Customer Reviews

Captain Atom: Armageddon

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I've never been a big fan of Captain Atom, but I can't resist a good crossover. At the end of Batman/Superman Vol. 1, Captain Atom piloted a ship to destroy a giant kryptonite asteroid headed for Earth. He was presumed dead. However, he was actually transported to the universe where WildStorm comics take place. I've never been a huge WildStorm fan either, as I've only read some Authority and a series called Sleeper (both of which I highly recommend), but I was interested to see how that world ran. Once I read it, I loved it. Atom's characterization was great, and it was entertaining to see how someone with a DC sense of heroism reacted to the deadly actions taken by the characters of this new universe. As with anything, I think knowing the backstory will make this book more enjoyable, but is by no means necessary.

Overall, a fun read. Pick it up if you like stories about parallel dimensions, what heroism is, or if you just want a good super-powered brawl.

Without exaggeration, Captain Atom: Armageddon was the best written and most overlooked story of the year. While DC was ramping its Infinite Crisis, and Marvel was preparing for Civil War, Captain Atom crossed into the WildStorm publishing universe.

In the DC Universe, Captain Atom is not a particularly special hero. He is not the strongest and most powerful, he is not the noblest and bravest, he is not the most popular and well-loved. He is an above-average face lost in a sea of perfection.

The WildStorm universe is less ideal. It's heroes are flawed and imperfect. Their execution of power is less restrained and more authoritarian (indeed, the counterpart to the Justice League is The Authority). The people fear their "protectors".

By comparison, Captain Atom is a blinding paragon of virtue. He brings to the WildStorm universe the altruistic quality of heroism that has been lacking, a purer form of nobility sorely missed. Yet inadvertently, he may destroy everyone and everything, never finding his way home.

One of my favorite stories.

If you're a fan of Cpt. Atom, or epic crossovers in general, this is a great pickup. For Wildstorm fans, notably Mr. Majestic and The Authority, it will be a bit of a letdown, as there are some noticable inconsistencies in both character personalities, universe continuity, and power levels. It's obvious the writers did more prep-work on Atom than the supporting cast.

Still, a good read, and a must for fans of Atom.

A huge meteor is headed straight for earth. Criminally underused good guy from the mainstream DC universe Captain Atom is about to heroically sacrifice himself by piloting a spaceship right into it. Good news: the blast doesn't kill him, instead it propels him into the WildStorm Universe. Fashion news: his costume has changed from it's usual silver to a rather bad-ass gold and scarlet. Bad news: he's attacked upon arrival by Mr. Majestic, the local Superman "Captain Ersatz." Worst news of all: he has somehow got a bit of something called the "Void Presence" in him, which means that he will inadvertently cause "the total entropy of everything" unless he can dislodge it in time. Clearly, it's been one of those days.

Being a decent chap he tries contacting the local talent for help in this matter but soon finds out that the majority of the so-called "heroes" in the WSU are back-stabbing, mass murdering psychotic thugs. Most folks run away screaming when they see one of them coming and for good reason: their contempt for regular non-powered types is palpable. They think nothing at all of torturing or killing people at a whim. Yet they still believe themselves to be the good guys! All the civilian deaths? Meh, whatever, mere "collateral damage." It's so bad that at one point even Captain Atom begins to wonder if the place is worth saving.

The writing in this thing is for the most part well done. Will Pfeifer successfully captures the essence of the various characters quite nicely. I did have an issue with the Authority's overconfidence and how he had them go after Cap one or two at a time instead of launching a coordinated attack. A bit hard to believe they'd be quite that dumb, but no big deal. The art is top flight, Sandra Hope's inks crisp and clear. Cap's new costume looks, as I said before, pretty spiff. Bottom line: even if you're not a Captain Atom fan, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Altogether the WildStorm Universe is an interesting depiction of a dystopia and a nice contrast to the regular DCU. In it's own twisted way it is as bad as Earth-Three with it's Crime Syndicate of Amerika...a little sillier, but every bit as balls-out hellish.

I remember the first time I was introduced to the Captain Atom. Like many of you who grew up at the same time as I did, it was in the Justice League Unlimited television series that I first got a glimpse at this character. I enjoyed the role that Captain Atom played in the JLU TV series as sort of a best bud to Superman, but I always wanted to explore this character and see how he was portrayed in his own work. Therefore, I picked up this novel and I can assure you, it does not disappoint. I found it to be brilliantly written and shed light on a character that has seemed to be overshadowed by many of the heavy hitters in the DC universe.

[SLIGHT SPOILERS]

Captain Atom, in this graphic novel, is jettisoned into the Wildstorm Universe (Wildstorm is an imprint of DC comics) and upon arriving in this universe, he finds that his overall appearance has been radically altered, his signature silver-metallic kin being replaced by a gold and crimson layering. He finds comfort among the members of the Authority and soon develops complicated relationships with the individual members. At one point, he even considers possibly staying in this universe due to there being little hope of returning to his own. I found the relationships and interactions that transpire between good ol' Cap and the Authority to be well written and reveal a lot more about Atom himself than the characters of the Authority. The plot was very well conceived and executed, in my opinion, brilliantly, exploiting base human emotions such as attraction, jealousy, loneliness, and displacement. The only problem that I might have had with it was that I was unfamiliar with the Authority and therefore some of it seemed confusing at times. But overall, a very good read if you want to find out more about Captain Atom, DC's unsung superhero.

Angie, the Engineer (gazing at a departing Captain Atom): "Nice guy."

Jack Hawksmoor, King of Cities: "Sure. Nice guy."

The Engineer: "But, nice guy or not, he's going to destroy the entire universe."

Heads up! This is pretty much a SPOILERS-heavy review.

A quick biography: Nathaniel Adam, a court-martialed U.S. Air Force officer, was given a choice: "volunteer" for a scientific experiment or go to prison. Adam opts for playing guinea pig. It seems that the military had unearthed an alien metal, of which resiliency they wanted to test. The lab boys planted Adams in a capsule (composed of the mysterious metal) on top of an atomic bomb, then detonated the bomb (but they weren't really sure what would happen). Nathaniel Adam ended up being catapulted 23 years into the future, somehow having bonded with the alien metal and now possessing superhuman abilities. So, that's Captain Atom.

Cut to the present: As he flew a rocket towards a collision course with an asteroid made of kryptonite and heading for Earth, Nathaniel Adam, a.k.a. Captain Atom, believed he was about to lay down his life to save the world (see Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies). But, instead, the resulting explosion shunts him into another universe, the universe of Wildstorm. His noisy arrival wreaks quick havok to an apartment building and causes the death of one odd man, who, before expiring, manages to prick the hand of an arriving paramedic, Nikola Hanssen, with a strange "splinter."

Later on, this "splinter" would be revealed as the Void signature (the Void having been a powerful, now deceased, member of the superhero group, Wildcats). This means that a portion of Void's essence had been downloaded into Nikola Hanssen's person (poor girl). Captain Atom also gets his share of the Void signature, but, in his case, this really, really, really sucks. Then, mere moments after his arrival, he's welcomed to this parallel earth with a vicious assault by Majestic (more or less, Wildstorm's version of Superman).

Meanwhile, Grifter, a member of Wildcats, suddenly senses the presence of his erstwhile dead teammate Void and goes off to investigate. He tracks down Captain Atom and the paramedic, Nikola Hanssen, and ends up taking Nikola under his wing, even though Nikola is reluctant to be a superhero. Captain Atom, Grifter leaves to the other Wildcats.

The truly crappy news for the good Captain: It seems that Void's essence had messed with his make-up to such an extent that, not only has it altered his appearance, it's essentially transformed him into a ticking bomb which would eventually annihilate the galaxy and pretty much a busload of realities. That is, unless he can somehow find his way back to his own Earth. But it's exactly Void's essence in him which prevents his return home. Naturally, the preeminent metahumans of the Wildstorm Universe aren't shy about being proactive about this threat. And, if all else fails, they don't at all mind being lethally proactive.

Considering Captain Atom isn't even in the top I-don't-know-how-many of my favorite superheroes list, CAPTAIN ATOM: ARMAGEDDON turned out to be an absolutely amazing read. This graphic novel collects the 2005 nine-issued limited series and runs at a satisfying 223 pages. And, for those who care, ARMAGEDDON paved the way for the WorldStorm crossover event which rebooted the WildStorm Universe and further integrated it into the DC Universe.

These nine issues give us a fascinating glimpse into just how different the Wildstorm "heroes" are to the DC do-gooders. Something like this sort of happened with the JLA/Avengers: The Collector's Edition crossover, but even the Marvel capes, it seems, don't come close to being as callous and morally compromised as these dudes from Wildstorm. Captain Atom, bland (to me) superhero and deemed a "nice guy" by the Authority and a "good man" by Majestic, embodies the sensibilities of the DC Universe heroes. Captain Atom finds himself in a harsher world, where the heroes have taken matters into their own hands, where normal folks are frightened to death of these heroes, and where even the President of the United States bows down to a higher Authority. It's understood that the Captain's condemnation of the Wildstorm folks' rampant show of brutality and disregard for civilians is pretty much representative of the reaction of the other DC heroes (even Bats, grim as he is, refuses to take a life). When Grifter advises Captain Atom to kill an unconscious someone in cold blood before she wakes up in all her power, the Captain's response is: "Where I come from...there's always another solution."

There are some damn high-profiled guest stars here, from Wildstorm, and they all get a crack at Captain Atom. Good news for Captain Atom is that he ably represents for DC, being able to hold his own if not outright beat the snot out of some of these scary and very powerful meta-humans (I honestly have never seen the Midnighter and Apollo portrayed so menacingly). I liked that, in several tussles, he was able to outthink and outmaneuver his opponents. Much respect to the Captain.

By the way, I found it hilarious, but a bit surreal, seeing the Wildcats play the Kevin Bacon trivia game just to see who has dibs on stomping on Captain Atom.

Fantastic pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, with inks mostly by Sandra Hope. Captain Atom has never looked better. Actually, his altered appearance is somewhat of a throwback to how he looked in his Charlton Comics incarnation. This look is also how Alex Ross painted him in the KINGDOM COME series, which is set in the future. Writer Will Pfeifer (CATWOMAN, HERO) injects enough richness into Captain Atom's character to make him interesting, although he might've gone just a wee bit overzealous with his very grim portrayal of the Wildstorm set. But, I guess, it's close enough to butter as not to matter. On second thought, the Wildcats are that indiscriminate for combat, the Authority that disdainful and fascist.

Geez, but Captain Atom is a powerful bloke! The ability to harness nuclear power and other forms of energy, flight, superstrength, even time travel. And I didn't know he can link himself to and thus access the computer data stream. This cat's really one of the most powerful folks around, but, for whatever reason, Captain Atom just hasn't been able to get over that hump and become a top flight cape. In his own words: "I was a medium-sized fish in an infinitely big sea." But, I'll tell you what, in this series, anyway, Captain Atom does his co-creator, the legendary Steve Ditko, proud.

However, Captain Atom isn't the only character worth rooting for here. Besides him, I also ended up liking Nikola Hanssen, a normal girl suddenly plunged into the weird world of superheroes. There's one standout moment with her and Captain Atom which I really dug. And I also liked Grifter (actually, I've always liked Grifter). CAPTAIN ATOM: ARMAGEDDON proves to be riveting and action-packed, yet with enough characterization and philosophical conflict to deliver a deeper impact. So, a bit of turmoiled soul searching, and more than a bit of this one lone guy from the DC Universe taking on Wildstorm's best, and not doing too shabby. There's also the shocking deaths of several big time characters. Oh, and Captain Atom, he even gets his romance on.

So, yeah, somewhere, Steve Ditko has to be smiling.

Captain Atom goes boom again, and takes a tour of the Wildstorm Universe. It also seems some energy he contains may or may not be a really big threat to the local planet.

He runs into Majestic, the Authority, the Wildcats and others, and gets some metal on metal friction with The Engineer.

This is actually pretty entertaining.