By Will Pfeifer, Giuseppe Camuncoli & Sandra Hope (WildStorm)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1106-6
When DC acquired the right to the 1960s Charlton Comics “Action Heroes†line Captain Atom was the character and concept which had the most radical makeover. No longer a two-fisted, patriotic astronaut survivor of an atomic accident, the new Nathaniel Adam was a discredited and cashiered US soldier in the 1960s, forced to undergo a merge with alien metal by his own superiors, and accidentally catapulted 25 years into the future.
After a brief period as a pawn of the self-same General who caused all his woes, Adam struck out on his own and gradually achieved some measure of credibility in the superhero community, both as a solo act and leader of Justice League Europe and Extreme Justice. Whenever his popularity waned and whatever series he was in was cancelled, he would inevitably reappear as a government pawn/nominal establishment bad-guy working for Uncle Sam.
Gifted with phenomenal quantum-energy powers he was in a class that could hurt Superman, and when Lex Luthor became President of America Atom was ordered to defeat both the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight (see Superman/Batman: Public Enemies). Coming to his moral senses just in time, Captain Atom sacrificed himself to destroy a colossal Kryptonite meteor which would have obliterated the Earth.
Which is right where this slight-but-fun slab of superhero eye-candy picks up…
Neither disintegrated nor time-bumped, Atom reappears in a parallel universe inexplicably sporting a new look. Thinking this is just another one of those things sent to plague costumed crusaders he begins to make himself known to the authorities and that world’s metahumans, but something is not quite right…
The energy of his explosive sacrifice has pushed him beyond the interdimensional barrier known as “The Bleed†into a dark and savage para-reality where superbeings are far from welcome or revered. In fact the human populace lives in dread of its “Post-Human†entities, especially as some like The Authority have often taken over the planet for their own purposes(see The Authority: Revolution books 1 & 2).
After clashes and conferences with alien powerhouse Majestic and the aforementioned Authority, the good Captain realises that his journey has melded him with some alien force in this Wild and Stormy universe, and prevents his leaving it. Moreover, that force is causing him to “melt downâ€: if he stays he’s going to explode and take all the other universes with him.
Unable to cure or remove Captain Atom, the only sensible option seems to be to kill him – a solution all these bloodthirsty heroes seem more than willing to attempt…
Pure comics fan-fare, this is a fast-paced, witty romp for adult superhero fanatics that won’t make a lot of sense to outsiders but is a tasty treat for anybody who likes their fights ‘n’ tights edgy and post-modern. Devotees will get off on seeing the likes of Grifter, Void, Maul, Zealot and the other WildC.A.T.s going head to head with our golden boy and there’s a definite doom-laden, ticking-clock conundrum to solve for those of us who like a little plot with our ultra-pretty designer violence.
A definite guilty pleasure, stylish, thrilling and inexplicably satisfying.
© 2007 WildStorm Productions. All Rights Reserved.