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Captain Atom (1986)
Captain Atom (1986-1991) #11
Enjoy this great comic from DC’s digital archive!
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
partially-read-comics
January 23, 2023I only wanted to read this for the interactions between Cap Atom and Firestorm.
It had a lot to do with the Millennium event but I really wanted to see how the new Firestorm interacted with Atom.
CA instantly knew there was something different about FS but he thinks it has something to do with the Manhunters.
Nate tells FS a story about his childhood then a false story.
Firestorm knows when CA is lying so Nate decides to tell the whole truth.
The new FS decides to trust his instincts and help CA.
Firestorm explained that Atom talking about his kids is what helped him make his decision.
It had a lot to do with the Millennium event but I really wanted to see how the new Firestorm interacted with Atom.
CA instantly knew there was something different about FS but he thinks it has something to do with the Manhunters.
Nate tells FS a story about his childhood then a false story.
Firestorm knows when CA is lying so Nate decides to tell the whole truth.
The new FS decides to trust his instincts and help CA.
Firestorm explained that Atom talking about his kids is what helped him make his decision.
December 8, 2024
I don’t have access to the full millennium storyline, or even the main issues, so I’ve been picking up pieces here and there. The last one I read was a detective comics tie in, and it directly referenced this issue and that had me excited. But this issue did not meet any expectations and was a pretty weak entry tbh. From what I can gather in the main storyline firestorm was brainwashed by the manhunters to believe he was created by them, and then tasked to go to the swamp and defend it from any incoming heroes, specially captain atom. Well he did a pretty bad job with that because the suicide squad, Batman, and other heroes slipped in completely without his knowledge as he spent all his time in a stand off making sure captain atom was trapped.
But in their standoff atom realized that firestorm was left in a very susceptible state and he could convince him to turn against the manhunters. He decided to do this through telling stories with different lessons. The first story was of Adam’s youth. His love of aviation, but his fear of flying his parents were afraid would hold his back. So his dad revealed he flew planes in the military and decided to take Nate out to his friend’s private airfield where he directly flew a crop duster with Nate in it. This moment allowed Nate to realize he was not as afraid as flying as he thought and actually loved it more than the fear of falling, and then he was able to grow and become a successful air force pilot. It’s a sweet story and it’s meant to show that no one should hold back human persistence, especially the manhunters.
But this didn’t fully convince firestorm and next captain atom decided to tell a story from his “early days” where he defied a direct order to help two soldiers suffering from military testing and radiation poisoning to the point of developing cancer, so that they could use the stolen military communication equipment to broadcast their plea to the world as all the red tape in government was holding them back from getting compensation. It was a story meant ti show it’s okay to defy orders sometimes, but firestorm was fully briefed by the manhunters on the lies surrounding captain atom, so he knew the entire store was a lie and couldn’t trust him.
Meanwhile at a tv broadcasting station, there are two reporters that are waiting for captain atom to arrive, but if he doesn’t show up they have a military general waiting to take his place. This military general also includes the bald man we met last issue who is working for the manhunters and plans to expose captain atom and his lies in tv. But I realized I made a mistake last issue, as I thought he was a Manhunter, but it turns out he is just guy working for them. As when he went out to get a smoke, Eiling caught wind of his activities and his breach being this close to captain atom, that when the bald dude revealed his plan and Eiling shot him in the street when he pulled a Manhunter weapon. Odd, but okay I guess that quickly wraps that up.
The story ends as firestorm pumps the prison he was keeping captain atom with nerve gas and that’s when in a last ditch effort captain atom spills his guts. He basically recaps the beginning of this series and tells of all the lies the military setup, but then he spills the truth and the accident and how he is just trying to see his children again. Hearing that, firestorm suddenly lets him go and they work together and race to the Manhunter base about to explode to keep the explosion contained. Really quick wrap up and the final page includes a word salad that has firestorm explain that atom’s connection to his kids and that being the reason to uphold the lie changed his mind and made firestorm realize he was telling the truth about everything else. But the thing that still leaves me hanging, is firestorm okay? Is he going to remember everything? Is he going to revert back to normal??
But in their standoff atom realized that firestorm was left in a very susceptible state and he could convince him to turn against the manhunters. He decided to do this through telling stories with different lessons. The first story was of Adam’s youth. His love of aviation, but his fear of flying his parents were afraid would hold his back. So his dad revealed he flew planes in the military and decided to take Nate out to his friend’s private airfield where he directly flew a crop duster with Nate in it. This moment allowed Nate to realize he was not as afraid as flying as he thought and actually loved it more than the fear of falling, and then he was able to grow and become a successful air force pilot. It’s a sweet story and it’s meant to show that no one should hold back human persistence, especially the manhunters.
But this didn’t fully convince firestorm and next captain atom decided to tell a story from his “early days” where he defied a direct order to help two soldiers suffering from military testing and radiation poisoning to the point of developing cancer, so that they could use the stolen military communication equipment to broadcast their plea to the world as all the red tape in government was holding them back from getting compensation. It was a story meant ti show it’s okay to defy orders sometimes, but firestorm was fully briefed by the manhunters on the lies surrounding captain atom, so he knew the entire store was a lie and couldn’t trust him.
Meanwhile at a tv broadcasting station, there are two reporters that are waiting for captain atom to arrive, but if he doesn’t show up they have a military general waiting to take his place. This military general also includes the bald man we met last issue who is working for the manhunters and plans to expose captain atom and his lies in tv. But I realized I made a mistake last issue, as I thought he was a Manhunter, but it turns out he is just guy working for them. As when he went out to get a smoke, Eiling caught wind of his activities and his breach being this close to captain atom, that when the bald dude revealed his plan and Eiling shot him in the street when he pulled a Manhunter weapon. Odd, but okay I guess that quickly wraps that up.
The story ends as firestorm pumps the prison he was keeping captain atom with nerve gas and that’s when in a last ditch effort captain atom spills his guts. He basically recaps the beginning of this series and tells of all the lies the military setup, but then he spills the truth and the accident and how he is just trying to see his children again. Hearing that, firestorm suddenly lets him go and they work together and race to the Manhunter base about to explode to keep the explosion contained. Really quick wrap up and the final page includes a word salad that has firestorm explain that atom’s connection to his kids and that being the reason to uphold the lie changed his mind and made firestorm realize he was telling the truth about everything else. But the thing that still leaves me hanging, is firestorm okay? Is he going to remember everything? Is he going to revert back to normal??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2026
I love Captain Atom and Firestorm so seeing them together on this cover was exciting. Firestorm is no longer the superhero we knew, instead he is almost a blank slate and sadly one that thinks he needs to defend the manhunters. Captain Atom and Firestorm have a rocky past so when Captain Atom goes to confront Firestorm he is at first thrown by the new Firestorm but quickly understands he is dealing with someone new and like a child. Unfortunately, this results in Captain Atom telling stories like he is talking to a child. Which resulted in a crap ton of dialogue that was some rehashing of Captain Atom's history and the panels were all over the place and a bit hard to follow. It was just one big messy page after another with your eyes not knowing where to go next. Hoping to complete my Millennium week collection but that is so slow going!
October 24, 2018
Captain Atom meets the new Firestorm !! He is actually able to convince Firestorm at the end of the issue to trust him . This is in spite of Firestorm being aware of the massive cover - up involving Captain Atom !!
January 18, 2021
Definitely more reason to read the Millennium event I've seemed to have read a bunch of tie-ins for!
June 30, 2022
I didn't know anything about Captain Atom beyond what I've seen of him in the Justice League cartoon. It was cool to see a bit of his backstory here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews