Customer Reviews

Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

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I have to admit a bit of surprise upon receiving and browsing through this book. I had expected this volume to include ALL of the Charlton CAPTAIN ATOM adventures from SPACE ADVENTURES and the later magazine that sported the character's title. What is included in this volume are the stories from SPACE ADVENTURES #s 33-40 and 42, and CAPTAIN ATOM #s 78-82. Since CAPTAIN ATOM ran up to issue #89, we're missing a few stories here (*sniff*).

That's not really a huge cause for complaint -- at least for me, because I had assumed that there were fewer earlier CA tales, and I actually have the comics with the later stories not included. Hopefully DC Comics WILL issue an Archives containing the contents of CAPTAIN ATOM #s 83-89, but that might be a pretty slim volume or necessitate extra contents (for example, the "new" BLUE BEETLE back-up feature by Steve Ditko began in CAPTAIN ATOM #83, and if the Captain Atom reprints continue, do you include BB with them, or separate them out with BLUE BEETLE i#s 1-5 by Ditko in a BB Archive?).

Way back when/then (in the 1950s & 60s), Charlton was the red-headed stepchild of the comics industry, and truth be told, they published a lot of garbage by mostly inferior talents. The few times I "tried" Charlton comics was not off the newsstand (where, being poor, my hard-earned coined were spent on Marvel and DC comics). Rather, I came across them in those "illegal" "3-for-15-cents" (without covers) or "2-for-15-cents" (with covers) plastic packs of comics. And I didn't buy those packs for the Charlton books, but rather for the other contents therein. (Often in the "3-for-15-cents" coverless comics packs you DIDN'T KNOW what the middle comic was!)

Rather than let those unwanted and unintended Charlton purchases go to waste in the mid-1960s, I did read them and was summarily unimpressed with most titles and issues. And that included Captain Atom when I read a couple of his SPACE ADVENTURES tales. I even thought the Captain's origin (of attaining his atomic powers via exposure to radiation) unimpressive, altho in retrospect many characters, even Spider-Man, had the same unimaginative affliction.

Fast forward, though, to early 1967, and I came across CAPTAIN ATOM #85 at the local drugstore. The Captain now had a glitzier costume, Steve Ditko's art seemed more polished than some of his earlier Charlton works (and more like his previous Marvel art), and Charlton was obviously attempting to emulate Marvel and inject CHARACTERIZATION into its stories! Plus a Blue Beetle story was included in the issue, virtually the Ditko Spider-Man reincarnated! Charlton and editor Dick Giordano were also attempting to revitalize their super-hero lineup (dubbed "Action Heroes") with Marvel-like stories and other characters (PEACEMAKER by Pat Boyette, JUDOMASTER by Frank McLaughlin, and (PETER CANNON) THUNDERBOLT by Pete Morisi) -- some worked more than others, but the effort was certainly there. I was hooked, and snagged CAPTAIN ATOM #s 83 and 84 (that had the first two appearances Ditko's "new" Blue Beetle) as back issues, and even eventually subscribed to the Charlton "Action Heroes" line. By issue #88 CAPTAIN ATOM had the revamped Charlton logo (a big "C" in the upper-left of its covers), but issue #89 was the end, as the "Action Heroes" faded into oblivion save for some later inventory printings. A star had burned bright for but a short time. Dick Giordano also left for DC Comics, taking along Steve Ditko, Jim Aparo, Denny O'Neil and the rest of the talents with him.

The earlier CA stories are good (although not as good as the later ones), and this volume is a must-buy for comics fans, and especially so if you are a fan of Steve Ditko. Some of Ditko's work is rougher in spots (perhaps Charlton wasn't paying him as much as Marvel did), but still exceptionally worthwhile. Pay particular attention to Rocco (Rocke) Mastroserio's inks. An underrated talent (who died far too young and also did some excellent "moody" work for Warren Publications), Rocke probably excelled more at inking than penciling -- and his inks over Ditko's pencils are impressive.

Also pay attention to the quality progression to the Captain Atom feature itself, which is certainly discernable. When and if DC publishes an Action Heroes Archives Volume 2, you'll have further treats in store for you -- at least until the unfortunate demise (for CAPTAIN ATOM) at issue #89!

When Captain Adam, USAF (he's called Allen Adam once, but he never seems to have a first name) is accidentally trapped in a rocket and exploded in outer space, he manages to reintegrate himself on Earth, endowed with amazing atomic powers. He becomes Captain Atom, costumed super-hero and the United States' new secret weapon in the Cold War.

I must apply my usual caveat about vintage comic books: take them as you find them, they are plot heavy, character light, not always PC. "The Action Heroes Archives" gets an additional caveat. Although this volume is published by DC Comics, the Action Heroes line, including Captain Atom, was originally published in the 1960s by Charlton Comics, one of the many also-rans in the comic book industry, that nonetheless created a body of work that is beloved even today. The fact that one of the creative figures behind this line was comics legend Steve Ditko, certainly makes these stories worthy that sentiment.

This volume contains two runs of Captain Atom. The first half covers the initial run of stories published in "Space Adventures" in the late 1950s-early 1960s. Pencilled and inked by Ditko, the writers of most of these stories is forgotten, although some were written by the prolific Joe Gill. Each story ran five pages, with Atom pitted against a variety of menaces, including aliens, spies, and foreign threats. Indeed, there is an interesting thread of jingoism in these early stories. It should come as no surprise that these stories, while mostly enjoyable, are very limited in terms of plot (usually containing four pages of set-up and a page of resolution) and devoid of character development. In all fairness, the stories identified as written by Gill were the best of the lot. Most important, Ditko, while not quite at the level of Spider-man, was still producing some fine art work that makes these stories, many of which are bad, worth reading.

The second half of the volume represents the early issues of the character's second run, when, after a hiatus of a couple of years, Charlton made a stab at a real "Action Heroes" line. Captain Atom was given his own book (picking up on the numbering of "Space Adventures," which Charlton did all the time), and, under the plotting of Gill and Ditko, full-length stories and a new sense of character development. Atom's supporting cast was expanded. He even got a partner, the female super-agent Nightshade. He also began to develop recurring villains, most notably Dr. Spectro, a brilliant scientist who developed light technology that changes people's moods. This second run is a vast improvement over the original stories, and, while not the best the Silver Age of comics has to offer, is still worth reading. Again, the main draw is Ditko's art, although now the art is supporting some legitimately good writing.

Sadly, Charlton dropped the "Action Heroes" line not quite a year after it started. In the 1980s, Charlton sold the characters to DC, who integrated those characters, including Captain Atom (although with substantial revamping) into their own universe.

I presume that DC intends to simply archive all of that material under the title "Action Heroes," as opposed to giving each character their own volume: there simply isn't enough material to justify it. Given DC's rather erratic publishing schedule for their archives, I'm not sure when to expect volume two. As I enjoyed this volume quite a bit, I can't wait for more that great Ditko art, which makes lame stories enjoyable and good stories close to great.

As an aside, the image amazon has posted for this book is out of date: when DC released it they used a different cover image and called it the "Action Heroes Archives." Still the same book.

A fantastic Archive edition for fans of Steve Ditko. Reading Charleton comics in the 1960s I always felt like I was "slumming it" due to inferior quality paper, coloring and plots. But Steve Ditko's glorious art and the quirky charm of an underdog company always made these stories a treat. The early very short stories from Space Adventures #33 to #42 are poorly written but have terrific artwork with both pencils and inks by Ditko. Captain Atom #78 to #82 have slightly better Marvel influenced long stories but the art suffers a little from inking by Rocke Mastroserio (only Ditko could ink Ditko well).The Marvel storytelling influence on the 1965 to 1966 stories is humerous because these guys were terrible at attempting Stan's flip, hip dialogue. But forget the stories! This Archive is all about the artwork, and Ditko's genius shines even in a "low rent" setting! A very charming look at Charleton's "Superman", Captain Atom.

For any fans of Steve Ditko, this first edition of Action Heroes is a must have. This first edition of Ditko's Charlton work gives us all the captian atom stories from Space Adventures 33 to 40, 42 and Captain Atom #s 78 to 82. While Jack Kirby has always been called "The King", Steve Ditko must deserve the title "Prime Minister." The way he has always been able to capture realistic facial features and fluid human movement has still not been matched to this day. Ditko never drew a character posing. He drew them moving..expressing emotion. If you're a fan or not and are tired of the artists of today drawing characters that look like they're posing for the camera, or airbrushing from photographs, then this will be a refreshing change. While the stories may not exactly over tax the little grey cells, the art will dazzle. The work Ditko did on the Charlton character Captian Atom is some of his best ever, topped only in my personal opinion by spiderman and doctor strange. The issues are hard to find so its wonderful to have a archive volume collecting them. If I hadnt gotten such a good deal on this through amazon, I would have paid full price, it's that good.

If there were a 4.5 Star rating that's what I would give the first volume of the ACTION HEROES ARCHIVE. Like all the ARCHIVE editions the book is beautiful but very pricey. There are a couple things I found particularly interesting about these stories. First, there is a division and a gap of several years between the beginning Captain Atom stories and the later ones collected here. That division was caused by Ditko leaving the series to team with Stan Lee on a little comic called SPIDER-MAN! Very interesting to see the effect the explosion of the Marvel Age of Comics has here. The early stories are mostly very short (4 or 5 pages each) and almost all deal with atomic threat and Cold War adversaries. When Ditko returns, the stories immediately switch to 20+ pages each and focus on colorful, costumed villains like Dr. Spectro and The Ghost. Unfortunately the later stories are only penciled by Ditko and inked by other artists (the early short stories are pure Ditko). The second aspect I think most people will find interesting is the obvious influence Captain Atom had on later superheroes, specifically Dr. Manhattan (from Watchmen) and Adam Archer (GODLAND)are obvious homages to Ditko's atomic powered hero.