2 first appearances
Allen Adams first appeared in Space Adventures #33
While the Captain Atom you are most familiar with is Nathaniel Adams who first appears in Captain Atom Vol. 3 with the look most people are familiar with today.
Current Events
Following on the events of Flashpoint and the editorial decision to reboot the entire DC lineup, Captain Atom has undergone some minor redesigns after being relaunched in a new series. Megala is now a particle physicist that works in Colorado. His powers are similar though he apparently also has the ability to transmute matter.
Origin
Scientist Allen Adam was working on an experimental rocket, which launched with him trapped inside. The rocket exploded and the good scientist disappeared. However he gained superpowers, and didn't disappear, later reforming his body on the Earth. He wore a red and yellow costume which shielded people from the radiation he gave off and his hair would turn white when he'd power up. Later he would replace the yellow and red for a more liquefied metal look.
Creation
Captain Atom was created by Joe Gill and artist Steve Ditko in Space Adventures #33 in March of 1960 underCharlton Comics, but was later acquired by DC Comics in 1983. Then in 1985, Captain Atom appeared as a DC character from Earth-4 in Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 with other Charlton characters. In 1987, Captain Atom's character history was retconned, like the rest of the DC Universe, and was updated in Captain Atom #1. Both versions were military officials. In Charlton, he was Scientist Allen Adam and in DC, he was Air Force Captain, Nathaniel Christopher Adam.
Character Evolution
Charlton Comics
Captain Atom as Allen Adam was first published in a series of short stories in the anthology series , titled "Space Adventures # 33-40 (March 1960-June 1961) and # 42 (October 1961). he'd have the series eventually renamed after himself and he would find himself facing odd villains and teaming up with other heroes, such as the famous " Blue Beetle. " By 1967 Charlton's Captain Atom was canceled after issue # 89. He would later appear in 1982 in a series called Charlton Bullseye in which he wore his initial outfit. Before DC bought off the Charlton characters he last appeared in 1983 which teamed him up with most of the other symbolic Charlton heroes. These characters would be bought by DC appearing in " Crisis on Infinite Earths" as these characters would appear as people from Earth 4 of the multiverse whilst characters like Superman and Batman would derive from Earth 1. The last time the Charlton Captain Atom would ever appear would be in "DC Comics Presents: #90" being teamed up with Firestorm and Superman. After this event this characters would be rebooted to fit the rebooted fictional universe.
DC Comics
Modern Age: New Earth
In 1986, Captain Atom was launched in the post crisis DCU with a new costume and a new solo series, written by Cory Bates, that ran for more than 50 issues. The story begins back in Vietnam-War era 1960's. Captain Nathaniel Christopher Adam of The United States Air Force is accused of a crime he didn’t commit while over seas. Given the option of execution or to take place in an unusual experiment. Should he survive, he would receive a presidential pardon. Obviously Nate chose the latter, and participated in a project called “Project Atom.” Placed in a chamber with an alien alloy, pieces shaved off from the Silver Shield by Dr. Heinrich Megala, which it would be tested for its durability by exploding a nuclear device over it. There was little chance of survival, and when the test occurred, Nathanial Adam left behind his wife and his child with a world he knew, as it sent him into the future over 20 years. When he arrived in the future, the alien alloy had bonded with Nate, causing him to have a sleek silvery skin and with it bizarre extraordinary powers. After being a little disgruntled, he discovered his wife had remarried, and throughout the early stories of his ongoing,
The newly dubbed “Captain Atom” dealt with learning about his powers while serving under the government and General Eiling, the man who married his wife. He did this to clear his name. “A man out of his place” Captain Atom had to adjust to life of the 1980’s and after some stints with Firestorm and Plastique, among others, it was his battle with Major Force, where Captain Atom decided not to serve under Eiling anymore. Captain Atom would later marry the Canadian terrorist Plastique, though they would find themselves divorced by 1999, Captain Atom would eventually find himself serving with the Justice League.
Post-Flashpoint: Earth 0
In the post-Flashpoint universe of the new 52, Captain Atom's powers are still evolving. While Atom had already shown the potential for a further evolution of his meta-abilities, he is gradually transitioning to a quantum energy being. However, this transition is a volatile process, as transitioning from a biological-physical brain to a fully energy-based one could impair his consciousness to the point of losing his self entirely. He surprises himself by demonstrating greater control of his molecular manipulation after he turns a mechanical battle-suit's armor into dust. In this reality, Dr. Megala is still alive, and is Atom's scientific advisor, helping him understand and control his powers. He uses his powers to cure a little girl of cancer and to absorb and negate a volcanic eruption. Later, he travels to Libya to help anti-government rebels and meets theFlash. After helping defeat the Libyan army by turning the molecules of their tanks into hydrogen and oxygen, he detects a nuclear warhead about to be detonated, and with the help of the Flash absorbs all the radiation into himself. Captain Atom is also not part of the Justice League because the Justice League think that he might be daugerous of raidation. In September of 2012 DC Comics will be at issue #0 Zero Hour and Captain Atom series will be ending for the third wave of new series to come. Captain Atom will be around to help when needed.
Dr. Megala manages to project his mind into the Firestorm Matrix, and suppreses the minds of Jason Rusche and Ronnie Raymond. Megala creates chaos by flying through airplanes, and transmuting the faces on Mount Rushmore into Galileo, Newton, Einstein and himself. Finally, General Eiling is forced to call Captain Atom. Atom reveals he's been hiding in the moon, but detected all the massive energy Megala-Firestorm released, and began to fight, not nowing Megala has the minds of Jason and Ronnie inside him, trying to push him out. Finally Ronnie and Jason manage to push Megala out, but are then unable to convince Atom that they arent his enemy. They manage to convince him, but they are both flying towards each other, using massive radiation. Captain Atom manages to absorb all the residual energy from his attack and Firestorm's, then quickly flies into the stratosphere, exploading with energy. It is unknown if he's still alive. Firestorm then learns that instead of pushing Megala back into his own body, he was temporarily put into a coma.
Major Story Arcs
Modern Age: New Earth
Justice League International
Captain Atom, sporting his red-and-gold look, is seen fighting against a villain named Man O' War and using lines from a script as though he were in a movie, until L-Ron shows up and easily takes out the villain with a taser. The robot extends Max Lord's Superbuddie's contract to the Captain, who reluctantly accepts. On his way to the headquarters, Atom runs into Mary Marvel for the first time. After a meet and greet, Mary suddenly distances herself from him, afraid that his radiation levels would affect her ability to give birth in the future. Even after he explains that his Quantum radiation is contained within him, she still considers them friends, but from a distance. Everyone on the team (other than Mary) gets reacquainted with each other, until they are attacked by a group of metahuman street thugs that share the same source of power (but only one of them can use it at a time). The team defeats them with relative ease.
Much later, Max Lord shows the team a video, advertising the team and their service to the community. The team doesn't seem to like the video, and Captain Atom seems to be the most disgusted with it. Two men park just outside of the building to deliver a package with glowing orbs in it. Then, the Superbuddies are transported to an arena called the House that is overseen by Roulette. Atom is shacked up in a cell with Elongated Man, who both realize that they are kidnapped, but don't want to escape for some reason. But then, Captain Atom is put together with Mary Marvel in the ring, and the both of them are suddenly brainwashed into fighting each other. Both aren't thinking for themselves, but it is Captain Atom who is beaten within an inch of his life by Mary, breaching his skin in the process. His body leaks with radiation as he is knocked unconscious. Fire andBooster Gold intervene and save Captain Atom from sudden death, and Mary Marvel subconsciously breaks of her mind control due to undue stress. Out of frustration, the team is transported out of the House. Captain Atom is escorted to the hospital due to his injuries, although it seems as if there's nothing that the doctors can do for him. As a result, they notified the EPA (inside joke, if anything).
President Lex Luthor's Team
Captain Atom, along with Major Force, Starfire, Power Girl,Black Lightning, Katana and John Stewart, is hired by President Lex Luthor to bring Superman and Batman into custody. Captain Atom questions Luthor's motives after he attempts to destroy a Kryptonite meteor using nuclear missiles (and a Boom Tube for them to get there). After making Superman responsible for the meteor, Atom and his team are sent in to take down Superman and Batman just after Gorilla Grodd and an army of supervillains are defeated in Washington, D.C. Despite the overall power level of the team and the fact they outnumbered the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, Captain Atom and his team are easily dominated by the pair. Superman and Batman retreat from the fight, taking Power Girl and Katana with them.
Captain Atom and the rest of the team meet them in Tokyo, Japan, where another fight ensues. Power Girl knocks the Captain into a building, but she and Superman are taken out of the fight by Major Force's energy blasts. Katana then slices Major Force's hands off, causing a massive radiation leak. Black Lightning, Starfire, and John Stewart attempt to contain the energy, and after Batman convinces him to do the right thing, Captain Atom goes to absorb Major Force's energy, but not before telling Superman to turn himself in. As he attempts to absorb the energy, his absorption rate is exceeded and he is immediately bump into the time stream.
The Kingdom Come Timeline
Now in the future, he meets Earth-22 Superman, who seems to be in a state of distress since his reality is laid to waste by the same meteor heading for Earth in the present time period. To make that version of Superman feel a little better, he lets him know that Superman would never give up and that things can be fixed. Meanwhile, in the present, the Toyman has a rocket ready for Superman to use in order to destroy the Kryptonite meteor in space. From a Boom Tube that is activated by Metron's chair, Captain Atom returns to the present with a Kryptonite ring. He uses it to knock Superman out by channeling his Quantum energy through it. Before handing Batman the ring, he tells him that he did it because Superman wouldn't allow him to take the rocket instead. He also tells him that if he takes the rocket, he could absorb the excess Kryptonite radiation and save Earth.
Taking the rocket into space, Captain Atom leaves behind a starlog, and in it, apart from everything else, he admits that all he ever wanted was to be accepted just like Superman was. As the rocket collides with the meteor, both it and the meteor explode and the Atom absorbs the Kryptonite radiation. The process turns him into a villain named Kryptonite Man, and he briefly does battle with Superman. But, with a device made by Toyman, the Kryptonite radiation is siphoned out of Captain Atom's body and he is returned to normal. After being told that there was a funeral held for him, he responds thankfully, albeit confused.
The Wildstorm Reality
Just after Captain Atom sacrifices himself to save Earth by flying the ship into the Kryptonite meteor, he is catapulted into Earth-50's reality just after the Void's essence enters his body. The instance of him becoming Kryptonite man and returning to normal after having the Kryptonite taken out of his body by Toyman's device was revealed to be a 'Quantum glitch' in space-time (therefore, confirming that he didn't arrive in Earth-50 via Quantum jumping, but arrived because the Void's essence transported him there after Majestic killed Void-powered Spartan; in essence, the aforementioned instance may not have really happened). Arriving in what he believes to be his reality's version of New York, he demolishes a building on impact, and rises from the ashes sporting a different look (red-and-gold) from his original.
An E.M.T. by the name of Nikola Hanssen is given a portion of the Void's power when she tries to help an old man out of the rubble, but she runs away in fear after noticing the Captain's presence. That very same man hints on Captain Atom 'having it, too.' Clueless as to what is going on, he is immediately attacked by Mr. Majestic, who believes him to be an enemy. Getting annoyed by this, Captain Atom immediately ends the fight by blasting him with energy and knocking him through the street. The onlookers aren't moved by his ability to defeat Majestic, and even though Captain Atom is a hero, they appear to be afraid of him. It was at that given time that Atom realized that he wasn't where he thought he was. After flying through this version of Earth, he notices that key places such as Metropolis, Gotham, and Opal City are gone. He also realizes that half of San Diego isn't underwater.
He walks the streets as a civilian, and attempts to ask someone about superheroes from his reality, but it doesn't get him anywhere. Then, he approaches a nearby telephone booth and uses his powers to interface with computer networks all over the planet. Nathaniel learns that no one from his reality exists here, but that there are several superheroes that he is unfamiliar with. Atom suits up again, and immediately attempts to fly home. But, Mr. Majestic confronts him again, but without the intent to fight him. In a base within Mount Rushmore, Majestic makes an attempt to help the Captain get home. Using his technology, he finds his Earth, but then tells Atom that he is unable to get back there. The Captain leaves to find more help, and while he's away, Majestic learns that there will be a reaction in his body that would destroy the universe if left unchecked.
Atom arrives at the White House, and is immediately looked at as a threat. A military chopper fires a nuclear warhead at the Captain, but he withstands its impact, absorbs the energy, and flies into the White House to speak to the president. Like Majestic, he is unable to help him. But, based on what he tells the Captain, he makes it clear that superheroes run things within that reality. Majestic arrives at the White House much later to speak with the Captain. But, Captain Atom blitzes him and immediately attacks him, wondering what he did to make humans fear him so much. Majestic stops playing around and tosses Atom into the Washington Monument, knocking down the top part of it. The fight comes to a close, and Majestic tells Atom that when he dies, so will the universe. The issue of the Captain sacrificing himself comes up, but he decides to find out if Majestic is telling the truth. After arriving at the Pentagon and interfacing with its supercomputer using his powers, he learns the truth.
Meeting The WildC.A.T.s.
Back at the Monument, which was being repaired by nanobots, he is confronted by theWildCATS. The team, only composed of Maul,Voodoo, Warblade, and Zealot, is defeated by the Captain. Grifter arrives with Nikola and attempts to fight the Captain on his own, but aDoor suddenly opens up. Atom escapes through it and finds himself on the Moon. There, he meets Engineer, who takes him back to the Carrier to introduce him to theAuthority. After explaining his situation to Engineer, she and Jack Hawksmoor use their Door technology to escort Captain Atom through several alternate universes in order to find his own. With no luck, they enter a reality that was ruled by Nazis, and utilize their Door technology. After traveling through several realities, they are unable to find the right one. This leaves Atom distressed, and he travels through a Door to be alone, but Engineer follows him. Together, they fight against Russian forces to avert nuclear war. After getting a call from the Carrier, she's instructed to use her nanotechnology to remove the Void essence from his body. She succeeds in doing so, after the Doctor time-travels a year in the future and notices that everything is still there. Later, Captain Atom and Engineer share an intimate moment.
Captain Atom meets Nikola at the site where he first arrived much later, but interacting with her causes the Void within her to awaken. Although she is unable to control the powers she wields, the Captain calms her down. Engineer arrives much later to tell him that her nanotechnology didn't work, and that he was still going to destroy the universe. Willing to see for himself, Atom time-travels a week ahead and notices that everything is still there. On his way back, he shows Engineer a newspaper from a week ahead. But, it doesn't stop her from opening fire on him. The fight is brief, but with Engineer's nanotechnology, she manages to gain the upper hand. Grifter, who was there at the right time, uses a special gun to bring her down. To save her, Atom uses his transmutation ability to transform her into a human being.
The Authority
Things get worse when Apollo and Midnighterare sent down to earth to retrieve Engineer and kill Captain Atom to save the universe. The Captain is pummeled into the ground with Apollo's best shots while thinking of a plan to beat him. Atom, still conscious from his physical punishment, tricks Apollo into taking him to the Sun. There, as Apollo uses the Sun to power up, Captain Atom uses his powers to speed up the reaction in his body, nearly killing him. Captain Atom takes the fight back to New York, taking Apollo's body with him. Grifter is immediately killed after Apollo regains consciousness, and Captain Atom is forced into a Door after attempting to defend himself. Nikola is left behind.
Back at the Carrier, Apollo blasts Atom with his eye beams, which were powerful enough to start the Void reaction in his body. The reaction immediately powers him up to the point where he cannot be stopped. When Apollo, Midnighter, and Jenny Quantumattempt to stop him, they are all destroyed by the power that Captain Atom gives off. Nikola, accepting her role as the Void, finally shows up and removes the Void essence from Captain Atom's body. As she becomes whole, Captain Atom's appearance returns to normal, stopping him from destroying the universe as everyone thought. In the end, the Void is able to send him back to him native reality, right before she restarts Earth-50 from the beginning. Atom arrives in Bludhaven, just after the city was laid to waste by Chemo.
The New Monarch
After returning to DC proper, Captain Atom appears to be fatigued on his arrival inBludhaven. Unaware of the oncoming danger nearby, he is blasted in the back by a Monitor with an energy blast. The result leaves him knocked out with his Dilustel metal skin cracked in several places (it was revealed later in the Battle for Bludhaven series that his skin was weakened due to traveling through dimensional barriers on his way back, so the possibility of getting breached may have been the result of this). He is soon contained inside of a lab deep within the city and is used to administer radiation treatments to metahumans. Damages to his Dilustel skin had left him comatose and unable to keep his body’s radiation within safe levels. As a result, the Atomic Knights were forced to keep him contained within a bunker in Blüdhaven. After being fitted with a new containment suit (similar to the Monarch costume of Armageddon 2001) to keep his Quantum radiation levels under control, Captain Atom awakes and seems to be quite annoyed after sensing a powerful energy signature. Escaping from the lab, he interrupts the battle between Hal Jordan and Major Force. Effortlessly, Captain Atom kills Major Force by completely absorbing his energy and he finally releases a vast amount of energy that obliterates what’s left of Blüdhaven. Captain Atom is unseen again until Kyle Rayner, as Ion, discovers him in the Bleed, a place between dimensions.
Under the alias of Monarch, Captain Atom had been spending time in the Bleed (and in the process, becomes mentally unstable), planning to build an army to fight against the Monitors of the Multiverse. His army of foot soldiers mainly consisted of the JLAxis of Earth-10, the Extremists of Earth-8, and the Crime Society of Earth-3. During the Countdown: Arena arc, Monarch traversed through different Earths, gathering superheroes for his strike force. But, he sought to choose the best of the best, and that could only be determined in battle, in a Colosseum made by him in his Quantum Universe. With the heroes fighting amongst themselves, he was eventually drawn into it. His armor was able to shrug off the willpower-based attacks of three Green Lanterns at once without a scratch and he, himself, was able overpower, toss, and smack around three Supermen with ease. Out of the heroes he captured, Red Son Superman and Liberty Files Batman were able to figure out that Captain Atom was under the Monarch armor.
Two of Atom's counterparts, Breach and Quantum Storm, escaped from the Quantum Universe to gather all of the Captain Atoms from the different universes to fight against Monarch. As they all arrived, the plan backfired. It was revealed that Breach was brainwashed by Monarch into bringing all of his 51 counterparts in order to kill them and absorb their power. Monarch was able to single-handedly eradicate every incarnation of himself and absorb them into his very being, becoming more powerful in the process. In the end of it all, his strike force consisted of Ray "The Ray" Palmer (Earth-6), Eve of Shadows (Earth-13), Red Son Superman (Earth-30), Vampire Batman (Earth-43), the monstrous Scarab (Earth-26), Hal Jordan Jr. (Earth-12), Starwoman (Earth-7), Johnny Quick (Earth-3), Wonder Woman (Earth-34), and himself. He finally goes to war against the Monitors on Earth-51. During the war, Monarch was confronted by Superman-Prime, resulting in an intense battle between the both of them. In a fit rage due to Monarch's ridicule, Superman-Prime rips open the breastplate of Monarch's armor, setting off a massive explosion that destroyed the entire universe of Earth-51, apart from its Monitor.
Captain Atom Returned
Captain Atom next found himself with his memory wiped and brainwashed, fighting a medieval style army in an unknown world (and slaughtering them badly). In the midst of the battle, Captain Atom begins to have flashbacks of his forgotten memories. Coming to his senses, he stops the fighting, and starts asking questions, wondering who he is and where he is before eventually remembering his name. He is interrupted and attacked by an armed US army squad, and eventually defeated after having his mind deprogrammed by a special gun. After regaining consciousness, he is saved by mage Danel, ogre Aggaro, and undercover soldier Natasha Irons, who explains to him that he was used for General Lane's Anti-Superman Project 7734 for some time now, blanking his memory and "renting" him to a witch called Mirabai, ruler of the medieval-like world to help her fight rebels, in return for her help. His impervious nature against magic was the main reason why she used his as a weapon. They are suddenly attacked by Major Force, and during the fight, Captain Atom begins to remember his exploits as Monarch, most notably when he killed Major Force during the Battle for Bludhaven.
Major Force and Captain Atom are transported to the sky above Metropolis, only for the fight to be interrupted by Mon-El, who disposes of the Major and the army behind him. Captain Atom follows Mon-El to the JLA Watchtower , and learns that Mon-El was working with Natasha. On arrival, Captain Atom is greeted by Starfire, and reminisces on some of his regained memories (from his early days as a superhero to his adventures within the Wildstorm universe). He is suddenly interrupted by the Justice League, who all of which still believe him to be Monarch. Another fight ensues, and Captain Atom makes an attempt to protect himself without using lethal force to make them realize that he isn't a villain anymore. He is taken down, but the team believes him, nonetheless. After explaining what he had been through, they all attempt to make him remember how great of an American hero he really is, but he states that he needs to get back to Mirabai's realm and fix things.
The Shadowpact arrive at the Watchtower much later in order to help him. Detective Chimp tells him that the world he was in earlier was the Sorcerer's World and Ragman tells him that the energy in his body is 'anti-magical,' which would keep him from entering that realm through most magical dimensions because the concentration of magical energy within them is too much for him. Chimp deduces that Captain Atom would need to go through Skartaris to reach his destination, since the atmosphere there is similar to Earth's. From the Watchtower, Captain Atom makes his way through Asia to reach his destination. Once there, he runs into some of Mirabai's soldiers, and is accompanied by Danel and Aggaro once again. At their camp, they let the Captain know that Mirabai knows that he's there. As they prepare for battle, she does the same. The next day, Captain Atom and twenty-thousand soldiers, ogres, and mages go to war against Mirabai's own army. The Captain storms the castle, along with Danel and Aggaro, but Danel is killed by Mirabai and Atom incapacitated by a hex bolt (laid out, while the metal skin melted off of his body). After realizing that the hex was only affecting his mind and not his body (with help from Aggaro), Captain Atom begins to resist the hex's magical effects and covers himself with the metal once again. He realizes that he was his greatest enemy, before blasting Mirabai into unconsciousness.
After the battle is won, Aggaro reveals himself as Mordru. Claiming that we would be weak against Mirabai, he decided to stay disguised in order for Captain Atom to defeat her. In doing so, the Sorcerer's World would be free and Mordru would be its ruler. Zachary Zatara was kept there as Mirabai's captive, but was immediately sent home along with Captain Atom, whom Mordru declares a friend. A week later, Captain Atom quickly defeats Sonar and finds out that Mon-El got the Daily Planet to run a story on him as a great American champion. The world soon forgot about his past as Monarch, and he is able to stand amongst superheroes once again.
Generation Lost
After the resurrection of Max Lord, many of Earth's superheroes set out to find and capture him in an international manhunt. Captain Atom was leading a small group of them, along with the U.S. Military after hearing about an unknown energy signature in Yemen. After finding out that it was a nuclear bomb, Atom realized that they were played by Max and takes it upon himself to absorb the blast, despite the fact the energy within it was unknown to him. With the energy in his body, he strains himself to contain it and flies into outer space to expel it out there, but inadvertently absorbs the fallout. Doing so causes him to quantum jump to an unknown time period, leaving him unconscious.
As he comes to, he notices that he's temporarily depowered as this unknown energy metabolizes within him in, having up to twenty hours before being sent home through the time stream. He also notices that he feels different. Atom is soon greeted by a man named Robert, and is invited to stay in his home for a while. Later that night, he notices that the moon was destroyed, and begins to question what time period he's in. He learns from Robert that he is in 2351. After asking too many questions about the superheroes from his time period, Captain Atom is asked to leave the native's home. Robert's father arrives and takes Captain Atom to see a woman named Karrie. On the way there, the old man refers to the superheroes mentioned earlier as 'gods' and hints that they were killed during a war between them and mankind. Captain Atom soon reveals that he is going through some changes, stating that he's becoming less human and nothing but energy within his metal skin, possibly outliving everyone on Earth.
Captain Atom arrives at Karrie's tent. There, she appears to be nothing more than an old woman. On sight, she recognizes Atom and reveals herself as Power Girl. It is assumed that she was last surviving superhero within that time period, as all other superheroes, as well as Superman, have all died. Before Captain Atom returns to the present, she tells him that Max Lord is responsible for all that has happened. After returning to the present day, Atom regroups with Fire and Ice back at the JLI Embassy in New York, only to find Booster Gold badly beaten and left unconscious by Max. A moment after, Max Lord uses his telepathy to the limit in an attempt to wipe the memory of his existence from everyone's mind on Earth, including Martian Manhunter (who was on Mars at the time of the event). That very same attack disorients Captain Atom and the others, knocking them out for an hour or so.
Superman arrives after they regain consciousness, and find out that he no longer knows of Max Lord's existence. When they tried to show him a picture of Wonder Woman killing Max, he saw her holding a sword instead. The team parts ways for some time, and Captain Atom goes to Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to give briefing to the military. There, he was confronted by Magog, who was called back into service just in case Captain Atom resisted arrest. But, things got worse when Max used his telepathy to play tricks on him. Assuming that his commanding officer was Max, Atom attacked him. Magog and the soldiers on duty opened fire on on him. Captain Atom, however, refused to fight back. Between the explosion of a tank shell and energy from Magog's lance, Atom absorbs both and the fallout to avoid hurting anyone. The team regroups again at the Embassy, and Fire leaves for Checkmate's Castle . Skeets suddenly picks up a signal from Blue Beetle's home in El Paso, where he and his family are attacked by OMACs.
The team fights off the OMACs, until they are teleported to Russia. The team finds out the the signal was coming from Jaime's scarab (which was how they managed to find him in El Paso). They are suddenly confronted by the Rocket Red brigade, but Gavril Ivanovich comes to their aid and makes himself an unofficial member the JLI, wearing a distinctive-looking Rocket Red suit. With his help, Captain Atom and the team make quick work of the brigade. Max contacts them via holographic image from a downed Rocket Red, explaining to the Captain and others that his plan was to make them a team again, on top of other things. Then, Max sets off a self-destruct mechanism in the downed-but-conscious Rocket Red's armor. With no other way to stop it, Captain Atom carries the Russian soldier into the sky, letting his armor explode up there to save the others.
Back at the Embassy, Captain Atom confronts Ice about the way she's been acting lately, telling her that she's scared of something. She responds, saying that she's died before and doesn't want to die again. With the signal that Blue Beetle traced after Max's holographic image, the team planned to sneak in the Checkmate's Castle to find him. Captain Atom served as a distraction by blasting the castle with weak energy blasts, while the team, dressed as Rocket Reds, infiltrated the Castle. Atom also aided their escape from the Castle and the Checkmate agents, although they were unable to find who they came there for. The team takes shelter at an Emabssy in Potsdam, Germany, where Max infiltrates and takes Fire hostage and her mind under his control. Captain Atom and Ice, who doesn't want to be on the team, get into a heated argument. The team is soon attacked by Fire, who is unable to control her body or her powers. Captain Atom handles the situation by attempting to absorb and contain her flames and uses his energy to manipulate the neural impulses in her brain to induce sleep, while the team makes makes an escape and Booster attempts to fight Max. But, he gets away yet again.
Skeets reveals that four Checkmate cells went active the day Max was resurrected, which were nothing more than robotics labs. The team splits up to investigate. While Ice, Fire, and Gavril checked the cell in China (later dealing with the Metal Men), Captain Atom leads Blue Beetle and Booster Gold to the Checkmate cell in Chicago. There, they find out that the lab belonged to Professor Ivo, the one responsible for building Amazo. There were also inactive OMACs within the lab as well. Before they could leave, they were confronted by Magog. Captain Atom was immediately blasted with the same form of energy that he was unable to contain from the nuclear bomb, implying that Max Lord used the energy to power up Magag's energy lance. Not only was this energy difficult to absorb, but it was difficult for him to manipulate as well and powerful enough to breach Captain Atom's skin (Atom claimed that it was having a negative effect on his body). Telling Booster and Beetle to retreat, Atom felt that it was best to deal with Magog on his own.
The fight was moved into the streets of Chicago, and just before Magog could plunge his lance into the Atom's chest, he catches it within his grasp. Despite his injuries, he's able to stay in the fight and maintain control in order to absorb the energy blasts. At the same time, Atom tries to get Magog to realize that he is being manipulated. Magog ceased his attack, and admitted that he was under Max Lord's control, hired to kill Captain Atom. Like the JLI, he was able to remember Max's existence. Max watched it all, and using his telepathy, he made Magog decapitate himself with his own lance. But, in the process of doing so, he manipulated the minds of the people who watched it into thinking that it was Captain Atom who killed Magog. They had all accused him of murder after recording the scene with their cell phones, and he attempted to defend himself for the simple fact that he didn't really commit murder. Magog's lance exploded with the very same unknown energy that was used against the Captain during the fight. There were several casualties, even though Atom attempted to absorb the explosion. But, like before, the unknown energy sends him into the time stream once again.
Atom arrives in what appears to be post-apocalyptic Tokyo, Japan after absorbing the unknown energy. Like before, he realizes that he is again powerless for twenty-six hours while the unknown energy metabolizes with his body. Upon his arrival, he is attacked by OMACS, and then saved by future versions of Damian Wayne(who is Batman in that period, one-hundred and thirty-one years old via the Lazarus Pit) and Shazam (who is a female version of Captain Marvel, Sahar Shaheen). This time, Captain Atom's quantum jump sent him a hundred and twelve years ahead and he automatically assumed that Max Lord was responsible for the state of things within that time period. As he rendezvouses with the rest of the JLA there, he speaks with a battle-torn Power Girl, who reveals that metahumans and humanity were at war with each other during the time that Captain Atom quantum jumped there. While the JLA were dealing with the OMACS, Superman was fighting off a Green Lantern invasion for over fifty years.
Accompanying the JLA, a boom tube is used to infiltrate the JLA moon base, which was Max Lord's seat of power. Damian receives intel that there's an initiative called 'Fire Sky' that will launch and go active in two days. Meanwhile, Atom asks Power Girl if killing Max Lord would fix things, but she responds, saying that it may be too late and that his plan may already be in motion back in the present. They are soon interrupted by Damian, who reveals that 'Fire Sky' had already been launched, releasing OMACS nanobytes into the air. The future versions of Red Hood and Black Canary, and the Blue Scarab are all transformed into OMACS, dispatching the remaining members of the JLA. Then, Captain Atom begins to feel his powers coming back, initiated by the fact that he was about to go back into the time stream. After blasting away at the OMACS, an injured Power Girl reveals that Max Lord kills Wonder Woman and the Amazons back in the present. In order to save the JLA, Captain Atom destroys the transponder that released the nanobytes into the air. Just as he jumps back to the present, the explosive force of the transponder takes out of a portion of the moon.
Captain Atom ends up in his native time period, branded a murderer for a crime he didn't commit. Back the the JLI Headquarters (one of many) in Australia, the team watches the media's video coverage that captures Captain Atom killing off Magog by blasting his head off, and is also held responsible for the explosion killing nearly thousands of people in Chicago (with radiation poisoning killed many others who were untouched by the blast). The Captain wants to kill Max Lord, but Booster Gold tells him that he doesn't get to do that because he's superhero, and that things will be done the right way (but not before Booster Gold beats him within an inch of his life). Gavril and Blue Beetle suddenly forget about Wonder Woman, asking if she's a new superhero, which doesn't seem to sit well with the rest of the JLI (because Atom, Booster, Ice, and Fire still remember her). At the same time, there's isn't any information of Wonder Woman anywhere, according to Skeets.
The JLI base in the Australian dessert is soon breached by scouts of the Creature Commandos, and in the firefight, Fire is riddled with bullet holes (but later healed with magic bandages from one of the Commandos). During the skirmish with the Commandos, the JLI refuses to hurt any of them after Captain Atom assesses the situation and deduces that they are all being mind-controlled (later assuming that Max Lord was accompanying the Creature Commandos) and used as a distraction. In the process of it all, Max Lord kidnaps Blue Beetle. The Captain, Booster Gold, and Rocket Red continue to fight the Creature Commandos, who soon regain the ability to think for themselves and only remembering what happened prior to being manipulated by Max Lord. Gavril somehow reveals the location of Max and Blue Beetle, and the team is led to Tokyo, Japan. But, before they can even begin to look, Captain Atom is snatched up by Power Girl and knocked headlong into the wilderness nearby. Atom was relatively unharmed by the attack, but will be forced to fight Power Girl, who happens to be brainwashed by Max Lord.
Well within the battle, Captain Atom realizes that Max has tricked her into thinking that he is Superman (also thinking that he, as Superman, killed Magog and thousands of people in Chicago). As a result, she begins to pummel the Captain, not holding back. Atom refuses to fight back, and the rest of the JLI come to his assistance. With a hypersonic blast from Gavril to disorient her, Atom is able to calm Power Girl down and make realize that she was being brainwashed. She suddenly joins the team, but leaves to clear Atom's name and make Max's existence known. In pursuit of Max and Blue Beetle, the rest of the team come across a Checkmate battleship underwater nearby. As Captain Atom breaches the hull, the team storms inside in an attempt to save Beetle, but before they could do anything to help, they witness Max putting a bullet through his head. The team chooses to tend to Beetle, but lets Max get away again. They presume Beetle to be dead soon after.
Later, the team retreats to another JLI base, mourning the 'death' of Blue Beetle. Captain Atom, however, is sitting in front of several television screens, watching newscasts of his incident with Magog and in the innocent people in Chicago. When he is approached by Ice, he begins to feel sorry for himself and what he's going through before being reminded by her that he's a hero that gives her hope. Just as Booster begins to doubt himself and the team, Blue Beetle regains consciousness with information of Max Lord's plans. The team suddenly jumps on Beetle with joy, and Captain Atom appears to be the happiest of them all when realizing that Beetle is alive. The team learns from Beetle (since the armor hacked Max's files) that they were pawns in Max's plan all along and that it was his intention to have the JLI chase him all over the world. Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Power Girl arrive to accompany the team and tell them that a powerful android is being built to kill Wonder Woman in New York City. The JLI intercepts her to inform her of the oncoming threat, but she is reluctant to go anywhere with the team. Suddenly, New York is overrun with OMACs.
As the JLI attempts to flee from the army of OMACs, they apprehend Wonder Woman and teleport her (and half of the team) to Los Angeles. Captain Atom, still in New York, is clueless as to where they went. The other half of the team is confronted by OMAC Prime, an upgraded OMAC that is powered by Max Lord's brain patterns and has the ability to replicate superhuman abilities. Captain Atom and Power Girl arrive in Los Angeles and attempt to destroy the OMAC. But, it mimics the Captain's powers in the process, gaining his Quantum power and his Dilustel armor. Before it could actually engage the Captain in direct combat, OMAC Prime is blitzed by Captain Atom and then drained of the power it mimicked. The Captain leaves for outer space to release the energy. The OMAC Prime is later destroyed by Blue Beetle, and Booster Gold and Max Lord show up in Los Angeles after a long physical confrontation. But, before Max can get away, the Captain comes back from outer space, containing the energy he just absorbed. Atom restrains Max and threatens to take him to the future via Quantum Jumping in order to make him restore the world's memory of himself. To avoid that fate, he uses his telepathy to do as he's told. The Captain lets him go, before being bumped into the time stream again. His current whereabouts are unknown. Captain Atom will be around but matbe even join the new Justice League series where ever his is around to help and needed for his service.
Powers & Abilities
Allen Adam
- Invulnerability - Superhuman durability. Able to survive unaided in space.
- Atomic Blasts - Emit blasts of atomic energy. Ability to strike with an Atomic Punch
- Superhuman Strength - Strength far above the limits of a normal human being
- Atomic Absorbtion - Extreme atomic and energy absorption.
- Atomic Manipulation - Minor atomic transmutation.
- Flight - Ability to fly at supersonic speeds and interstellar distances.
Nathaniel Adam
-Quantum Field Manipulation - Captain Atom's metal skin is a conduit that is connected directly to the Quantum Field, a limitless void of all matter and all energy that enables him to absorb, generate and manipulate infinite amounts of energy and matter. The amount of which he can use is limited by his willpower, scientific knowledge, and imagination. The Quantum Field has given him various uses, and many of which are unknown. Although he is able to use it with limitless potential, he most commonly uses it for his superhuman physical abilities, and his ability to manipulate energy and matter. The Quantum Field also grants him various immunities and/or resistances against telepathy and molecular manipulation.
- Invulnerability - Dilustel metal "skin" has a symbiotic relationship with Captain Atom's body and is virtually indestructible, highly resistant to various degrees of damage from energy, heat, lasers, missiles, warheads, the interior of a black hole, etc. In certain situations, his skin can be breached, most notably by X-ionized weapons or weapons that are made to cut/punch through any surface (Crimson Avenger's enchanted bullets, Zealot's swords, etc.). Against physical force, he's shown to withstand punishment from some of the strongest beings (Wonder Woman, Major Force, Mr. Majestic, Ultraa, Apollo, Orion, Maul, Power Girl, etc) without having his skin breached. His invulnerability extends to being impervious to certain magical spells and attacks.
- Superhuman endurance - The energies of the Quantum Field sustain Captain Atom. When covered in his Dilustel skin, he has no need for food, sleep, or oxygen. He can survive in outer space and doesn't need to breathe. His endurance is increased to superhuman levels, and he can perform strenuous activity for a long and undefined period.
- Energy Projection and Manipulation - He is able to emit blasts of any type of quantum-based energy from any part of his body at once, but normally prefers using his hands for ease of aim. He is able to control the magnitude and wavelength of his energy blasts at will. He can stun his opponents with his blasts at the lowest setting. But, at higher settings, he's shown to blow up aircraft (ranging from fighter jets to large spaceships, such as Kobra's Ark), tanks, stagger powerful super-powered beings, incinerate a human being down to their bones or completely vaporize them, detonate atomic explosions, and the list goes on. At one point, the force from high-powered blasts have started earthquakes (while Atom was fighting another being underground). With the Quantum Field, he is able to generate and manipulate forces along the Unified Field (fundamental forces). In the same way, he learned to access weak force energy, manipulate gravitational forces, and electromagnetism (has generated pure light from his body, and manipulated electromagnetism to shut of the Ray's powers with a simple blast of energy). The Quantum Field also grants his Quantum blasts with the effect of intense heat, and he has shown to be able to melt down dense metallic substances and heat things up with what he likes to call 'Quantum heat.' At one point, he applied his energy manipulation to manipulate the electric impulses in one's brain, in order to put them to sleep. Captain Atom is also able to generate energy shields (strong enough to stop things as powerful as entropy) around himself, and others. He was once able to transmute the force of an energy blast, as well.
- Superhuman Strength - The limits of Captain Atom's physical strength are unknown, but based on his showings, he is well in excess of Class 100 and is well within Superman's strength class, although not exactly equal to him. To date, he's been able to physically fight and/or inflict damage on beings such as Wonder Woman, Mr, Majestic, Ultraa, Major Force, Superman (who was brainwashed at the time), and the like. It was stated that he is strong enough to move around mountains.
- Superhuman Reflexes - Captain Atom is able to think, move and react at superhuman speeds, significantly greater than humans. Dr. Heinrich Megala revealed that Captain Atom was once able to move faster than he could think during his experimental testing of Captain Atom's powers. He has shown to react fast enough to stop bullets with his hand, and move fast enough to intercept gunfire after it's already left the barrel. He has also displayed some level of superhuman speed during his battle with Ultraa. Recently in the New-52 reboot, Captain Atom had a lengthy conversation with the Flash, which happened in the space of 3 thousandths of a second.
- Energy Absorption - Extreme energy absorption that's second to none in the DC Universe. With proper control, concentration, and regulation of his energy absorption rate, he is capable of absorb infinite amounts of energy to avoid quantum jumping through time. There is almost no form of energy that Captain Atom is unable to absorb. In the new 52 he absorbed a Nuclear Bomb.
- Techno-Interface - He has also shown the ability to telepathically interface with computer networks and the binary system.
- Matter Manipulation - He has shown to manipulate cohesive force to make 'protomatter.' On occasion, he has shown to transmute solid objects, akin to Firestorm, having transmuted Green Arrow's arrows into butterflies and a firearm into a toy spaceship. He used his ability to affect matter on an atomic scale to turn Maul and Engineer back into their human forms. Depending on the situation, it appears as if this ability is used on instinct or with some level of concentration. At one point, he was able to create a universe within the Quantum Field. In the new 52 he was able to turn two fighter jets into feathers.
- Time Travel - Through great concentration and strain, he is capable of traveling ahead in time (without the aid of Quantum Jumping) for a limited period before returning to the present (about a week ahead or so).
- Flight - Ability to fly at supersonic speeds (speeds at Earth's escape velocity or greater) in an atmosphere and at sub-light speeds (more than half the speed of light) in interstellar space & when traveling interstellar distances. However, Captain Atom claims that he can hit light speed if he wants to.
- Enhance abilities - Because the Quantum Field is based on his willpower, he has the ability to enhance his superhuman abilities. So far, he has shown to enhance his physical strength, the magnitude of his energy blasts, his flight speed, his senses (most notably his hearing), and his stamina (during a battle in which he was weakened).
- Military Experience - Has Air Force officer training in covert operations, military weaponry (mostly firearms), strategy, and hand-to-hand combat (quite possibly based on MAC training). Major Nathanial Adam also has strong survival instincts derived from his experiences during the Vietnam War.
- Air Force Pilot - He is a skilled combat pilot.
There is also speculation that this version of Captain Atom being an Elemental (Quantum Elemental) along withSwampthing (Earth), Red Tornado (Air), Firestorm (Fire) and Naiad (Water).
Personal Data
Characteristics
- Height: 6'4 (1.9304m)
- Weight: 200lbs (90.718474kg)
- Eye Colour: Blue
- Hair Colour: White/Silver
- Skin Colour: Silver
Other Versions
Kingdom Come / Earth-22
Captain Atom cause the destruction of Kansas.
Earth 4
Nathaniel Adam appeared in Final Crisis.
Flashpoint
Nathaniel Adam has controlled over the mindless Doomsday's Body.
Young Justice
This Captain Atom follows T.V. Show.
Other Media
Television
Justice League Unlimited
Captain Atom makes his first appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Initiation" where he is voiced by George Eads. Accompanying John Stewart, Supergirl and Green Arrow to North Korea to investigate a nuclear anomaly. They find an unnamed nuclear behemoth (who bears a distinct resemblance to the Apocalyptic monster, Brimstone), terrorizing the area. Captain Atom attempts to siphon the energy emitting from the creature, but finds it too great. Attempting to breach the creatures suit with dampening rods, Captain Atom is unsuccessful and his containment suit is breached, forcing him to fly clear just before as he blows up. Later in the episode he is found on the satellite, his energies being restored into a new suit.
In the episode "Taskforce X", we are shown his facets of power which include his superior strength (holding open blast doors unwittingly allowing members of Taskforce X to escape) and nuclear absorption powers whilst containing a nuclear reactor. We are also introduced to Plastique, who, in his Captain Atom comic series, would develop a romantic relationship.
Captain Atom further emphasizes his powerhouse status in the episodes "Question Authority" and "Flashpoint". In the latter episode we witness Captain Atom going toe-to-toe with Superman. Harnessing red sun energy, he is able to temporarily dominate before he is eventually subdued by the Man of Steel.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Captain Atom makes his first appearance in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, in the episode "Powerless." In the episode, Captain Atom is the newest member of Justice League International, he is very cocky, and states that Batman is the worst superhero because he has no superpowers. Captain Atom loses his powers to Major Force and must learn to be a hero without them. He later stops Major Force while powerless, and gets them back. The JLI thinks that Captain Atom would become a better person through the loss of his powers, but he continues to be his cocky self.
Young Justice
Captain Atom makes his first appearance in Young Justice, in the pilot episode "Independence Day" and in the episode "Schooled" Amazo is shown using Captain Atom abilities against the Young Justice team. He is voiced by Michael T.Weiss.
Film
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
In the direct-to-DVD animated movie, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Captain Atom is featured as one of the main heroes Lex Luthor enlists into a Government-employed group of superheroes that include Power Girl, Starfire, Black Lightning,Katana and the not-so-heroic Major Force. He is voiced by Xander Berkeley.
Video Games
DC Universe Online
Captain Atom will appear in the upcoming game, DC Universe Online.
