Captain Atom soon discovers that he can fly as fast as a rocket (100,000 miles per hour), adjust his molecular structure to walk through walls, endure temperatures as high as 10,000 degrees Centigrade, and pack enough of a punch to destroy an errant missile.Ĭaptain Atom’s origin story and powers resemble those of Doctor Solar (Gold Key Comics) and Nukla (Dell Comics), other atomic physicist-types turned superheroes during comics Silver Age (1956–1969). Military scientists quickly devise a sparkly yellow-and-red costume (with a red starburst and an atomic symbol on its chest) to contain all the radiation, and thus a new superhero-Captain Atom-is born. Incredibly, he somehow manages to reconstruct himself and reappear in his military base back on Earth, shooting off radiation from every pore in his body. Unable to leave the rocket in time, he is accidentally launched into space and blown to atoms when the missile explodes. Ditko had been Charlton’s star artist for many years and was establishing himself at Marvel at the same time, but Captain Atom marked his first significant work on a superhero and laid the foundations for his later success as one of the decade’s most important artists.Ĭaptain Atom’s opening story in Space Adventures, by editor/writer Pat Masuli and artist Steve Ditko, reveals how rocket specialist and air force captain, Allen Adam, loses a screwdriver during some last-minute adjustments to a missile’s nuclear warhead, and unwisely delays his exit by looking for the tool. He preceded Marvel’s more famous Fantastic Four by some twenty months and, more to the point, Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man by two-and-a-half years.

Captain Atom made his first appearance in 1960 in the pages of one of the company’s science fiction and mystery comics, Space Adventures (issue #33). The Captain was the main hero from Charlton Comics, the independent-minded, eccentric, and largely unloved publishing house from Derby, Connecticut. (Cover art by Steve Ditko.) Captain Atom (pop culture)Ĭaptain Atom holds a special place in comics history-not so much as a creation himself as for one of his creators. Space Adventures #42 © 1961 Charlton Comics.

Captain atom