Captain Atom Hands in His Resignation

"Captain Atom Hands in His Resignation" from Captain Atom Annual #1 (DC, 1988) by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman, Pat Broderick and Bob Smith

Though I stuck with Captain Atom through DC's entire 57-issue run, it's really the first 2½ years of the book, by Bates and Broderick that I love and still remember fondly. Captain Atom has a cool look, an at-the-time rare and intriguing connection to the U.S. military, a fake "public" origin that paid tribute to the Charlton original, his own Catwoman-type love interest in Plastique, a fish out of water element as he bounced to our time from the 60s, and actually fought villains adapted from his Charlton foes, as well as memorable new opponents created for the series, like Major Force (above). I'm still struck at how important Captain Atom became through the 80s. He commanded the superhero force in Invasion!, led Justice League Europe, and was to become Monarch in Armageddon 2001. That, sadly, even if it didn't actually happen, screwed up the character royally, something he never actually recovered from. Time for a reboot..? (See tomorrow.)