Captain Atom (real name Nathaniel C. Adams, born May 30, 1940.),[1] is a superhero. From shortly before December 2015[8] to July 4, 2016[9] he served as leader of the Justice League.
Nate Adams was a strongly built Caucasian male with blond hair and blue eyes. After his transformation, his entire body was covered in a silver skin, save for his gloves and boots, which are red. He has a stylized red atom symbol on his chest. He can, however, revert to his human form at will.[1]
History[]
Early life[]
Adams was born on May 30, 1940. He was raised Catholic, but does not practice it much.[10] He joined the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain, and was also involved with air force intelligence during the Vietnam war.
Adams's Vietnam file photo.
In 1968, Captain Adams received intel about a weapons smuggling ring. He reported to his commanding officer, General Lemar, though he did not know his superior was part of the ring. Lemar ordered Adams to investigate Hill 409, the site of the smuggling, with a squad. They were ambushed, and only Adams and his friend Lt. Yarrow escaped, the latter barely. Adams was certain Lemar had set him up, and confronted him about it.[3] Minutes later, Adams was knocked out by a poison. Enos Polk killed Lemar with Adams's knife, and "arrived" moments later to arrest Adams for the crime. It had all been planned by Yarrow, who actually acted as the leader of the smuggling ring.[1]
Captain Adams was brought before court-martial, where he was defended by Yarrow. Adams claimed that he blacked out, and was possibly drugged, but there was no evidence for that story. The judge, Wade Eiling, convicted him to life in prison.[3]
In exchange for a pardon, Adams volunteered for a top-secret government experiment.[11]He was bonded to an alien metal[12]and exposed to so much energy that he was taken into the quantum field[13]from which he did not emerge until 2006.[14]
By all records, Adams had committed suicide in his cell in 1968. Adams's wife moved on, and married Wade Eiling. She was always convinced of her husband's innocence. Her daughter agreed.[3]
After his return, Adams adopted the name Cameron Scott[2] and became a superhero, and eventually joined the Justice League[15]in August, 2008.[16]Though not as high-profile as Superman, Captain Atom is a prominent hero and has a publicist.[17]At some point, he fought Queen Bee.[18]
Captain Atom responded to a distress call from Green Arrow and Black Canary, and was one of eight Justice League members who battled Amazo. They eventually succeeded in taking the robot apart, but Amazo managed to copy his abilities and later used them against the Team.[19]
As part of the Team's training, Captain Atom was called in to give the young heroes a training course in espionage. Since no-one paid attention to the boring lecture, Captain Atom decided to let them solve an old Vietnam war mystery instead: the alleged framing of Captain Adams.[3]
Captain Atom reviewed the case after the Team presented their findings. He was surprised his old friend Yarrow was involved, but more importantly, that Wade Eiling was not.[1]
After communications with the Cave broke down, the League investigated. Captain Atom used his powers to free Superboy from his trap of molten steel.[20] He helped fix the Cave's computer system the next day.[21]
Captain Atom, Flash and Blue Devil fought one of Injustice League's giant plant creatures at a nuclear power plant near Taipei. After the plant crushed one of the chimneys, Captain Atom managed to absorb the radioactive spill.[22]
After the Team defeated the central control plant, the Justice League turned their attention to the Injustice League and helped the Team take them into custody.[22]
In the halls of the Watchtower, the mind-controlled Captain Atom was attacked by Rocket and Aqualad, who managed to tag him with cure-tech.[26]
2011-2015[]
Shortly before December 2015, Captain Atom encountered the new Blue Beetle. He reported his opinions on the young hero to Nightwing, who took them into account for his recruitment.[27] He was also elected leader of the Justice League.[8]
Having been among the heroes and villains acquired by Kylstar as an asset, he was imprisoned in a crystalline cell with inhibitor emission orbs removing his abilities.[8]
Captain Atom saw Captain Marvel summon lightning to change his form to Billy Batson, and they noticed that the inhibiting device only affected his hero form. Captain Atom changed his own form to his civilian identity and broke himself free from the crystal prison, shattering the inhibitor before it could adjust to his new form. Now safe, he repowered and broke the inhibitors to Wonder Woman, Superman, and Superboy, and eventually Captain Marvel.[8]
The freed heroes discussed freeing the other prisoners, among which were several criminals, but also those who in the public eye are heroes such as Major Force. Captain Atom objected to freeing him, and as newly elected leader of the League, he pulled rank and decided against freeing the other captives for now, a decision Superman agreed with due to his own conflicts with the likes of Draaga.[8]
The heroes came to a window and discovered, to their dismay, that they were being held captive on the Moon.[28]
The Moon December 1, 19:36UCT
The heroes had difficulty getting their bearings in the crystalline corridors. Captain Marvel came up with a plan to find the teleporters that brought them to the Moon using Captain Atom's quantum senses to detect high-energy signatures, but the next moment the group was teleported inside a cell. They were addressed by Orb-One, providing translation for First Leader Kylstar, who told them they would remain where they were during their journey. Kylstar's ship then lifted off from the surface of the Moon and headed into space.[28]
After failing to convince Kylstar to return them to Earth, the heroes destroyed the ground beneath them rather than risk the unbreathable air in space. The heroes went along with their objective to find First Leader's teleportation device, only to be teleported to crystallized area with Kylstar. When questioning First Leader's plans to "reprogram" the team, Captain Atom was subsequently knocked across the room by a devastating punch from Kylstar.[29]
Captain Atom shot an beam of energy at Kylstar, only for it be redirected back at him.[29]
Kylstar's Vessel December 1, 23:17UTC
Superman and Captain Atom continued to attack Kylstar, while their friends came to. Kylstar grabbed Superman's ankle and threw him at Captain Atom.[30]
Kylstar's Vessel December 1, 23:27UTC
At Wonder Woman's suggestion, the heroes changed tactics. They went for a team effort, the West Maneuver. While Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman restrained Kylstar, Superman and Captain Atom hit him in the jaw.
It brought him down, but with Orb-One's help, Kylstar immediately recovered. New orbs arrived, and this time, they were finetuned to everyone's abilities.[30]
Kylstar's Vessel December 1, 23:32UTC
Miss Martian arrived and liberated the heroes from their controlling orbs.[31]
Kylstar's Vessel December 1, 23:58UTC
Having seen the prowess of his acquisitions, Kylstar decided to explain his actions to all of them. He had all the captives released, and explained how he needed them to save his people. A few chose to join him, including Major Force. Captain Atom protested, but Force ignored him, and those choosing to leave were teleported away.[31]
The heroes and villains were teleported straight into the control room where Alpha Squad was fighting the Collector of Worlds. The Bio-Ship's weapons made quick work of the Coludroid.[31]
Metropolis December 1, 19:03EST
Just as they were planning to regroup, dozens more coludroids showed up and surrounded the heroes and villains. The Collector was surprised to find that Superman was a genuine Kryptonian. At Atom and Nightwing's insistence, the Collector shut down his shrinking beam, as someone below attempted to shut down the force field. Captain Atom and Nightwing convinced the Collector not to preserve the city.[31]
Metropolis December 1, 22:03EST
Captain Atom gathered with the other Leaguers and Team members, and discussed the coincidence of two alien incursions on the same day.[31]
John Stewart and Adam Strange suspected that Kroloteans were behind a recent theft of advanced Zeta-Beam technology on Rann. Captain Atom wanted to send a group of Leaguers to the planet, but Adam Strange revealed they were not welcome there; six were even wanted criminals. Captain Atom then agreed with Nightwing, that the Team should send a Squad instead. He also coordinated a combined League-Team attack on all known Krolotean locations on Earth, based on information provided by Strange.[6]
Captain Atom, Nightwing, Wonder Woman and John Stewart waited for Zeta Squad to return from Rann. Since it was a Team mission, Nightwing handled the debriefing, but Captain Atom listened attentively. When Adam Strange offered Sardath's suggestion of a Zeta-Shield, he was concerned that it would impede the League's own Zeta capabilities, but his worries were soon put to rest. What worried him more was the revelation of what the League did on Rimbor. He discussed it with Green Lantern, who would talk to the Guardians about it.[32]
After John returned with word from the Guardians, Captain Atom was not sure about the solution. He was reluctant to send all accused Leaguers to Rimbor to stand trial, but conceded.[32]
Captain Atom and Nightwing were discussing the threat of the Reach, and thought it best to make their presence known to the public. Aquaman revealed to them the Reach had already gone public themselves.[34]
Accepting an invitation sent out by the Reach, Captain Atom met up with the Reach ambassador at the United Nations. During the press conference, Atom subtly hinted to the ambassador that he knew his true intentions.[35]
New York City April 1, post-21:24EDT
Meeting in private with the Reach ambassador and Tseng Dangun, Captain Atom inquired as to how long the Reach had actually been on earth before their first public appearance. The ambassador accused Captain Atom of having the Team attack the Reach's research ship. Captain Atom denied the accusation, but Tseng replied he knew about the younger heroes working on behalf of the Justice League. The conversation ended when Captain Atom received a communications message about a situation at the Hall of Justice, where several League and Team members were trapped within a force field surrounding the Hall and battling Despero.[35]
Captain Atom and Marvel attempt to neutralize the force field.
Captain Atom arrived at the Hall of Justice, now in ruins, and he and Captain Marvel tried to bring down the force field with no success. Zatanna told them her magic didn't work either. The Reach ambassador arrived with Tseng and used a device to remove the force field. He told Captain Atom he was sorry the League had lost its headquarters but the League at least still had the Watchtower—a fact that was not known to Tseng or the general public.[35]
At STAR Labs, Captain Atom met with Nightwing and Black Canary. He was unhappy that the Reach had discredited the League and that the ambassador had offered to take Despero into custody, an offer Captain Atom said he couldn't turn down. Canary informed Captain Atom and Nightwing about the Reach's intent to cultivate and weaponize the Meta-Gene. Blue Beetle interrupted the three and, despite protests from Impulse, revealed to the others about a Reach apocalypse Impulse said Beetle would be responsible for, then asked that the Scarab be removed from his body.[35]
Captain Atom briefed Black Canary, Aquaman, Nightwing and Superboy about a large object the Watchtower detected, saying it would pass in front of Rhea—but Nightwing realized it would actually pass behind of Rhea and the object was huge.[36]
Captain Atom was present at STAR Labs as Green Beetle informed those present that the large object was the Warworld, a massive satellite controlled by an alien despot named Mongul.[36]
Captain Atom, Captain Marvel and Green Beetle emerged from a portal opened by Doctor Fate and assaulted the Warworld. Atom informed Nightwing they had Mongul's attention and Nightwing told him the Team had successfully boarded the satellite.[36]
The Warworld May 26 post-12:35, UTCTime Zone
After Mongul unleashed all of the Warworld's missiles upon Earth, Captain Atom and other Leaguers tried to take out as many as they could, but Earth's military had to intervene, as did a number of Reach vessels that had been hiding underwater.[36]
The Warworld May 26, post-12:40UTC
As missiles about to launch stopped in their silos, Superboy informed Captain Atom that Mongul had been subdued but it was somebody else whose efforts resulted in Warworld being neutralized.[36]
Captain Atom was present for a briefing with Nightwing, Doctor Fate, Blue Beetle and Green Beetle in which Blue Beetle informed the others about what happened to the rest of the Team. Captain Atom informed everyone that Justice League members would take turns guarding the crystal key chamber to the Warworld.[37]
Captain Atom was present a press conference at the United Nations, in which he revealed he had presented new evidence to Secretary-General Tseng, resulting in Tseng rescinding the invitation for the Reach to stay on Earth.[38]
In a briefing of all available Earth heroes, Captain Atom explained the situation. Blue Beetle supplied Reach-tech eggs, which Luthor infused with a Reach software virus formulated at LexCorp. Since there were twenty sites detected, the forty heroes present would be split into twenty squads, consisting of two people each. One member would run interference against weapons guarding the disruptors, allowing the other to get close enough to plant the virus eggs. Luthor explained that the device would disable the disruptors with a mere touch, and wished the heroes luck.[9]
Captain Atom assigned himself to Alpha Squad, and worked alongside Eduardo Dorado Jr.[39] to successfully defuse a disruptor.[9]
Lucas Carr informed the heroes present, Captain Atom among them, that all twenty disruptors were successfully defused. However, Atom said that they missed one, because the Earth's magnetic field was still in flux. Blue Beetle confirmed this—since it was obscured by the Earth's own magnetic field, he failed to detect a twenty-first device planted in the Arctic.[9]
The crisis was eventually averted through the efforts of Flash, Impulse, and Kid Flash, although Kid Flash perished in the attempt.[9]
Captain Atom watched a broadcast where G. Gordon Godfrey gleefully denounced the resigned Tseng Dangun, and endorsed Lex Luthor as the most logical replacement for UN Secretary-General. Superman turned off the broadcast in disgust, not quite accepting the turn of events. On that note, Captain Atom then happily relinquished his position as chairman to Black Canary. She thanked him sarcastically.[9]
When the Team was summoned to the mission room for a face-to-face meeting with members of the League, Captain Atom was among the leaguers present. Batman informed them that they would now operate side by side with the Justice League from the Watchtower. Not because Mount Justice was destroyed, but because they earned the right to do so. The League then left the Team to its own devices.[9]
Under Granny's control, Atom was among the Leaguers deployed to stop members of the Team from rescuing Halo and stopping Granny. The Team was placed under Granny's control as well.[42]
Captain Atom and the rest were present as Granny and Gretchen Goode merged back together, and Vic Stone arrived to free Halo, who freed the League and Team in turn. He helped destroy Granny's Ghost Dimension device.[43]
Captain Atom was with a contingent of Leaguers on the Javelin conferencing into a meeting of the League, the Team, the Outsiders and Batman's team. He was part of the unanimous vote to elect Black Lightning as the League's new leader.[44]
Invulnerability:[29]Captain Atom is coated in an alien metal[12]that makes him practically invulnerable, even to the vacuum of space (though he still requires oxygen to breathe).[13]
Quantum Senses: A sense that could, potentially, detect high-level energy signatures.[28]
Time travel: When Captain Atom absorbs too much energy, he will be shunted into the future. The distance in time is dependent on the amount of excess energy.[13]
Transformation: Captain Atom can shed his silver skin at will. His body will temporarily light up in the process.[1]
Captain Atom is a hero originally published by Charlton Comics. Allen Adam of Earth-Four was a scientist who became an superhero after an accident "atomized" him. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was reimagined as Air Force Captain Nathaniel Christopher Adam, who was exposed to an alien metal in a top secret government experiment during the Vietnam war. He was absorbed into the quantum field, and did not come out until the 80s. He became a member of the Justice League International and later leader of the Justice League Europe. During the Final Crisis, he became a pawn of the evil Monitor Solomon, and led a multiversal army as Monarch.
This is Captain Atom's third animated appearance. He first appeared in Justice League Unlimited (voiced by George Eads) as living energy in a containment suit. This take on the character was also used in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. After his debut on Young Justice, he also appeared in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, in an episode written by Greg Weisman, Todd Casey and Kevin Hopps.
The surname Adams was first used in the television series Justice League Unlimited, and carried over into Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Weisman stated that, even when he worked on the Captain Atom comic series in the 80s, he thought the surname "Adam" too artificial, and "Adams" felt more natural.[46] In the original Charlton run, "Adams" was occasionally used in error.
