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Captain Atom (1986)
Captain Atom (1986-1991) #3
Enjoy this great comic from DC’s digital archive!
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 3, 1987
About the author
Cary Bates
709 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2022
Actual rating 3.7 stars.
Captain Atom tells his story to the world!
Well, he tells a fabricated story the government's PR team made up. Which is actually the origin story for the Charleston Comics version of the character...
Afterwards, Eiling orders Nate to clean up a radiation spill deep in the ocean.
Nate refuses, stating Eiling hasn't held up his part of the deal.
As luck would have it, Peggy, Nate's daughter, arrives back in town.
Nate meets her at the airport... and is swiftly shut down, Peggy believing he's just some guy in uniform, shooting his shot with a General's daughter.
Nate then berates himself for his belief in being a family with his kids again.
He does go to the radiation spill.... and risks himself as he absorbs all the radiation!
Captain Atom tells his story to the world!
Well, he tells a fabricated story the government's PR team made up. Which is actually the origin story for the Charleston Comics version of the character...
Afterwards, Eiling orders Nate to clean up a radiation spill deep in the ocean.
Nate refuses, stating Eiling hasn't held up his part of the deal.
As luck would have it, Peggy, Nate's daughter, arrives back in town.
Nate meets her at the airport... and is swiftly shut down, Peggy believing he's just some guy in uniform, shooting his shot with a General's daughter.
Nate then berates himself for his belief in being a family with his kids again.
He does go to the radiation spill.... and risks himself as he absorbs all the radiation!
January 10, 2021
The "origin" is a great piece of storytelling, and of course it helps that Nate makes it believable. The ending just left me eager to read more!
December 5, 2024
“Im not their father, not anymore. Not since 1968. They’re Eiling’s children. And me—thanks to the captain atom project I’m just a freak out of time…out of place..naive. Stupid and naive, Nathaniel. Did you really think you could put your family back together again after taking a quantum leap across 18 years? Did you really think you could be a father to a pair of adults who are practically your own age? Get real, Nathaniel. This isn’t some fantasy with the promise of a happy ending at the end of the rainbow. This is your life.”
I really wish that Nathaniel would spend more time talking to Jeff about his kids and trying to be reunited with them, it’s so depressing seeing him take this on by himself and utterly seeing himself as a failure and a man out of time, when it’s not his fault!! Every moment I grow to resent Eiling more and more.
But this issues primary focus is establishing captain atom in the public eye. Very quickly after his act saving the chief executives in front of millions of people, he got an interview setup on a talk show where he went over a fabricated history of his super hero career. Making up that he was an aerospace engineer involved in a rocket accident that caused it to be launched too early with him inside, all the while carrying a thermo-nuclear test payload. I haven’t read any of captain atom from Charleston or any other period before this, but the story then fills in the other periods of his life, taking direct inspiration from captain atom’s time with those different costumes. The entire story being he was working in the shadows, unbeknownst to the public so he could become a better hero. To get the public to know and like him a bit more they also sprinkled in a story about captain atom saving a parachuter and falling in loved only for her life to be taken by disease. I’m not sure if Eve was a character from the Charleston years but it was slipped in nicely for sympathy.
While this broadcast is finally going to air, captain atom is being threatened with more treason, as he is being briefed on a nuclear submarine leaking radiation on the bottom of the sea floor that they need help containing, but he is refusing until his end of the deal is met and he can see his kids. Eiling is disgustingly refusing and as captain atom leaves the other generals talk directly to Eiling’s face about how much of a mistake he is making and how poorly he is handling the situation. Meanwhile, Nathaniel has his own methods of information gathering and found out from Jeff that his daughter is flying into town that very night. Nathaniel wanting to do things on his own decides to go to the airport to meet her for the first time in 18 years and explain what happened. He arrives in uniform and a sign signaling for her, and she assumes her father sent her. But as he asks for a moment to talk she starts to go off on him, and that she would rather get home, and she starts to question if her father even sent him. He doesn’t lie and explains he didn’t, and she starts to think he is only there to try and hit on the general’s daughter, she even calls him cute if he wasn’t in the military. As she hops in a taxi and leaves, Nathaniel has been left stunned by the conversation, that isn’t his daughter it’s Eiling’s. He had nothing to do with her life, she doesn’t know him, and they are practically the same age. Filled with anger at himself and the world, captain atom turns into his silver self and flies out to the radiation leak. In his briefing he was warned to stay 500 feet away and not to take all the radiation in at once, instead in his current state he positions himself right in front of the sub. From the understanding that he is a lifting conduit plugged into the limitless quantum field that should mean there is no limit to what he can do. As he absorbs all the radiation it almost looks like it’s too much as he drops off the radar and disappears…
I really wish that Nathaniel would spend more time talking to Jeff about his kids and trying to be reunited with them, it’s so depressing seeing him take this on by himself and utterly seeing himself as a failure and a man out of time, when it’s not his fault!! Every moment I grow to resent Eiling more and more.
But this issues primary focus is establishing captain atom in the public eye. Very quickly after his act saving the chief executives in front of millions of people, he got an interview setup on a talk show where he went over a fabricated history of his super hero career. Making up that he was an aerospace engineer involved in a rocket accident that caused it to be launched too early with him inside, all the while carrying a thermo-nuclear test payload. I haven’t read any of captain atom from Charleston or any other period before this, but the story then fills in the other periods of his life, taking direct inspiration from captain atom’s time with those different costumes. The entire story being he was working in the shadows, unbeknownst to the public so he could become a better hero. To get the public to know and like him a bit more they also sprinkled in a story about captain atom saving a parachuter and falling in loved only for her life to be taken by disease. I’m not sure if Eve was a character from the Charleston years but it was slipped in nicely for sympathy.
While this broadcast is finally going to air, captain atom is being threatened with more treason, as he is being briefed on a nuclear submarine leaking radiation on the bottom of the sea floor that they need help containing, but he is refusing until his end of the deal is met and he can see his kids. Eiling is disgustingly refusing and as captain atom leaves the other generals talk directly to Eiling’s face about how much of a mistake he is making and how poorly he is handling the situation. Meanwhile, Nathaniel has his own methods of information gathering and found out from Jeff that his daughter is flying into town that very night. Nathaniel wanting to do things on his own decides to go to the airport to meet her for the first time in 18 years and explain what happened. He arrives in uniform and a sign signaling for her, and she assumes her father sent her. But as he asks for a moment to talk she starts to go off on him, and that she would rather get home, and she starts to question if her father even sent him. He doesn’t lie and explains he didn’t, and she starts to think he is only there to try and hit on the general’s daughter, she even calls him cute if he wasn’t in the military. As she hops in a taxi and leaves, Nathaniel has been left stunned by the conversation, that isn’t his daughter it’s Eiling’s. He had nothing to do with her life, she doesn’t know him, and they are practically the same age. Filled with anger at himself and the world, captain atom turns into his silver self and flies out to the radiation leak. In his briefing he was warned to stay 500 feet away and not to take all the radiation in at once, instead in his current state he positions himself right in front of the sub. From the understanding that he is a lifting conduit plugged into the limitless quantum field that should mean there is no limit to what he can do. As he absorbs all the radiation it almost looks like it’s too much as he drops off the radar and disappears…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2026
now I remember why captain atom was my favorite DC superhero for years. I really hope he gets to reunite with his grown kids and reveal his truth to them somehow, and General gets what he deserves. poor Nate needs a break, at least he has his old best friend who has his back fully. and I really loved how they turned his silver age origin into some government made perfect fairy tale of a superhero, it really fits. I have no idea why DC hasn't really explored this guy in modern comics he's really criminally underrated. I felt really bad for him when his own daughter who's nearly his age thanks to accidental time jump seized him up and said he could be a dream date, I really don't understand why he doesn't just tell them they deserve to know what an piece of garbage their stepfather really is.
October 16, 2017
Captain Atom (1986-) #3 continues on from the previous book and show Captain Atom trying to adjust to the Military's way of doing things! :D It also shows him trying to get more in touch with his family and this gives the story it three dimensions which justifies his action in the later books! :D
Fast, clever, funny and action packed! :D Highly recommended! :D
Fast, clever, funny and action packed! :D Highly recommended! :D
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews