designs are all very solid, and each scene looks great. The cruise ship tipping over from massive waves, and the glowing red screens in The Continuum, even just the backgrounds as the heroes fly, they all look great. The scene where Captain Atom saves the cruise ship is drown particularly well, with successive panels zooming in on him to show the pressure and exertion it’s taking on him, before pulling back to show his success with a multi-colored wave of energy.
Continued belowThe color work in this issue is great as well, and complements the illustrations. There’s certainly a lot of red/blue contrast, with the glowing crimson of the captain’s atomic energy against his own pale blue body or the shades of the sea and sky, and the way the scene darkens when things go south. Overall, the comic looks fantastic.
On the final panel – and this is where the biggest spoiler of the review comes in – we get a nice big full panel showing a fleshy and naked Captain Atom – or rather, Nathaniel Adam – lying in a junkyard somewhere. But a newspaper in the wreckage indicates that he’s been flung through time, something that has been known to happen in the past when he goes nuclear. It’s set up nicely, not putting too much focus on it but still providing a nice visual clue for the readers, and gives a good hook and incentive to keep following.
Final Verdict: 7.7 – A good start to an often-underused hero, providing good character moments and excellent artwork. Great for fans of the character and those looking to start reading his adventures.
